Page 93 of How the Earl Entices

Kit said nothing for a moment, studying him over the rim of his glass. “You love her.”

Not a question, he noted. Yet he admitted quietly to the new truth that would guide his future, that he knew in his gut with a certainty unlike anything else he’d ever experienced before, “More than life itself.”

“And she loves you.”

An electric jolt sparked inside him. “How do you know that?”

“For God’s sake, I’m not blind. That woman loves you.” Then he murmured against the glass as he took a sip, “Damned if I know why.”

Ross smiled hopefully. “So I have your blessing, then?”

His eyes softened on Ross. “You have my blessing.” Then he slumped further down into the chair and grinned. “As the vicar in the family, I’ll even preside over the wedding.”

“Not a chance,” he countered. Yet his chest warmed with love for his brother and with thoughts of his future with Grace. “Come back to Spalding House with me. We’ll have a quiet dinner and put this day behind us.”

“Something tells me that a quiet dinner with me isn’t how you want to spend your evening.” His grin faded into a tired sigh. “Besides, I promised to pay someone a visit as soon as everything was settled.”

Ross drawled with a smile, knowing his brother well, “And what’shername?”

“Evelyn Winslow.”

Thatmade him sit up straight, nearly spilling his whiskey. “Pardon?”

“I promised her that I’d let her know how everything turned out.” He shook his head and muttered, “Damned chit thinks she’s the Baroness d'Oettlinger.”

Ross grinned. Evelyn Winslow was certainly one of kind. And speaking of formidable women…“Thank you for getting Grace released from Newgate.” Then he added, “And for caring for her when I couldn’t.”

A short sentence of understated gratitude, but there was nothing simple behind its implications. Last night, he’d wanted Grace away from Newgate in order to save her life and keep her from seeing the end of his. He’d had no idea that she’d risk her own neck to come to his rescue. Thank God she did.

“You’re welcome.” Kit solemnly met his gaze and held it, a flood of understanding passing between them in that moment. “Although from what I’ve seen, she’s plenty capable of taking care of herself.” He gave a chagrinned grimace. “Chased her for three hours last night and couldn’t catch her.”

Ross smiled to himself. “It took me ten years beforeIfinally caught her.”

Now he had no intention of ever letting her go.

Kit frowned into his drink as he swirled it slowly in his glass. “There’s one thing I don’t understand, though. Why would Grace need your help in regaining her inheritance? Why not just petition to reopen the will in court?”

“Because it involves a peerage. Her late husband was David Montague, Viscount Lockwood. She doesn’t have the money or the power needed to pursue restitution on her own.”

“Lockwood?”

He grimaced into his whiskey. The last person he wanted to think about then was her dead husband. “She’s worried that her brother-in-law might try to harm the boy if he knew about Ethan’s existence. I told her that she had Parliamentary precedent on her side, but she—”

“Christ!” Kit shot out of the chair. “Grace thought she saw him today. If Lockwood was there—” His face paled with a stricken expression. “He knows she’s alive.”

Ross’s heart stopped.

Chapter 28

Grace stepped out of the cooling bathwater and sighed softly. For the first time in a decade, she was at ease, and her hope for the future burned bright.

So did her love for Ross. She couldn’t wait until tonight, when she could hold him in her arms and tell him exactly how much he meant to her. And that she loved him.

Humming happily to herself, she emerged from behind the screen in the bedroom where they’d spent the past few nights—where Ross had so breathtakingly made love to her. Around her, the converted carriage house was quiet and peaceful, made even more so by the soft glow of the lamp on the writing desk, where she’d started another letter to Ethan. To let him know that she was safe and that everything was going to be just fine.

Perhaps it was cowardly of her to flee Spalding House and come here, but the chaos that had descended upon the townhouse had been too much to bear. It seemed as if everyone in London had rushed to Ross’s front door upon hearing the news of what happened that day in the Lords. A few of the crush sincerely wanted to wish Ross their congratulations, but the overwhelming majority simply wanted to gawk. Of course, they refused to return the next day and insisted that Watkins allow them to wait for Ross to arrive, which meant dozens of people in the house. Which meant noise and commotion.

She wasn’t ready yet to face society’s suffocations, so she’d escaped for the peace and quiet of the carriage house, leaving instructions with Watkins to send Ross here when he arrived home. She had a feeling that tonight might be the last peaceful one they’d have together for a very long time to come, and she wanted to savor every moment of it.