Page 65 of The Duke's Stolen Heart
“What changed your mind?” she asked. The coach listed and groaned as the driver coaxed it into a complicated turn. They had a long road ahead of them. “I thought you never meant to marry.”
“The moment I stormed away from your bolt-hole, I felt keenly how much of a child I have been about this entire adventure,” he said ruefully. The laces of her boots snaked through the holes. Leather loosened and gaped. He tossed one onto the floor, then the other, and massaged her feet through her stockings. “I compelled you to participate in my scheme because I could not bring myself toaskfor your help. The same way I could not bring myself to talk with my grandmother. But the moment I did so, Toni? Lady Summervale welcomed me into her home.” He kissed her. “The Heart’s Cry was only ever a symbol. The real jewel was you, all along, Antonia.”
The woman who had won his heart rolled up. Her heel dug into his thigh as she shifted position to kneel on the seat beside him. “I think this breaks the curse,” she whispered, cupping his face between her hands and touching her forehead to his. “The real damage is done when we value status more than the people we love, as your father did when he disregarded your mother’s feelings and took a lover. Or when we value an expensive diamond and gold necklace over the meaning behind your mother’s giving you and your grandmother each one half. She wanted you to come together, didn’t she?”
“You are as perceptive as always, Miss Lowry.” His hands found their way beneath the white shirt to the laces of her too-tight stays. “Or, the special frustration of a mother toward a daughter who won’t concede to her elders.”
Antonia stilled. “I have been guilty of the same thing. But the moment I handed off that bag of money to the Webber family I knew I couldn’t run anymore. I can’t lie anymore. I don’t regret taking that path, though. Chasing my idea of freedom brought me to you, and I found it here, in your arms.”
Antonia brushed her lips over his. Malcolm felt that movement reverberate through his chest. He opened and tasted, seeking and finding. His equal in everything. His love.
“Princess,” he breathed, wondering how she would react to hearing her true name. “I cannot make you a princess in truth, but I will make you a duchess if you let me. Can that be enough?”
“Yes. I never wanted to be a princess, either in name or in title. I don’t care about the title, Malcolm, but since it comes with you I suppose I shall have to accept it.” She rocked back on her heels and grinned.
“You know what else it comes with, don’t you?” he chuckled.
“Fancy gowns?”
“Jewels,” he smiled wolfishly. “Lots and lots of jewels of every variety.”
Antonia threw back her head and laughed. “How very appropriate. I won’t need to steal them anymore.”
“No, your thieving days, Antonia, are over for good. You have already made off with the most valuable thing of all. My heart. I trust it to you for safekeeping.” Their kiss broke, and he whispered against her lips, “Forever.”
