Page 66 of The Scoundrel and the Debutante
Prudence braced her hand against his chest and rose up to look at him. He was earnest, his gaze full of raw emotion. “But you’ve promised—”
“I know,” he said. “But I’ve not promised her. I hardly know her. It’s my father I must convince.”
“Roan, you can’t.”
“I can,” he said. “Iwill.” He roughly pushed her hair back from her face. “Prudence...Iloveyou,” he said. “I’ve tried to persuade myself that it’s not possible, not like this, not so quickly. But I do. I can feelit, here,” he said, tapping a fist to his chest. “I feel it in every moment, in every breath I am with you. There are obstacles, yes, but look what we’ve overcome in the past few days. Marry me and come to America. You said there is nothing for you here, that you will live behind walls. There is everything for you there.”
“My family is here,” she said. “My sisters, my nieces and nephews. Mymother.How can I leave them? How can we know that we won’t be other people entirely?”
“What do you mean?” he asked, confused.
“I mean that this, with you, has been magical,” she said, resting her hand over his heart. “It seems almost as if you appeared from air to grant all my wishes. You’ve shown me an adventure that has far exceeded anything I might have ever dreamed. Butmarried? In a foreign land, with different customs, with a different family? We’ve neither of us any notion of what the other expects...do we?”
Roan looked startled. It pained Prudence to say so, but she was not so blinded by her adoration of him to think that the adventure they’d shared would carry on day after day into a new world and into a marriage. What if she discovered things about him that made her unhappy? What if his family couldn’t accept her? How would she cope, so far removed from her own family?
Roan frowned as if trying to find a good response.
“Stay in England,” she said suddenly, and grabbed his face between her hands. “Stay here, stay with me.”
“No, Pru, I can’t,” he said. “How would I provide for you? I am the head of my family’s business. They rely on me for our livelihood. I am involved in the building of the canal. There is too much at stake, not only for me, but for my entire family. And there is Aurora. I promised my mother I would bring her home.”
“But...my family relies on me, too,” Prudence said softly. She could feel tears in her eyes as they gazed at each other, the reality of their different worlds rushing in to fill the space around them.
Roan stroked her hair. “Think about it,” he said. “Promise me you’ll at least do that.”
“Roan, I—”
“No,” he said, and covered her mouth with his hand. “Don’t answer until we’ve reached London. Just think on what I’ve said.” He withdrew his hand from her mouth. “I’ll give you the moon, I’ll give you the sun. Whatever you want, Pru, is yours. I swear to you, we will still be us, just as we are now.”
“Roan...”
“I believe what I say,” he said, his gaze searching her face. “Don’t give me an answer now. Consider it. Please.” He looked as if he couldn’t bear for her to say no.
But she couldn’t say yes.
Prudence rolled onto her back and stared up at the canopy. Roan slipped his fingers in between hers, and they lay there, neither of them speaking.
Prudence was confused by her emotions. She was losing them in this vast world, in this man who had wrapped himself around her heart. He was floating away from her, floating back to America.Oh God, how she would miss him. It would be unbearable, truly unbearable.
Could she go with him? Could she leave all she’d ever known behind and walk so blindly into the unknown? The practical side of her, the side of her that ruled her head, that kept her within the bounds of propriety, made her a dutiful daughter and sister, said no. The practical side of her said that if she went to America with him, and wed him, the magic would fade away and the blunt realities of a marriage made in haste would overshadow the magic of this week.
The practical side of her said all of that, but her heart kept whisperingyes.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
EVERYTIMEROANtried to close his eyes to sleep, he couldn’t keep them closed. He kept opening them to assure himself that Prudence was still there beside him and hadn’t disappeared into a dream quite yet.
It was remarkable to Roan that when he’d first seen Prudence in Ashton Down, he’d thought her beautiful in that way men have of thinking every female is beautiful. It was nothing more than an appreciation of curves and lips and remarkable eyes. When he’d realized that she’d not intended to come on the stagecoach before he’d arrived, he’d thought her amusingly and ironically imprudent. His opinion of her had been much like his opinion of Aurora—charming and foolish. And he’d believed he was indulging Prudence’s desire for an adventure, much like he would indulge his sister when he was not so very cross with her.
Now he wasn’t certain of anything, not one damn thing. He knew only that somehow, Prudence’s adventure had become his adventure.His!A man who had spent his childhood in the wilds of New York, who traveled alone to the Canadian border, across vast wilderness to look after their business. To think that he would find such adventure in sedate, pastoral England was absurd, but he had. In fact, it had been one of the biggest, most stunning adventures of his life. And he was a changed man for it.
He feared he would be a wounded man for it when it was all said and done. Oh, but Roan had meant what he’d said to her tonight—come to America, be his wife. The thought had gurgled up, bursting through the surface of his thoughts so clearly and precisely that he’d known without a doubt it had come directly from his heart.
There was, obviously, the glaring problem of Susannah Pratt. That would be an unpleasant task, and one certain to ruffle feathers. But Roan didn’t feel responsibility for Susannah. He didn’t reallyknowSusannah. Theirs was no love match—it was hardly even a civil match at this point. One day, she might even thank him. And if not, Roan didn’t care. He was willing to risk her disdain, his father’s displeasure, Mr. Pratt’s anger, for love.
He, Roan Matheson, would risk all for love. The world had flipped on its head and turned everything upside down.
And yet, the euphoria of his feelings was tampered by the pressing worry of Aurora. Roan had expected to find her here, or, at the very least, be told she’d just left. Gone a fortnight? Was Aurora ruined? Had she done something as spectacularly foolhardy as Prudence?
