“Your Grace, please wait!” the butler called out.
“Winnie!” Richard rushed into the room, his head swiveling left to right in search of her until finally his gray gaze landed on her.
She stood, walking to the center of the room, ready to face whatever he had to say. Winnie would be strong like her aunt and her mother. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here for you, for our child. Why did you leave?” he asked, stepping toward her.
She noticed Davis leaving the Ladies’ Parlor, shutting the door quietly. Beside her, her aunt sat down at her mother’s feet, the both of them watching intently.
Hope dashed through her, but she felt foolish. She’d felt it once before the previous night, and it was false. “I am not in the habit of staying where I’m not wanted. You made it perfectly clear that you don’t want me or this child. I am freeing you, Richard, and we will leave Brown Manor. You can carry on with whatever you have planned.”
“No, Winnie.” He looked over at her aunt and her mother before turning back to her. “I left because I realized I was no better than Graham and my grandfather. I was so ashamed that I needed to clear my head, so I went riding in Hyde Park for hours. When I returned, Barrington informed me that you had left for Brown Manor an hour earlier. I rode like the devil to catch you.”
“It doesn’t matter. I will find us other accommodations, and you can be free of me, of us.” She placed her hand on her stomach, her heart breaking in two.
Winnie had already noticed the slight bump of her abdomen, which was barely noticeable to anyone who knew her. However, to her it was proof that someone wonderful really was inside of her.
Richard stepped forward, taking her hands. “I’ve been a damned fool. I thought if I took Brown Manor from Graham’s widow, it would diminish the embarrassment that I felt from allowing him and Esther to get the best of me. But when I met you, you captured me wholly and completely, and I never want to be away from you. Brown Manor is yours to do with as you please, as my heart is also yours.”
“Richard, you must be certain. I could not bear it if you weren’t certain,” she said through a fresh wave of tears.
He dropped to one knee. “I’ve never been more certain about anything in my life, my goddess. Marry me, Winnie?”
Winnie couldn’t say anything. She just stared at him stiff and silent. For a moment she saw panic trace over his handsome face.
“Say something, girl!” her aunt shouted from the other side of the room.
Tears streamed down Winnie’s face as the smile that spread across her lips was so wide she could feel the stretch in her cheeks. She looked at him with crisp blue eyes. “Yes!”
She rushed to him, wrapping her arms around him. On his knees, he and Winnie were practically the same height, but now he was the shorter one. He brought Winnie closer, and she knelt down, pressing her lips to his, sealing their forever with happiness.
“Goodness, he is a beast of a man, is he not, Tori?” she heard her aunt ask aloud as she continued to kiss the man she loved, not caring one fig about propriety.
“Indeed, Ana. I wasn’t aware they made gentlemen so large,” her mother’s voice carried to them, and Winnie had heard enough.
Laughter bubbled out of her at her mother’s and aunt’s comments.
Richard chuckled, looking over at the women. He stood to his fool height, facing her other and aunt. “Ladies, allow me to introduce myself. I am Richard, the Duke of Richmore, and I am in love with Winnie.”
“Well, this is exciting!” her aunt said, clapping her hands.
“We’re having a baby and a wedding!” her mother exclaimed, wiping her tears away with her knuckles.
Winnie laughed, so thrilled at that moment, and all she had to do was cause a scandal with a scoundrel.
The End.
