His smile beamed with empathy. “Anything. Name it.”
“Will you provide me a letter of reference to aid me in my employment search?”
“No. Not that.”
His rejection threatened her knees further. She pushed his finger from her quivering chin. “Why not?”
Steadman captured her resistant hand, stepped nearer still, and brought it to his lips. She watched in mute shock as he kissed her hand gently before lowering it. “Because I hope to offer you a different role.”
“What role?”
The warm gaze he sent into her soul surpassedthe look, igniting a flurry of embers that roared to life. He smiled until crow’s feet appeared at the corners of his eyes. “As the future Lady Atwood.”
A gasp followed by a flurry of whispers beyond the curtain mirrored her reaction. Lady Atwood? What was he saying? What was he doing? She stumbled for a reply but found only a single word. “Why?”
“I cannot imagine,” he said, “becoming a lord without you by my side. You are the truest friend I have ever had and the sweetest love I have ever known. The fact that my best friend is also my true love amazes me beyond comprehension.”
“But you could have any woman.” She attempted to tug her hand free of his but failed against his persistent grip. “You can have better than me.”
“No.” His denial was firm but gentle. “You are wrong about yourself. In all my travels across the length and breadth of this kingdom, I have never encountered another woman more beautiful, more courageous, and more engaging than you. Never have I found such self-sacrifice and compassion paired with such wit and determination. Perhaps you are correct that I may have any woman of my choosing. If so, then I choose you.” He paused. “If, that is, you would have a mildly reformed scoundrel as a husband. Only if you can possibly love me as I am.”
Euphoria rose within Morgan to dispel the doubt, darkness, and uncertainty in an explosion of light that culminated in a spontaneous laugh from the depths of her lungs. “Steadman. You stupid man. Of course, I love you. I have loved you since the moment I first saw you. Imagine my amazement when we also became friends.”
“I do not need to imagine, for I feel the same.”
She inhaled a breath when he descended to a knee with her fingers still in his grip. Her free hand flew to her mouth, and tears pricked her eyes. His smile grew larger, if that were possible, revealing the depth of his dimples.
“Marry me, Morgan Brady, and never leave me friendless again.”
Aunt Meg had a coughing fit behind the curtain. Morgan tugged Steadman’s hand to draw him upright, a maneuver that appeared to surprise him. “Iwillmarry you, Mr. Drew.”
“Despite my rogue nature?”
“No. Because of it.”
He laughed—unrestrained and joyous. “Then as a rogue of the first order, it is only fitting that I play the part.”
He lifted her from the floor into an intimate, secure embrace until her lips met his, an everlasting promise of miraculous days to come.
Epilogue
“How does one interrogate an earl? What was the magistrate thinking when sending me?”
Steadman watched his nervous wife as her hands fidgeted at her waist. He shook his head. Morgan had never appeared more beautiful, dazzling in an evening gown and elbow-length satin gloves, her long neck draped with a string of emeralds. He reeled her into an embrace and kissed her forehead tenderly.
“Just be yourself.”
“That is exactly my fear. And I am not sure this dress disguises that I am with child.”
He sighed into her ear. “Shh, my love. All will be well. Lord Huxley is not that perceptive. We will tie him into intellectual knots, together, as we have so many others before. We will have him confessing before the final toast, I am certain.”
She peeked up at him to smile in a playful manner that blew the ashes of his former existence from his soul. “Your certainty is open to question, sir. After all, I heard that a woman once fooled you into believing she was a man for an entire week while in close quarters. Is this scurrilous rumor true?”
He heaved a sigh. “Yes, ’tis true. But in my defense, she was a lovely man and an even more beautiful woman who bewitched me with friendship. Who was I to stand against such powerful magic?”
“So, now I am a witch?”
“No.” He caressed the thick, amber braid that fell past her shoulder onto her breast. “You are magnificent. Never forget that.”
