Page 89 of To Steal a Duchess

“All I am passing on is a message.”

So Eloise turned away, and she gripped her windowsill, casting her focus out to that solid beacon on the cliffs. She thought of Pickle galloping up there; she thought of Dorian’s anger once; she thought of their first time giving in to one another’s bodies.

So, she turned.

She took a step forward, and nodded.

“I will go,” she finally agreed. “Thank you for your message, Mrs. Hale.”

“Of course, Your Grace.”

The housekeeper departed, and Eloise took another moment to gather herself, to wonder what could be waiting for her at the lighthouse. Minutes passed before she left her chambers, got her cloak, and left out the main door of the mansion.

The wind caught her quite swiftly, as if it was pulling her toward that lighthouse. Her skirts billowed around her legs, and she went toward that call, hoping it was the person she had wished to see for days. Soon, her feet met the soft sand, and she walked on, her eyes fixed on that tall, circular building ahead.

She went on until her fingers grazed the door and she gave a push. It opened beneath her touch. So, she went inside and began her ascent up the spiral staircase, hoping and despising her own hope. Finally, Eloise stepped into that main room where Dorian had once taken her as his, had once held her body, and made her see stars.

But he was there.

Eloise stopped short, her breath catching.

“Do not go,” Dorian said softly, moving toward her and holding out a hand. “Please.”

“Dorian,” Eloise whispered. “You have come back.”

Back to Oldcliff Hall, back to her. What did she know for certain anymore? Nothing was permanent, or so it felt.

“I have,” he said. “Will you leave because I have come back?”

“You know that I will not leave.” Eloise made her point by moving closer. “You know this. Whenever you are here, I will be with you. Not because I feel obliged, because I⁠—”

She stopped herself, and Dorian’s fingers curled.

“Because of what?”

“Because I am devoted to you,” she finally admitted quietly. “And I am scared of that. I am scared of what I feel, Dorian.”

“As do I.” He swallowed; she watched his throat work hard. “I have spent too much time in London, but the entire time, Eloise, it was only you on my mind. I would have given anything to have you not haunt my thoughts, but I finally realized that there was a reason.”

“And what was that?”

“I love you, Eloise.”

And then Dorian stepped aside to reveal a blanket laden with food and snacks and drinks.

“Do you remember?” he asked softly, “our wedding breakfast? I had found out that you like oysters, so I watched you enjoy them. Eloise, I think I may have loved you since the moment I entered that damned chapel. But one thing I know for certain is that I cannot live without you. You are my wife, and it is so longer just a convenient marriage. It is one of adoration, at least from me. I love you, Eloise, and I think I do not know how to hold such a proclamation back anymore. I have behaved unfairly to you. But you are my duchess, my wife, my Lady Eloise.”

Eloise’s breath caught at the declaration of love.

Dorian shook his head, as if to give himself further time to speak, but Eloise’s throat was too tight to say a thing.

“One day, Eloise, you will be the mother of my children whenever you are ready. And I will stand beside you proudly. I am tired of being afraid and living in my past. You deserve better, and Heaven help me, I think I do, too. If you wish to start a family, then let me be the man you start that with. Let me set an example. A new image of the Oldcliff title, away from my father. Away from my past. Just you and I. Let me love you and prove myself, Eloise, or tell me to leave, because if you need me to, then I shall.”

His eyes shone with tears, and Eloise could see the emotion in his face, so far from the devoid, stoic look she had seen on his face the last time she had beheld him.

“You say this,” she said gently, “but how do I know it is true? You left, Dorian, because you could not give me a timeline, and I am not asking for that anymore. I am asking for you. You saved me, and even beyond my former situation, and since, you have saved me. I have found a home here—and you almost took that from me. You almost made me feel as though I would have to leave. I trust you. Heavens, I trust you with my entire being, and your words fill me with so much hope. You will stand by me, no matter what time may give us? Come what may?”

Dorian fell to one knee. “Eloise, you have become my world. A world I did not expect to have or want or love. But you are here before me, and I cannot be without you. Right now, all I want to do is hold you in my arms and tell you that you are safe and comforted. That you have ascended beyond your parents’ whims, or those of the ton. That you are so, so wanted by me.”