She pulled up the covers to her neck. “You could have had Cass. Cass is so perfect and pretty and well put together. She’s demure and sweet and never says anything rude or cross or offensive. Me? I’m quirky. My eyes are two different colors and my hair is too curly and completely unmanageable and when I blow my nose I sound like a goose.”
“A goose?”
“Yes. Did you know when Cass blows her nose, you can barely tell?”
He pulled her into his arms. “Apparently, I like ladies who are rude and cross and offensive.” He smiled at her. “Until I met you, I’d never met anyone, let alone a female, who stood up to me the way you did, who challenged me. It was quite a new experience for me, I have to say.”
She smiled against his shoulder. “It was?”
“Yes. Your eyes are unique and your curly hair is beautiful and you do not blow your nose like a goose and even if you did, I wouldn’t mind. Being demure is highly overrated.”
She smiled at that. “It is?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“Will you please tell my mother that?”
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “Absolutely.”
“I never met anyone like you before, either, Derek. All the men I’d known were so easily scared off when I opened my mouth. They never stood up to me like you did.”
He half laughed, half snorted. “I know. You’d been waiting for someone to challenge you for a long time.”
She sighed. “I suppose this means we’re perfect for each other.”
He grinned at her. “My thoughts exactly.”
They lay snuggled together for a few minutes before Lucy ventured, “Derek?”
“Yes, my love?”
She traced a fingertip down his bare chest. “There is one bad thing about our wedding.”
He frowned. “What’s that?”
She sighed. “You won’t be able to call me Miss Upton any longer.”
He pulled her into his arms. “No, but I’ll be able to call you Her Grace, the Duchess of Claringdon. My wife.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. “I like that last one the very best.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
It was the day of their wedding. With the prince’s help, they’d got a special license from the archbishop. Derek jested that it seemed being a duke was good for something after all. And while the ceremony had been short and fast, Cass, Garrett, and Jane had all been there. Along with Derek’s mother, who was perfectly lovely, and Aunt Mary and Mrs. and Mr. Lowndes. Derek’s brothers came, too. They were both as handsome as their older brother. But even though they’d been invited for Cass’s sake, the Monroes had decided not to attend. Duchess or no, Lucy would bepersona non gratawith Cass’s parents for quite a while to come. That much was clear. Apparently, they couldn’t bring themselves to watch as a duke slipped through their fingers, especially since Cass had no other impending offers of marriage. “Mother said if I end up an unmarried spinster, it will not be her fault,” Cass reported.
Lucy had even invited—
“There’s my daughter, the Duchess of Claringdon!”
Lucy glanced up. Her mother stood in the foyer of Derek’s town house.
As soon as they’d received Lucy’s hastily written letter, her parents had rushed to town to wish the new couple well. Their blessing was more than granted. In fact, they were absolutely delighted with the prospect of their daughter, the duchess. They’d stood in the church this morning and beamed at Lucy.
Lucy’s mother held out both gloved hands to her. Lucy made her way over and allowed her to pull her into a hug but not without a sharp pulling together of her brows.
“Mother?” Was this truly the same woman who’d essentially washed her hands of Lucy? Now she was here, in London, dressed as if she were about to take dinner with the queen, and acting as if they’d always had the best of relationships.
“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your new husband?” her mother asked.
