The Earl She Despised (London Season Matchmaker 3)

Miss Wells took in a long, slow breath and wiped the tear from her cheek. “Very well, Lord Weston,” she murmured, gesturing to the door just behind him. “Might we find a quieter place to speak?”

She did not wait but stepped past him into the hallway. Thomas, his hands trembling somewhat as he followed her, felt his heart begin to ache with a desperate hope that this might, in some way, be the beginnings of a way back to one another. A way back to what might have been and now could be again.

Epilogue

Merry’s heart was beating so rapidly that she was certain the sound of it could be heard bouncing off the walls. She had spoken to Lord Henderson, who had informed her as to where Lord Weston was, and had gone in search of him. Having made up her mind to, at the very least, converse with him, she had been stunned to hear the truth from Lady Reid’s lips – and then to see and hear the answering fury that came from Lord Weston.

I have held her close and felt myself lift to the skies, such was the joy that enfolded us….She is the only one within my heart, and I shall keep her there until my very last breath.

Those words had brought such a joy to her heart that she had barely been able to prevent herself from stepping out from behind Lady Reid and looking into Lord Weston’s face. She knew now that what he had said to her before she had discovered the truth had come from his heart, for he would not have rejected Lady Reid otherwise. Had he no genuine affection for her, then he would have accepted Lady Reid’s offer without hesitation, especially given that the conversation between them had not been overheard by anyone other than her.

“I must tell you, Miss Wells, that I am–”

“Merry.” She stopped and turned to face him, finding themselves in a quiet alcove away from the noise and bustle of the ballroom. “You may call me Merry, Lord Weston.”

He gaped at her, his eyes flaring and his mouth hanging open for a moment such was his surprise. She did not laugh, but rather, held his gaze, feeling her heart lift within her chest.

“I overheard what you said to Lady Reid,” she told him quietly. “It has convinced me that your words are true. It has shown me that your heart does, in fact, belong to me.”

“It does,” he breathed, reaching for her hands and taking them in his own. Merry closed her eyes, feeling tears burn in her eyes again, but this time, they did not come from pain or sorrow. Instead, they came with the sensation of forgiveness, of allowing the wrongs to belong only to the past. It was easier to do than she had expected, for seeing the look in Lord Weston’s eyes had told her that his regret and pain was real. He had made a wager and then discovered that there was more to their acquaintance than he had first thought.

“If I had told you of the wager, you would have turned from me,” Lord Weston said, as if he had read her thoughts. “I would have been alone. My heart would have quite broken.”

Merry looked up into his face, pulling one hand free to run down his cheek and marveling at the flurry of excitement that flooded her. “You were the only gentleman of my acquaintance who showed a true interest in me,” she told him quietly. “That may have come, at the first, as an intention to claim me as your own to win the wager, but thereafter, I believe it became something more.”

He nodded and swallowed hard. “It did, Merry,” he promised her, his gaze fixed and unrelenting. “I thought to show an interest in you only so that I might become the victor, but then I discovered that my heart was slowly becoming fixed upon you. I had never experienced such sensations, and the more I considered my heart, the more fearful I became of telling you the truth.” Dropping his head, he let out a soft groan. “I have made an abject fool of both myself and you.”

“And yet, I have come to see that your affection for me is real,” Merry replied, seeing him slowly lift his head. “My forgiveness came the moment I heard you declare yourself to Lady Reid.” She smiled at him, seeing the hope flare in his eyes. “You would have gone to her had you no true affection for me, Lord Weston. Given that my own heart will not let you go, I have decided to set the past aside and to move into what I hope will be a happy and contented future….” She trailed off, a flicker of uncertainty in her heart. “That is, if you still wish it to be so.”

Lord Weston lowered his head and caught her lips with his own. His hands wrapped about her waist, tugging her closer to him still. Her arms went about his neck of their own accord, pulling herself closer to him and losing herself in his kiss. His kiss was hard, his lips firm, as though he were branding her as his own.

“I do not deserve you, Merry,” he whispered against her mouth, his forehead resting lightly against hers. “I do not deserve your forgiveness nor your love.”

She laughed softly, letting her fingers twine through his hair as her heart flooded with more happiness than she had ever thought possible. “Enough regret, Lord Weston,” she told him sweetly. “I love you deeply. You have become everything to me, and I shall not let you linger in sorrow, not when we have so much happiness ahead of us.”

Lord Weston took in a long breath and then let it out slowly, capturing her face with both hands and framing it gently as he looked into her eyes. “Then make my happiness complete, my love. Tell me that you will be my bride. I will spend each day showing you that I am the gentleman you deserve, the gentleman who sees you as you truly are and who loves every part of you with an abiding, unrelenting love that is solely for you alone.”

Merry closed her eyes, lost in happiness. Her sorrow and fears were gone, her broken heart already beginning to heal. Lord Weston had proven himself despite his failings, and she knew now that he would make her the most wonderful of husbands. “Of course I will wed you,” she replied, hearing his sigh of relief and smiling at it. “I can think of nothing better than marrying the person who carries my heart.”

Lord Weston smiled back at her, lowering his head for another kiss. “Nor I,” he whispered, before capturing her lips with his own.

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Did you enjoy reading Merry’s story? I hope you did! If you haven’t read Book One of this series, you can find it here. The Return of Lord Avondale, London Season Matchmaker Book One.

Want to read the prologue in its entirety?

Lady Eliza’s Broken Heart, London Season Matchmaker Prequel is available for free!

Although The Return of Lord Avondale does have a short chapter length prequel at the beginning of the book, you can download the extended short story version of the prequel for free!

Interested? Click here to learn more…

Also by Lucy Adams

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LONDON SEASON MATCHMAKER SERIES