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“I thought perhaps that was the case,” Joshua replied without censure in his voice. “The only reason I could imagine you lying, love, was if you were trying to protect me.”

“Oh … well, yes.” Then she remembered her script. “I was born after my father had been at sea for a year.”

He frowned.

“The captain had been gone more than nine months,” she said, wondering if men knew anything about pregnancies.

“Are you saddened to know he’s not your father?” Joshua asked, clearly picking his words with care.

“I’m illegitimate!”

“No, you’re not. You were born within the bounds of matrimony. You are entirely legitimate.”

“You know what I mean.”

He rolled his eyes, looking just like Daisy for a moment. “Who cares?”

“The captain—” She cleared her throat. “He has threatened to inform any man who asked to marry me.”

Joshua’s crack of laughter was too loud.

Livie sat up. “Hush!”

“As if his opinion matters? He’s not your father, Livie, thank God. He’s not … a good man. Ironic, given the content of all those letters he sent you.”

Livie was still having trouble working it out in her head. Her father had murdered a boy, thrown him away like a piece of rubbish. He had harangued her for years about her virtue—then thrown her away like another piece of rubbish. She was lucky to have been on land, because she had a strong suspicion that he might have chucked her overboard.

“Love,” Joshua said softly. “Come here.” He held out his arms. “I can’t come to you because it wouldn’t be proper.”

Livie’s laugh was a squeak in the back of her throat as she tipped forward and crawled toward him. “Proper! None of this is proper. My aunt would …”

“She wouldn’t be pleased,” Joshua supplied, scooping Livie into his lap. “I have to remind you of a newly discovered fact, Livie. I am no gentleman. As such, I’ll soon be infamous for jilting Lady Regina. I might as well be hanged for a sheep, as a lamb. Consider yourself compromised.”

“Even if no one learns of my true parentage, my ‘father’ is in the Tower for treason,” Livie offered.

“He’ll soon be there on a charge of murder,” Joshua said cheerfully. “Luckily, he’s not really my father-in-law.”

“But your career!”

Joshua shrugged, his arms tightening around her. “I inherited money and can support us. I’m a good soldier, Livie. If that doesn’t work out, I’ll be good at other things.”

“It sounds so simple,” Livie whispered longingly.

“It is simple. Your father disregarded the lives of the men under his command. True, I am jilting the daughter of a duke, but I treasure the men I lead, the men of my battalion. That’s where true honor lies, Livie, and the captain doesn’t have it. Honor has nothing to do with rank or convention or tradition—it lies in devotion, in kindness, in respect for one another.”

Joshua’s words were deep and heartfelt, emerging from his core. “It lies in love, Livie.”

Livie nestled against him, thinking. “You’re a gentleman with honor because you behave with honor.”

“And you are a lady because you behave like one. You are kind-hearted, loyal, intelligent, brave, delightful, and in love with your husband-to-be. Moreover, you are delicious.” The last few words were muffled because his lips were sliding, warm and firm, along her neck.

“Daisy says that it’s better to be a woman than a lady.” Livie took a deep breath, eased off Joshua’s lap, and lay back on the bed.

“Have I told you how much I appreciate your cousin’s wisdom?” Joshua breathed, moving forward so he was on his hands and knees, looking down at her.

Livie smiled. Her naughty smile.

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO