Taking up the reins of both horses, David led them to a bench set against a hedgerow, the sounds from the nearby Serpentine muted by the leaves rustling in the breeze.
Tying the reins into the branches of the hedgerow, David ensured the horses could reach the grass before he joined Rose on the bench.
“I left after the supper dance because if I had stayed...” David paused and swallowed. “I would not have been as honorable as your father thinks me.”
Her eyes rounding at hearing his confession, Rose straightened on the bench. “What would you have done?” she asked. When he seemed as if he wouldn’t answer, she said, “I am not a young miss, fresh from the school room.” When he still appeared reluctant to respond, she added, “In fact, I might wish to hear such a confession, especially if it’s a compliment of sorts. I don’t hear many of those these days.”
“Rose,” he breathed.
“After you left on your Grand Tour, it was as if I was suddenly an old maid—”
“Rose, no,” he murmured.
“—and the only man who showed me favor turned out to be the fortune hunter I told you about.”
David winced. “I did not mean to stay away so long. If I had known then that your father...”
Rose inhaled softly. “Go on,” she encouraged. “Please, tell me. Whatever it is.”
“Promise you won’t think less of me?”
Her brows furrowing, Rose took a deep breath. “I promise.”
“All right. I lusted for you,” he stated, ignoring how her eyes rounded. “Part of the reason I left with Lord James was because I thought time would change me. That by the time I returned, you would have married someone, and once I knew I couldn’t have you, I would lose interest, or my ardor would have cooled, or I would have met someone else.”
Dipping her head, Rose placed a hand in front of her face in an attempt to hide her open mouth. His admission was as shocking as it was welcome. “Do you still? Lust for me?”
“Of course,” David replied. “I thought I made that clear last night.”
She lowered her hand as she regarded him and then swallowed. “What would you have done to me last night? If you hadn’t left?”
He winced and then glanced around as he if thought someone might be eavesdropping. “Escorted you to an alcove, or an empty bedchamber, or the library, or... or back out to the gardens. Kissed you senseless. Maybe done more.”
Gasping, Rose displayed a blush and said, “I would have let you.” She suddenly sobered. “I suppose that makes me sound rather fast.”
He shook his head. “I know you said you’re not a young miss, but I would have ruined you, Rose,” he warned. “Thoroughly.”
“I would have let you,” she replied in a whisper.
Swallowing, he shook his head. “Knowing you would be forced to marry me?” he countered. “As I said last night, I am never going to be more than a viscount.”
Remembering what her father had said in the coach very early that morning, Rose chuckled softly. “My brother and I were informed at two o’clock this morning that we are not to marry for financial or political reasons.”
David furrowed his brows. “The duke said that?”
She nodded. “Father said—in no uncertain terms—that we are to marry for love.” One brow furrowed as she considered his earlier claim. “However, he didn’t say anything about lust.”
Blinking, David cleared his throat. “I wish to court you properly, Lady Rose.”
The claim had Rose experiencing a mix of excitement and disappointment. “I am not getting any younger,” she warned.
“But you’re certainly becoming more beautiful,” he countered.
“David,” she murmured softly. “You might have started with that,” she teased. After a moment of shared silence, she dipped her head. “Will you tell me why you stayed away so long?”
Giving a start at hearing the query, David inhaled and let the breath out in awhoosh. “When James and I departed, we had an itinerary that had us taking two years to explore the entirety of Italy, the island of Sicily, the mainland of Greece and some of the islands,” he explained. “We were on Rhodes when we learned about Lady Charlotte and the pirates, and... turns out, she didn’t require saving, but then James met Sevinc—Ertugrul’s twin sister—and they married and left on their wedding trip. I would have returned to England then, but Ertugrul and I had begun to work on plans for buildings, and the sultan invited me to stay on... so I did.” He took one of Rose’s hands in his. “I didn’t think I had any reason to come home. At least, not right away.”
Rose gave a start, his words reminding her she hadn’t made her regard for him more apparent. “So... was the trip worth it?”
