Page 67 of Lavender’s Lost Duke

Thomas felt rooted to the spot. He wanted to march up the front steps and let himself into the duke’s study. He would take Lady Lavender to France if it were necessary to keep her safe. The irony of the misguided thought was not lost on him. He wasn’t thinking clearly. He trudged back to the stable and found Jack sitting on the wooden fence top with his head in his hands. “Jack, can you help me in the garden?”

Jack slunk from his perch and kept his eyes on the ground as he passed Thomas. “I’ve disappointed you,” he said.

Thomas clapped him on the shoulder. “What gives you that impression?”

Jack’s eyes flicked up. “I heard nothin’, Your Grace. It was a waste of an evening.”

“All I want is for Lady Lavender and yourself to be safe. You both managed to come home tonight. That is all I want. Well, that and for you to call me, Tom. We can’t go around giving away my identity.”

Jack nodded. “Something’s not right. She’s overset.”

Thomas realized that Jack, too, was worried for Lady Lavender. “I believe you are correct. And the only way I can figure to help her is to reveal myself.”

“Reveal your—” Jack clapped a hand over his mouth. “You can’t do that. Not right now. Lord Chicken-snot has made people pretty upset about you. There’s no sayin’ they won’t be out for blood.”

Thomas smiled. “Jack, your penchant for animal sayings has never had a prouder moment. Lord Chicken-snot may be upset, but I am tired of him using Lady Lavender ill. He needs to answer for his crimes.”

“Yeah,” Jack rallied. “What . . . what crimes are those?”

“Mistreating a lady, being a bore, spreading falsehoods, crossing the Duke of Fenleigh . . . you get the idea.”

Jack smiled. “That I do.”

The next evening, Thomas watched for Lady Lavender’s appearance. When he’d seen her tugging on her long gloves as she ventured into the garden, he waved to get Jack’s attention. “Wish me luck, Jack,” Thomas nodded to his friend. Could it be that she missed her swing, or could he hope it was him she was searching for?

Jack gave a rigid salute. “I’ll keep an eye out for visitors.”

The fact that Jack had become so dear to Thomas over the past months was one of the greatest triumphs of Thomas’s being a servant. He wondered if the Duke of Gilfordshire would part with Jack if Thomas’s name was ever cleared. And it had to be cleared. His entire plan for today was banking on the idea that he would one day be the Duke of Fenleigh again.

He rubbed his sweaty palms on his trousers as he followed Lady Lavender’s path toward the giant oak tree. As he suspected, she was there but facing away from him.

“Hello, Tom,” she said without looking his way.

“How did you know it was me?”

She turned her head to look at him. “You are always here when I need you to be.”

Thomas took courage at that. “What can I do for you?”

Her cheeks turned crimson. “Marry me?”

Thomas chuckled even as his heart came to an abrupt halt. “We both know you are too good for me.”

“You’re wrong.” Lady Lavender stood up and walked around the swing. “You have my heart, Tom.” She stepped right into his chest and his arms closed around her of their own volition.

She fit there, in his arms. It was as if she was made precisely for him. He wanted nothing more than to accept her offer. For goodness sake, the woman had just proposed marriage to a servant; if Thomas needed to know that she didn’t love him for his status or wealth, there was no truer moment than this. Lady Lavender was literally putting all worldly comforts on the line for him. He had to be brave enough to do the same for her. “I want to marry you, Lady Lavender, with all my heart. But I cannot. I cannot ask you to endure the consequences of that choice.”

She pulled away just enough to look him in the eyes. “I have weighed the cost, Tom. I am prepared to work and toil alongside you. We could build a life together that is beautiful and worthwhile. We could make each other happy.”

Thomas swallowed. If only that was all she was agreeing to, he might be persuaded. But dishonor would follow them to the gallows if it were up to Lord Chilcott. And that was far too great a cost to pay, even for love. He searched his mind for something that would make her reconsider her hopes. “What of your father?”

Her chin trembled. “I have thought of that as well. He would be devastated, though perhaps not so much as my mother.”

“And your siblings, your nieces and nephews, your friends.” Thomas pulled her to him again. “They all need you, and a life with me would make that impossible.”

“Do you love me, Tom?”

He needed her to know who he really was to answer that question. “I—”