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“M aybe it’s time to pension me off.” Truly spoke with little censure the following morning after inviting Dalliance for breakfast.

“Except I never paid for you,” Dalliance said.

“I didn’t just come for breakfast; I came to tell you the truth.

Truly, I posted it for the both of us. I wasn’t thinking clearly, and I didn’t expect us to be…

us. And, yes, I know how that sounds. My only defense is that I knew it would help you as well as me. ”

She chose to ignore everything he was trying to say. “If I use the current price of a worthy courtesan, that would come to a sum total of…” She paused, looking toward the ceiling and calculating the sum.

“Five thousand pounds.”

“Nicely done. Of course, you would know.”

“That should have been my statement, love.”

“I’m not your love. I never was.”

“Is that what this is? You question whether I love you?”

“No, I question your motives. I doubt love ever played a factor.”

“And what were your motives?”

She shook her head, tears threatening her with a sharp, cruel sting. “You’re name is well earned no matter what you say. You made me a mistress, Dalliance. If that is so, then I’ll expect an accounting and a bank note delivered tomorrow.

He scratched his head. “And jewelry, I suppose.”

“Don’t be an arse.” For a flicker of a moment, she thought she saw pain in his eyes.

She wasn’t ready to give him a chance to explain.

He spurned her love, her trust, her everything.

The stakes had always been high. She found herself wondering if this was what her mother had felt like, except Dalliance was not married.

“Shall I call you out for a duel? Or just torture you?”

“You may do whatever you want with me, Truly. But if you must know, I’m a little tired of the game. I’d like for once to be loved, adored, cared for, instead of chased as entertainment.”

Her heart melted a little. “Can you deny that you didn’t think about it? The daughter of a courtesan? She must be easy to please or at least biddable.”

He leaned against the sofa, his arms braced, his biceps more than she could handle to look at, although he wasn’t hiding the fact that he was looking at her entirely, everything, from her head to her feet. Subconsciously, she pulled her peeking slippers under her dress.

“You’re not denying it.”

He cocked that infuriating brow at her, and his mouth did that crooked little smile that drove her mad. “Have you looked at yourself in a mirror?”

“What?”

“A mirror. Have you seen yourself lately?”

“Why? Do I look like a shrew?”

He unfolded his arms and strolled toward her, the chiseled smile gone, his footfalls beating like a drum in her heart. “A mirror.” He twirled her about by the shoulders, leading her like a misbehaved child out the parlor door and up the stairs.”

She felt shaky inside. “I’ve seen myself.”

“Lately?” He continued past her, taking her hand and now pulling her along up the staircase, her dress catching under her feet. He turned quickly, gripped her skirt, and shoved a handful of fabric into her hand, then, without a word, continued on as she scurried to keep up with his lead.

She swallowed as he threw open the door to her bedchamber. “I’ve looked.”

“And what did you see?” He turned abruptly, his hands on his lean hips, his eyes searching hers without menace or even anger. He simply looked frustrated. “A skeleton, perhaps?”

“Don’t tease me. I’m angry with you, Arlington.”

“Finally.” He threw up his arms before they landed on his hips again. “She calls me Arlington.”

“You don’t think I have reason to believe you saw me as a courtesan?” She could hardly think with him standing there, the self-loathing facade lost to her confusion and the telltale beat of her heart.

“You have all the reason, my dear. You are bloody beautiful. Fortified to the gills with womanly attributes that men would lie, cheat, and steal to get a peek at. And you don’t believe it.

You don’t see it because you are so distracted by this silly game.

You told me once there is no vengeance in you. Is that still true?”

Subconsciously, she felt behind her for an emotional place to fall when all she wanted to do was fall into his arms. “I’m…I’m not sure.”

“You want to take revenge on me?”

She tried to nod but only accomplished a small hiccup.

When he took a step forward, she didn’t wait for him to wrap her in a hug; she slipped her arms around him, and he brought her in. His warm palm cradling her cheek, his heart beating wildly beneath her ear were like a balm to her searching soul.

“Arlington, what are we doing?”

“I have my suspicions, sweet.”

“Are we falling in love? Or is it just me?”

“It’s not just you, love.”

“I said once that I wasn’t your love, though I admit I like thinking otherwise. But I don’t need you to make everything right. I don’t even need my brother for that. It’s all so demeaning.”

D alliance understood her better than she thought.

“I know you don’t want to be rescued by a man, but I challenge you to ask why.

Who is of stronger character? The one who refuses to find refuge in someone she trusts and loves?

Or someone who uses every weapon in her arsenal against unhappiness, pain, hurt, and people who think those with an important name are fair play.

Don’t sell yourself so short that you believe that love is a weakness. ”

“Oh, Arlington, I don’t believe it’s a weakness.

It is the greatest strength and the greatest pain one can know, and because of that, it’s all the more worth it.

Don’t you see? You’re right when I say I don’t want to be rescued by a man, and maybe it’s because of my mother.

Or, perhaps it’s because I want to do the rescuing for a change. ”

He smiled then, his heart bursting, his soul screaming to be loved by her.

“Then rescue me, Truly. Rescue me from myself, from a world I didn’t have a choice in either.

There are those who think I have everything, but I was nothing until you.

I had no greater purpose until you strolled into my life. ”

“You tripped me into it.” She smiled, running her hands up his arms and around his neck.

“I think I was the one who fell first, for a woman who made me laugh and didn’t give a damn who I was.”

“I love you, Arlington Fox, and I cannot wait to marry you if only you’d ask.”

He started to laugh, and then he wanted to cry when she held his hand over her heart.

“Right here. You live right here.” She kissed him softly, a promise greater than a frenzied libido. This was patience and goodness and life.

He pulled away and strode to the secretary. He primed a quill and scribbled a note on a piece of paper.

“What are you doing?”

“Asking someone to be my wife.”

“I’m standing right here.”

He looked over his shoulder, a mischievous smile stretched across his face. “Did I say it was you? I looked in a mirror this morning.”

“And what did you see?” Her tone was playful, full of joy. “A skeleton?”

“No. I saw four hardy sorrels.”

She giggled. “I’ve heard women compared to horseflesh, but that’s ridiculous.”

He handed her the note, grinning ear to ear.

Truly opened it, watching him as she unfolded it, and then she read it. “This is for the footman.” Her lovely brows were knit.

“Read on.” He fanned his fingers toward the note.

“Have the horses put to and ready to leave for Gretna Green by noon.” She looked up slowly.

“Is it shameful that I don’t want to wait for a godawful circus of a celebration here?”

She shook her head silently, and he was surprised to see a tear forming in her eye and a little quivering frown.

“It’s whatever you want, Truly.”

“I just want you, Arlington. I’m not upset.” She shook the note. “I’m happy.”

With his thumb, he wiped a tear from her cheek. “Are you certain?”

She nodded, throwing her arms around his neck, then pulling back just as quickly. “We need to get this to your coachman poste haste. And while they ready everything, I am writing a piece for the scandal sheets.”

“And what will it say?”

“It is rumored that the Duke of Dalliance has run off with his mistress to Gretna Green. But that is of no surprise to his soon-to-be Duchess since he was, and is, the only Dalliance she ever wanted.”