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Harriet squinted up at bright sunshine. A line of thick gray clouds were still visible but drifting away. In their place was a blue sky and a warm sun that lapped at her curled legs, as she lay against Edward. Harriet stretched languidly, like a cat, enjoying the warmth, even as the drying material of her dress tickled and scratched at her skin.
“I think I fell asleep,” Harriet said.
“As did I. Briefly. That sunshine is glorious. I didn’t realize how cold I was,” Edward answered.
Harriet raised her head to rest it on his shoulder and he turned to look down at her. For a moment they gazed into each other’s eyes. Harriet found herself trying to divine his motives and next step. Finally, she took a breath and asked.
“Do you believe that I am trying to trap you into marriage?”
“No,” Edward replied without hesitation. “But I also believe that someone in your family is trying to do just that. Or possibly playing a more devious game, trying to ensure I am driven away from you by the thought I am walking into a trap.”
“And where does that leave me?”
“In my arms and in my heart,” Edward replied simply. “Someone is playing games with us. We will find them and I am content that we will do it together.”
Harriet smiled and reached up for a kiss. The boldness of taking a kiss from Edward as though it was her entitlement made her feel giddy. It was a sensation she enjoyed immensely.
“But first I intend to find Rebecca before she does something that she regrets for the rest of her life,” Edward said firmly.
“I still heartily disagree with the proposition of duty before love, but will you allow me to aid you?”
“Yes. But as my fiancée, not as my social secretary. The schemer, whoever they are, has made our relationship public. I intend to embrace their game and go along with it.”
“Go along with it?” Harriet said, pulling away from him. “You make it sound as though it is not a true engagement, that you are playing along.”
Edward frowned as though confused. “We have not discussed marriage. We have talked of many things and shared much intimacy but never talked of marriage. I would not assume that you wish to be my wife. Until that matter is settled between us properly, it is an act, is it not?”
Harriet got to her feet, feeling suddenly cold.
Have I just become another conquest of the handsome, rakish, Duke? Has he seduced me under the guise of this game that some scoundrel is playing with us? Have I dishonored myself?
“Harriet?” Edward got to his feet, following her across the balcony. “What have I said wrong?”
“You do not know?” Harriet asked. “I have shared my body with you and you tell me that our engagement is…is fictitious. So, what am I to you? Please, I must know for if I am just another…conquest…then I will marry the Viscount Middleton and we will never speak again.”
A look of horror was passing across Edward’s face. He tried to reach for her but she pulled away, not wanting his touch.
“Harriet, that is not what I was saying. I merely meant that I have not yet asked for your hand or sought the consent of your only male relative, as custom demands I do. You have given me no sign that you would wish to marry me. Instead, you allow a marriage with Middleton to be arranged. Now someone has forced our hands, you suddenly claim to want to marry me. What am I to think of your intentions?”
Harriet rounded on him. It had seemed so clear to her. They had been intimate and to her, that meant a connection that went deeper than mere acquaintanceship. The newspaper announcement was inexplicable but it changed nothing. Now the prospect of marriage had been made very real to them both. It was obvious to her that the natural next step was to make that a reality.
But not obvious to him! He thinks that we can carry on pretending to be engaged.
“My intentions have not changed. I seek a husband in order to help my family. Once, I wished for true love, but I never expected to find it, at least not in the man I would have to choose for marriage. Duty always came first. Then I met you and I had begun to believe that perhaps my duty and my desire could come together. What are your intentions? Forgive me, perhaps I should have asked that night in the library, before I allowed you to touch me. I ask now.”
She stood before him with chin raised and eyes proud. She was prepared to take anything that he cared to deal to her. Harriet stood ready to have her heartbroken. Edward stared at her as though trying to see through her eyes to her very soul. He came closer, never once looking away from her with his brilliant blue eyes. Then he fell to one knee and caught her hand.
“Harriet Worthingham. You are the most beautiful, wild, and fascinating creature. I would deem it the greatest honor of my life if you were to consent to be my wife. I only ask that you forgive me that it took some mysterious meddler to bring me to this moment. I should have arrived here myself long ago.”
Harriet maintained her proud demeanor for another moment before it crumbled into sheer happiness. She smiled and tears filled her eyes as she fell to her knees in front of him and collapsed into his arms. The embrace that held her was warm, strong, and safe. She felt that she could remain in his arms forever. Nothing could touch her while he held her, no weapon of society or cruel barb of fate.
“I accept,” she whispered and felt his arms tighten about her.
“We will not set a date until Rebecca is safe and sound at home,” Edward said. “On that, I will not be moved, she is my first priority.”
Harriet nodded, caressing his strong, resolute face, and kissing him. “I would have it no other way.”
“We will go back to the house and I will ask for your cousin’s consent. Then I must return to my search.”
