“Will we tell them we’ve experienced this... this...?” The phrase that sprang to mind was, “surge of burning lust,” but he knew that would never do.
“I think we should tell them the truth but not elaborate,” she said. “That we were discovered in a compromising position and now we are forced to marry to save their reputations and mine. Just as I explained in the carriage.”
It pained him to think of marriage in terms ofexplaining,orforced,orcompromise. But of course, it was true, all of it.
“Right,” he said. “After breakfast. Together. Tell them the truth.”
“In the garden,” she added. “In my experience, difficult news is easier to deliver outside. After that, we can address the staff belowstairs. The sooner they know we are betrothed and will marry—and perhaps here we could embellish a bit and say we’ve been planning this for some time—the sooner their gossip will have a romantic bent, rather than a scandalous one.”
Ian nodded, addingdifficult newsto the list of terms that no man would wish associated with marriage.
“I’m... sorry, Miss Trelayne,” he said. “Likely this is not how you envisioned a proposal of marriage.”
“In fact I had no vision of marriage, Your Grace, and less so a proposal.”
“That makes two of us,” he said, returning to his paperwork. “Regardless of my sister’s hounding, I had no intention of adding a wife to my rather complicated heap of problems. This was wholly unplanned.”
She blinked now, saying nothing. She looked like a very stoic soldier absorbing a very unpleasant order.
“Forgive me,” he corrected, “I . . . I overstate my indifference.”
He thought for a moment. Bollocks, he was making a muck of this.
He started again. “Indifferenceis the wrong word entirely. We need only remember what transpired in the gallery to acknowledge my... enthusiasm for your—”
He stopped before he said the wordbody.
He cleared his throat. “To understand my enthusiasm. The rest of it... we’ll sort out as we go along. You are a reasonable woman, and I am a reasonable man. Unless I deceive myself, which is highly possible.”
“You are very reasonable, Your Grace,” she said. “Please do not feel you need explain yourself to me.”
He looked to her again.Really, he thought.No explanation? Nothing more tosay?
She stared back, looking steady and settled and calm. Well, fine. That made one of them. What he did not see was an invitation—not to explain, or make some further plans, or to (God help him) share another kiss.
So be it.
So what if his attraction licked and burned, impossible to extinguish, even now?
In hindsight, it was a miracle he had resisted her for as long as he had.
As to the future, only one question remained: How would he resist her when he was her husband and she was his wife?
Chapter Sixteen
Drewsmina Trelayne’s Rule of Style and Comportment #18: Admissions, apologies, and difficult news are best communicated in person, face-to-face, and not by letter.
Dear Cynde,
Change of plans regarding the Duke of Lachlan and his nieces.
I cannot think of another way to say this, so I’ll simply write the words: The Duke and I are to be married. This week. A special license is being secured and the ceremony is planned for Saturday. I will explain all of it when I see you next.
The wedding will be very small, with a private ceremony at St. Mark’s and breakfast for the duke’s immediate family in Pollen Street. The duke’s sister and nieces are not yet comfortable hosting outside guests, and the duke and I wish to maintain some semblance of privacy for a time.
Pray do not worry. I am well. I’ll come to you as soon as I am able. More soon.
Yours,
