Page 46 of The Duke's Improper Bride
She leaned across and grasped his hand in hers. “But you’re my family, Danny. I f-found you. I l-love you as if you were my o-own brother.”
“London doesn’t deserve you,” he said on a sigh.
She pulled back, jumping to her feet to look out the window onto the city beyond. She heard Isaac moving in his room. She had missed that, the sounds of him in the morning as he dressed. Or how he hummed as bounced down the stairs for coffee in the breakfast room. She had missed him sleeping there beside her and the warmth of his body surrounding hers.
The problem was that she was entirely in love with her husband. Which, she discovered, wasn’t a problem at all.
“London,” she huffed. “I am b-barely a tolerable wife. I am no duchess, Danny.”
He barked out a laugh that startled her until she too laughed. She turned to him, crossing her arms.
“I feel as if I should remind you that you broke into an asylum to rescue me and a dying boy and brought all three of us to safety. You’re worried about London ballrooms, but those stuffy matriarchs and debutantes are no match you, darling. You’ll win them over in time, but it’s not a reason for running.”
“I wa-wasn’t running.”
He joined her. “You’ve been running since your accident. You found love despite of it. But don’t let your stutter be the reason why you hide away for the rest of your life.”
She knew he was right. She knew her husband had been right, and honestly, she was beginning to believe it for herself. But still, what if they laughed? What if she became nothing but another silly duchess satirized in the gossip rags or shunned out of ballrooms or from fancy dinners?
“What makes us different isn’t a weakness, it’s our strength, Nora.” He drew her in for a hug. “Now, go back to that ridiculously handsome husband of yours. It’s time Alex and I leave.”
Nora wiggled out of his hold and playfully slapped his shoulder. “You’re not leaving.”
“Isn’t that what you came to have tea with me for to discuss?” Again, he laughed, and she couldn’t fight back the smile.
“You’re too clever, Danny.”
A knock sounded at the door before Isaac popped his head in. “Good morning.” His voice was all business but the light in his eyes was playful. Something else Nora had come to miss dearly.
She waved him in. “Danny was telling me he was about to leave.”
“Come to London with us,” Isaac said. “I can have you put up in a safe spot, see the boy has a doctor and continues to recover.”
“That offer is more than generous,” Danny said. “But we’ll be staying here. The boy’s mother died in the asylum, and he’s determined to find his father.”
“And you’re guessing his father is here in Liverpool?”
“He has his father’s signet ring. A nurse suggested it might belong to a peer with an estate in Lancashire.”
“I could help while you’re in London,” Isaac insisted. “The men your father hired aren’t going to rest until they find you.”
“Danny, come to London with us.”
He shook his head. “No, duchess, I don’t think I will. I made a promise to Alex’s mother that I’d see him safe. Finding his father is the first step in figuring out how. We’ll stay here in the city.”
Nora gazed between her husband and her friend. Both beautifully determined, both who seemed to believe she was capable. What her inner voice told her for her entire life.
“I’ll miss you dearly,” Nora said softly. “But if you’re to stay here, I think it’s time to return to London with my husband.”
Isaac wrapped his arm around her, kissing the top of her head.
“You should do more than go to London, dear,” Danny said. “You’ll conquer it if I know you.”
Epilogue
London, Six months later
Isaac had never hosted an event like tonight. His own gallery for guests to walk through as they entered the ball. But tonight was no ordinary night—it was the first ball hosted by the Duke and Duchess of Ashbornham.
