Page 90 of The Duke of Deceit

“Never.”

Her chest warmed at the conviction of that single word and at the hungry glance he gave her as he carried her outside. Her insides turned molten, and she stopped caring about the scene they were making.

A carriage waited in front of the main entrance. The red and gold Crewe coat of arms was emblazoned proudly on the ebony door, and two travel trunks were tied to the top and rear of the carriage—she recognized the brown one as hers.

She caught her breath.Good Lord, he was serious! He planned on eloping with her to Gretna Green.

Her heart pounded a fierce tattoo as he carried her to the carriage where a uniformed tiger stood holding open the door. She knew she should stop him, tell him he was mad for thinking of doing this, tell him to release her—he would do it this time, she knew, now that they were away from the lords and Auntie, now that he’d made their grand exit and found a way to maintain a veneer of scandal even in the midst of proving himself good.

But she found not one bit of resolve inside her to utter a single word to stop him. Instead, she nuzzled her cheek against his shoulder and drew a smile from him.

He gently placed her inside on the bench seat, then climbed in after her.

“Sir, the paper you requested,” the tiger said and handed a folded copy of a newspaper to Lucien.

“Wonderful.” He settled back against the squabs opposite her and ordered, “Let’s go.”

“Yes, sir!” The tiger closed the door, and after only a moment’s pause to give the young man time to take his seat up top, the carriage moved forward into Westminster traffic.

Not knowing what else to say, still fearing that he would announce that this was nothing but a stunt for the committee, Jess gestured at the paper and teased, “A bit of reading for you for the Great North Road?”

“No.” A grin tugged at his lips. “For you.”

He unfolded the paper and held it up so she could read the headlines.

Jess’s eyes widened. They were all about him.

Her hands shook as she reached to take the paper and read it. Every column was about the dukedom and Phillip, how his father had lied to the world about his oldest born son and heir, how Lucien was raised to believe he was an only child. There were inches and inches of newsprint, too, dedicated to all the good deeds Lucien had done since he returned to London…so many charitable acts, donations, scholarships, endowments, and sponsorships that Jess’s head simply spun. Most of all, there was the article about his service in the war. It didn’t paint him as a heartless mercenary but as a patriot who had no other way of fighting on behalf of Britain except by joining the Prussians. All of it worked to earn the compassion and understanding of the reader, which meant the lords on the Committee for Privileges would see it—more importantly, so would their wives and mothers, who would find a soft spot for a man who had been somisused by his own family and country, who had only lied to the world in order to protect his brother.

The Timeswas trying to rewrite his past even as he was attempting to write his future. The timing of it could not have been a coincidence.

“Oh, you clever man,” she murmured as the realization of all he’d done struck her. “The committee, the two dukes, now the paper… You’ve manipulated the situation to your advantage in every way.”

“Well, you know what they say… If it’s printed in theTimes, it must be true.” He folded his arms smugly over his chest and kicked his boots up onto the seat beside her, to stretch his long legs catty-corner across the compartment. “It appears I’m a good-hearted gentleman after all.”

“Yes, you are,” she choked out, unable to find her voice.

He warned grimly, “But it might not work. The Crown might refuse my petition, and the committee might vote against me. They might take the dukedom after all. God knows I’ve accumulated enough grudges against me over the years. This is all a long way from over.”

“Then we will face it together, come what may.”

His eyes softened. “Then marry me, Jess.” His voice cracked as he admitted, “The truth is that I can’t get through this without you.”

His quiet words broke her heart.

“Help me survive this new life of goodness I seemed destined for.” His words were so soft and low that they were nearly lost beneath the rumble of the carriage wheels, but her heart heard every word. “Be my duchess and my true partner, until death do us part.”

Her eyes blinked rapidly to keep the tears at bay as she rasped, “Yes.”

“To which part?” His eyes gleamed mischievously as he teased, “To becoming my duchess or my death?”

“Frustrating man!” She reached down to playfully swat his boot and somehow managed to say without her voice breaking from emotion, “To becoming yourwife.”

For a long moment, they held each other’s gazes, neither moving, neither speaking a word or daring to glance away. Her hand rested on his calf, and her fingers couldn’t resist curling into the soft material of his trousers and the hard muscle beneath. The small gesture was possessive, and she didn’t care if it was. He belonged to her now, just as she belonged to him. No secrets kept them apart any longer.

“You did it in the wrong order, you know,” she told him. “You’re supposed to gain the woman’s consent for marriagebeforeyou abscond with her.”

“And miss the opportunity to spread rumors that I’ve kidnapped you and ravished you at every mile marker from here to Scotland?” He tsked his tongue dismissingly. “After all, I wouldn’t want to give up my bad reputation all at once.”