Page 99 of If the Duke Dares
“You’re going to be a duchess,” Pandora whispered before giggling. “Our mother will be ecstatic and perhaps even green with envy.”
Persephone gave her sister’s arm a squeeze as her gaze found her parents once more. They’d made progress but were now in the line that had formed to congratulate the newly betrothed couple and their families.
“Should we invite them to stand with us?” Persephone asked. “If only to quiet any gossip? I think I’ve had enough of that.”
“You make a good point,” Pandora responded with a weary sigh. “I suppose so. But make them wait in line first, then they can stand on Aunt Lucinda’s other side.”
Persephone grinned. “Fair enough.”
A very long time later, Persephone finally had a moment alone with her betrothed. He secreted her into his mother’s private sitting room on the first floor. She immediately noticed the portrait of him. “That’s a wonderful painting of you. Would your mother let me steal it?”
After closing the door, Acton came up behind her and wrapped her in his arms. He kissed her neck, sending shivers of anticipation down her spine. “As it happens, the original is in London at Wellesbourne House. I just recently learned that any time I sat for a portrait, my father sent a copy to my mother. It was part of their arrangement when she left him.”
Persephone turned in his arms. “They had a formal arrangement?”
He nodded. “All this time, I thought, because I’d been told, that my mother took my sisters and left his household because she preferred to be away from him. I’d buried most of my memories, but being here with her and my sisters has brought them back.” His gaze held hers as he pulled her close. “Indeed, it was because of those memories that I realized I not only could love but I have. I loved my mother—love, as I still do—so much and I was devastated when she left. My father did everything he could to eliminate those emotions in me. He always said they made one weak, and a duke could not be weak.” Acton shook his head. “I can see now that he put a great many idiotic notions into my brain, including the right of someone of my station to behave only as I want without giving a damn what others may think or say. Orfeel.”
“Acton, you do give a damn. I’ve seen you.”
“Yes, but it apparently took a terrible situation in which a dear friend of mine was caught, and all our sins were laid bare. Then I met you, and your utter disgust with me was absolutely eye-opening. And vastly upsetting. I had to completely reevaluate myself. I’mstilldoing that and probably will be for some time. Do you know how difficult it was for me to come to you in your aunt’s garden? The old Acton was more than eager and delighted of course, but the new Acton had great hesitation.”
Persephone laughed. “Perhaps there are some benefits to the old Acton, provided his actions are directed entirely at me. But you’ve already promised that. To well over a hundred people.”
He grinned. “More than that, because you know it’s already being spread throughout Bath. Which was my intent. I need everyone to know, particularly the Mrs. Bertrams out there, that I am no longer on the market in any way. The only woman I want to flirt with, touch, kiss, and take to bed is you.”
“How far you’ve come,” Persephone murmured.
“I am becoming the man I want to be, the man I think I have been all along but whom my father sought to bury. He didn’t allow me to be soft or indeed feel deep emotion of any kind. And forget about attachment. That sort of nonsense is for lesser men.”
Her eyes were sad for a moment, but she smiled. “I’m so glad you aren’t that man. Being soft and feeling emotion makes you a greater man to me. I am also undergoing a transformation to be the woman I am meant to be, someone who snorts and laughs loudly, who doesn’t live under someone else’s expectations.” Narrowing her eyes, she gave him a saucy look. “Turns out Icansnare a duke.”
“In every way imaginable.” Acton’s eyes shone with love and admiration before he kissed her. It was a deep, soul-stirring kiss that she’d been craving since he’d proclaimed his love and devotion to her. She was breathless when they broke apart. “I suppose we have to return to the party.”
“We must, unless we want to arouse more gossip.”
“As I told Pandora earlier, I’ve had enough of that.”
“Will she still be leaving Bath?” he asked.
Persephone nodded. “After the wedding.”
When the line had broken up finally, they’d briefly discussed a timeline with Acton’s mother. The banns would be read at Bath Abbey on Sunday, and they would be married in three weeks’ time. It seemed forever—longer than they’d even known one another—but there were plans to make, and Persephone was glad for that time with Pandora before she left.
“Does that upset you?” Acton asked, his gaze soft with concern.
“No. It’s the right thing for her to do. But I am glad that you will get to know her before she leaves.”
“I am glad for that too.” He kissed her forehead. “What of your parents?” His tone took on a dark, sardonic quality.
“I told them they could attend the wedding and that was the only time I wished to see them. And I instructed them that they must send Pandora’s and my belongings here, and that if they don’t, you’ll be forced to send someone to collect them.”
“Brilliant,” he interjected with a grin.
Persephone shrugged. “They seemed happy, but I don’t know if that was for me or because they can now claim kinship with a duke.” Persephone rolled her eyes.
“I imagine they’ll be speaking to me about a financial arrangement.”
Persephone put her hand on his cheek. “Don’t you dare give them a shilling. Why did you visit them today anyway?”
