by Tessa Dare
“And did the students leave your tutelage with that same strength?”
Elizabeth jerked to a stop and clenched and unclenched the fabric in her arms. She drew the garments close. How many years had she spent justifying the work she’d done at Mrs. Belden’s? She’d been… surviving. Only, it wasn’t until Crispin had challenged her existence that she’d acknowledged the harm she’d done to others, all in the name of… survival.
Securing her own future didn’t pardon the lessons she’d doled out. The spirits she’d crushed. The dreams she’d quashed.
Gritting her teeth, Elizabeth tossed the dresses into the bottom of the trunk and stalked over to gather the remaining garments, burying her head in the armoire. At her back, there was the faint click of the door opening.
Calista quit her position at the armoire and hurried from the room.
A moment later, the door closed behind her.
“My mother arrived a short while ago,” Crispin said quietly from the front of the room. “With… a guest. Your uncle.”
“I am aware,” Elizabeth acknowledged, yanking at her cloak with its shredded collar. The mangled article remained caught on a gold hook. A loud rending filled the room as she at last managed to free the wool garment.
“You are aware,” he echoed.
Elizabeth carried her cloak over to the trunk and dropped it inside. She made to turn, when Crispin said, “You overheard”—he grimaced—“what was said, then.”
Finally, Elizabeth stopped and met his veiled stare across the room. Eyes that had seared her with unrestrained passion and love last evening now revealed nothing.
“I heard enough,” she said quietly.
Chapter 16
Crispin had believed there wasn’t a greater pain than what he’d suffered after finding Elizabeth gone all those years earlier.
Just as he’d been wrong about so much, he found himself proved wrong once more.
With a hollow numbness, he took in the frenetic movements with which she collected those heinous garments and stormed across the room, stuffing her belongings into the trunk made by her father.
I am losing her all over again.
Only this time, it would rip his heart apart in ways it hadn’t before.
Because this time, when she left, the thread that held them together would be severed by their families… and as his mother had said, Crispin would be free.
Nay, Elizabeth would be free.
A cinch tightened about his lungs, squeezing off air flow, straining the muscles until they ached.
“Your uncle is contesting our marriage,” he said, not recognizing the strained quality of his own hoarse voice.
“I heard as much,” she muttered and resumed her packing.
How in blazes was she so collected? How could she be so bloody casual when his existence had been yanked out from under him?
Crispin took several steps and then stopped. And then took another, and another, until he stood at the edge of her trunk. He stared down at the contents she’d already piled inside.
“I told my mother I love you.” As he should have told both of his parents when he and Elizabeth had eloped. She’d deserved a husband who’d been unafraid for her. Who’d battled the world and hadn’t sought to mollify those unwilling to accept their union. “I told her that I’ve always loved you.”
Elizabeth hovered at the armoire. “Did you?”
God, how he despised the hesitant surprise in those two short syllables. He nodded once. “I explained that you’ve always had my heart and that I admire you above all others. That your spirit and strength and intelligence mark you greater than any other woman she’d have me wed—regardless of station.”
The long column of Elizabeth’s throat moved up and down.
Encouraged, he took a step closer. “I made a mistake in rejecting my feelings for you before, Elizabeth,” he said softly, the avowal echoing around the room. “It is a mistake I’ll always carry, but I own every feeling I carry for you now.” He crossed to her and took her hands in his, and the gray dress she’d been holding fluttered into a forgotten, whispery-soft pile at their feet. “And I don’t care about familial alliances or the scandal that will follow when your uncle disputes our marriage.” His throat worked painfully. “I want you, Elizabeth.” He slashed a hand at the trunk. “And I’ll be damned if I let you run this time”—his chest rose and fell—“unless that is what you wish.” Because even as it would shatter him to let her go, he loved her that much, where her happiness and her future meant more than his own.
Elizabeth opened her mouth. But no words came out. And then…
“Is that what you believe?” She raised a tremulous palm to his cheek. “That I’m leaving?”
He blinked slowly. “Generally, that is what packing suggests,” he said dumbly, glancing pointedly at her trunk.
Her lips turned up in a watery smile. “Oh, Crispin. Yes, that is precisely what it means. I am packing. But I did not intend to go alone.”
His mind stalled. “I don’t understand.”
“I trusted that… given the state we find our marriage, an elopement was in order.”
“An elopement.” She hadn’t been leaving. Or rather, she had been… but she’d intended to go, this time, with him.
“That is, I assumed you would wish to accompany me to Gretna Green.” Her smile fell. “Unless you’d rather not…”
She still did not know. It was surely a mark of his own failing that she did not know, all these years later, just how much she meant to him. That his life was fuller for her in it. And empty with her gone.
“I lied to you.” At that quiet confession, Elizabeth stiffened. “The day I found you at Mrs. Belden’s, I was angry. I’d been angry for so long.” Anger had been safer than the agony that had come with her abandonment. “I asked you for a day.” He chuckled. “But a day was never going to be enough. I knew that the moment I set foot inside that harpy’s school and saw you scrambling about for your spectacles.”
Elizabeth pressed her fingertips to her lips.
Crispin dropped to a knee. “Marry me,” he whispered. “Again. Marry me, this time, forever.”
Elizabeth’s body remained stock-still, and then with a half laugh, half sob, she launched herself into his arms, toppling him backward. “Forever,” she promised.
And with their laughter melding as one, Crispin wrapped her in his arms and claimed her mouth in a kiss that promised just that—forever.
The End
Coming Soon!
Enjoyed His Duchess for a Day?
Pre-Order Christi Caldwell’s August 2018 release, The Vixen!
USA Today bestselling author Christi Caldwell pits a fiercely independent beauty against a devilish investigator.
Set apart by her ethereal beauty and fearless demeanor, Ophelia Killoran has always been a mystery to those around her—and a woman they underestimated. No one would guess that she spends her nights protecting the street urchins of St. Giles. Ophelia knows what horrors these children face. As a young girl, she faced those horrors herself, and she would have died…if not for the orphan boy who saved her life.
A notorious investigator, Connor Steele never expected to encounter Ophelia Killoran on his latest case. It has been years since he sacrificed himself for her. Now, she hires orphans from the street to work in her brother’s gaming hell. But where does she find the children…and what are her intentions?
Ophelia and Connor are at odds. After all, Connor now serves the nobility, and that is a class of people Ophelia knows firsthand not to trust. But if they can set aside their misgivings and work together, they may discover that their purposes—and their hearts—are perfectly aligned.
Other Titles by Christi Caldwell
Heart of a Duke
In Need of a Duke—Prequel Novella
For Love of the Duke
More than a Duke
The Love of a Rogue
Loved by a Duke
To Love a Lord
> The Heart of a Scoundrel
To Wed His Christmas Lady
To Trust a Rogue
The Lure of a Rake
To Woo a Widow
To Redeem a Rake
One Winter with a Baron
To Enchant a Wicked Duke
Beguiled by a Baron
To Tempt a Scoundrel
The Heart of a Scandal
In Need of a Knight—Prequel Novella
Schooling the Duke
Lords of Honor
Seduced by a Lady’s Heart
Captivated by a Lady’s Charm
Rescued by a Lady’s Love
Tempted by a Lady’s Smile
Scandalous Seasons
Forever Betrothed, Never the Bride
Never Courted, Suddenly Wed
Always Proper, Suddenly Scandalous
Always a Rogue, Forever Her Love
A Marquess for Christmas
Once a Wallflower, at Last His Love
Sinful Brides
The Rogue’s Wager
The Scoundrel’s Honor
The Lady’s Guard
The Heiress’s Deception
The Wicked Wallflowers
The Hellion
The Vixen
The Theodosia Sword
Only For His Lady
Only For Her Honor
Only For Their Love
Danby
A Season of Hope
Winning a Lady’s Heart
The Brethren
The Spy Who Seduced Her
The Lady Who Loved Him
Brethren of the Lords
My Lady of Deception
Memoir: Non-Fiction
Uninterrupted Joy
Biography
Christi Caldwell is the bestselling author of historical romance novels set in the Regency era. Christi blames Judith McNaught’s “Whitney, My Love,” for luring her into the world of historical romance. While sitting in her graduate school apartment at the University of Connecticut, Christi decided to set aside her notes and try her hand at writing romance. She believes the most perfect heroes and heroines have imperfections and rather enjoys tormenting them before crafting a well-deserved happily ever after!
When Christi isn’t writing the stories of flawed heroes and heroines, she can be found in her Southern Connecticut home with her courageous son, and caring for twin princesses-in-training!
Visit www.christicaldwellauthor.com to learn more about what Christi is working on, or join her on Facebook at Christi Caldwell Author, and Twitter @ChristiCaldwell!
For first glimpse at covers, excerpts, and free bonus material, be sure to sign up for my monthly newsletter!