He stared at her in stunned silence then pulled her into his protective embrace. “The same plans I have every night for the rest of my life. Making you happy, anyway that I can.”
Mother’s face was bright purple. “You would choose him even knowing it means being cut off from your parents and every shilling we have?”
Bryony didn’t let go of his hand. “I choose Maxespeciallyif that’s what it means. I love him. That’s all that matters. He is worth more than all the shillings in the world.”
Max stiffened. “I didn’t mean for you to lose your family.”
“Think carefully!” Mother’s voice was shrill and panicked. “I just want what is best for my child and her future. This is your last chance to make the right choice.”
“I have done so,” Bryony replied evenly. “If my happiness with Max means cutting ties with you, that is a decision you have made without me.”
Mother’s lower lip trembled. “You would choose exile over your own family?”
“The other side of London isn’texile,” Bryony pointed out dryly. “And Maxisfamily. He is not the one forcing me to choose. You are.”
“I don’t want you to choose him,” Mother stammered, in obvious shock that even the threat of banishment did not aid her cause. “You are a Grenville.”
“Not for long.” Bryony lifted Max’s pillow. “He’s given me his heart. I’ve already given him mine.”
To make the point, she hugged the pillow to her chest.
It crinkled.
She whirled toward Max in surprise and accusation. “You found the deed!”
“I found the deed,” he agreed.
Her pulse raced in frustration. “I didn’t give it to you just for you to give it right back to me!”
“I’m not that much of a gentleman,” he promised. “Open it.”
She ripped open the pillow and pulled out a folded square of parchment.
Itwasa deed, but not to the Cloven Hoof. This certificate granted ownership of the property next door.
She stared up at him. “You bought this for me?”
“I bought it for me,” he admitted. “Before I met you. But once I heard the sound business reasons behind your plot to set fire to Almack’s—”
“What?” Mother choked out in horror. “Now listen to me, Bryony Prudence Grenville. I really will cut you off if you—”
Bryony gazed up at Max. “Instead of expanding the Cloven Hoof, you’re letting me create a competing club?”
“If that’s what you want to do.” His dark eyes were intent on hers. “Alternatively, we can create complementary clubs. Or expand the Cloven Hoof together, using your ideas about diversity not just in class, but inclusivity of gender. No matter what you do with that deed, all my future decisions will be choices madewithyou. We’re a team.”
Bryony threw her arms about his neck and held him so tight she trembled.
Thiswas why he was the perfect man for her. He saw her as an equal. He didn’t just value her ideas and independence. He valuedher. He valued the two of them, together.
“We’ll be unstoppable,” she said when she’d finally regained her composure. “We’ll revolutionize entertainment clubs. Create a new standard of our own design. We’ll make more money than we will know what to do with.”
“I hear your sister has some sort of charity,” he offered, with a crooked smile.
Bryony grinned at him. “Let’s take London by storm.”
“You… don’t care about your dowry?” Mother stammered in dawning realization.
“I have never cared about my dowry,” Bryony answered, “or wished for a man who did. You and Father are important to me because you’re my parents, not because I’m after your purse strings.”
