“I want you, Lilliana. Not some simpering debutante who agrees with everything I say. I want the woman who stands in her garden with mud on her dress and defiance in her eyes. I want the woman who holds a soft spot for a wayward puppy but flashes fire from her tongue and sparks from her eyes when she believes she is wronged.”
“Oliver.”
Oliver reached for her hand, his touch sending warmth up her arm. “I have loved you since that first day I met you and you tried to remove me from this very house. I have loved you through every argument, every defiance, every moment you’ve challenged me. I have loved you when you gave into my Daddy, acknowledging your little darling shoved down deep inside. Did you truly not know?”
The intensity in his stormy eyes made her breath catch. All this time, she had thought his attention was duty, obligation, perhaps desire… but love? She had dreamed of Oliver, her Daddy, taking charge. He had stated as much but her foolish, stubborn pride would not allow it. He had been patient, but it appears that he was done being lenient and long-suffering. She shook her head.
“Lilliana Griffin, will you accept me as your husband?”
“Are you sure?”
His eyebrows raised sharply.Best she not tread on my good graces right now.
“Yes, Your Grace, I will.”
“Bloody well time. I shall contact the vicar and take care of that matter quickly. Now, I deserve a kiss and so do you, my dear. Then we shall prepare for dinner and plan.”
Chapter Eleven
The plan sounded simple. He would entice the scoundrel to Heatherfield to meet Lilli, but he would be meeting Oliver. And the money he could surely taste would not be realized. The letter was written, sent, and the response was now waited on.
“While we wait the short time it will take him to answer, I want to discuss our future, my dear.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. The first thing is I have a message from the Bow Street Runner I hired.”
“And?”
“And, your father met his demise several years ago. He had made a good life, evidently, not too far from where we met up and came home. He never remarried that anyone knows. The person who provided the information, a close friend, said that he was a good friend but was a melancholy man. Never got over the loss of his wife and child. Your father had left the man to believe he’d lost both in a tragedy. In some ways, he did.”
Tears fell silently down her cheek, their salty heat leaving paths of her pain. “How did he die?” she asked, her voice a whisper.
“It is unknown. He hadn’t been seen in a few days, and his friend went to check on him and found him in his bed. He hadn’t been ill. He seemed peaceful. One would hope he simply fell asleep and didn’t wake up.”
“Yes. I choose to believe that.”
Oliver stood and gathered her into his arms, leading her away from their half-eaten supper and into the library, where he drew her close to him as she cried her soulful tears. Oliver grumbled about men trying to use other’s pain to further their own ends while still whispering sweet nonsensical words to Lilli as she grieved.
After she had been quiet for a while, Oliver continued on with his planning. “After we have dealt with this sordid affair with your unsolicited visitor, we shall marry. Have you any family you wish to attend?”
Her face fell at the sad thought that except for distant relatives, most of which she had never met, there was no one. She said as much.
Oliver reached out his hand and patted hers. "Never mind, my dear, we shall call on my mother and the staff to witness the union. I shall contact the vicar and mother this very evening. Tomorrow you shall meet her and make the final plan.”
“Will she not wish a say in this?”
“She is happy with whom I am happy.”
“And are you, Oliver? Are you happy with me after all of this sordid business and,” she shrugged, “everything?”
“I am. I have never been more satisfied with my life than I am at this moment. And I am determined we shall marry as soon as possible. I am not risking my little darling changing her mind about being my duchess. I will acquire the license tomorrow. Would Monday, next, suit?”
“Whenever the vicar is available, but your mother may not be free.”
“Not be available for her eldest son’s marriage? Ridiculous.” He smiled seeing her smile.“Now that that is handled, it is enough for this evening. Go to bed and sleep well. We have busy days ahead of us.”
The next morning, just after breakfast while Oliver and Lilli were meeting with Ewan, the groundskeeper and Orlan, the estate manager, about the new changes, a maid interrupted them.
