“Would you like a drink?” His Grace asked, looking far too elegant for her own good. After greeting him and meeting his gaze, her eye was immediately drawn to the diamond and ruby pin in his cravat. Clearly it was worth more money than she could ever hope to earn in her lifetime.
Even though she wore her finest mourning dress, it was old, as it had been one of Aunt Katherine’s hand me downs. Amelia wore no jewelry at all as she didn’t own any, having sold it all to help pay her father’s debt. She felt so far beneath him, so far from elegant, that she wanted to sink into the earth.
Amelia needed the fortification from a glass of wine and nodded. If she couldn’t bring herself to speak, it would be a long, silent dinner. Hopefully the wine would help loosen her.
“How was your picnic among the standing stones?”
“Lovely. Thank you for asking, Your Grace.”
“Cav, please. It’s what my friends call me.”
The footman brought them two glasses and Caversham handed her one. “This is one of Merivale’s best. He wasn’t keen on letting me have this bottle.” The duke took a sip and smiled. “Until I reminded him where he got his supply.”
Amelia relished the instant warming power. She went right into her argument against their marriage, telling him that she was uncomfortable calling him by the more informal, shortened abbreviation of his title, and having presented her case, she finally asked his grace for a reconsideration of his plan.
“Give me one night to make you see that I am right about this,” he countered.
She wanted to roll her eyes in exasperation that he could not be sensible, but managed to refrain. “Very well. You shall have one night, but I cannot see how it will change anything. I will still be the poor, distant relation of a peer and you one of the most powerful men in the country. Aunt Katherine is right—people will be expecting me to fail, at which time they will smirk behind their gloved hands and say I was not your equal.”
“Ah… your aunt. A more shallow and self-centered woman I don’t believe I’ve ever had the displeasure to meet.” The duke offered his arm to walk with her up the steps to the pavilion where their meal awaited them.
“Aren’t you worried what your peers might think, marrying a woman who is not your social equal?” Surely he had at least some reservation about this match, after all he initially didn’t wish to marry her. He’d said so to her in the library.
He seemed to think on it a moment, then asked, “Aren’t you worried what your friends might think, marrying a man who is not your social equal?”
“But I will have landed a man so high above me as to be unreachable for most young ladies. They will think me clever or lucky. Maybe both.”
“And I will have landed a young woman so bold, intelligent, brave, sensible, and attractive, as to make me feel truly alive for the first time since my wife died ten years ago. I just hope you will not be disappointed with the short number of years we have remaining, as I am so much older than you.”
A tear stung Amelia’s eye as he spoke. Aunt Katherine was right, he was besotted with her. With Amelia Caroline Elizabeth Manners-Sutton, the plain-spoken, plain-clothed, bookish daughter of a gentleman who worked in trade.
She felt a warm rush of emotion toward him. It must have taken a man as powerful as he a great deal of strength to open himself up to her, to potentially face her rejection. He didn’t appear the type of person who would presume she would agree to his proposal simply for who he was. And after the night in the library, he must know she wasn’t the kind of lady who would marry a man for his money, power, or position. Her pride prevented her from selling herself in such a manner.
Without a doubt she was attracted to him, and she felt he was to her as well or else why would he press the matter? How could she not accept the gift of this man’s time for whatever time God had planned for them?
She looked up into his gray eyes, brighter than her own, and smiled in return. “Is this your proposal, Your Grace?”
“And if it is?”
“Then I shall think on it.” She looked at the two empty place settings on the small table. “And, if you are serious, you should know I cannot think while I’m hungry.”
Her future husband nodded to a footman who began to remove covers from the platters on the sideboard, while he held out her chair. The footmen served them course after course, and throughout their meal, the duke was as charming as he’d always been. He asked her questions about the work she’d done restoring books with her father, and he gave her free rein to do what she would in his library which had books several hundred years old, he said. After dinner, as they sat opposite each other in the open pavilion, he told her about his son, and how proud he was of him. Then he told her about his daughter.
“Your biggest challenge I fear, will be gaining the acceptance of my daughter, Elise.” He gave a pensive sigh. “When I was last home, she told me she was going to develop a breed of horses with wings so she could fly away. She plays with the children of the servants as there are no other children around, and has some rather peculiar habits which I have not put a stop to, though I probably should have after she frightened away the last governess.”
Amelia first wondered if she should be concerned for her own safety, then wondered if the man was marrying her to give his out of control young daughter a mother. Of course she knew without a doubt she could handle whatever the girl threw in her direction. Almost seven years older than her brother, Amelia had practically raised Harry after her mother died, and her brother was no easy boy to manage.
At Amelia’s curious gaze, he went on to describe those habits. “She has been known to wear boys’ clothing, ride astride, and climb trees. She can swim like a fish and fish like a man. As intelligent as she is, if Elise spent half as much time at her lessons as she does in the barn with the horses or playing chess with my head groom, she would have one of the most well-rounded educations a woman could ever have.”
She tucked her chin and turned away, trying to hide her smile behind her hand. When she composed herself she met his gaze with a cheerful grin. “I believe your daughter and I shall be great friends, Your Grace.”
“Cav.”
“But, I—”
“You will be my wife.” The whispered word caressed her heart and for a moment, she thought she might really be happy with Cav. Thought perhaps they might have a future together.
He appeared pensive a moment as he stared at the bottom of his empty wine goblet, their dinner plates having long-been removed. “Lizzie used to call me by my Christian name. I think… to keep our relationship separate from my previous one… for now, I’d prefer Cav.”
To Amelia, it was tantamount to placing a divider between them, though she could tell he was trying to make an effort. For that reason alone she ceded to his request. For now.
“If you wish for me to address you as Englebert, I shall, because you ask it of me.”
He laughed, a true and hearty sound that warmed her soul. “Who is Englebert?”
“No one. A name I pulled out of my head.”
“Hideous name, Englebert. I’d much prefer Zeus or Odin. They have a nice, manly ring to it, no?”
Now it was her turn to laugh. “Gods? You probably were better off to marry my aunt.”
He reached a hand across the table and took one of her hers in his big, warm one, sending tiny tremors coursing through her, coming to an end in her s*x, making her wet with desire. “It was you I wanted from the minute you tried to defend your aunt’s horrible behavior the day we met here, outside this pavilion. Then last night, in the library. The kiss. The slap, not just once but twice. I deserved both. You were brave enough to demand respect, not just from me, but also from your aunt. Like Lizzie, you called me on my behavior and for that behavior I am so sorry. I realized after speaking with Lady Rawdon that you are exactly what I need in my life.
“All night long I kept thinking about our kiss and how you made me feel. I knew it wasn’t because we were caught or because you were compromised. It was because I wanted more of your kisses and more of you.”
How could she tell him that she, too, had thought of nothing else since the night before? All day, as she walked about that grassy field amongst those ancient stones, her emotions bobbed back and forth like a teeter-totter. Yes, she was undeniably attracted to the man, but she didn’t want him marrying her out of some sense of chivalry or honor. She wanted to be desired by him, because this man’s touch, and his kiss had aroused her as no other had. And now that she was satisfied that he truly wanted her, she was willing to become his wife. But one thing was bothering her still, and it was important to their future.
“I want children,” she said. “Do you think that’s still possible?”
He turned red as he coughed, then barked out in laughter. “I will give it my best effort. In fact, you may—um—test the goods and if you find them… ah, satisfactory, you can make a decision.”
A warm flush of embarrassment rushed to her face. She wasn’t exactly sure if it was the wine they’d consumed or the intimate and romantic setting with the scent of blooming flowers in the manicured garden around the pavilion steps, but Amelia found herself desiring more of this man and his touch. She wondered what he’d say, or even do, if she were to take him up on his offer. Would it shock him? Would he cry off thinking her too bold, even after telling her that he’d admired that about her?
Amelia decided she had nothing to lose, and everything to gain. With as straight and determined a face as she could manage she had to clarify. “You’re saying that I can, ah… test the goods, and see if they work? And if they are to my… satisfaction, I can then decide whether or not we marry?”
He stared into her eyes, his expression perhaps a tad serious for the light-hearted teasing they’d been sharing. “I am saying exactly that, my lady.”
Amelia looked away, nervous and excited at the same time. She wanted this man as she had never physically wanted another in her life. She craved this man’s kiss again. Just as her married friends said would happen when she met the right man.
Tilting her head away, she gave him a coy look from under narrowed, skeptical eyelids. “You have me at a great disadvantage, Your Grace. You know that I have no experience in this… realm. So how will I know if I am… satisfied?”
He leaned back in his chair and gave her a grin that could be called self-satisfying. “Believe me, my dear, you will know. I promise.”
“Then let us get on with it.” The words just tumbled from her mouth. Amelia didn’t know if it was the wine talking or her wanton body, but she thrummed with sensual excitement as she tried to say the words that would seal her fate about the thing she’d waited her entire adult life to experience.
“I have a decision to make and would rather not waste any more of our time contemplating.” She could not believe how brazen she felt as she held his gaze. “I’d rather be doing.”