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Her eyes flashed on him. “In perfect condition to go to work.”
His features crumpled in vexation. “But you’re—”
“—a woman who’s not sick.” She interrupted him.
“Clearly, but you must take care of yourself.” He neared the bed and eyed down on her, hands bracing his hips.
“I need not step down from my life to do that.” Her insistence was getting to him.
“As my marchioness, you will receive all the care I wish you to.”
Her brows pleated mouth agape. “Excuse me?”
“I’ll procure a special license, and we’ll marry in a few days.” Determination infused his voice.
Her torso detached from the pillows supporting her back. “I’ll not—!”
“This is my heir you’re carrying and by no means it’ll be a bastard.” It was his turn to cut her.
“It may be a girl.” She defied.
“Whom I’ll raise legitimately.” He countered. Legitimate and with a trust fund, so she’d have all the choices in life.
“You know as well as I it’s ludicrous.” Her delicate hand rubbed her brow.
With a deep intake of air, Drake sat on the edge of the mattress facing her. “Hester, this is not about us anymore.” He took her hand and rubbed her fingers. “Would you rather our son or daughter be stigmatised? They can have everything a child will ever need.”
“And it only takes a piece of paper, you mean.” She sighed forlornly and lowered her head.
“Is the idea of marrying me so distasteful for you?” He took in every single reaction coming from her as her lashes lifted, and their eyes met.
“Of course not!” she answered firmly. “But we come from different worlds.”
His lips stretched in a side smile. "Well, strictly speaking, we're both humans and we live on this planet. Not such different worlds, I'd say."
She grinned at his scientific-like argument. “You understood my meaning.” For a long time, their stares locked with a hundred undercurrents running between them. “Yes, all right.” She finally yielded.
He couldn’t refrain a smile of victory. “A wise decision.”
Behind the victorious smile though, his insides felt like someone had lit the brightest torch ever seen. The happiness at the knowledge that Hester carried his child added to the one she’d also become his wife. Everything was working out like magic in his viewpoint. All he needed now was to bring her into his way of thinking. The prospect didn’t appear bad. Look at them. She’d been his mistress, then a paramour of sorts, soon to be his marchioness. Not that he’d boast it to her, lest she change her mind about marrying a too-inflated man.
“But I’ll finish the season for ‘The Plight’,” she reiterated. “And after the birth, I’ll resume work. And that’s non-negotiable.”
Drake was not surprised at her focus on her work. In fact, he even expected that. In time, he hoped she’d realise that her position as a lady would demand a large chunk of her days. Which might make it difficult to juggle both. But it seemed too early to raise any expectation. First, he had to legitimise his heir or daughter.
“I’ll agree for now, but things may change quite fast.” And didn’t give her time for a rebuttal. “I’ll arrange for the license.” He kissed her hand and left.
In the hallway, it took a certain willpower for him not to kick up his heels as he went out.
Hester watched as Drake closed the door and released a pent-up breath. Life had a way of twisting one’s plans spectacularly. Her head lowered to her midriff with tenderness. It was not that she didn’t want the child, much on the contrary. The notion of having Drake’s son or daughter melted her in a way she never imagined it would.
But the fact Hester would become his wife wrenched her insides with a kaleidoscope of emotions. The one lancing through them all was fear. Yes, she had to admit, even if only to herself, that becoming legally attached to Drake scared the hell out of her. If the ladies’ reactions at the Brunswick ball was anything to go by, she was in dire trouble. Married to Drake, she’d have a foot in each world. And how she would navigate them, she hadn’t got the slightest idea. In between those, there would be a child. How the blasted ton would regard it would a
ffect the little one for life. The possibility of a negative reception caused utter distress.
Bleak as it might appear, raising a family with Drake generated a whole set of different sentiments. Never in the entire history would she have predicted such a thing would happen. When she accepted to be his mistress, she possessed a full awareness of what it entailed. A woman of humble origins enlisted to serve a lord’s whims temporarily. Not even for a second had she imagined it would amount to anything more than that. And here she sat, in his townhouse, confirmed that she carried his child, his legacy. And coaxed into marriage, no less.
Nonetheless, she trusted that she'd be able to walk through the maze that her new situation would surely beget. She wasn't a pampered ninny, she'd struggled in life, despite the fairly safe upbringing she had: Parents with a regular income, who loved each other and their children. Nothing had come on a platter though. Life would never be easy for those coming from the lower ranks. Her family had faced hard choices for housing or schooling. Whatever came her way, she'd be sure to fight her corner.
