She smiled sadly.
“Then will you at least run away with me? We’ll run upstairs first so I can make love to you.”
She laughed, but her gaze moved past him.
“Then we’ll take to the streets. We’ll run until we find a stable where we can rest and decide what to do from there. Perhaps steal a horse.”
“I don’t ride.”
“You’ll ride with me.”
One of her brows arched. “People will talk. They’re already talking. If you turned around just now, you’d see dozens of eyes on us.”
“They will talk no matter what, Hattie. They will be kind or cruel—it hardly matters what we do—so let us do what we want.”
“Then may we just stand here?”
He dropped his hand and twined his fingers with hers. “It is not my preference, but for you, anything.”
“Are you still leaving in a few days?”
He nodded.
“I will miss your baking terribly,” she said. “Just when you discovered the secret to a moist sponge cake. Mrs. O’Malley has been desperate to make your acquaintance. She’ll be so disappointed.”
“I will miss your long-winded tales.”
She laughed and squeezed his fingers. “No, you won’t.”
“I will. I will be reminded of you every time the leaves of the trees rustle incessantly outside my window.”
“I will miss you staring at me as if you don’t speak a word of English.”
Mateo laughed at that. “And I will miss...every bloody thing about you. Hattie.” Emotion overcame him. “I need you to be my duchess. Will you marry me? Come with me? Be with me?”
“Teo,” she said, and smiled. “Is this why Lady Aleksander insisted I come? To have my heart broken all over again?”
The spell was weakened for a moment. He paused and frowned. “She asked you to come this evening?” He was confused. Lady Aleksander said Hattie was coming, but she had not indicated she’d asked her to.
Hattie nodded.
“Why?”
“I don’t know, exactly. She said it was important, and that all would be clear.”
He didn’t understand. “What will be clear?”
He never heard Hattie’s answer—their not-so-private conversation was interrupted by a scream.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
NEITHERLILANORBeck dreamed it would go like this. The plan, which Donovan had devised, was to catch Miss Raney and Mr. Woodchurch together, and then make them an offer that they hoped neither would refuse for the sake of their reputations. But they didn’t count on Lord Raney being on hand when they did.
That spun their plan wildly out of control.
It all happened so fast! Lila had been keeping an eye on Mr. Woodchurch, watching him saunter about the crowded house, whisky in hand, flirting with ladies, inserting himself into conversations, and smirking at everyone around him. It amazed her that no one ever turned a cold shoulder to him.
But then she saw a footman come out of a service door painted to look like the wall, and then watched Mr. Woodchurch go through it once he noticed it.
