Chapter Fifty-Six
BROOKE WAS MORE NERVOUS than she let on as she waited in the parlor to see if Dominic would even receive her. But she knew he was back in London. Alfreda had a note from Gabriel waiting on her when they got home last night, telling her he and Dominic had returned from Yorkshire yesterday.
So much depended on this meeting, her future, Ella’s future, even Dominic’s own happiness. And if she didn’t do this just right, if she couldn’t give him back his sister, then he might hate her even more.
Why couldn’t this be simple? Why did Ella still even want to protect a man who had betrayed not just her trust but also Dominic’s—his own friend? But the wolf that entered the parlor a few moments later wasn’t the one she was expecting to see.
“Storm!” Brooke cried in delight, jumping up and putting her arms around the dog and burying her face in Storm’s soft white hair.
“You’re kissing the wrong wolf,” Dominic said as he walked straight to her. He didn’t look angry; in fact, he was smiling. Had Ella changed her mind and was already home?
But Dominic was suddenly kissing her and her thoughts scattered every which way. She wrapped her arms around him. She hadn’t forgotten the strength beneath her hands, the earthy smell of him, the tantalizing taste. But the thrill was new; it included such relief she could barely contain it. He wanted her!
He picked her up, moved to the sofa, where he sat down to cradle her on his lap, but not before kissing her again and again. Her bonnet fell back on the seat behind her, her hair came loose and tumbled over his arm. Someone closed the door for them. It still wasn’t locked, but she was too happy to care.
But she was so shocked when she heard him say, “Marry me, Babble,” that she forced them to stop. She was so obviously incredulous that he grinned. “And here I thought having Storm at my side would greatly improve my chance to persuade you. Did it not work?”
She was still shocked, but peered deeply into those amber eyes. “You actually want to marry me now?”
After one last tender kiss, he told her, “I wanted to from the night we made love. You’ve affected me in so many ways—your tender care of me, your concern, your courage, your determination. You got past my defenses so easily, despite who you’re related to. I’ve never known anyone quite like you, Brooke Whitworth, and I want to share the rest of my life with you.”
She started to cry even as she smiled at him.
He rolled his eyes and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “It never ceases to amaze me how women can produce a water fountain for the wrong reasons.”
Brooke laughed and helped him get the tears off her cheeks. “I’m deuced if I know.” But then she said in surprise, “But you let me leave your house. Why did you do that if you already knew?”
“Because I had the thought that without the Regent’s edict casting a pall over us, I could ask you to marry me and you would know it’s what I want, not what I was forced to do. And I would know it’s what you want, if you accepted. I didn’t want us to start our marriage under those forced conditions. So even though I’m still annoyed with my mother for interfering, if you say yes now, I will thank her profusely.”
Her smile got brighter. “Of course I want to! I did as soon as you stopped growling at me. But the day I left, I was very much in love with you. So why didn’t you come to me and ask me sooner?”
“Because your choice had been denied you with me. I wanted you to have it back and all normal options with it. I wanted you to choose me, to be absolutely sure of your feelings before I asked you to marry me. You made me love you. I wasn’t sure if you felt the same. And you deserved to have that Season you had been looking forward to.”
“The Season I haven’t been enjoying without you at my side? That Season?”
He looked abashed. “I’ve been miserable, too, and taking it out on everyone. But I loved you enough to wait for you to enjoy a bit of the Season. Well, I thought you would. However, I hear you ended up with many suitors. Perhaps I should have stayed in town to bare my teeth and snarl at a few of them.”
She grinned. “You’re pretty good at teasing. Were you always?”
“Only with my sister. She was easy to tease.”
Ella! She’d nearly forgotten and now felt like groaning. His reaction could go either way. He might not want to give his word that he wouldn’t kill Benton. He might get angry at his sister for putting him through such grief. She wondered if they could get married first before she told him. . . .
Seeing her worried brow, he asked, “What?” But then he guessed. “You’re remembering that silly bargain of yours, aren’t you? Not that you had anything to bargain for.”
She blushed. “No, you told me that on the ride home from the ball. But why haven’t you asked what brought me here today?”
He hugged her closer. “Something other than your unspoken feelings for me?”
“Yes, although I did have high hopes that it would lead to what just happened. I did so want to end your grief and now I can. Your sister isn’t dead. She’s very much alive.”
He shot off the sofa, leaving her on it. For a moment she thought he was going to accuse her of lying, his expression was so anguished. “How can this be? Her body was found!”
“That wasn’t her.” Brooke quickly added, “And she’ll come home if you’ll swear you won’t kill the father of her child.”
“I’ve already made that pledge.”
“He’s not the one, and before I can tell you who is, I have to hear you swear you won’t kill him. Fear of that is why Ella faked her death, Dominic. She doesn’t want him dead or you imprisoned for it. So swear. It’s her condition that you do, not mine.”
“She’s really alive?” he asked incredulously.
Brooke nodded. “Both she and your niece are.”
“My God, how?”
She told him what she could about the faked deaths without revealing names or locations and admitted how she was able to find Ella. “At first I hoped to find proof that Ella’s death was an accident, not a suicide. Then it became apparent that her baby might still be alive. I hoped the child, at least, would ease your pain. We didn’t expect to find them together.”
“Where is she?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Damnit—”
“I can’t! She made me promise to hear you swear first.”
“Bloody hell, does it not sound like I’m swearing!?”
She understood his frustration. She would have smiled if it weren’t so inappropriate with these particular emotions racking him. “That isn’t the sort of swearing she wants me to hear,” Brooke was forced to say.
Oh, my, there was that feral gleam again, but she didn’t think it was for her. Then he paced and did some more of that other swearing. She waited patiently.
He finally stopped and stared at her. “I swear I won’t kill him. There, I’ve said it quite clearly. Now give me the name of who I’m only going to pummel.”
“Benton Seamons.”
He growled and marched to the nearest wall to punch his fist through it. She hurried over to see what sort of damage he’d just done to his knuckles, tsking at him, “Keep in mind, she doesn’t want him to die for what he did, though she might not care if he gets a sound thrashing. But you and your sister can discuss that later.”
“Why did she blame your brother instead? Or was that just a ruse to put me off the scent?”
“No, she didn’t know you’d read her diary. And it was Robert’s fault indirectly, even though he only thought he was helping when he interfered where he shouldn’t have. He had become chummy with your friend that summer and learned that Benton was so in debt from his gambling that his father was threatening to disown him. So he steered Benton to a ducal heiress who would be of age to marry in a couple of years, to get in on the ground floor, as it were, a girl who could solve his current problems nicely—and easily cover any exorbitant gambling debts he incurred in the future. It was the only thing that appeased his father enough to pay off his debts. Benton was drunk when he laughed at Ella’s news about the baby, but he already knew he couldn’t marry her even if he did love her. He broke with her in that harsh manner because he was going to be disowned if he didn’t, which would leave him no longer worthy of her in any case.”
“Why didn’t your brother tell me that?”
“Well, he did tell you it wasn’t him, you just didn’t believe him. And Ella did blame him for ruining her life because he was the one who told Benton he could do better than her and with who. She found that out from Robert before she left London and how badly in debt Benton really was.”
“But three duels—why the devil didn’t he give me Benton’s name?”
“Because he’d given his word to Benton that he wouldn’t reveal anything about that summer. Who would have thought my brother could have even a speck of honor in him, to keep that secret even though his life depended on it? But I just found that out from Robert last night when we returned to town. And that being responsible for giving Benton that ducal option has made him feel rather guilty, especially when you accused him of being responsible for Ella’s death. He pretty much admitted that he felt he deserved a bullet for his part in it—but not three duels!” Brooke grinned slightly, remembering her brother’s frustrated expression when they’d talked of this last night. “He was quite put out when you wanted that third round. He was ready to find Benton himself and beat him into giving you his confession when you cornered him to force that last duel. And when I got dragged into it, he was actually trying to rescue me by goading you to send me home. I’m glad you realized that before I did.”
“And that potion he gave you?”
She rolled her eyes. “It was supposed to make you see something grotesque and frightening in anyone you looked at, long enough for you to chase everyone out of your house, including me. It was otherwise harmless. Now, would you like to see Ella today?”
“She’s that close?”
Brooke grinned. “Yes. So you should probably let your mother know. Seeing Ella without prior warning . . .”
He chuckled. “Indeed, ghosts tend to cause all sorts of havoc and fainting.”
She laughed. “How would you know?”
“A good guess.” He squeezed her tightly. “You can’t imagine what this means to me, Babble.”
Yes, she could.