Laughter followed and Caleb glanced toward the stairs where Mary now stood assessing the scene. Dressed in a lilac gown with lace and satin trimmings, she looked both expensive and enticing, like a box of caramels from Gunter’s Tea Shop, just waiting to be unwrapped and savored. But most of all, it was her dancing eyes and joyful smile that drew him.
Christ, she was beautiful, and God, how he wanted to prove himself worthy. He could not muck up this second chance she’d allowed him, or he’d never forgive himself for it.
Returning his attention to the little beasts clinging to him, he pinched the nearest one within reach. Bridget squealed and leapt right off him, allowing better access to the rest of the brood, who giggled and screamed as he tickled them each without remorse until they acknowledged defeat and retreated to another part of the house with Mrs. Clemens close on their heels. The butler, who looked unsure about how to handle the ruckus, excused himself and vanished through a nearby doorway.
“They adore you,” Mary said. She’d reached the bottom of the stairs and was now gazing up at him with inquisitive eyes. She pursed her lips in a teasing way that rendered him utterly speechless. “I wonder why.”
Intent on affecting her just as viscerally as she affected him, he took a step forward so his chest could graze her breasts as he leaned in to whisper, “They recognize a fellow troublemaker when they see one, Miss Clemens.” Inhaling deeply, he allowed her scent to stir his blood without the slightest remorse.
He stepped back in case someone happened to chance upon their scandalous closeness and held up the roses he’d brought along with him. “These are for you,” he said, appreciating her dazed expression and lovely pink cheeks.
Blinking, she accepted the offering and excused herself for a moment so she could hand them over to a maid. When she returned, she’d managed to regain her composure, which Caleb appreciated since he could not wait to make her lose it all over again.
“Will you be bringing a chaperone with you?” he asked for the sole purpose of taking her reputation into account.
She bit her lip. “I asked Mama if she thought it necessary, and she has insisted that a woman of my age and situation does not require looking after with the same sort of diligence a debutante would.” Twitching her nose in the most adorable way, she pensively added, “I believe she wishes to allow you every opportunity you require in order to convince me to marry you.”
Caleb decided he was starting to like Mrs. Clemens immensely. Next time he called, he’d bring roses for her as well. “A fine plan if you ask me,” he said and offered his arm. As he led her through the front door and out to the awaiting carriage, he quietly murmured, “One I’m more than ready to execute to the best of my abilities.”
She sucked in an audible breath, and Caleb’s body tightened in response to the sensual sound. Hell and damnation, they’d only just started their day together, and already she had him wondering how much she would protest if he chose to abandon his carefully crafted plan to court her and simply whisked her off to a bedroom somewhere.
“Mr. Crawford?”
Caleb blinked and realized he must have handed her up into the conveyance without even noticing. Shaking his head to dislodge the dazed effect she’d had on him, he climbed up and took the opposite bench as propriety demanded. But it wasn’t all bad, for although he was too far away to touch her except with his foot, he could now take his time to admire her face, her hair, the perfect slope of her neck where it joined with her shoulder, the swell of her breasts, and her narrow waist.
Setting his hat beside him, he cleared his throat, crossed his legs, and prayed he’d survive the day.
“I like your carriage,” she said while looking out the window at the buildings they were passing. “It is very grand, is it not?”
“My father commissioned it,” Caleb said. “He loved flaunting his title with material things.”
“And you don’t?” She shifted her gaze to him, and he saw she was genuinely curious to know his answer.
“I find there are more important things in life than carriages with silk velvet seats and gilded trimmings.” Placing the palm of his hand on the bench, he stroked the plush surface with his thumb. Deliberately lowering his voice to an intimate tone, he said, “Like you, for instance. I would sell everything I own if that were the price you demanded of me.”
“Would you really?” Just a whispered question with the promise of complete surrender.
He halted the movement he was making. “I am still the same man who pulled rotted floorboards out of the Clearview attic, who helped you prepare the roses for winter, who—”
“Crafted fishing rods for the boys and saved Raphael from what Daphne insists was certain death.” She met his gaze, and he held his breath. “But you are also a whole lot more, and that is the part that concerns me, Caleb.”
Hope spilled through him at the sound of his given name spoken for the first time since their falling out. “I cannot rid myself of the title, Mary. I shall always be a duke, and if you marry me, you will become my duchess.” Seeing the disheartened look in her eyes, he hastened to say, “But that doesn’t mean we have to allow it to change who we are or who we want to be. If anything, the title should open a world of possibilities to us. It should allow us to choose the paths we want to follow.”
“What do you mean?”
She looked too skeptical for his liking so he forged ahead. “There is no rule book demanding I must live on one of the Camberly estates. We can buy a small cottage if that is what you desire and enjoy a peaceful existence there without any servants. It could be on the Yorkshire moors, if you wish.”
A reluctant grin teased at her lips. “The Yorkshire moors?”
“Or anywhere else of your choosing. We can even remain at Clearview House if Lady Cassandra and Miss Howard allow it. I certainly don’t object.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but his comment must have struck her dumb for not a single word emerged. And then the carriage drew to a halt, and the door was swung open. Caleb alit and helped Mary down. She looked thoroughly befuddled, which was just as it should be.
“Have you ever been here before?” he asked.
She stared at him for a second, then glanced at the narrow timbered building that stood before them in the cobblestoned street. “No. I have not.”
Pleasure surged through him, followed by eager excitement. “Wonderful,” he said, feeling much like a young boy about to show off his favorite toy to his friend. He led her toward the door and opened it for her.
