The Earl Next Door
Page 22
‘No,’ she admitted, smiling ruefully.
‘I thought not. But I was so taken aback, and so hurt by what I saw as your lack of trust in me, that I didn’t explain. Nicole is my cousin, my dearly beloved cousin, but nothing more. I love her; but I am not in love with her. I should have told you so last night. But I was angry with you. Angry with you for not knowing that I loved you, even though I had not said the words.’
‘But I did know,’ she said with a sigh. Her eyes went to his. ‘It’s just that, when I saw you with Nicole, the expression on your face, it didn’t leave any room for doubt. It was obvious you loved her.’
He ran his eyes over her face; her smooth forehead, her raven ringlets, her gentian blue eyes, her beautiful nose and enchantingly curved mouth, and smiled, but tenderly this time.
‘You’re right. I do love Nicole. But not in the way I love you. Nicole is my beloved cousin. You are the love of my life.’
‘Oh, Luke,’ she said, leaning her head against his shoulder as they walked along the beach, too happy for the moment to think of anything else. But presently she asked, ‘What changed your mind? What stopped you being angry and make you decide that I wasn’t to blame?’
He held her closer. ‘It was because I saw myself. This morning, when Nicole came downstairs, I embraced her, and as I did so I caught sight of myself in one of the hall mirrors. I saw what you had seen, and I saw that you had been right. There was an unmistakeable expression of love on my face. And I knew that, at my first meeting with Nicole, it must have been even more pronounced. I thought I had lost her, you see. But then, Henri told you that.’
‘Yes. He also said young love was a beautiful thing, and that he was sure I was too generous to begrudge you your happiness.’ She sighed. ‘I misunderstood.’
He was startled.
‘Is that what he said? Then it’s hardly surprising you misunderstood. Henri’s English is not very good, at least not when it comes to the finer points of the language. He probably didn’t even realise that his words could imply that Nicole and I were lovers. He knew the truth, of course. Even so, didn’t your heart tell you that I was in love with you?’
‘Yes, it did,’ she admitted. ‘But my reason told me that it was wishful thinking. If you had told me you loved me, then things would have been different, but you had never done so.’
‘Because once I had discovered that fact for myself I had never had the chance. It was not until the Frenchman levelled his pistol at you, you see, that I knew for sure. It’s strange, I had been envying Kit his love for Adèle when this whole situation began. I realised that he had found a woman he loved so much he would gladly risk his life for her, whilst I had found only shallow affairs. And I thought that I would never fall in love like that; that I would never find a woman I would willingly risk my life for because life without her would be meaningless and hollow. But when I saw you in danger I knew with an all-consuming certainty that I was in love with you, and that nothing mattered except your safety. Because my life without you would be meaningless.’
He pressed her tightly to him, and she felt a deep and profound sense of satisfaction at his words.
‘There’s still one thing I don’t understand, though,’ he said thoughtfully as they walked along the beach. ‘Why did you say you were going to marry Jem?’
She sighed. ‘I overheard your conversation with my godfather. I didn’t mean to, but I was in the library when you were in the adjoining room, and the door was not properly closed. I was going to close it, but once I overheard the Comte saying you had compromised me and that you must marry me, I froze. And then I didn’t like to close the door in case it made a noise. I did not want to draw attention to myself as the conversation had been about me.’
‘You thought the conversation was about you?’ asked Luke in surprise.
‘Yes.' She was curious. 'Wasn't it?'
Luke burst out laughing. ‘What a tangle!’ he said. ‘You thought I was refusing to propose to you! Oh, Marianne, I was refusing to propose to Nicole!’
‘Refusing to propose to Nicole?’ she asked in astonishment.
‘Yes. The Comte felt protective of Nicole. They had escaped from France together, in fact that is how I managed to track him down. When Nicole at last managed to make her way to England she sought me out, and whilst telling me of her adventures she mentioned that she had escaped with a number of other people, two of whom matched the description of Adèle’s parents. I didn’t want to say anything in case I was wrong, but I made up my mind to track them down. Sure enough, they were Adèle’s parents, and we travelled back from London together. Once here, the Comte discovered that Nicole had been staying with me unchaperoned and he felt that I should marry her. He said that, as her father was not here - her father was sadly killed - he must make me see my duty.’
Marianne gave a gurgle of laughter. ‘So that's what he meant. I thought it was odd that he should say Papa wasn't there, but I assumed he meant that as Papa wasn't in the room he must make you see your duty himself!’
Luke threw back his head and laughed. Now there was a perfect understanding between them, it was clear he was able to find Marianne's mistake a subject for mirth!
‘But did you not hear the Comte saying that I must marry her because I had compromised her?’
‘I did. But I thought he was talking about you compromising me on our trip to France.’
Luke smiled. ‘Nothing so dramatic. He did not even know about your - our - trip to France. But I couldn’t possibly marry Nicole. She has always been very dear to me - I don’t have any sisters, you see, and Nicole, as my closest cousin, filled that rôle – but as for offering her my hand in marriage? No. I love her, but only in the way Kit loves you; with a protective and caring love. But not as a man loves a woman, not as I love you. And so I told the Comte. And when I had explained the situation fully he understood. It is just a pity that you didn't overhear the entire conversation. Besides, Nicole would not have had me even if she had not been my cousin, and even if I had asked her, because she is shortly to be married herself.’ He shook his head. ‘She will be mortified if she learns that she nearly came between us. It is only because she wanted to meet you that she has stayed in Sussex so long. She is eager to return to Oxford, where her betrothed is waiting for her.’
Marianne shook her head. ‘What a tangle it’s all been!’
‘And all because Jem interrupted us when I was introducing you to Nicole. Another moment and I would have told you she was my cousin, saving us both a painful episode.’
‘Poor Jem!’ laughed Marianne. ‘He was so determined not to miss the start of the dance!’
Marianne stepped over a piece of flotsam, holding up the skirt of her riding habit so that it would not get wet.
They fell silent. The tangled situation was at last unravelling, and their tensions were ebbing away. Above them the sun was shining with the promise of spring, and the sand was damp under their feet.
‘But why did you say you were going to marry Jem?’ Luke asked at last.
Marianne sighed. ‘I wanted to free you. I thought you were going to propose to me because you felt you had compromised me on our trip to France, and I could not bear it. I thought, you see, that my godfather had persuaded you to offer me your hand, and I wanted to free you from any feeling of obligation so that you could marry Nicole.’
‘And had you told Jem?’
‘That I would marry him? No. It was said on the spur of the moment.’
‘Good. I don’t want Mrs Cosgrove glaring at me over our wedding breakfast!’
‘As to that, I’m sure I hope Mrs Kilkenny will not look too sour,’ teased Marianne, matching his bantering tone.
‘Mrs Kilkenny has already left the neighbourhood, as well you know,’ he returned.
‘And will you miss her?’ asked Marianne, able to tease him about Mrs Kilkenny now that she was secure in his love.
‘Hussy,’ he said affectionately, giving her a playful squeeze.
‘To try and take my thoughts off you, of course. I was not meant to be falling in love with you, you see. I was meant to be looking after you because you were Kit's sister. But it did no good. Nothing could take my thoughts off you. Because every time I saw you I wanted to take you in my arms and do this . . . ’
He suited his actions to his words and turning towards her he kissed her ravishingly, so that shivers ran through every part of her.
‘And every time I saw you, I wanted you to,’ she confessed as he let her go.
‘Did you?’ he asked wickedly.
She smiled provocatively. ‘Yes.’
And he kissed her again.
As his hands stroked her face he said to her, ‘Why had you never married, Marianne? You had had a number of Seasons, and a number of offers – you see, even before I met you I had heard all about you from Kit.’
‘Because I never fell in love,’ she said simply. ‘I met a lot of unexceptionable gentlemen. They were witty, charming, handsome – but they were also horrified by my unconventional nature. And even if they hadn't been, I could never have married any of them because none of them moved me in any way. I liked being with them but forgot them as soon as they were no longer there. Whereas with you – from the moment I met you I knew I could never forget you, not for as long as I lived. You touched parts of me I had never known I possessed. When you kissed me I felt I was melting.’
‘But then you had never been kissed before.’
‘Not so. Lord —. But I had better not mention his name. Suffice it to say that a young gentleman, carried away by the romance of a full moon, stole a kiss from me on the terrace of his London home. It was the last ball of the Season and I think he had decided that he must do something to try and show me that I would like to be married to him. But it didn’t have that effect at all. In fact, it didn’t have any effect. It seemed to me that if that was what kisses were like, I could very well manage without them.’
He raised one eyebrow. ‘And do you feel that way still?’
‘Not if the kisses are yours.’
He kissed her again. And then, unclasping her hands from behind his neck and holding them in his own he said, ‘Marianne, will you marry me?’
She smiled. ‘Yes.’
‘Even though I am anything but a gentleman?’ he asked her teasingly.
‘I think, perhaps, because you are anything but a gentleman,’ she said honestly.
He nodded. ‘A gentleman would stifle you, Marianne. We are both of us unconventional; we belong together, you and I. We will fit together, in every sense.’
She felt a shiver of anticipation as he drew her close, longing to be in his arms once more. As if he could read her thoughts he gave a slow smile, then tilting up her face to his he kissed her with a languorous sensuality that made her buckle at the knees.
‘I suggest we marry as soon as possible,’ he said, as at last he released her.
And Marianne agreed.
For more Kindle books by Amanda Grange please
visit her Kindle page on Amazon UK
Or click the links to individual titles below
(Links to Amazon US on following page)
Jane Austen retellings (also available in hardback and paperback)
Darcy’s Diary
(Pride and Prejudice)
Mr Knightley's Diary
(Emma)
Captain Wentworth's Diary
(Persuasion)
Edmund Bertram’s Diary
(Mansfield Park)
Colonel Brandon's Diary
(Sense and Sensibility)
Henry Tilney’s Diary (forthcoming)
(Northanger Abbey)
Regency romances
A Most Unusual Governess
The Earl Next Door
The Six Month Marriage
Highwayman to Heaven
One Night At The Abbey
Castle of Secrets
Edwardian romances
That Would Be A Fairytale
Titanic Affair
(Set on board the ill-fated liner, Titanic)
All books originally published in hardback by Robert Hale Ltd
Except Titanic Affair, originally published in hardback by Severn House
Please visit Amanda Grange’s website at http://www.amandagrange.com
for more information
For more Kindle books by Amanda Grange in the US,
Please visit her Kindle page on Amazon US
Or click the links to individual titles below
Jane Austen retellings (also available in hardback and paperback)
Mr Darcy’s Diary
(Pride and Prejudice)
Mr Knightley’s Diary
(Emma)
Edmund Bertam’s Diary
(Mansfield Park)
Colonel Brandon’s Diary
(Sense and Sensibility)
Captain Wentworth’s Diary
(Persuasion)
Henry Tilney’s Diary(forthcoming)
(Northanger Abbey)
Regency Romances
A Most Unusual Governess
The Earl Next Door
The Six Month Marriage
One Snowy Night
Highwayman to Heaven
One Night At The Abbey
Castle of Secrets
Edwardian Romances (Downton Abbey era)
That Would Be A Fairytale
Titanic Affair
(Set on board the ill-fated liner, Titanic)
Please visit Amanda Grange’s website at http://www.amandagrange.com
for more information
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen