Winning a Lady's Heart (Danby #1)(17)

Alexandra climbed to her feet and crossed over to Nathan, offering him the solace of her presence. She took his hands and squeezed them in encouragement.

He squared his shoulders and continued. “I couldn’t catch her, Alex. I cried out, but she fell backwards. Tumbled down the stairs. She lost the baby and her life that night.” A sharp, bitter laugh escaped him. “Hearing my screams, my father’s guests streamed out of the ballroom. My family’s scandal, my mother’s death, they are all very public, shameful stories, Alex.”

She cocked her head at a defiant little angle. “And you think I’m as fickle as the ton, as those who witnessed your pain?”

A strangled sound caught in his throat. He wrenched his hand free of hers. She looked down, mourning the loss of contact.

“Don’t you understand? I’m not respectable. Your father was, nay, is right about me. And he’s right that you deserve more than wedding the son of a man who all but killed his wife and gambled away most of our wealth.

“He visited me, Alex, and reminded me of my origins. Said if I truly loved you, that I would set you free. And he was right. But he was also right about me being a selfish bastard who only cares about himself. Because as much as I know you are best without me, as much as I know there are many men who can bring you far greater happiness, I want you all to myself.”

Alex felt something hot streaking down her cheek and blinked in confusion. Snow was cold and yet…she wiped a hand across her face and realized she was crying. He’d given her up because he loved her. He’d done so in such a public way that he’d earn not only the further condemnation of the ton who expected nothing less of him, but also in a way that he would earn Alexandra’s scorn and hate.

“You foolish, foolish man. Did you really not trust that my love was strong enough?” Her breath hitched painfully as reality slammed her hard around the middle. She folded her arms over her belly and squeezed to try and tamp out the pain. It was useless. Her inability to have looked beyond Nathan’s motives indicated that he hadn’t really been far from the mark.

Taking her forcefully by the shoulders, Nathan gave her a slight shake. “Don’t you look like that. What else were you to believe?”

She swallowed around a ball of hurt. “I should have believed in you, Nathan. I should have known there was some reason—”

Filled with restless energy, Alexandra pulled away from Nathan’s touch and turned to face the snow-white horizon. Needing something, anything to do, she scanned the vast expanse of Danby’s holdings as the implications of Nathan’s revelation penetrated her roiling thoughts.

“My father betrayed me.”

“By the nature of my decision, I was complicit in that betrayal.”

She turned back to him. “Because you were meant to protect me.” A small mirthless laugh escaped her. “For the first time since I received Danby’s summons, I wish my father had been included in the traveling party.”

The solid, reassuring feel of Nathan’s hand settling on her shoulders grounded her to the moment. He leaned down; his hot breath stirred the hair at her nape. “I’m fairly certain your father will not have it, but—” he dropped to a knee, the snow crunching under the weight of his leg, “marry me?”

Alexandra’s mouth fell open and she had to reach a hand up to close it. Even then, words escaped her. The glint of an oval diamond surrounded by a cluster of sapphires glittered bright in the cold, gray day. It was a ring.

“It is my mother’s ring,” Nathan said, shifting his weight on the ground. In response to her silence, he held the stunning creation towards her. His hands trembled faintly.

Was it fear that she would say no?

With that faint telltale sign of his anxiety, Alexandra held out her own trembling hand. She looked at him, willing him to see the love in her eyes.

“Yes.”





The desolation that had gripped Nathan since he’d agreed to betray Alexandra lifted the moment she placed her hand in his and he slipped his mother’s ring on her finger. With the snow having picked up in intensity, they reluctantly set out back towards Danby Castle. Her hand nestled warmly in his, they walked with the seamless connection that had always joined them.

“I actually dined with the rather innumerable Danby family last evening. I can assure you, our absence has not been remarked upon,” he said, accurately reading her fears.

Alexandra snorted and swatted him playfully on the arm. “And I assure you, my mother will be awaiting my return. Along with any number of my male cousins.”

Nathan waggled his brows. “That sounds like a threat, love.”

“It is not a threat. I am merely stating a truth.” She paused. “You dined with my family?”

His lips quirked. “You’d be stunned to know your grandfather was quite cordial.”

She raised her brows in surprise.

“When I received Danby’s summons, I set out fully expecting to be hauled over the coals. Within the hour of my arrival, I was shown to his office prepared for a well-deserved lashing, and found myself more than surprised.”

Skepticism flickered in Alexandra’s eyes. “Following the scandalous reports on our connection, Danby was cordial?” She chewed her lip contemplatively. “That does not sound at all like the duke.”