Compromising Miss Tisdale (29 page)

Until now.

Duncan took a deep, but noticeably unsteady breath. “I’ve wanted for nothing for so long, but it turns out I simply
wanted
nothing.” He took a few steps back and found himself in the middle of the center aisle.

“I’ve never considered myself a religious man,” he declared loudly, his arms splaying about him. The whole of the group within the church turned their attention to the scene beginning to play out in front of them. “But the night you left, I prayed to God. I prayed for him to make it all go away, to reverse the clock so that I could never hurt you. And when that didn’t happen, I changed my prayer. I prayed that he would lead you back to me. Each night I swore my loyalty if only I could be in your presence once again. And when that didn’t happen, it was then that I began to truly understand the point of, well, of life. And then I prayed my final prayer—to change. I prayed for God to give me the strength needed so that I could become the man you deserved me to be.”

He dropped his arms to his sides. “I want nothing more than to prove to you that I am that man. Please.” Duncan reached out one hand toward her, his eyes wet with emotion.

Her heart pounded in her chest, drowning out all sound. The world closed around her till it was only the two of them.

Then she reached out her own hand and almost inaudibly she whispered the words she knew he needed to hear and she needed to say aloud to believe them. “I love you.”

With that gesture, he ran up to her, gathered her in his arms, and kissed her to the sound of applause from the members of the organization. And instead of being shocked by such a gesture in such a public display of affection, Ambrosia kissed him back, clutching at him with the intention of never releasing him from her arms again. He brought his hands into her hair, completely mussing up the style that her maid had worked so diligently on that morning. They embraced so tightly that the fabric of her gown was most certainly crushed and not once did she think anything of it.

Because even the most respectable of ladies could appreciate an honest confession of love, even if it did take place in the middle of a church.

Epilogue

Ambrosia walked into the library where Duncan was sitting at the great cherry desk, reviewing his accounts.

She perched her bottom upon the corner of the desk.

Duncan looked over the top of his new spectacles and admired the lush bottom of his wife. It only took him a second to put down the quill and shut the ledger in front of him.

“Yes, darling,” he said, pulling her closer to him so he could nuzzle the lap of her gown.

“Duncan,” she rebuked, half-heartedly.

“Did you need something?” he asked, pushing up her skirts and allowing his hands to travel up the outsides of her stocking-covered legs.

“The correspondence came,” she said, her voice becoming husky.

“And?” he asked, his hands grazing the top of her stockings, his fingertips barely brushing against the soft flesh of her thighs.

“It appears after that frightful first Season, Tamsin is being sent away to our cousin’s home in the country.”

“Hmmm,” he mumbled, his face rubbing against her now exposed thigh.

“Duncan, are you listening to me at all?”

He looked up and smiled. “Absolutely not.”

Ambrosia laughed.

“Do it again,” he asked, basking in the glow of her smile. Once a rarity, it had become a rather normal occurrence. Despite its frequency, Duncan never could see it enough.

“Don’t you think mother’s being a bit rash?”

Duncan restrained himself from answering her question honestly. “Do you think your mother is being rash?” If marriage had taught him anything, it was that the right answer was always a rephrased question.

Even though he agreed that banishment was a bit harsh. After the wedding, Tamsin had finally begun to warm to him again. Now the two were thick as thieves—which wasn’t necessarily a positive thing for an impressionable young girl. But he enjoyed her company immensely and would hate to see her sent away.

“I’m not certain what I can do.” Ambrosia said sullenly.

Duncan released her skirts, disappointed but understanding. “Perhaps we could offer to take her in for a bit. You could sponsor her next Season.”

Ambrosia bit her bottom lip. Duncan practically groaned with the arousal that small gesture incited each and every time.

“I don’t think we’ll have the room,” she said quietly.

Duncan sat back in his chair. “We have that whole set of rooms on the second floor. That’s more than enough space for one girl. Especially such a skinny one.”

“But those rooms are being readied for the nursery.”

“We don’t have a nursery,” he corrected.

Ambrosia didn’t answer. Instead, she raised that perfectly arched eyebrow he was now accustomed to seeing whenever he was wrong.

Then realization dawned on him. Slowly erupting into a brilliant ball of excitement.

“You’re pregnant?”

She answered with her smile.

Duncan slid her off the desk and onto his lap. He kissed her softly, tentatively, nipping at her lips between proclamations of love. Another Maddox being brought into the world. And at that moment, he said another prayer. Something he hadn’t done since he was reunited with Ambrosia.

He prayed for the strength to be a great father to his child and husband to his wife.

Ambrosia brushed a tear from his cheek with her thumb, then kissed the spot with the gentlest of touches.

And in that moment, Duncan was certain all his prayers had indeed been answered.

Coming soon from Soul Mate Publishing:

TAMING MISS TISDALE

by Jessica Jefferson

Miss Tamsin Tisdale believes herself to be completely unsuitable for London life and has no intention of marrying anyone with a title, or at all for that matter. After a myriad of social mishaps and the potential ruination of her family name, Tamsin is shipped away to her cousin’s seaside estate till she comes to her senses and agrees to accept the type of existence Society dictates she must follow.

Marcus Winston, the Duke of Grayson, has a lackluster reputation that leaves a lot to be desired. The last in a dying line, he’s led a protected life, rank with privilege and encumbered by isolation. A brief encounter with rebellion and its devastating consequence has left him void of ambition and fearful to break free from his gilded cage.

A chance meeting with the brazen Miss Tisdale gives Marc the opportunity to reinvent himself into the man he’s always dreamed of being. And this new man will come to challenge everything the fiery redhead has come to believe about her life. But when his deception comes to light, and ghosts from both their pasts threaten to return, can either of them set their fears aside long enough to let love in?

Will Lord Grayson find a way to tame Miss Tisdale, or will her wild spirit be the very key to his own salvation?