Lover Be Mine: A Legendary Lovers Novel (32 page)

Feeling awkward and sad, Sophie hastened to add, “I feel a sincere affection for you,
your grace. And I believe you feel the same for me. But you well know that affection
is not love. And in my heart, I know neither of us would be satisfied without it.”

He heaved a sigh. “I knew it was too good to be true when you accepted my offer. Even
then I knew your heart was engaged elsewhere.”

“You did?” she asked in surprise.

“Regretfully, yes. There was something in your eyes when you looked at your handsome
young lord. I recognized that look, Miss Fortin. I felt it myself for my wife.”

Sophie bit her lip. “I should never have led you on by agreeing to wed you, your grace.
But I swear to you, I did not realize the strength of my feelings then—”

“It is quite all right, my dear. One cannot choose whom one loves.” Dunmore took her
hand again and patted it rather avuncularly. “Do not distress yourself. I do understand.
And you may consider yourself released from our betrothal.”

“
Thank you
, your grace,” Sophie murmured with restrained joy, wanting to express her heartfelt
gratitude without unduly insulting him.

The duke rose when she did, but Sophie paused before taking her leave. “I have friends
who are highly talented at matchmaking. I have no doubt they can help to find you
a suitable bride who will cherish you as you deserve.”

Dunmore’s smile was gentle and a little wistful. “I might welcome their assistance,
since clearly I have not fared well on my own.”

He escorted her to the large entry hall, where a footman hastened to open the door
for her and light her way down the front steps through a misty darkness to her aunt’s
carriage.

Sophie waited, however, until she was settled inside
before exhaling in profound relief. When she left the duke’s mansion behind, a stark
feeling of liberation swept over her, as if an immense burden had been lifted from
her heart. She wanted to be free to love Jack and this was the first step.

She could never have been the kind of wife the duke deserved, and he could never have
been the husband she yearned for. She wanted love and passion and lightning bolts
in her marriage—the sweet fire only Jack could give her. Tonight she had overcome
a major obstacle and garnered the chance to live her own dreams—although there were
even greater obstacles still standing in her way.

It was possible, even probable, that she would have to make an onerous choice and
decide whom she loved more, her parents or Jack, and how she would be able to honor
the nuptial vows to forsake all others. Could she actually forsake her parents?

She also had Jack himself to contend with. If he hadn’t truly meant his admission
of love for her, his heart might still be closed to her, but she had to take the risk.
She needed his love to feel complete, and it was time that she told him so.

The fog had thickened by the time she reached Jack’s home in Montagu Place—an ill
omen that made Sophie shiver as she mounted the front steps. Upon being admitted,
she found him in his study, sprawled in an armchair, staring broodingly into a low-burning
hearth fire, a snifter of brandy held loosely in his hand.

He glanced up when she entered, but his reception of her was far different from the
duke’s. Jack set
down his glass and rose slowly to his feet, not looking at all pleased to see her.

Her greeting to him was different as well. Sophie crossed directly to Jack, wrapped
her arms tightly around his neck, and kissed him ardently.

For a moment, he responded just as she hoped, his mouth meeting hers in a breathtaking
show of passion. But it bewildered her when he suddenly pulled back.

“You shouldn’t be here, Sophie,” he said, deliberately setting her away from him.

“I had to tell you my news, Jack. I am
free
.”

“What do you mean, free?”

“I ended my betrothal with the duke tonight.”

For an instant Jack’s eyes sparked with gratification, but his succeeding frown was
completely unexpected.

“I thought you would be pleased that I found a way out of the engagement,” Sophie
commented as she searched his face.

“But your parents still oppose our match.”

“Yes. Nothing has changed in that regard. But my father is being stubborn and unreasonable.
I think my mother might be more forgiving, but either way, I am prepared to defy them
if need be. I will marry you and live in Navartania with you.”

Jack shook his head. “I cannot let you make that choice, love. Not when it could lead
to a permanent rift with your parents.”

Sophie could scarcely believe her ears. She was willing to follow Jack to a foreign
country, even if it meant being cast out from her family; she had renounced the duke,
and
now
he was retreating?

Her brow furrowed. “I don’t understand. For days you have been hell-bent on pressing
me to accept your proposal. And just two hours ago you were asking my father for my
hand in marriage.”

“I have reconsidered since then. You should not have broken your engagement to Dunmore,
sweetheart.”

She made a sound of frustration. “It is too late now. I have burned that bridge. Besides,
you
were the one who told me I should make my own fate, and I did just that this evening.
You were right. I needed to act instead of meekly accepting a future I couldn’t bear.”

A muscle in his jaw tightened. “I was mistaken, Sophie.”

“So you are just giving up on us?”

His jaw hardening completely, Jack looked away, effectively masking his expression
from her. The walls were up once more, she realized. He was shutting her out again.
But she wouldn’t allow him to continue, Sophie vowed. She had too huge a stake in
the outcome.

“Jack … please, look at me.” When he complied, she murmured breathlessly, “I love
you. It has been coming on for some time. I fought it at first, but I couldn’t help
myself. I love you more than I can say.”

She wasn’t imagining the spark of fire that flared in his eyes, but when it was just
as quickly extinguished, unease began to grow inside her.

“Jack … Earlier tonight you said you loved me. Even if you didn’t mean it, I still
want to marry you. And I will understand if you can’t love me in return. Given your
past, it would be difficult for you to love anyone.”

Jack shut his eyes, as if he were in pain. When he opened them again, they were midnight
dark and glittering with everything he wouldn’t say. When Sophie met the burning intensity
there, her breath caught in her throat, for she knew without a doubt that he loved
her. The quiet fierceness in his eyes told her so.

Whispering his name, she moved into his arms and raised her mouth to his. Their kiss
this time was heated and fraught with emotion, a shared hunger that required no words,
along with a sudden, desperate urgency.

The same urgency was in Jack’s voice when he broke off and drew back. “I meant what
I said, Sophie. I do love you. But I want your happiness more than your love.”

She stared at him in confusion. “If so, there should be no problem.”

“It is because I love you that I want to protect you. I won’t make you live in Navartania
with me. I won’t make you an outcast from the family you hold dear.”

His tenderness was unmistakable, but she could also tell he was deadly serious. Sophie’s
heart tensed in fear as she continued to stare at him. She should have expected this
quixotic reversal from Jack. His bone-deep protective nature would allow him no other
course. He was thinking of her, trying to shelter her from pain. And she loved him
all the more for it.

Even so, she felt her panic rise. “Jack, there is no need for second thoughts. We
could be married by special license tomorrow—”

“No, love. We cannot. We can’t marry unless we first resolve the conflict with your
father and gain his permission.”

As his eyes burned through her, Sophie felt desperation, even anger, welling up inside
her. “You are utterly infuriating, do you know that? What happened to the rogue who
climbed through my bedroom window, intending to seduce me? The rebel who abducted
me and carted me halfway across France? The one who faced his despised father so that
he could offer
my
father a distinguished title?”

Jack’s silence made her want to scream. She’d been certain that her parents would
be the greatest obstacle, but it now seemed that Jack intended to quit fighting for
her. She would never know love and passion with him.

Watching the struggle on her face, Jack felt a powerful wave of remorse and longed
to console her. But he forced himself to ignore the urge. Only an hour ago, when he’d
seen Sophie with her parents, the realization had struck him with unrelenting force,
what she would be giving up for him if he insisted on following their plan.

“So you are refusing to marry me?” she asked hoarsely.

“Sophie … yes.” If they wed, her whole life would change, much for the worse. He wouldn’t
be the cause of a break with her parents. Being cast out from her family would hurt
her too much. In fact, knowing Sophie, it would devastate her.

He wouldn’t let her make that sacrifice. Because he loved her. Because he cared so
much.

Evidently Sophie wasn’t giving up trying to persuade him, however, for she took another
tack. “Jack … please, we are meant for each other. You know we are.”

“Like the lovers in a Shakespearean tragedy?” he replied, purposely hardening his
tone.

“Yes.”

He gave a humorless smile. “This is the point in the play where Romeo gets killed
and Juliet takes poison, you realize.”

Her expression held hurt. “This is no laughing matter, Jack.”

“I didn’t intend it to be.”

She looked despairing.

“Sophie … love …” He started to take her face in his hands, but she stepped back,
out of reach.

“Please don’t call me your love,” she reproached him more in grief than anger. “You
clearly don’t mean it.”

On the contrary, he loved her deeply, Jack countered silently. And he was overjoyed
to think she felt the same love for him. The emotion flooding his heart just now was
as powerful as he’d ever felt before. The incontrovertible truth was that wanting
to be with Sophie had become a basic tenet of his life, like needing to breathe.

But his mother had followed her heart and look what it had cost her. He wasn’t going
to subject Sophie to that uncertain fate, despite the despairing way she was looking
at him now. She held his gaze, practically trembling, as if her heart were breaking.

They were at an impossible impasse, but he wouldn’t give way, Jack vowed. All this
time he’d been selfishly focused on what
he
wanted, solely concerned about what
he
felt. But he had to do what was best for Sophie. He had to put her welfare first.

“Let me escort you out to your carriage,” he said, taking her elbow to steer her toward
the study door.

Her chin stiffened. “I am not returning home, Jack.”

“You cannot remain here.”

“Why not?”

“Because this is a bachelor’s establishment. You well know the scandal that would
cause—”

“
Now
you have suddenly developed a sense of propriety?” she demanded.

“—and the pain it would give your mother.”

He could tell the reminder had struck a nerve, just as he’d intended, for Sophie’s
eyes suddenly went bright with tears.

She felt the same ache he did, Jack knew. This was the kind of pain he’d wanted to
avoid at all costs. Why he had never wanted to pursue Sophie in the first place.

He could see dismay, even anguish, in her lovely eyes. But then she swallowed hard
and forced a smile, as if acknowledging there was no resolution to their dilemma.

“You need to go home, Sophie,” he urged more gently. When she stood there, not moving,
he added for good measure, “Don’t make me carry you.”

His threat had the desired effect, for she gave him a caustic look, then turned on
her heel and left the room, head held high. Following, Jack fell into step with Sophie
as she entered the front hall.

She let him escort her out to her carriage and open the door for her, but paused before
getting inside. “I refuse to admit defeat,” she muttered in a fierce undertone. “I
won’t accept that this is over. And I am not returning home!”

With that defiant declaration, she called out to her
coachman to change her direction. “Take me to Lord Traherne’s residence in Berkeley
Square.”

Jack felt his brow crease in a scowl. “Why there?”

“I mean to stay with Skye until I can make you see reason—until my parents see reason
as well. I know she will understand and support me.”

Sophie climbed inside, but before the door was shut, she had the last word.

“There must be a way we can be together, Jack, but I can see it is up to me to find
it.”

And with that final pronouncement, she gave her coachman the office to start and left
Jack standing there in the misty night, staring after her as her carriage disappeared.