“We are from different stations.”
“I do not care.”
“Your brother…”
She placed a finger against his lips. “I came here to find what I needed, what was missing, to determine what I wanted for myself. I thought it would simply be a holiday away from duty, but I found so much more. I found love and most definitely discovered happiness, Demetrius. That is you.”
Tears filled her eyes but she did not fight them. The love and warmth that came from expressing what was truly in her heart was nearly unbearable, a cleansing pain perhaps, and even if he still rejected her for a silly reason because of their stations in Society, she would know that he loved her as well and that was all that mattered.
“His Grace may not accept me.”
“Leopold can go hang.” She grinned. “I have spent my life doing what others expected. No longer. I want you. I love you, and if he does not approve, then…”
“What could he do?”
She frowned. “I am not certain, but nobody is going to dictate my life any longer.” Then she grinned. “Let us run away, hide from the world and continue to be lovers.”
He stiffened and stood back. “No.”
Her heart nearly stopped.
Despite what they shared, his confession and hers, he was going to reject her.
“I want you as my wife, or nothing at all,” he said.
“Wife?” She had not considered that he would want…
“Yes. Wife, which is why we must part.”
“Why?” she asked again but for another reason.
“For one, you said that you would never marry again.”
“This is different. You are different,” she insisted. “I should have said that I refused to have another loveless marriage.”
“Your brother, the duke, will never allow you to marry a solicitor, even if he does not know of my family’s humble beginnings.”
“I do not care.”
“Society will,” he reminded her.
“Then let them be scandalized,” she insisted.
“I cannot support you in the manner in which you are accustomed.”
“What manner?”
“Gowns, jewels, and everything required for a Season.”
Lavinia tried her best not to be insulted that she would require such and had to remind herself that he had a right to make such an assumption based on those in Society.
“I do not care. I have all that I need. More than I need.”
“My home is a set of rooms in Covent Garden. I could afford to purchase a home, but it would leave little for us to live on and we would only be able to afford a maid.”
“You are not going to live in London. You have a house right here.” She gestured to the cottage. “This town needs a solicitor and you are not happy being a barrister. Unless you do not want to leave London.”
“I did not think you would want to live here, so far from your family.”
