Tempting Her Reluctant Viscount (23 page)

“Oh, Hope,” Lady Lancaster whispered against the top of the girl’s head, “you wonderful, silly girl.”

Hope sat back with shuddering breaths, watering eyes, and a running nose. She looked at the duchess in confusion.

Lady Lancaster handed Hope a handkerchief, which the young lady accepted gratefully, then the duchess sighed. “I think it is very admirable of you to be so concerned for Michael’s reputation. That shows great character and selflessness…”

“But…” Hope prompted glumly.

The duchess smiled. “…
but
I wish you had talked to Michael about your concerns—or at least to me—before you got yourself into this state.”

“I know I should have,” Hope admitted, “but I kept hoping it wouldn’t come to this. I thought, however stupidly, that my father’s name would somehow be cleared. And then when it was obvious that wouldn’t happen…well, I knew that Michael would fight my decision to not marry him. And he would have succeeded. I know he would have,” Hope smiled ruefully. “He can be very persuasive, when he wants to be.”

Lady Lancaster chuckled knowingly.

Blushing, Hope continued, “So…I decided not to give him the chance to convince me. I felt I had to do what was right for him, whether he would want it or not.” Hope paused as if she had a sudden revelation. “I suppose that wasn’t very fair of me, was it?”

“No dear, it wasn’t,” Lady Lancaster agreed. “Michael deserves the right to make his own decisions about his life and how he wants to live it…how he wants to be perceived. And frankly, I don’t think the scandal will be as horrible as you think. Certainly not for Michael, in any case.”

“Abigail seems to think that marrying Michael would actually quash the gossip, rather than intensify it.”

“Your stepmother is a very wise woman.”

“Yes, I am beginning to realize that.”

Hope stood and smoothed out her dress and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear before sitting back in the chair next to Lady Lancaster. Then the duchess watched as dawn broke on Hope’s face in the guise of a smile. Her eyes brightened and it was as if years of pain and suffering simply slid from her face and shoulders.

“You understand my meaning then, dear?”

Nodding slowly, Hope replied, “I believe you are saying that I have blown this entire thing out of proportion. The sins of my father do not have to be visited upon me, much less Michael—were he to become my husband?”

“That is correct. Michael has a brilliant reputation. He is well liked, well heeled, and well connected. My support alone would discourage any repercussions any gossip might lead to. And even what gossip there was would die soon enough.”

“Oh, my lady… I need to see Michael right away. I must apologize!” Hope looked at Lady Lancaster anxiously. “Do you think he will forgive me? What if he no longer wants to marry me?”

The duchess laughed heartily. “I do not think you have anything to worry about on that front, Hope-girl. He will forgive you before you even have a chance to finish the apology and, if he could, he would marry you even quicker than that.”

Hope nearly melted in relief. “Then what should I do?”

“Send him a note…to meet you at the wedding tomorrow. Never do people feel more amenable and romantic than at a wedding.”

Grinning, Hope stood. “I will do so immediately. Oh, thank you, Lady Lancaster.”

Chapter Twenty-three

Love can make any man (or woman) a poet.

~The Duke of Lancaster

Michael stood in the back of the grand salon of the Rochester house surrounded by good food and good people. His best friend William had just married Hannah Rochester in a beautiful ceremony of which Michael had heard not a word. Instead he kept rereading the note Hope had sent him the previous day asking him to meet her at the wedding. And what a note it was…

Dearest Michael,

I know it appears as if I disappeared off the face of the earth, but rest assured that is not the case. I am here…I am yours…and I am sorry. I have so much to tell you; about what has happened, about why I did what I did, about how much I
have changed. Please meet me at Hannah and William’s wedding tomorrow. I will take nothing less than a ‘yes’ from you, for I promise that is the only answer I will have for any question you may ask of me.

Yours for eternity and beyond,

Hope

As far as he was concerned, it was the
best
invitation he had ever received in his entire life. He spent the night willing time to go faster until morning finally broke. He had caught a glimpse of Hope at the ceremony, but she was in the company of her girlfriends and he didn’t want to interrupt them. He wanted their moment together to be a thing of privacy. Although he was pleased to have received her apology, Michael was still angry at the way she had run off with nary an explanation. And to leave him standing on her porch, unavailed, for three days. It was almost more than his pride could stand and he still needed to hear the explanation behind her unexpected and downright painful behavior.

So he waited patiently. He had already scoped out the house and had positioned himself next to the door to the library. When she approached him—and it had better be soon, blast it!—they could duck into the room for a private chat with no one the wiser.

Then suddenly, Michael caught sight of his prey. She was standing with her friends, the bride included, and they seemed to be in the middle of a rather intense conversation. Michael watched more closely, trying to make out what they were saying from across the room.
Hmmm
, he thought,
Miss Warren was missing from the group
. In his experience, where you found one of those ladies, you usually found them all.

Michael wasn’t given any more time to try and puzzle it out, for Lady Lancaster arrived and effectively broke the group up, and the most interesting person in the group—in his opinion, anyway—had seen him and was headed his way.

Finally…

…

Hope watched Michael’s expression carefully as she made her way over to him. She had seen him in the church briefly, standing in the back and reading what appeared to be her note. She took that as a good sign. She took the fact that he was not trying to walk away from her now—but was in fact waiting patiently for her to arrive at his side—as another good sign.

Then she was there, in front of him.

Looking up at the face that had become to mean so much to her, Hope blushed. How could she have been so foolish to even consider letting him go?

“Hello, Michael,” she whispered shyly. How did one behave with a man whose proposal one had turned down, but now wished to accept?

“Hello,” Michael replied softly before turning to reach behind him and opening the door there. Taking Hope gently, but firmly, by the arm, he pulled them both backwards through the door and shut it firmly after them.

Before Hope could even say a word, Michael pulled her into his arms and kissed her. And this was no sweet and gentle kiss. This was a kiss of passion, of desperation, meant to convey everything he was feeling and more.

And Hope ached for it. She surrendered immediately, groaning her approval. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him even closer. This was what she needed, what she wanted. Nothing Michael could have said would have spoken as clearly as that kiss. He loved her, he forgave her, he still
wanted
her.

It was glorious.

It was over too soon. Michael pulled away and loosened Hope’s death-hold on him. Although dazed from his very thorough kiss, Hope allowed herself to be led to the settee situated at the end of the comfortable library.

The wood paneling glowed with a sort of life from the reflection of candlelight warming the wood grain. There was a fire burning brightly in the fireplace and the walls and walls of books lent a musty smell so common and familiar around the written word. It made for a cozy place to talk, and Hope was more than ready to tell Michael what she had to say.

With a deep breath, she began, “Oh Michael, I have been such a fool. I don’t even know where to start.”

“If I might suggest,” Michael recommended gently, “you could start with why you turned down my proposal and then refused to see me for days. Did I do something…?”

“No! Michael, you could never…”

Hope stopped and tried again. “Let me begin by telling you that I never refused to see you. I couldn’t have. The night I returned home after our…after I…well, after the incident in the park…my father confronted me.”

“Are you all ri—?”

“No, please let me finish… I assured him that the authorities knew nothing of him—even though I had told you to turn him in—and he didn’t suspect any deception. But neither did he trust me to keep what I knew to myself, so…he
locked
me in my room, Michael. I only just escaped with the help of my stepmother. We are all staying—my siblings, as well—at Lady Lancaster’s. We cannot go home. There is no telling what my father would do to any of us, if we did.”

“Hope, I am so sorry…
I
should have been the one to rescue you.”

“How could you have known? No one could have foreseen this turn of events. If I had just accepted your proposal in the park, we would have gone home to Lady Lancaster’s and never been the wiser.”

“Why did you refuse my offer, Hope?” Michael asked quietly.

“Because I am an idiot. It is as simple as that,” Hope replied thickly. “In the park, in that moment when I learned exactly what my father had done, what he was, I knew I was ruined. The scandal would brand me unmarriageable. My family would be destitute, and I would have to turn to trade for a living. And then you asked me to marry you, to take me away from all this, but then…then the ruin would be yours, as well—or so I thought. And I could not allow that. In my own naïve way, I thought I was
saving
you. When really, our marriage would have saved us all. I am so very sorry for coming to that realization so late.”

After a moment, to Hope’s surprise, Michael began chuckling. And within moments, the chuckle became a full-fledged laugh. “Michael…?”

Michael stood and pulled Hope into his arms and swung her around. “I adore you, Hope.”

Hope couldn’t help but laugh, too. His mood was contagious…confusing, but also contagious. Frankly, she was expecting anger, not amusement, but who was she to look a gift horse in the mouth?

When he finally set her on the ground again, they were both smiling broadly, matching twinkles in their eyes, and their joy just bursting all around them.

Taking her hand once again, Michael looked at Hope with adoration and just a touch of mischief. “I have a question to ask you, Hope, my dear,” he began. Then, with a smirk, he amended, “Actually, I have two.”

“Two?” Hope echoed, anticipation running rampant, for surely, at least one of the questions was a marriage proposal.

“Yes, two…the first thing I need to know is, if you ever get the notion to “save” me in the future, will you please talk to me about it first? I don’t think my heart can take another rescue.”

Flushing a bit, Hope fought the urge to take umbrage at his request, because as much as she hated to admit it, he had a point. But still…

“Don’t forget your note, dear…”

Rolling her eyes and knowing she had been bested, Hope couldn’t help but smile wryly. “Very well…yes, I will talk to you first before I try to do anything on your behalf in the future.”

“Good,” Michael said with satisfaction. Then he pulled a ring out of his pocket. “Now then, on to my next question…”

Michael knelt before Hope.

“Hope, my dearest girl, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?” Michael held out the ring and looked questioningly at her face and then at her hand.

Completely bereft of breath, Hope could only cry happy tears at seeing Michael kneeling before her, asking that all important question. Inside she was screaming ‘yes’, but she could not seem to get her mouth to work. “No.”

Hope was as confused as Michael appeared to be when she heard herself speak.

“No?” Michael echoed softly. “But…”

Hope put her finger to her love’s lips. They were soft and warm and it was all she could do to not lean in and kiss him. Shout ‘yes’ from the rooftops, and live happily ever after. But she couldn’t. Not yet.

“Michael, I want to say ‘yes’ more than anything, but I can’t,” Hope said softly. “Not until we know exactly what happened with my father, with this case, with everything. I need to have all this behind me before I can even think of a life with you. Do you understand?”

She looked at him, desperately hoping he would understand something she wasn’t sure she understood fully herself. It just didn’t seem right for her to be
happy
yet.

Waiting for him to say something, anything, Hope was amazed when he simply took her in his arms. “Then we will wait, Hope-dear. We will wait. I can wait.” Hope sighed as she leaned into his embrace. It felt so good just to be held by him. Knowing that her future was almost settled, she and her family would be safe and cared for, and that she would spend the rest of her life with the man she loved. It was almost too good to be true. It
would
be too good to be true if Michael had said he loved her, but Hope supposed she should be grateful that he at least cared about her…enough to rescue her from the untenable situation her father left her in. Perhaps love would come later…one could only hope.

Unbidden, the image of her father flashed in her mind and Hope was brought back down to earth immediately. If anything could wreck their future happiness, it would be this mess with her father. He must be furious about her escape and desperate enough to do something foolish.

“Michael,” she said, as she pulled away slightly. “Have you already spoken to the committee about my father?”

Nodding, Michael replied, “As it happens, I did speak to the officials and they picked up Crane for more questioning.”

“Did he tell the truth this time?”