She guessed if the groom returned with a boat right now, she’d tell him to wait. She had so many more questions to ask.
“You said that you often travel in small groups, but do women ever join you?”
The grey-green eyes focused on her face. “Some of the places are quite remote and difficult to reach, but wives or daughters often travel on these expeditions.”
“What is your view of them coming along?” she asked. “Do they slow you down? Do you consider them a nuisance?”
“Hardly,” he replied with no hesitation. “I admire them. I’ve seen only fortitude and courage in women who take up the challenge of exploring places previously unknown to us. To be honest, I’ve found myself quite envious of the men they accompany.”
“Envious? Why?”
“Because I would suppose only a woman truly in love would part with the comforts of her life here and go on a journey that is inherently fraught with danger.”
Taylor respected and admired his sentiment, but she doubted that was the only thing that would motivate a person to go. She stopped and turned to face him. “But what if a woman simply seeks adventure? What if she craves the knowledge of the world that, as you say, only travel can provide? Don’t you think her thirst can be the same as a man’s?”
A droplet of rain fell on her face, and she held a hand open to catch the next. She glanced up and was surprised by the ominously dark clouds that had closed off the sky above them.
“I have no doubt of it. Still, here in Europe, women are considered the gentler sex and—”
“And they are admired by men for their softness, their vulnerability, their gentle manner.”
“I can’t speak for other men. Only for myself. I admire a woman for her courage. I respect one who thinks and speaks her mind, who refuses to be constrained by our society’s rigid expectations of her sex.” He held her gaze. “I was spellbound when I saw you charging through the mud to help a handful of exhausted servants. I knew at that moment, you were the woman I’d come searching for.”
Before Taylor could react, before she could even force a breath into her lungs, a flash of lightning split the air on the far shore, and she felt the crack of thunder in every fiber of her body. An instant later, another bolt lit the sky, and the heavens suddenly opened, sending them running through the teeming rain toward the cottage.
THE HANDSOME FACE took on a dark purple shade before the end of each contraction.
“Breathe, Dermot. Breathe, my love.”
Millie couldn’t believe she was the one giving directions to her husband in a time like this, but she was worried about him. Somehow, they’d managed to make it to their own bedroom. And with Dermot shouting orders along the way, the midwife from Aberdeen was already waiting at Millie’s bedside when they arrived in the room.
“Do you want to get into the bed?” the woman asked.
“Not yet. I’d prefer to be walking,” Millie answered, clutching her husband’s hand.
“Your sister Jo has already been sent for,” Dermot told her. “And my aunt is at the door if you want her with you.”
The pain continued to come in waves, and the intensity was still bearable.
“I only want you,” she whispered, leaning into her husband’s embrace.
The memory of her operation last year came to her now. Her parents and every one of her siblings had been present in Dr. Drummond’s surgery. But Millie had wanted only Dermot with her.
“I need you to be as brave for me as you were the last time I was in pain,” she murmured. “Can you do that for me?”
“I love you, Millie. I’ll be whatever you want me to be.”
CHAPTER 5
How to Ditch A Duke
– Step 5 –
Smother Him with Attention
THE SKY OPENED, and the hard wind gusts battered them as they ran across the meadow. Brilliant flashes of lightning and deafening cracks of thunder exploded around them. The air crackled. They were both breathless when they burst into the cottage. Bamberg pushed the door shut to keep out the driving rain.
“I can’t believe this storm was part of Millie’s plan.” Taylor laughed as she pulled off her soaked short jacket.
“McKendry has always been an incorrigible rogue. I believe he’s capable of anything.”
An eyebrow arched. “Have you known him long?”
“For well over a decade. We attended university together.”
She let out a sigh and shook her head. “I should have known.”
“What should you have known?”
“The reason why my friend felt comfortable thrusting us together out here. Leaving me alone on this island with you. She must have absolute trust in you and in your sense of honor.”
Taylor took a handkerchief out of her pocket to dry her face. If she hadn’t mentioned the word honor, he could easily have kissed away those droplets, drying each glistening bead with the soft touch of his mouth.
Lightning flashed, lighting up the cracks around the door and the windows, and he could feel the thunder reverberate under foot. She clearly felt it too, and she shivered. He looked around at the cottage. Not much to it. A fireplace and a small stack of dry wood. A narrow bed. An ancient chest containing a blanket. He shook it out and offered it to her before crouching by the fireplace. A moment later, flames lit the room.
“Did you take part in their planning?”
He looked over his shoulder and found Taylor leaning against the door.
“I spoke the truth when I said Dermot used family as an excuse for sending me out to this island.” He rose to his feet, facing her. “Of course, I suspected and hoped other arrangements were in the works.”
“What kind of arrangements?”
“The situation we’re in right now never occurred to me, but I thought he’d find a way for me to see you. He knew I wanted, more than anything, to express to you my feelings.”
She pushed away from the door. Her steps were slow, and her gaze held his as she approached.
“Did you mean what you said to me outside?”
Rain pelted against the shuttered windows. The wind howled, and the fire flared in the fireplace.
“Every word, liebling.” He didn’t know how much time they had left together. Perhaps the storm would prompt Dermot to send a boat right away. He didn’t want to miss this chance to speak from his heart. “You are beautiful. And courageous. And smart. I haven’t stopped thinking of you from the moment I first laid eyes on you. What I didn’t get a chance to finish saying was that you would do me a great honor if you’d consider being my wife.”
She looked away, staring at the fire. “A wife to provide you with the income to continue adventuring while I’m left on my own in your castle?”
This was what lay behind her questions outside. He wanted to pull her into his arms, to hold her as he spoke. But he understood her hesitation. Now was the moment to allay her fears or lose her forever. The time had come for her to know the truth.
“I have no need for your fortune. My estates are thriving. The people back home are well cared for. Everyone who lived through the ravages of Napoleon’s wars has suffered, but we recovered quickly. My people are feeling no hardship.” Bamberg needed her to understand he wasn’t like her father. “I’m not marrying for money.”
She was silent for a moment as her eyes caressed his face. “But…what about the rumors?”
“I started them myself.”
“Then why was it that you allowed my father to coerce you into calling on me?”
“You thought it was your fortune that enticed me? There was no coercing on his part. It was I who approached him after the carriage accident. I offered him my card. I wanted to call on you.”