Page 32 of No Duke of Mine

“They don’t have to end,” he said quickly. “I will speak to your father when we see him and encourage him to visit London.”

“What else will you say to him? Will you tell him we played at being husband and wife and traveled alone together in your fine ducal carriage, without the benefit of a proper chaperone? Will you make him think that my headstrong ways encouraged you to ignore propriety entirely? We could stay a few days in another inn together, one with too few rooms, and you could buy me more flowers there, as well. Is it likely you intend to invite me to your wedding, too?”

He shuffled his feet and did not form a reply, other than a whispered no.

“Can you not see how wrong this has been?” Her stomach clenched at her foolishness, and his as well. “I’m certain your intended bride will be deeply offended if she discovers someone so unsuitable kept you from her side for so long.”

“She will never hear about you from me,” he promised swiftly.

Maggie winced. “So I am to be your last indulgence before marriage. I’ve always disapproved of husbands keeping secrets from their wives. What are you doing, sharing your confidences with me alone? You should buy her the gift of books! Do you really want to start your marriage with scandal nipping at your heels?”

He wet his lips and drew closer. “You are important to me, Maggie.”

“I might have been once, but no more. You have slowed your journey, shortened your travel each day to accommodate a lady who is not a member of your family. You could have been in London already if not for me.”

“You needed me.”

She shook her head. “I could have made my own way, and you know it. Why do you delay?”

“I delay because perhaps I do not wish to marry at all!” he blurted out, then raked a hand through his hair. “She is but a means to an end. A way to set my brothers free of the great debt I owe them all.”

Maggie gaped at him. “So it’s true you’re hunting a fortune for a bride? But Algernon, a marriage like that might deny you the chance to have the love you deserve,” she whispered, horrified by his intention to make a cold-blooded alliance for money. “I would hope your brothers do not approve of this plan of yours.”

Algernon glanced at her sharply. “It is my decision who I wed, no matter what they say.”

“Well, I am glad they still want what is best for you, even if you don’t. I cannot stop you from making a cold-blooded alliance, either, I suppose. But as much as I am concerned about your future happiness, our time together is at an end.”

“It is over when I say so,” he bit out, drawing close to tower over her.

Maggie lifted her face. He was angry with her now. He was a man who was never denied by any woman. But she had to deny him. She did not belong in his world. She never had.

“Algernon, would you truly want a lady to fall for you, knowing she had to give you up to another the next day?”

His eyes widened. “You love me?”

Maggie drew back from that question because she knew the answer would make this parting even harder. “I care for you a great deal, but any lady could easily imagine a future with you, and you know it. Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

He stared at her, mulling over her words. “A gentleman could easily fall for you, as well.”

“Well, it is fortunate I have no money to offer a duke in need of funds,” she whispered, heartbroken over their parting. “I would have made a terrible wife and duchess, you know.”

His eyes widened. “You would have been enough.”

“If not for the money,” she reminded him.

Algernon nodded and rushed out of the room. The door shut loudly behind him.

Their faux marriage now in tatters.

Maggie sank into a chair, suddenly bereft that she could never again speak with Algernon so freely. Tomorrow morning, she would set off for the next village on foot, if need be, without ever seeing him again.

It was the only way to survive a painful parting.