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Epilogue
A week later…
In the true nature of the Fairbanks, Colin and Mina married by special license upsetting many in the ton who had hopes and lost their wagers over which illustrious lady he would choose as his wife. In fine form, the scandal sheets followed with some lurid speculation as to the sudden marriage, one even boldly stating she might be enceinte.
“Oh, they are so outrageous,” Mina said, laughing.
Her husband and the man she loved with all her heart came up to her and rained sensual kisses, tracing the line of her jaw and traveling down her throat to her bare shoulder. Arousal shivered through her, and the newssheet slid from her fingers in a whisper to the carpeted floor.
Unable to believe how easily he awakened her senses when they had just been in each other’s arms, Mina slipped her hand around his neck.
“I am to meet with Lizzy soon for our first lesson,” she said, kissing the underside of his jaw. “I shan’t allow you to distract me.”
“Distract, my countess? Nay, it is merely my turn to give you a lesson in pleasure.”
She gasped when he tweaked a nipple between his thumb and forefinger. “Surely there cannot be any more to loving.”
His sensual smile was full of masculine expectations. “Ah, my sweet, I look forward to corrupting you.”
Mina giggled, and he swallowed the sound in a loving kiss.
A frantic thump on the door interrupted their play, and he pulled away from her with a frown.
“Colin,” Penny cried through the thick oak door. “There has been a disaster!”
He reached for his banyan, slipped it on, and padded over to the door while Mina donned her robe.
He opened the door, and his sister pushed past him in a whirl of a frothy white dress and pink ribbons.
“Penny,” he said sharply.
She flushed at noting their state of dishevelment.
“Forgive me for intruding in your bedchamber, Colin.” She closed her eyes briefly. “Fanny…Fanny is not at home.”
Why did that sound so dire?
“What do you mean Fanny is not at home?”
Penny appeared decidedly discomfited and would not meet his eyes. This was so unlike his sister that a pang of worry pierced Mina. In the short time she had known the girl, she had learned she was anything but shy. Colin walked over to her and gently used a finger to lift her chin.
“Penny, what has you so worried?”
“I do not want Fanny to hate me!” she said with a sniff.
“Do not be silly. Your sister would never hate you.”
“There has been a plot afoot…one conceived by Fanny, and our brothers helped her.”
Oh dear.
Based on her and Colin’s conversations, Mina already suspected which ones of the brothers.
“Nicholas and Richard?” Colin asked darkly.
Penny bit into her lower lip and nodded.
“What have those scamps gotten up to, and how did they convince Fanny to help?”
