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A second later, everyone else followed.
Mary continued, “He could be coolly bored, coldly amused, icily furious...”
More laughter, and Saffi did her best to avoid the duke’s murderous look.
Rathe did his best to glare everyone’s smirks away, but it was useless to do the same thing on his table, since his two closest friends were laughing their heads off while Yanna and Saffi had their backs turned on him. Unfortunately, the way their shoulders shook completely gave them away.
Only little Alexei wasn’t laughing, and the baby waved his tiny hand when he saw Rathe.
“Only chap in my corner,” Rathe muttered as he ruffled the baby’s head.
On the screen, Mary was talking again. “That’s basically the repertoire of emotions the duke shows in public but when I watched the show...I realized that he could show one other expressionperfectly.”
Her lips trembled, and when he saw her look up, Rathe’s chest ached, knowing that she was doing her best not to cry.
But when she glanced back at the camera, it was pointless, the tears streaming down, and her voice wobbling as she said, “I saw...every time...you asked me to marry you...”
A deep breath.
“Shiwnqihijpm.”
Rathe choked, even as almost everyone around him exclaimed in confusion, wondering if they had heard Mary right.
Ah, little pearl.
As coherent as ever.
When Mary looked back at the camera, she was smiling and crying. “You looked like a man in love.” She started to sob in earnest. “You l-looked...like a m-man in l-love with me.”
She brought her hand up. Wagged her fingers. “Still bare, Y-Your Grace. If y-you a-ask me again, I w-would love to b-be y-your wife.”
The camera zoomed out, further and further until he realized that she was in one of the suites of the same bloody hotel he was in.
He shot to his feet, the same time the camera showed the room number.
Rathe ran.
Behind him, the voiceover intoned, “Ladies and gentlemen, that was alivepreview of the newest cast member ofThe Wellesleys,Ms. Mary Ashton, who may just be the future Duchess of Wellesley.”
****
The knock on the doorcame sooner than she expected, telling her that Rathe was now on the opposite side of the door.
“Mary?”
Her heart slammed against her chest at the sound of his voice. It felt like an eternity ago since she had last heard him speak in person. She felt nervous, queasy, and scared all at the same time, and it suddenly became impossible to move.
When no one answered from inside, he laid his forehead against the door, a part of him wondering dully if he had gotten it all wrong. Or maybe he hadn’t but now it was too late, Mary changing his mind.
“You’re there, aren’t you?”
And still, silence remained his answer.
“Just tell me,” he said quietly, “that you’re okay. I don’t need you to do anything else. I just need to know you’re good.”
The pain in his voice helped Mary find hers, and she said brokenly, “I’m just suddenly...terrified.”
Rathe closed his eyes, relief making his heart pound as he finally heard her speak. “It’s okay,” he said hoarsely. “I’m here. You have nothing to be afraid of.”
