Page 28 of The Duke’s Scandal (Bluestocking Book Club #5)

Epilogue

I sobella did not know what to say. Her heart was roaring with both hope, anticipation, and fear, and yet, as much as she wanted to draw near to the Duke, the more her worries pulled her back.

“I swore I would be a spinster,” she said, eventually, the Duke’s thumb running backwards and forward over her hand. “I told myself that I have already endured too much pain and heartbreak to ever let myself have such hope again.”

The Duke leaned down just a little. “Do you mean to say, Isobella, that you have that hope all the same?”

Closing her eyes so that she could not see the fervency in his gaze, she nodded, her fears waging war against the swell of anticipation.

“I have begun to feel things I never wanted to feel again,” she admitted, forcing the words out.

“I have told myself that I am nothing but a fool, and still, such feelings endure.”

“I do not think you a fool.”

Her eyes opened.

“I think you the most wonderful young lady,” he swore, the fervency burning in his eyes beginning to swallow up her fears.

“You have such an honest, kind heart, a goodness within you that has reached into my very soul and taken hold of me. When these rumors first came to my ears, it was only you I thought of. I was so very afraid that you would believe them and that you would turn from me.” He smiled, and Isobella’s heart lurched.

“When you did not, the relief and the joy I felt were overpowering. Now, I confess to you that I think I am quite in love with you, Isobella. I want very much to court you – nay, to marry you, if you would have me! However, in understanding what you have suffered, if you choose to step back from this, then I swear I shall do nothing more. I will not pursue you, I will not beg you, I will not demand that you reconsider. Instead, I shall accept your decision and respect the distance you put between us.”

Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes.

Strangely enough, in saying such a thing to her, the Duke had revealed the truth of his heart to her.

He cared about her enough to state that, even if she refused him, even if it would cause him pain, he would respect what she determined.

Did that not speak of a genuine affection?

Could she not let herself trust this one last time?

“I – I do not want distance.” A single tear fell to her cheek, and she dashed it away quickly. “The thought of being apart from you is injurious to me.”

“Then will you accept my courtship?” he asked, the hope in his voice sending sparks of light into his eyes.

“If not, the offer of my hand? I am a Duke, after all, and I could fetch a Special License so we could marry tomorrow, if we wished!” Bending his head, he brought her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it.

“I want you to be able to trust in my love, Isobella. I swear to you, I will do anything you want, anything you need to prove to you that I will never step away from you. I am not like those other fellows, I swear it.”

Isobella considered him, her heart pulling free of the shadows of the past that bound it so tightly.

The Duke was not like as Lord Brookmire, Lord Pollock, and Lord Hogarth had been, she could see that.

She knew that, for in the time they had spent together, had he not always been honest and open with her?

This was what her heart had been trying to tell her for so long.

She could see that now, could see just how much she had tried to ignore it, had tried to hide it and dismiss it.

But no longer.

Her heart leapt up, the pain swallowed up by the profession of his love. With a soft smile and tears in her eyes, she stepped closer to him. “Yes.”

“Yes?” The Duke’s eyebrows shot upwards, a broad smile spreading across his face. “Yes to courtship? To marriage? To the Special License?”

She laughed and, despite the crowd, put her arms around his neck and let him hold her tightly.

What did it matter? They were to be married soon.

“Yes to it all,” she whispered in his ear, a joy like nothing she had ever felt before flooding her.

“Yes to courtship, yes to marriage, yes to the Special License if you wish it!” Leaning back, she looked into his eyes and smiled. “And yes, most of all, to love.”