Page 17 of Rakes & Reticules
”
The silence in the room was deafening. Would he ever give Roman an answer? He held his breath and prayed. He wouldn’t say no. Harwood couldn’t be that cruel.
Harwood sipped his brandy, then set the glass on his desk. “Why do you want to marry Athena?”
That answer was easy. Roman didn’t even have to think about it. “I love her.”
“I trust you have heard the rumors about my late wife.” Harwood held Roman’s gaze. He seemed to say, without speaking a word, that Roman had better give him an answer that wasn’t derogatory. The earl need not have worried.
“I don’t listen to gossip,” he told Harwood. “However, Athena has spoken to me about her mother and what some believe about her family. Even if there is some validity to that speculation, none of it matters to me. Athena’s happiness is my only concern, and I hope I’ll have the privilege of being a part of her life.”
Harwood grinned. “Good answer. Yes. You may marry my daughter.” The earl picked up his glass and saluted him with it. “However, it will not be a hasty wedding. The banns will be read, and it will be a proper ceremony. I do not want the ton speculating about anything and that means a special license is out of the question.”
“Agreed,” Roman answered. As long as she was his wife, in the end he would have agreed to any of the earl’s demands.
“Now go tell my daughter she can stop listening at the door,” the earl said. “And give her the news she was hoping for.”
Roman smiled and did as Harwood suggested. He set his glass of brandy down. It held no interest to him any longer. Then he strode to the door and yanked it open. The earl had been right. Athena was on the other side, pacing in front of the entrance to the study. She glanced up at him and lifted one brow expectantly.
“We’re going to get married,” he told her. “Start planning the wedding. The banns need to be read, and I’d prefer it to be as soon as possible.”
“Not too soon,” Harwood yelled from behind them. “No unnecessary rumors need to spread about this union.”
Athena grinned. “I think we can plan something acceptable in a couple of months. That gives us time to arrange for the banns and send out invitations.”
Roman wanted to kiss her, but he knew better than to do so in front of her father. “Let’s walk in the garden,” he suggested. “We can discuss our wedding some more and then I’ll depart to go visit my mother. She’ll need to be informed of my plans to make you my countess.”
She led him to toward the back entrance of the house. Once they were outside, they stopped. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her as he wanted to moments earlier. He pulled back. “I love you,” he told her.
“I love you as well. Now kiss me again,” she said. “You’re leaving soon and I don’t know when we will have a chance again.”
Roman would deny her anything. Especially something he desired as well. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers and savored her sweetness. The ton might believe she had charmed him, and perhaps she had, but he knew the truth. There was no other woman for him. They were fated. If that was magic, he would gladly thank whatever being gifted him the love of Athena. He couldn’t imagine loving another as much as he adored her.
EPILOGUE
THREE MONTHS LATER…
Athena stared at her husband. They had been married mere hours, but it seemed as if he had always been her husband. Roman had always been hers. She didn’t know how she knew that with any amount of certainty, but she did. They were at their wedding breakfast and soon they would depart for their wedding trip. Roman still had not told her where they were going. He wanted to surprise her.
“Are you happy?” he asked.
“Yes,” she told him. “As long as I am with you.” She realized that not every day would be as wonderful as this one. They would disagree at times. That was just part of life. Still, even then she would not regret marrying Roman.
“What do you make of that?” Roman gestured toward Maeve and the Viscount of Pemberton. “Does your sister know he’s a rogue and should be avoided?”
Athena studied Maeve and the viscount and then smiled. She had given her mother’s journal to her twin earlier that day. It was time to pass it on, and Maeve might find reading it beneficial. Athena had. “He’s a temptation. My mother did say one of the twins would face it.” That temptation would lead Maeve to love. The question, of course, was the viscount the temptation and did that mean Maeve would fall for him, or would he lead her to the one that she should fall for instead?
Roman sighed. “That’s what I fear,” he admitted. “He’s my friend, but if he hurts her…”
“You do not need to worry about Maeve,” she told him. “She is far more capable of protecting herself than most realize.” Athena glanced at her other sister. Isla looked miserable. She kept glancing toward the Duke of Thornridge when she thought he wasn’t looking. “Isla on the other hand…” She frowned. “It breaks my heart to see her so unhappy.”
“Perhaps your mother was right. This time of sorrow will lead her to where she belongs.” Roman glanced at Isla. “It is terrible to witness, but some things have to be endured to find out where we belong. She will be all right in time. I have to believe that.” He kissed her cheek. “During the war I experienced a lot of pain and loss, but when I made it through the worst of it I found you. This is Isla’s version of that war.”
Athena frowned. “I still don’t like it.”
“No one expects you to. That’s part of living through a hardship. Nothing about it is pleasant.” Roman lifted her hand and kissed her palm. “Your sisters have something few have.”
“What is that?” Athena asked.
“You,” he told her. “They have you, love. The three of you have a special bond that cannot be broken. So, if the worst should happen, lean on that. It will see you through almost anything.”
She nodded. Athena loved her sisters, and she would help them if they should need it. If what her mother had predicted was true, they had a lot more to endure. Maeve had the lure of temptation, and apparently Isla still had a heart to mend. She didn’t know who their love would end up being or what might lead them toward finding them, but she understood her sisters. They would be all right.
Athena glanced at Roman. “Thank you for loving me.”
“That, my love, is my pleasure.” Roman pressed his lips to hers.
Their life together was just beginning, and it was better than she could have imagined. Her destiny, her love, and this man…she couldn’t have asked for anything better.
* * *
