His expression shifted from curiosity to nonchalance. “You are the first person who has ever accused me of such a thing. Be careful not to spread such fabrications around. I have a reputation to protect.”
“I see I will have a bit of time to get the truth out of you yet,” Bridget murmured. “I think I should addas stubborn as a bullto your repertoire.”
“Should I repay the favor?” William asked.
“Please,” Bridget bit back wryly.
“You have a soft demeanor, but circumstances have made you develop a core of steel,” he began. “Your life is a question of what the most prudent decision is to make but not what makes you happy.
“You would sacrifice your pride to survive another day, and while modesty is becoming—somehow along the way, you have begun to allow other’s views of you to shape how you see yourself. You are smart, but you diminish your ability to appease other’s opinions of you.”
“That is—”
Quick as a flash, William pulled the shade down and drew her onto his lap. Caging her face with both hands, he forced her eyes to meet his. “Your beauty outclasses every lady I have ever met. You are gorgeous, Bridget, but others have convinced you your poverty means you are undeserving of attention. Yet you are beautiful.”
He yanked her against him. A shocking collision of softness against hardness. Before she could gather her wits, his mouth sealed over hers, his kiss stealing her breath.
A possessive rumble rose from his throat, and then he was kissing her again. His hand cupped the back of her neck, holdingher steady as he plundered her mouth, driving his tongue through her lips.
William’s heat, feel, cologne, infused her senses and fed his hunger, but her soft mewl of discontent halted him. Pulling away, he ground his teeth. “I am sorry. I got over amorous. If I overstepped—”
“No,” Bridget breathed, her face flushed. “It's just, erm, you are… burgeoned. I feel you under my thigh… and I don’t want my godmother to see your state.”
A laugh burst from his lips, and he dropped his forehead to tuck it under her neck. His broad hands held her firmly, but his mirth kept coming. “Devil and damn,” he snorted. “I have never been in this position before.”
“…Burgeoned?”
“No,” he lifted his head. “Meeting a lady’s family.”
He drew a laugh from her. “I suppose thosecompanionsof yours did not merit such a meeting.”
“God no,” he chuckled while gently depositing her on her original seat. “You must pardon me for such inadequacies. I should have asked Colin about his tactic for meeting a lady’s family. He might be a seasoned rake, but he has courted before.”
“And not yet married?”
“The lady chose another over him, and I suppose, ever since, he decided courting was not worth the effort.” Reaching for a box to the side, he took out a cravat.
As he began to tie it, she asked, “You know the knots?”
He shrugged. “It wasn’t by choice, but necessity made sure I could take care of myself. While it was not the best of circumstances, I learned a lot of practical skills such as how to tie my cravat and trim my facial hair.”
“Those circumstances… meaning the days you were in debt up to your ears?” Bridget summarized.
“Perfectly put.” William tied his neckcloth into a precise waterfall, then pulled a jacket from a hook behind him. “Necessity is the mother of invention, or, well, education.”
The carriage was trotting up the lane to Bridget’s godmother’s home, and when the vehicle slowed to a halt at the cottage, he descended and helped her alight, before he tugged his jacket down. She fixed her skirts, then went to the door and unlocked it.
“Aunt?” she called. “Can you come down, please? Duke Arlington and I would like to speak to you.” She pulled her coat off and then turned to William. “Give me a minute.”
Heading up the stairs, she went to her godmother’s room and found the older lady pulling her dressing robe on. “I am coming, dear.”
Just in case, she stayed beside her aunt, though didn’t have to help her aunt down, and when they finally came to the lower level, William was waiting for them at the landing, before he bowed and helped the older lady to her seat. “My lady.”
Lydia’s brows lifted. “Please excuse me for not curtsying, Your Grace, but my knees are not as they used to be.”
“Completely understandable, ma’am,” William replied warmly. “I think it’s a simple courtesy to tell you that I have offered marriage to your lovely goddaughter, and she has accepted.”
He then drew a suede bag from his inner pocket and pulled out a gold ring with a set of flawless white diamonds, creating a ring beyond compare. A ring fit for a Duchess.
