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Connor’s scowl darkened and his bottom lip pooched out farther. “Why can you not marry me? Give me one good reason. Our ages do not matter. Father had wives that were a whole lot younger than him. We would just be the other way round, with you being the old one and me being the young one.”

Wolfe was impressed with his brother’s reasoning. He tipped his head and winked at Grace. It was her turn to respond.

She narrowed her eyes at him the slightest bit, thrilling him to no end. With a barely perceptible roll of her shoulders, she turned back to Connor. “By the time you reach the marriageable age of one and twenty, I will be a very old five and thirty—much too ancient to marry.”

Connor eyed her for a long moment. “Wolfe is six and thirty, and Lady Margaret still plans to marry him. You should have heard her and her mother at breakfast today.” He pointed at his former rocky prison.

“Me and Sissy would rather live in that hole than stay with Wolfe ’cause she is sure to get worse once she is the duchess for real. ”

“Your brother needs you now more than ever. You must be brave and stay at his side.” Grace gave the lad such a shaming look that even Wolfe felt a wave of guilt.

Sissy sidled closer to her brother. “We still love him, but we can’t protect him from those mean women. We are naught but children, and they intend to send us away.” She nodded at Wolfe. “He’s heard them say so. All we can do is aggravate them until they get their way and get rid of us.”

“No one is sending anyone away.” Wolfe had heard enough. “And Connor, you should cherish the loving friendship Lady Grace so generously offered. A true friend, one you can trust with your life, is as rare as a priceless diamond.”

“But I want to marry her,” Connor said.

“Connor.” Grace took hold of the lad’s hands once again. “I love you as a friend, but not as a man I wish to marry, so I fear I must refuse you. Some day you will understand. I promise.”

“But I will never meet another woman like you.” Connor tugged on her hands, his dark eyes glistening with unshed tears.

“I should hope not,” Grace said, obviously attempting to lighten the moment. “And my brother would tell you to consider yourself fortunate on that count, because I embarrass him at every opportunity.”

The boy turned to Wolfe with a dark look that warned trouble was brewing. “ You marry her, then.”

Wolfe almost choked on his own air. Not brave enough to witness Grace’s reaction, he kept his focus locked on his little brother. “What?”

“You heard me,” the boy said. “You marry Lady Grace. She can’t refuse you because you are too young.”

“Your brother can’t marry me,” Grace said, sounding mournful enough to give Wolfe some hope.

“He is betrothed to Lady Margaret.” She motioned for the children to move along, trying to herd them like a pair of wayward lambs.

“Come, now. Let’s get you back to Broadmere for tea and cakes in the kitchen.

You can give Gastric and the other dogs their treats, then play with Lucy’s puppies before it’s time for you to return home. ”

“Can Hector and Galileo come along too?” Sissy asked.

“Of course,” Grace said. “We can’t very well leave them here, now can we?”

Connor shook his head and planted his feet. “I ain’t going anywhere until you promise to marry my brother, since you refuse to have me.”

“I can’t promise to marry your brother,” Grace said in an even tone that revealed the slightest strain of her attempt to maintain control.

“Why not?” Wolfe asked her. He captured her blue-eyed gaze and intended to hold it until she agreed.

If his little brother was courageous enough to speak his own mind, he should be as well.

“After this terrible morning, I have decided to end the engagement to Lady Margaret—no matter the cost. That betrothal will no longer be an impediment or a grounds for your refusal of me.”

She stared at him, her mouth slightly ajar.

Connor tugged on his sleeve. “I think she would’ve been more impressed had you gone down on one knee.

Father did that with that last woman he was going to marry, and after Lady Whatever-Her-Name-Was said yes, old Feebson helped him get back up again.

Course, you do have that bad knee from the war, so maybe that would be bad form too.

You might get stuck like Father did. But you could still say something nice to get her to say yes.

” The boy nudged him, trying to push him closer to Grace.

“Me and Connor could help you up,” Sissy told him.

She turned an angelic smile on Grace. “Will you tell him yes if he gets down on one knee and asks you really nice? He prolly still won’t say anything all soft and pretty like Prince Charming says to his lady love, but you could pretend Wolfe was all gallant and such, just like in the storybooks. ”

Wolfe groaned and hung his head.

Grace snorted, her shoulders trembling with poorly stifled laughter.

Determined to prove them all wrong and take control of the situation, Wolfe moved to stand in front of her and took her hand.

“My siblings are correct. If I kneel, my knee will either lock or give out. Neither choice is good whenever that happens.” He pressed a tender kiss to her knuckles and tugged her a step closer.

“Grace— my Grace, I think you hopelessly trapped my cold, jaded heart on our very first meeting. No woman ever put me in my place before or so thoroughly convinced me that place was at her side.” He resettled his footing, grinning when she caught hold of his arm as if to stop him from kneeling.

“You see? You do care for me—or at least for my knee. Might I dare hope you care half as much for my heart that you have awakened?” He had never realized how blue her eyes were until that very moment.

A man could spend a lifetime in those eyes of hers.

He touched her cheek, then slid his fingers into the silky wildness of her hair.

“Say yes, Grace. Please? It will take a little while for the issue with Lady Margaret to be sorted, but at least say yes for now so I might have the hope of us to give me strength.”

She wet her lips, making him ache to taste them once again if two seven-year-old chaperones were not watching with such avid interest. Her eyes narrowed the slightest bit, as if sighting in a target.

“You should not speak of such things until free to do so, Your Grace,” she finally said in a breathless whisper she apparently hoped would stay between them.

Your Grace. A heavy sigh left him. She had addressed him as Your Grace .

Even as thick-skulled as he was, he recognized it as the gentle reprimand that it was.

He had insulted her by speaking out of turn and should not have done so.

Damn his lack of patience when it came to something he wanted, and heaven help him, but he wanted her.

He let his hands drop to his sides, bowed his head, and took a step back. “Forgive me, my lady. You are correct. I spoke out of turn and was quite thoughtless.”

“What did she say?” Connor moved closer, as did Sissy. He peered up at Wolfe, then turned to Grace. “What did you tell him, Lady Grace? Did you tell him no ?”

Grace eyed them both, then reached out and straightened Sissy’s ebony curls and tousled Connor’s black thatch of hair. “I told him now was not the appropriate time to ask, since he is still bound to another.”

“But he said he’s done with Lady Margaret,” Sissy said.

Connor bobbed his head in agreement. “And when my brother says he’s done with something, he means it. You should see his temper when he’s had enough. He’s—”

“Connor, you are not helping!” Wolfe scrubbed a hand across his face, then raked his fingers through his hair.

Grace had turned away with her head bowed.

“Grace…Lady Grace…I am…” Gads, he was such a fool, and enough was enough.

He refused to lose this precious woman. He took hold of her shoulders, turned her to face him, and gently tilted her face up to his.

Merriment filled her eyes, and her face had gone red from holding in her laughter.

Relief flooded through him, along with the urge to kiss the wily minx senseless. “You think this humorous, my lady?”

She hissed with mirth, then covered her mouth to stop it. After delicately clearing her throat, she tried to assume a solemn expression. “Indeed, I do, Your Grace.”

“I need you to agree to marry me, woman. I know it is not the proper time to ask, but I have never been a proper man, and dare I say, since you are a most unconventional—yet quite pure and upright—lady, you should do me the courtesy of giving me a solid yes at this very moment.”

Both her fair brows rose in mock astonishment. “Should I now?”

“Indeed, you should.”

She tipped a graceful nod. “I will marry you when you are free of your entanglements. However ”—she lifted a finger, pointed at him, then aimed it at Connor and Sissy—“we must not speak of this around anyone. Especially the servants. It would be most unsavory for this to be tattled across the countryside. Understood?”

Thrilled beyond measure, he hugged her close and kissed the finger she still held in the air as if it were a weapon.

“Agreed. It will be our secret until the proper time to share it.” He gave the twins a stern look.

“Mine and Lady Grace’s reputations depend on you two not speaking about this to anyone.

It must be our closely guarded secret until all the legalities and ties with the Longmorten family have been seen to.

Do you both understand the seriousness of this matter?

Can I trust you to protect this wonderful news and keep it away from those who would use it to try to destroy our good names? ”

The children nodded, then dove in and hugged Grace. “You are going to be ours!” Sissy crowed.

“This is almost as good as me marrying you!” Connor shouted.

Grace laughed and wrapped an arm around them while still hugging close to Wolfe. For the first time in his life, he felt complete. This was right and good and as things should be.

While he hated for the wondrous moment to end, it was time they returned and assumed their roles of secrecy. “We should get back now,” he said with a heavy sigh. “Many are worried about you two,” he told the children.

“If anyone is worried about us,” Sissy said, “it’s only Lady Grace’s household. I’d wager Lady Margaret and her mum are dancing a jig ’cause we’re gone.”

Grace patted his chest, then stepped away and steered the children toward the easiest incline to exit the gorge.

“Come, now. Sissy, you and Galileo may ride with me and Gastric. Connor, fetch Hector and help him. You and he can ride with Wolfe.” She flinched.

“Oh dear. I need to let Serendipity know we found them.” She placed her fingers against her mouth and split the air with a deafening whistle.

“There. She should turn this way now and see Pegasus and Barberry.”

“Can you teach me how to whistle like that?” Connor asked, his voice filled with awe.

“Only if you promise not to tell my brother,” she said. “Chance hates it when I do that. It is not exactly a ladylike accomplishment.”

Wolfe laughed as he picked up poor, short-legged Gastric and carried him up the embankment while the other hounds bounded past them. “Let me help you, old fellow. After all, I owe you a great deal.” He smiled at Grace as he shifted the wiggly dog in his arms. “I owe him everything.”

When she gifted him with a shy, adoring smile, a rush of emotions flooded his senses. Yes, indeed. This rocky gully fenced in by brambles and woodbine was paradise on earth.