She looked up at him with a shy smile. “I love you too, Evan.”
With those words, he felt like he had died and gone to heaven. Because as far as he was concerned, Joanna was no less than an angel.
CHAPTER 42
Dearest Aurelia,
I cannot believe I am getting married tomorrow! This Season has proved more eventful than I ever thought possible. I hope you can forgive me for all the excitement that reached you because of me. I know you were quite worried when my name appeared on that scandal sheet.
Not to worry, though. As you might have known by now, that particular gossip rag is permanently out of business. The last thing they published was a public apology to me and our family. I will not confirm anything on paper, but it is rumored that a certain duke had a hand in destroying that paper.
Oh, Aurelia, I am deliriously happy. I never would have expected to find true love this Season, let alone with someone who goes by the Duke of Ice (although that is not a very accurate title, in my opinion).
I only wish that you were able to attend the wedding. But it is your last year of schooling, and you certainly would not want to miss those last few days with your friends.
I cannot wait to see you soon.
All my love,
Joanna.
P.S., You will be happy to know that yesterday, Penelope accepted the baron’s hand in marriage. Her father was a little disgruntled with her choice, but he gave his blessing. I think he was relieved that she got engaged before ending up in the scandal sheets. Apparently, the baron’s love of Mary Shelley was not as much of a deal-breaker as she initially thought.
Joanna finished penning her letter to Aurelia with a smile. She hadn’t stopped smiling for the past week, even though she had barely had time to see Evan.
Instead, the week had been a whirlwind of wedding preparations, not least of which was obtaining her wedding gown, which was now hanging in her closet. Evan sent a message just that day saying the special license had been procured. He was really eager to marry her before the Season was over.
Joanna sighed and stood up from her writing desk, stretching. She could not help but giggle. In less than a day, she wouldbe Evan’s wife. Thetonwould know her as the Duchess of Blackwell, but that didn’t matter to her, not really.
All that mattered was that she would belong to Evan.
There was a small tapping sound on her window that sounded almost like pebbles. She jumped a little at the sound and paused, thinking she had misheard it.
Then there was a tapping sound again. She opened up the curtains to see Evan standing below her, in the street. Her mouth dropped open in surprise. “What are you doing here?” she whispered. “Stay right there. I will come down to meet you.”
She closed the window before he could respond and grabbed her dressing gown. Tying it over her nightgown, she ran downstairs as quietly as she could. Her parents had gone to sleep an hour ago, and she didn’t want to wake them.
Slipping out the front door as quickly as possible, she grabbed his hand. “This way,” she said, leading him behind the house to the gardens. “Unless you wish for my name to appear in the gossip rags one more time before we are wed.”
“I would marry you anyway, despite the scandal,” he said. “It would be wicked of me to back out now.” He grinned down at her, his eyes full of mischief. “Of course, I would not mind having an excuse to destroy another one of those foul gossip rags. Perhaps weshouldcause a scandal.” He cupped her jaw with one hand and brought his mouth to her own.
Joanna melted into the kiss with a soft groan. Her eyes flickered closed as she savored the feeling of him. She wondered if she would ever get used to him kissing her like this. She doubted it. His kisses were so addictive, she would probably end up craving them for the rest of her life.
When they broke apart, she giggled. “Of course, it might be difficult for me to cause a scandal right now,” she said, her voice slightly breathless. “After all, it seems anyone can talk about is the disappearance of Lady Katherine Preston. She has not been seen for a few days, you know. And everyone knows her father is a horrible, abusive man. No one will talk to him anymore. Do you think something bad happened to her?”
“No one in society will have dealings with him again, unless they want to be shunned by me,” the duke said, a slightly dangerous edge to his voice that made her shiver with delight. “As for Lady Katherine, I would not worry about her. I have it on good authority that she and that stableboy—Owen, I think his name is—have moved to Wales, where they are very happy together.”
She looked up at him, grinning, and felt a fresh wave of appreciation for the man she would soon call her husband. “You helped them get away! Didn’t you?”
He shrugged, looking away as if embarrassed. “I wanted to properly destroy her father, but I could not exactly let her get swept up in that unpleasant business. Lady Katherine’s greatest crime was falling in love. How was I going to punish her for that?”
Joanna smiled and wrapped her arms around Evan’s waist. As if she could not love this man even more than she already did. “I can’t believe you somehow convinced everyone in London that you are this cold, heartless villain. I have never seen a greater bleeding heart in all my life.”
He ran a gentle hand through her hair, which was currently loose around her shoulders and slightly messy. “I am only a bleeding heart because of you,” he said softly. “You make me want to be a better man.”
“You were always a great man,” she said. “All I did was tease you until you revealed your true nature to me.”
He leaned down to kiss her gently, but she pulled back slightly. His brow furrowed as he looked down at her. “Is something wrong?”
