Page 58 of The Duke of Kisses
“We can overcome difficult,” he said. “I am breaking a promise I made to my father, and I would do it a thousand times to be with you.”
His words filled her with joy and hope, but also grounded her with worry. “How can you be so certain?”
“Because I am. I told you I loved you.”
She’d thought she was falling in love with him, but had then spent the last several weeks banishing him from her mind. And yet seeing him today brought all the emotion she’d tried to bury rushing back over her. He was a song in her heart and a bird taking flight.
“I love you too,” she said softly.
His brow gathered into a tight pleat. “Then why won’t you marry me?”
She wanted to tell him, but the words just wouldn’t come.
“Tell me, Fanny. You owe me that.”
Sheowedhim? Her eyes narrowed as irritation sprouted in her chest. “I am not beholden to you for anything.”
He exhaled, his features relaxing briefly. “No, you’re not. But if I love you and you love me, you can’t just tell me we can’t be married and not give an explanation.” His gaze hardened with determination. “I’m not going to give up easily. Not when I know you love me.”
How could she walk away from that? “It’s more than our shared family history. When I mentioned your mother earlier, I was referring to a conversation we had before I left London.”
His face paled. “Is that why you left so abruptly? What did she say to you?”
“It was after that man—I don’t remember his name—challenged Mr. Royston to a duel. You’d left the ball, and she came to introduce herself. She brought up…things from my sister’s past. Things people don’t know.” Fanny bent to pick up her sketchbook and turned toward the pond. “The mention of a duel had people talking. About West.”
“I heard about that. He called a man out for insulting your sister.” He took a step toward her. “Fanny, I don’t care that your father is a cabinetmaker.”
She glanced at him but returned her focus to the water. It was easier not to look at him. “That’s not the real reason he insulted Ivy. They met here in Yorkshire more than a decade ago. Ivy fell in love with him, and he asked her to marry him. She…gave herself to him, thinking they would be wed. She’s the first one to tell you it was foolish, but I daresay I understand how one might be carried away.” She cast him another sidelong glance as heat crept up her neck.
“He got her with child and refused to marry her. When my parents found out, they banished her. She ended up in a workhouse where she birthed the babe, but it didn’t survive. A kind patroness took pity on her and found her work as a companion. Eventually, she ended up working for Lady Dunn.” She turned to face him then, her insides a tumult of anguish and anger for what had happened to Ivy. Yes, she’d made a mistake, but who among them hadn’t? Ivy had more than paid for trusting the wrong man.
“I would want to kill Bothwick too,” David said softly, his voice a dangerous thread.
Fanny appreciated his loyalty to her sister. “Apparently, his mother, Lady Bothwick, is a friend of your mother’s. If I marry you, your mother will tell everyone Ivy’s secret. I can’t let that happen, David. I will do anything to protect my sister—even walk away from you.”
His stare was dark but compassionate. “Which is what you did.”
She nodded. A moment passed, and she watched his expression alter.
His lip curled, and his eyes were a thunderstorm. “I won’t let her say a word.”
“How can you stop her?”
“No one will believe it.” He sounded certain, and Fanny wished she shared his confidence. “Your sister is a duchess.”
“And your mother is a countess,” she said. “Ivy is already looked at with derision by some because of our family, because my father is in trade. It may not matter to you, but it matters to others.”
“Why should we care what others think?”
“Perhaps we shouldn’t, but I won’t put Ivy through that sort of notoriety, nor will I subject her children to it. They’re too young to know anything now—and one isn’t even yet born—but the past would follow them.” Fanny clutched her book to her chest. “Furthermore, West’s behavior before he married Ivy was less than esteemed by those who think themselves superior. People won’t think twice about denigrating his wife.”
“My mother will keep quiet. I’ll make sure of it.” His eyes were cool, his tone firm.
His assurance gave her no comfort. Maybe it was because she couldn’t forget the nastiness of his mother’s demeanor. She’d been so cavalier and disparaging. She searched his face, needing a definitive answer. “How? She was rather adamant I leave you alone. She thinks I’m utterly beneath you, David. How are we to have a marriage when your mother thinks that?”
She recalled that her mother despised Ivy’s husband, and it didn’t matter. Except Ivy didn’t have a relationship with her mother. David did. “Are you and your mother close?” Fanny asked.
He looked past her, perhaps at the mother pintail duck. “Not as close as I was to my father, but I thought we were, yes.” His gaze found hers again. “However, since my father died, things have been strained. It was such a shock for both of us. This promise I made to my father seems to be very important to her.”
