Drake trudged along between the two women, feeling like a cowardly fool who had shirked the opportunity to be a better man. But if they knew the latest risks that had befallen him, the sisters would surely understand. They would also forbid him from going anywhere near their sister. He could not tell them. He couldn’t even tell Felicity. If he weren’t such a selfish bastard, he would leave now to save his dearest from even more heartache. But he couldn’t. Damned if he didn’t love her and need her more than anything else in the world. He couldn’t imagine a life without her, even though he’d told the sisters he would leave and never darken Felicity’s door ever again. He’d known it was a lie when he said it.
“Shall we go to the kitchens?” he asked. “She told me once thekitchens were hersafespace.”
Joy paused in front of a pair of footmen blocking the entrance to a hall off to the right. “Did Lady Felicity come past here?”
The ruddy-haired lad with the freckles nodded. “Yes, my lady, but we nay let her pass.”
“She weren’t none too pleased with us either,” the other footman added.
“I am sure she was not.” Joy tapped the floor with her cane. “Well done, gentlemen. Did you happen to see where she went after that?”
“Down the hall to the left of the stairs, my lady,” said the one with the freckles. “Mumbling to herself the whole time.”
“Either the library or the conservatory,” Serendipity said. “Which shall we try first?”
“The conservatory, I’d wager.” Joy led the way, determined to tug Drake along by the arm. He didn’t fight her. The woman’s cane looked capable of leaving quite a knot wherever it struck.
She halted again outside a closed door at the end of the long hallway. “This is your last opportunity.” She thumped his chest with the bejeweled knob of her cane. “Do not waste it.” As he opened the door and went to step inside, she caught him by the sleeve. “And you will not compromise my sister. Serendipity and I shall be right here, guarding the door as well as eavesdropping.”
Serendipity shoved him onward. “Honesty is best. Remember that!” She closed the door behind him with a soft but final click.
Tense, he stood just inside the doorway, taking in the room’s splendor. The main part was open and full of light streaming in through the glass, while the back corners, with walls of reddish-brown mahogany and rosewood paneling, were filled with enough shadows to hide one from prying eyes.
“Felicity?”
“Has your temperament improved?” asked a quiet voice from behind an arrangement of potted palms and ferns.
“Yes. I have come to apologize.” He remained rooted to the spot, waiting for permission to approach her. “Forgive me for implying you had lied about being a wallflower.” He flexed his hands, nervously opening and closing his fists. “I know you are incapable of such.”
Hugging a pillow, she rose from the settee and started toward him, then paused and tossed the pillow back to it. “I am capable of lying,” she said as she faced him, her chin set to a defiant tilt. “I simply do not do it.”
“I was angry.” He didn’t know how to explain the explosive rage he had felt. So many things had gone wrong for him, been ripped away and lost forever. When he had seen her with that viscount, he feared her slipping away, too. “When I saw you on Tinslow’s arm…” He still did not possess the strength to finish that sentence in a gentlemanly fashion.
“He caught me by surprise as soon as I came down from my room,” she said, coming within an arm’s length of him, but then warily stopping. “I was merely being polite.”
“You deserve better than him.” He swallowed hard. “You deserve better thanme.”
She stared at him for a long moment, the shadows in her eyes gathering like storm clouds. “I deserve a man who will cherish my heart.”
“And is he that man?”
Her frustrated expression turned to one of disbelief. “Are all men’s heads so thick?” She took a step closer and poked him in the chest. “My heart has chosen you. Or were your words about caring for me and not my dowry a lie?”
“I love you,” he said, then added a pained growl to the confession. “Gads alive, I love you, Felicity. Is there any possible way you might love me, too? Someday? Can we ever get past our misunderstandings?”
She wet her lips, making him hungry for a taste of them. “Perhaps.”
“What would it take to changeperhapsto ayes?”
“I fear it might already be a yes.”
He closed the distance between them and took hold of her hands, his heart and soul rejoicing at her touch. “Mightn’t it truly be ayes?”
“Yes,” she said, her whisper soft and sultry.
“May I kiss you, my lady?”
She caught her bottom lip between her teeth, almost making him groan. “I have never been kissed before, my lord.”
