Sebastian’s chest exploded with joy. His chest expanded, and he could take his first full breath in two years. A smile covered his face as he lifted her in his arms and spun her around, staring at her with wonder. “I love you, too, Veronica. I think I have since that night we talked in the mews.”
He set her down, and she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him fiercely. “That’s the night I fell in love with you, too. I wrote it on the floorboard. You made me laugh, and you made me want to kiss you at the same time.”
Sebastian furrowed his brow. “The floorboard?”
She lifted her face, a shy smile on her lips. “In my bedchamber, at Justin’s house. I’ll show you sometime.”
He chuckled. “Well, I wanted to kiss you, too, for what it’s worth. Though you were far too young for it at the time.”
“I would have let you kiss me,” she said, a sly smile replacing the shy one.
He hugged her against his chest again and expelled his breath, closing his eyes and allowing the pure joy of the moment to flood through his veins.
A few moments later, she pushed away from him enough to look up into his eyes again. “My father… He lied to my mother…over and over. He never told the truth. I was convinced that’s what you would do after your mother told me you had a mistress.”
His brows shot up and he frowned. “My mother told you?”
“Yes, and until the other day, I didn’t realize how awful your mother was.” She shuddered.
“I should have told you about her sooner,” Sebastian said, shaking his head.
“We should have told each other many things,” Veronica said wistfully. “Like what sort of marriage we both wanted and why we were frightened of finding true love.”
Sebastian nodded sagely. “We were young and foolish. I never wanted you to hear how horrible my parents were. But now I realize it was wrong to keep it from you.”
“And I should have told you that my father was unfaithful to Mama. I was just so caught up in falling in love with you and getting married. I never considered that bad things could come from not telling each other enough.”
“That makes two of us, my darling,” Sebastian said, kissing the top of her head once more.
Veronica let the blanket drop from her shoulders. She stepped back and grasped both of his hands, meeting his eyes. “I’ll never make a hasty assumption again without talking to you first. And I’ll never leave you again.”
“I’ll keep nothing from you again,” Sebastian promised.
Veronica gave him a wide smile before pink blossomed on her cheeks. She lifted on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear. “Will you take me to bed now, please?” She breathed against his neck. “I want you to make love to me.”
“Yes.” He nodded, a huge smile on his face. “Of course.”
Veronica stopped. “Wait. There’s something I must do first.”
She trotted to the window, slid it open, stuck out her head and yelled into the dark, snowy night, “I love my husband desperately!”
Then she pulled down the window and met Sebastian by the bed. “Just to erase any doubt,” she explained, “and to be grand.” Then she pulled off her dressing gown and slid into bed with him.
Sebastian pulled her to him and began by kissing her neck.
Chapter Twenty-One
London, the next night, Lord Hazelton’s Twelfth Night Ball
The Hazeltons’ town house was ablaze with the light of a thousand candles. Veronica stood in front of the closed doors to the ballroom next to Sebastian, her hand resting on his arm. Pride swelled in her chest as she glanced up at him. He was wearing his finest black evening attire, and he looked so handsome her chest ached. She was wearing one of her best gowns, a lovely deep emerald satin with small white stars sewn on the bodice and hem and a matching white sash around the empire waist.
Sebastian gave her a conspiratorial wink. “Ready?”
“Absolutely,” she replied, taking a deep breath and squaring her shoulders.
A footman pulled open the doors to the ballroom, and they stepped inside. The Hazeltons’ butler took one look at them and his mouth fell open. Veronica cocked her head to the side and gave the obviously flustered man a beatific smile. Sebastian arched a brow at the man. “We’re the Du—”
“I know who you are, Your Grace,” the man hastened to reply, clearly gathering his wits. The butler took a deep breath and announced in a loud, clear voice. “Their Graces, the Duke and Duchess of Edgefield.”
