No Duke Will Do - Eva Devon Page 0,50
it.”
“You see nothing,” Heath denied.
But at the same time, there was an element of truth to what Jamie said. Over the last month, he’d begun to wonder if Mary was ashamed of him, if she was afraid of telling her family.
What had started out as an adventure was now becoming something else.”
“She’s going to tell them,” Heath said firmly. “We’re going to tell them.”
“Right. Of course, you are,” Jamie drawled. “And it’ll all turn out happy families and joy and wine and laughter.”
Heath swallowed the burning in his throat.
The truth was, Heath wasn’t sure it would turn out that way at all. What if Robert never forgave him? What if her mother never forgave her? What if he’d taken her from her family? It was the one thing she had, something he’d never had. Family.
Even if her father had been awful, her mother and brother were good. The idea that he’d torn Mary from the bosom of her family suddenly scalded him as if a pail of hot water had been sluiced over his body. He could barely stand it.
“I made my choice.”
“So you did,” Jamie agreed, weary. “You leapt in, didn’t you? Well, I hope you’re going to be happy.”
Heath locked gazes with the brother who had defended him with his life as a child. “It doesn’t sound like you wish me happiness.”
Jamie let out a long sigh. “Oi wish you happy more than ye know, Heath, but Oi worry. Oi worry about what ye do and what ye’ve done. Ye’ve always wanted more, aspired to more. Ye could never be happy with enough. Did ye have to go and marry a lady to prove that ye were worthy? Didn’t ye know you were worthy enough on your own?”
He hadn’t married Mary to prove anything.
He was certain of it.
It wasn’t as if he’d needed a lady to prove he’d made some sort of success of his life. No, Mary had come to him, and they’d discovered each other. But she’d grown so happy in their secret together.
“Go on.” Jamie said. “Dare her to tell them, and see what happens.”
“I don’t have to dare her,” he said, his chest tight. “She’ll do it. We’ll do it.”
Jamie nodded, but his doubt did not dim. “Oi’ll be here when she goes.”
Heath snarled, unable to take it any longer. “I want you to get out. You’re poison, Jamie.”
Jamie drew back. “If Oi’m poison, so are you, brother dear. We’re cut of the same cloth, ye and Oi, and pretty soon, ye’ll realize it, and Oi’ll be waiting for you when you’ve returned, tail between your legs.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Heath said tightly.
“Oi hope not,” Jamie said, heading for the door. “But we shall see, brother. We shall see.”
Chapter 23
Mary stared at her mother’s beautiful, careworn face and swallowed. Nausea roiled around her stomach. She could do this. She could tell her mother.
“Mary, dear, do you like the new fabrics for your gowns?” Without even pausing, a smile tilted her lips and she continued, “That girl, Penelope, she’s awfully lovely for Royland, don’t you think? I’m so glad she stayed with us for a while.”
So was Mary.
Penelope had become a friend or, at least, an acquaintance she could talk to. They got on really quite well together, but she’d never told her about Heath. She’d never confided in anyone about Heath except to the Duke of Drake.
After that night at the ball, they’d never spoken of it.
Mary squeezed her hands together as she searched for the words. “Mama, I have something to tell you.”
Her mother looked up from the dress plates. “Indeed, my dear, what is it?” Her mother’s face lit with hope. “Oh, do you tell me that you found someone? Oh, that Lord Steele? He seemed like he would be absolutely perfect for you. He’ll be the Earl of Montieth soon. And you two shall be able to live in the most glorious house in the country, and it will be magnificent for our family to finally be on the rise again.”
Her mother laughed delightedly. “Well, Robert has put us on the rise again, of course, but your securing such an earldom would be the last jewel in the crown, and I could finally be a happy mother.”
Mary swallowed bitterness.
What would her mother say when she told her she’d married the owner of a gaming club?
She thought of her father and the money he’d lost under Heath’s roof.
Would her mother think her a fool?
Would her mother think she’d allied herself with