A bitter laugh escaped her. "The rake finally caught," she murmured, "and by the very woman he once deemed not worth his notice."
Yet even as the words left her lips, June knew they weren't entirely fair. The man who had kissed her tonight was not the same one who had dismissed her years ago. The way he had looked at her, touched her, as if she were precious beyond measure...
Stop it, she scolded herself.He had no choice but to propose. You had no choice but to accept. There is nothing romantic about being forced to the altar.
She fell back against the coverlet, staring up at the canopy above her bed. Despite all logic, despite all the reasons she should be horrified by this turn of events, a treacherous part of her heart refused to be entirely dismayed.
For tomorrow, Dominic Blake would ride out to secure a special license. In perhaps as little as a week, she would be his wife. The Duchess of Icemere. The woman who shared his bed, his name, his life—however long that might be.
The thought sent a shiver through her that was equal parts anticipation and dread. To be his wife in truth, not just in name... June closed her eyes, unable to continue that line of thinking without her cheeks burning.
"What becomes of me now?" she whispered to the silent room.
No answer came save the soft ticking of the clock on her mantel, counting down the seconds until dawn, until the day when Dominic would return with the document that would bind their fates irrevocably together.
June woke with a start, the morning sun streaming through a gap in her curtains to form an accusatory beam across her bed. For one blissful moment, her mind remained empty, suspended in that peaceful place between sleep and wakefulness. Then memory crashed over her like a wave breaking against rocky shores. The kiss. August's interruption. The hastily arranged betrothal. And worst of all, those terrible words August had flung at Dominic: "You'll be dead soon."
She sat up abruptly, pushing tangled hair from her face. Had she truly agreed to marry a man who might be dying? A manwho had been forced into proposing by her brother's righteous indignation?
A soft knock interrupted her spiraling thoughts.
"Come in," she called, expecting her lady's maid.
Instead, May's head appeared around the door, her spectacles slightly askew in a way that suggested she'd dressed hastily. "You're finally awake," she said, slipping into the room and closing the door behind her. "I've been waiting for an hour at least."
June clutched her bedcovers closer. "Has August...?"
"Told us everything?" May finished, perching on the edge of the bed. "Yes. Though not the other guests, thank heavens. As far as they know, you retired early with a headache and Dominic was called away on urgent business."
June reached for her sister's hand, gripping it tightly. "And he told you...all of it? About how we were found?"
"In a passionate embrace, yes." May's lips twitched with poorly suppressed amusement. "August was quite detailed, though I suspect that was to ensure we understood the gravity of the situation rather than to satisfy our curiosity."
"It's not amusing," June protested, though her burning cheeks rather undermined her indignation.
"Perhaps not," May conceded, patting June's hand. "But you must admit there's a certain poetic justice in you being compromised by the very duke you once claimed to despise."
June closed her eyes briefly. "I never claimed to despise him."
"No? What was it you said last week? 'I would sooner marry a toad than endure an evening in the Duke of Ice's frigid company'?"
"That was before—" June stopped herself, unwilling to admit how thoroughly Dominic's kiss had changed her perspective.
May's eyebrows rose above her spectacles. "Before you discovered his company wasn't so frigid after all?"
"May!"
"Oh, don't 'May' me." Her sister laughed, rising from the bed. "You should ring for your maid. There's much to discuss, and you can't spend the day hiding in your bedchamber."
June sighed and reached for the bell pull beside her bed. No sooner had she tugged it than the door burst open again.
"She's awake!" May called over her shoulder, and April swept in like a fresh breeze, already dressed in a morning dress of palest blue.
"Finally," April said, coming to kiss June's cheek. "We've been in absolute chaos all morning. Theo has sent riders to ensure the special license can be obtained without delay, and Logan is arranging for the banns to be read as well, just to ensure all legal requirements are met."
June's head spun. "But Dominic left to get the license himself."
"Of course he did," April said, moving to open the curtains fully. "But one can never be too careful in these matters. The wedding will take place as soon as he returns—hopefully within the week."
