Page 157 of Doxy for the Ton
“Who currently resides at number 16 Grosvenor Square?”
The hard edge to her voice couldn’t disguise her pain.
“A copper merchant called Mr. Chinwell and his family,” he said. “Pleasant enough, but I preferred the previous tenant.” Then he caught her meaning. “Mimi, surely you didn’t think that I would establish another…”
Her color deepened, and her lips began to tremble.
“Do you not know, Mimi, that from the moment I first laid eyes on you, that first morning”—he pulled her closer—“that first morning in my bed, when you were at peace, asleep, free from the façade of the…of the…”
“The doxy?” she whispered.
“That was the moment you first revealed yourself to me. For when a person is asleep, their true self emerges. I saw you then, Mimi, and I have loved you from that moment. With every minute we’ve shared since then I have grown to love you more, even if I was too foolish to see it. There exists only one glimmer of hope for this sad soul kneeling before you today, my love—and that is the hope that you will take care of me as you have always done for those fortunate to know you—as my duchess.”
“And your friends?” she asked. “Your reputation?”
“What would I care of reputation when I’d have you?” he said. “Besides, there are few whose opinion I care for. I would fight to the ends of the earth to ensure you are given what is due to you—respect, admiration…”
His voice trailed off, and she tilted her head to one side.
“So itwasyou,” she said. “The property in Brighton.”
“I needed a little help, but Westbury and his son were willing to oblige.”
“Edward Drayton?” she asked.
“Do I have cause to be jealous?” he said. “That young puppy is smitten with you.”
“I don’t lovehim.”
His heart soared with hope at her words. “Then might I begin to hope that success is within my grasp? Can you bring yourself to love this tormented soul before you—to make him worthy?”
She paused, and Alexander’s heartbeat pulsed in his ears. Then, at length, a slow smile curved her lips.
“To make you worthy?” Her eyes sparkled with mischief. “I daresay, after establishing this school, I am ready for a much greater challenge.”
“Then…” He held his breath in anticipation.
“Yes,” she said. “My answer is yes.”
The crowd erupted into applause. Alexander rose to his feet and lifted her into his arms. He claimed her mouth, and she parted her lips for him. What surer gesture could she make to affirm her love? She had been willing to sell her body—to sell everything, except the one thing she was unprepared to give.
A kiss—the most intimate of gestures, and in gifting it, she gave him her heart.
Epilogue
Sawbridge Church, one month later
“Inow pronounceyou man and wife.”
Mimi’s heart fluttered as the vicar spoke the words that bound her forever to the man beside her.
She turned to face the groom, and, slowly, as if he wished to savor the anticipation, he lifted her veil. A spark of desire glimmered in his eyes, and her body pulsed with pleasure at the memory of his ministrations last night when he’d slid into her bedchamber and lifted her night rail with the same delicate touch.
But last night, he had kissed her somewhere far more scandalous than her mouth, his skilled tongue making her cry his name into the night. Then he’d slipped out of her bedchamber, leaving her wanting, with a promise of a resumption of his attentions on their wedding night.
He brushed his lips against hers and gave a self-satisfied smile.
She suppressed a laugh.
