“It was quite heavy.”
Her lips twitched. “And the looks on those men’s faces!”
“I do wish I might have seen that,” he said. “But their backs were turned to me, you know.”
Teresa gazed at him. It seemed that doubt still plagued her. “Perhaps you have lost your mind.”
“Some people think so. Let them.” He leaned closer to her. “I am simply in love.”
“Do you say I have driven you mad?”
“No. I say you have let me find myself once again.” He dared to take her hand. She didn’t pull it away. “I have been…muted for some years. By circumstances. And rules. Now I’m ready to come to life.”
“Which means behaving outrageously?”
“That was only to convince you. Have I? Because I can indulge in more and more outrageous pranks until you are.”
“You are being ridiculous.”
“Am I? It is a new and interesting behavior for me. Quite stimulating.”
“Lord Macklin…”
“I wish you would call me Arthur. I really long to hear my name on your lips.”
The word led Teresa to focus on his. Those lips that had sent fire through her veins.
“I hope it’s clear that I am offering for you again,” he said. “Is it? If I went down on one knee this time, would it help?”
“Will you be serious?”
His expression shifted. “I’ve never been more so, Teresa. I don’t think I can be happy without you.” He frowned. “That did not sound well. If you really do not wish to be my wife, then of course I won’t continue to plague you.” He looked into her eyes. “I dearly hope that is not the case.”
“Must I marry you to keep you from making a fool of yourself? Again.”
A smile curved those seductive lips. “Absolutely. It is your duty to redeem my reputation, to save me.”
“I? To save you!”
“I believe you have. At least I hope you will agree to do so. Continue to do so. For the rest of my life.”
The clumsiness of his words, so unlike the ever-confident earl, enchanted her. “How can I refuse?”
He sprang to his feet and reached for her, then hesitated. “Would you mind very much saying ‘yes’?”
“Yes,” Teresa said. “Yes, I will marry you, and we will save each other for the rest of our lives.”
He pulled her up into his arms and kissed her as she had been longing to be kissed—tenderly, ruthlessly, softly, passionately. The world disappeared into a languorous flurry of kisses.
Some indeterminate time later, they sat side by side with his arm around her waist. “Will you wear your striped waistcoat to the wedding?” Teresa asked him.
“I will wear it every day from now on, if you like. Unless…” He looked concerned.
“Unless?”
“Clayton, my valet, has been rather furtive since the Overton ball. I fear he might have burnt that waistcoat. But I will buy another exactly like it.”
Teresa held up a hand. “No. I would not like to begin our marriage by offending Clayton. He was very kind, and most imposing, when I stayed at your house.”
“You will be there always now,” he replied with complacent delight. “So we will do without the stripes, if necessary?”
“We will.”
“But nothing else. Anything you want, you need only name it.”
“I have always been fascinated by elephants,” said Teresa.
“By…” He looked down at her, caught the joke, and smiled. “It would serve you right if I purchased an elephant and put it in your care.”
“With one of those seats they wear on their backs,” she retorted. “Like the pictures from India. We could ride it about your estate. That would certainly confirm your…transformation.”
“Do you dare me? Or tempt me?”
“I retract everything,” said Teresa, and kissed him again.
They were both laughing when Tom’s head appeared in the doorway. “Are you finished?” he asked. “It’s just that everyone keeps asking me.”
“Señora Alvarez and I are going to be married,” answered Arthur.
“Oh, good!” Tom looked back and perhaps made some gesture. In the next moment, he and the three young ladies had surged back into the courtyard. It seemed that no one had gone farther than the workshop.
“I told you so,” said Miss Deeping as they surrounded Arthur and Teresa.
“You promised you would stop saying that, Charlotte,” said Miss Moran. “We wish you every happiness.”
“Indeed,” said Miss Finch. “When is the wedding to be? Ada will be furious if she cannot attend.”
“We haven’t planned—” began Teresa.
“It will be quite soon, by special license, and pay no heed at all to other people’s convenience,” said Arthur.
“Are you going to let him dictate to you?” asked Miss Deeping, censure in her face.
“A lady gets to decide everything about her wedding,” said Miss Moran.
“Her last, and often only, efficacy,” added Miss Finch dryly.
Teresa looked up at her earl. His gaze was warm and caressing. Love brimmed up and filled her. “Well, you see, he has promised me an elephant.”
“What?” asked the three young ladies in unison.
“Did he really?” Tom looked delighted. “Can I come and see it? We had one in a play once, and I wondered if…”
“Go away,” Arthur said. “All of you. You ladies, go home. Tom, return to your work or wherever you please. As long as it is not here.”
There were protests. Arthur summoned up his new habit of impertinence and pointed a finger at the door. Slowly, reluctantly, they went. He then returned to the much more pleasant matter of kisses.
Keep reading for an excerpt from the next novel by Jane Ashford.
Things are looking up for Diana Gresham and her new love Captain Wilson, until they’re challenged by a scandal from the past…
The Repentant Rebel
Available in Jane Ashford’s upcoming duo, When You Give a Rogue a Rebel.
Coming soon from Sourcebooks Casablanca
Diana Gresham hugged the thin cotton of her nightdress to her chest and snuggled deeper into the pillows of the posting-house bed. She had never been so happy in her life, she told herself, and today was just the beginning of a glorious future. This afternoon, she and Gerald would reach Gretna Green and be married, and then no one could part them or spoil their wonderful plans—not even her father.