Page 95 of A Bride for the Devilish Duke
“I have cut my own income by destroying my father's legacy. There are still the lands around Redmane, the tenants there. But my circumstances will be reduced. I have sold much of the remaining property to compensate for the income I am losing. If it ever comes to it… I had thought about starting again.”
They reached the trap and he gently put Emma down on her feet. She swiped wet hair from her face, looking at Damien for a moment.
“Starting again? In England?”
Damien shook his head. “As a new man, alone, in America. No title. No history, and likely no status, at least to begin with. That is what this marriage had been building to. Could you accept a husband who is a... pauper?”
There was more hope in his voice than he would have liked. He did not want to be beholden. Or to come across as a beggar, desperate for Emma's companionship. But it could not be helped.
This is what he wished for above all else. Beyond wealth and reputation. This woman by his side. Would she accept him knowingwhatandwhohe was?
Her soaked dress clung to her, revealing her breasts and hips in scandalous and tantalizing ways. But Damien could not take his eyes from her face. Fresh with red cheeks and bright eyes. Hair dark from the water and hanging straight down her back. She was a pagan sorceress or a woodland spirit. Her true beauty was in her eyes. They seemed to glow with life, rendering her radiant. Damien fell to his knees before her.
“You spoke of being bewitched. It is I who has fallen under a spell. Fate brought us together. I have this one task to do. One more act of vengeance and then my mind, body, and soul, will forever belong to you. Will you accept me as an ordinary man? I can offer you nothing but a lifetime of struggle and my eternal devotion.”
Emma looked down at him for a long time and Damien felt his life hanging in the balance. He wavered on the knife's edge of the crossroads, knowing that if Emma chose one way, his life would be empty and lonely. If she chose another, then he would face kings, emperors, saints, or gods with head high, though he stood before them barefoot and ragged.
“I would accept you if you came to me... barefoot and ragged.”
Her plucking his own thoughts out of his head was enough to take his breath away. Truly, Emma was one half of an immortal soul, and he the other. He began to smile but she stepped closer, cupping his upturned face in her hands and putting a finger across his lips.
“Wait, my love,” she began. “Will you accept me, no matter what the circumstances or the conditions?”
Damien felt the ominous significance of her words.
She spoke precisely and from the heart.This was no fencing match of words between them.
Oh, Emma, what shackles do you seek to chain me with? What can I accept? Will you ask me to put aside my revenge? I have already broken my oath to Harry. Can I foreswear my quest for the sake of your love?
The answer came instantly to Damien's mind.Yes. When Emma spoke, Damien felt as though he were reliving a moment already passed. As though it were already a memory.
“Give up your revenge. Do not put yourself at risk any longer. I could not bear the thought of losing you. We can go to America or India or anywhere. I will live as a fisherman's wife, or a farmer or a beggar. But give it up.”
And allow my father to be revered. Allow his legacy to continue. Allow him victory in the end…
“I will.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Damien grinned, feeling as though he had never smiled as freely or as widely. He leaped to his feet and plucked Emma from hers, swinging her into his arms with a whoop. She laughed as he spun, putting her arms about his neck. Damien closed his eyes on the whirling woodland as his wife's lips found his. He stopped, holding her wet, slender body close, willing his own warmth into her. The kiss left them both breathless and Emma's eyes stole from him what little he had left.
“How did I ever think I could live a lie with you? A marriage of convenience indeed!” Damien chuckled.
“Because you are a foolish man, but no longer,” Emma replied.
“Ha! I am still foolish. I can promise that much. I am sure there will be times when you wish to knock my head against a wall to put some sense into it.”
“Doubtless.”
Damien strode to the trap, a dozen yards away, and lifted Emma into it. She shivered.
“This may be a pleasant summer morning but the air cuts through these wet clothes as though it were November. Could we raise the canopy?”
Damien did so, pulling the oiled leather hood up over the seat before pulling himself up onto the trap. He took off his overcoat and made to put it around Emma's shoulders. She halted him and instead draped it across their laps like a blanket before pressing herself against him. Damien put his arms around her.
“I must have my hands free to drive, “ he noted.
“Then do not drive. For now. The Regent is occupied with Sir Thomas. There is no urgent business to take us back to Redmane,” Emma sighed.
