Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

P rudence stared at the canopy of her bed. She had tarried too long with Duke and had bumped into a gentleman who looked frighteningly familiar in the door of the inn. Luckily, the gentleman had only given her a vague once-over before tipping his hat and entering the inn.

Jane, her maid, had looked like she'd stayed up all night waiting for Prudence to return. Her relief had been palpable, and she'd bustled Prue into her chambers, helped her change into her night rail, and practically shoved her under the covers.

As Aunt Honoria hadn't stomped in preaching about carnal sin and hellfire, Prudence would assume her ruse of being sick was successful. The night would be a secret she would hold dear to her heart for the rest of her days. No matter what happened, it had been worth it.

By noon, she could no longer lay in bed with her thoughts. Prudence dressed and joined her aunt in the drawing room.

"Are you feeling better, my dear?" Her aunt stabbed a needle through an embroidery hoop.

"Much better, thank you." She actually felt terrible. The lack of sleep had a headache brewing at her temples. Not to mention the sadness of knowing all she had left was a memory, no matter how sweet.

"Good, because the Henderson musicale is this evening. I heard there will be an earl in attendance. A friend of the elder Henderson boy. It will be an opportunity to make inroads into the upper echelons."

Aunt Honoria was maneuvering for invitations to more exclusive events to rub elbows with a variety of peers. She had hoped their connection, however tenuous, with Duke's sister, Madeline, would prove beneficial. Her aunt had been horrified when Madeline had thrown over the Duke of Ralston's heir for a common gamble while Prudence had silently cheered.

Unfortunately, Prudence couldn't beg off yet another event even though she anticipated her headache only getting worse while being subjected to the generally poor singing and playing. "A musicale sounds lovely."

It was not lovely. The musicale was crowded and hot and, as predicted, the actual music was to be endured, not enjoyed. She ignored the frustrated looks coming from her aunt and remained in the corner of the room sipping her third glass of champagne.

The poor earl who deigned to join the event was surrounded on all sides by young marriageable ladies. He had the look of a man hunted, and Prudence spared a moment of sympathy for him.

Wishing she was home in bed—or better yet in Duke's bed—Prudence closed her eyes and tilted her face toward the cooling breeze snaking its way through the garden doors.

"I'll have you know I've subjected myself to four horrendously boring events this evening searching for you," said a deep voice.

Her eyes flew open. Duke was standing three feet in front of her. She was dreaming. She had to be. Her head felt like it was full of cotton. She swayed and grabbed the lapel of his jacket to steady herself.

A storm brewed in his eyes. His mobile mouth was turned down and his brows drawn in. His evening attire was stark but highlighted the best parts of him—which was everything. He was the most handsome man in the room.

"I— You—" Her heart was galloping, and her stays felt like they'd tightened to the point of suffocating her.

His expression softened slightly. With a firm hand on the small of her back, he guided her through the garden doors to the stone balustrade. "Take deep breaths. I'd rather not have to explain why you've swooned in my arms."

She gulped in the cooler night air and looked at him from the corner of her eye. "What are you doing here?"

"As I said, looking for you."

"But… But why?"

Duke looked unusually uncomfortable all of a sudden. He adjusted his cravat and smoothed the lapels of his jacket. "You left without saying goodbye."

"You sought me out to say goodbye?"

"Yes. No." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm making a hash of this. Last night was…" He looked to the sky where the stars were hidden by clouds.

Prue filled in the blank. Bliss. Madness. Unforgettable. It was too complicated for one emotion. She glanced toward the large, crowded drawing room. Had her aunt noticed her absence? Her lips grew dry. This was teetering on a disaster. She had to get him to leave.

"A mistake," she said emphatically.

His gaze dropped to hers. "Do you really believe that?"

Of course she didn't, but she had to make him think she did. "Last night can never happen again."

"Last night was incredible, and you know it." Anger and hurt sizzled in his voice.

"I thought it was understood it would be one night and nothing more."

His jaw worked as he stared at her. "What if I want more? What if I want to court you properly? Flowers and stilted conversations in drawing rooms and walks at the fashionable hour in Hyde Park. We could start with an introduction to your aunt."

Her breath caught. "It's impossible." For reasons Duke wasn't even aware of.

"Why? I am not without means. You have the freedom of being a widow." He grasped her hands. "We could travel together. You want to see Paris, don't you?"

Hope sparked in her heart, but reality snuffed it before it could flame. "I do, but there's something I haven't told you. I'm not?—"

"Mr. Barnes. What a surprise!" Aunt Honoria's voice was Prudence's nightmare.

Duke turned slowly. "Mrs. Courtright?"

"I see you have found Prudence. Are you in town because of your poor sister? Unfortunately, it is too late to save her." Her aunt's voice dropped as if discussing a tragedy.

Duke did not move or speak for a long moment. Slowly, he turned back to face Prudence, his gaze raking over her face. "I've been blind. And idiotic. Were you trying to make a fool of me? Was that your plan?"

"No! Of course not. We met by chance. I didn't orchestrate it. Everything"—she made an all-encompassing gesture—"just happened."

It was a weak and pathetic excuse, but how could she tell him the truth? She had dreamed and longed for him for as long as she could remember. How could she not take advantage of the opportunity fate had provided?

Aunt Honoria looked between Prudence and Duke, her brow scrunched and her mouth pinched. "What is going on here?"

If he told her aunt exactly what had gone on, her situation would be dire. She begged Duke with her eyes. His mouth tightened, but when he turned to her aunt, his voice was calm. "If you are receiving tomorrow, I would like to call upon you ladies."

Her aunt looked flustered. "Of course we would be pleased to receive you, Mr. Barnes."

After her aunt gave Duke their direction, Duke bowed, turned on his heel, and disappeared.

Prudence ignored the glare from her aunt. Trying to regulate the shock and distress of her unmasking, Prudence forced her lips into the tiniest of smiles. It was all she could manage. "It will be good to catch up with a friend from home, won't it?"

"I didn't realize you were on friendly terms at home. He never acknowledged your presence." It would be just like her aunt to point out the obvious.

"We were acquainted." Prudence took a side step to escape, but her aunt matched her movement, keeping her blocked in.

"And you have become reacquainted while in London?" Her aunt was getting worked up, which would be sure to cause a scene and make matters even worse, if that was possible. "Why did you not tell me before now?"

"We can discuss this later, Aunt Honoria. You are drawing attention." Prudence sent a steadier smile at the people who were casting them curious glances.

"You can be sure we will discuss it." Her aunt smoothed a hand down her dress and took a deep breath. "I feel a headache coming on. We should depart."

The next morning, Prudence sat on the edge of the settee and sipped a cup of coffee. Her eyes were sandy and her head fuzzy from two nights of poor sleep. She had managed to put her aunt off the night before, but the coming visit from Duke was sure to prove difficult.

Tears that had flowed into her pillow prickled her eyes once more. She looked to the ceiling and blinked to beat back the emotion. The beautiful night they'd spent together was now tarnished. Her biggest fear was that Duke would hate her and regret bedding her.

Her aunt bustled into the drawing room, her face thunderous. "Are you ready to speak now?"

"I will speak to you after Duke's visit." While Prudence's voice was calm, her cup rattled on the saucer.

"You are taking unusual liberties with his name. Just how intimately acquainted are you and Mr. Barnes?" Her aunt was inching toward the truth.

The man who they were employing as a butler-footman stepped into the room. "Mr. James Barnes, ma'am."

"Show him in, Perkins."

The butler inclined his head and stepped back. Duke walked in, looking handsome in a navy frock coat and the same buff-colored buckskins she had unbuttoned with relish. She tore her eyes away from the fall. Knowing what lay underneath was torturous. His dark blond hair was windblown, and his color was high. His masculinity was potent and filled the room with energy.

An ache spread for what she'd enjoyed so briefly and lost. She stood on wobbly knees. Duke spared her aunt a brief acknowledgment, but his gaze eviscerated her as if searching for her truths. His anger and shock from the musicale were gone. In their place was something she couldn't name. Speculation? Curiosity?

"I would like to know what is going on," Aunt Honoria said stridently into the long silence.

"I would beg your patience, ma'am." With his focus still on Prudence, he said in a voice that brooked no argument, "Your niece and I must talk. Alone. We will take a stroll to the park. A footman or maid can accompany us for appearance's sake."

While her aunt sputtered, he offered his bare hand to Prudence and waited. The same hand had touched her intimately and given her unspeakable pleasure, yet the simple act of slipping her hand into his felt momentous.

The squeeze he gave her hand steadied her nerves as he led her into the foyer of the town house. She asked Perkins to fetch Jane.

Jane? Duke mouthed, raising an eyebrow, but otherwise they waited in silence, their hands still joined. Prudence cast her gaze up at his face, but could not predict the direction of the coming conversation.

With protests from her aunt still ringing in their ears, they departed the town house, shoulder to shoulder, Jane trailing behind them. He untangled their fingers and offered his arm. She tucked her hand into the crook. It was a short stroll to the small park across from their town house.

"I'm sorry." Her voice cracked with a bolt of emotion.

"As am I."

"But I knew who you were from the start, and you didn't recognize me."

"Well, I'm a fool. I should have remembered you. It's just that…" He grimaced slightly. "When we were younger, you didn't draw my attention. I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing? My aunts kept me isolated. I am a bluestocking wallflower." She shrugged.

"But not a widow." A hint of accusation crept in his voice.

"When you didn't recognize me, I lied. I needed an excuse for being unchaperoned. I didn't expect to share a kiss or stumble across a murder. It complicated the moment."

He stopped and faced her. "But we shared much more than a kiss."

She was done with the lies and half-truths. "The truth is that while I did not draw your attention when we were younger, you drew mine—and every other woman's in town, no doubt. I have been infatuated with you for as long as I can remember. One night with you was more than I ever dreamed to have. And it was worth it, no matter what happens now."

He glanced toward Jane, who was pretending to examine the flowers, and restarted their stroll. "You were a virgin."

Heat flushed into her face, and she was glad to not be staring at him when she said, "I was, yes."

"If I had known, I would have been gentler." The castigation he had already treated himself to was apparent in his humorless laugh. "What am I saying? I wouldn't have dallied with you if I had known."

"Exactly why I didn't want you to know, and if you couldn't tell, I enjoyed being with you. Very much. In fact, our time together was more pleasurable than I ever imagined. I wanted it to be you. It was a choice fate allowed me to make."

"It was a night to remember." The husky knowing timber of his voice sent a bolt of awareness to her belly.

"You weren't ever supposed to find out who I really was."

"But I know now. We must decide what happens next."

She whipped her head around. She had studied every line and expression of his face for years, yet he remained a mystery. "Nothing has to happen. You will travel on while I remain here with my aunt to find a husband."

"What if I offer you a choice?"

She stuttered to a stop. "A choice."

"Yes. Didn't you say that every woman deserves a choice in her future? Marry me instead of some fop you care nothing for."

Shock left her numb. "You don't want to marry. You want to travel and see the world."

"So do you. Why can't we do it together?"

"I have plans for a perfumery."

"There's no reason you can't concoct and sell your perfumes. In fact, as a businessman, I can provide backing. Set you up with a proper laboratory."

Blooms of hope and love burst in her chest. "Are you trying to bribe me?"

"Consider it my dowry."

A laugh escaped her. "The bride is supposed to provide a dowry."

"Then we shall have an unconventional marriage." He shrugged, but wore the half smile she so loved.

Her smile faded. "There is still a problem. You don't love me."

His face grew equally as solemn. "I've never been in love, so I'm not sure what I feel, but I know it's something I've never felt before. I haven't been able to stop thinking of you. I had made plans to ask you to accompany me to Paris last night. When I awoke and you were already gone, I felt bereft. I knew instantly I would not stop until I found you. It seems to me marriages are made on less sturdy foundations than what we have already built."

He was correct. She had seen ton marriages decided after only a dance or even less. Money and connections were what was important. At least she and Duke had similar passions in and out of bed. Her infatuation had matured into love. Did she have the courage to wait for him to feel the same?

There was another impediment. "My aunts?—"

"Will be well taken care of. My wife's family does not need to worry about their futures."

Her mind whirled. While Prudence wouldn't be making a match with an English gentleman, the Barnes family was just as wealthy, if not more so, than most peers. Her aunts would be able to hold their heads high and crow about their connections at home while Prudence could live her life with the man she loved.

"I am too selfish to turn down your offer. I have wanted you for too long." She was determined to be honest with him.

He cupped her cheek and kissed her so sweetly she sagged into him. "My want might not be as long-lived as yours, but it is intense."

"Will we return home to marry?" She already dreaded the long ocean journey and the expectations that would be put upon them by their families and New York society. While not as grand as anything in England, everyone would expect the Barneses to host a large wedding for their eldest son.

"While our families will be displeased, I have something more expedient in mind. I cannot fathom waiting. Let's begin our adventures by eloping to Gretna Green."

Aunt Honoria would be shocked, but it was a good match. Her objections would be centered around the speed and lack of fanfare, but Prudence could weather the tears and pleas to wait. "When?"

"How soon can you be packed?" he said with an infectious grin.