Guarding the Spoils (The Wild Randalls 3)

When Elizabeth pressed her hands to her face, Oliver shifted to her side. She had suffered because of their affair and wouldn’t thank him at first for his decision. At the time, there hadn’t been any other options available to him that would guarantee Henry Turner’s immediate compliance. He’d had to let Turner believe the worst or he wouldn’t have gone away. Any bribe would be followed by another demand when the money ran out.

Instead of giving Elizabeth space to rally her thoughts and become angry with him, Oliver picked up her hand. “It’s for the best, really,” he said quickly. “George has little interest in America and you didn’t want to go there, either.”

Her gaze dipped to their joined hands as she slipped free of his grip. “That’s not for you to say.”

As conversations went, this was not turning out the way he hoped. He edged closer. “I missed you.”

Elizabeth stilled. “You were gone but a day and a night.”

“An eternity.” He swallowed as nervousness, a rare feeling for him, rushed through him unabated. “But I have also missed speaking to you these past few days, too. You’re angry and avoiding me. I’ve heard the whispers about us.”

“Hardly whispers when your brothe

r practically shouted it loud enough to be heard in London. But I’m angry with myself, not you.” She drew in a deep, weary breath. “I knew the risks to my reputation and behaved foolishly.”

Oliver quickly recaptured her hand. “Not so foolishly when you consider the circumstances.”

She faced him at last, her eyes narrowing. “What circumstances do you think excuses such a lapse in judgment?”

“I have noticed that when one is in love, there is nothing one won’t do to be near that person.”

She drew back as if he’d insulted her. “You make me out to have no willpower?”

“I wasn’t speaking of you.” He turned her hand over and traced the faint lines on her palm. Then he drew the ribbon he carried from his pocket and returned it to her keeping. “You dropped this.”

She frowned at it. “This isn’t mine.”

“Yes, it is.” Oliver closed her slack fingers over the ribbon. “But it took me twelve years to deliver it back and I apologize for my tardiness.”

Her eyes widened.

“Elizabeth, before another moment passes there is something I should confess.” He lifted her hand and kissed it. “I love you. I have admired you for a very long time and never understood how deeply. I was young and foolish and thought I had all the time in the world. When Turner began to court you and you accepted his offer of marriage, I thought I had misunderstood what love was. I turned to my studies and then the duke sent me away.”

Her hand turned in his, their fingers linking together tightly, the ribbon pressed against his skin again. “I was so afraid for you,” she whispered. “No one dared ask where you all were.”

He covered her hand with his. “When I was locked away, I consoled myself that fate had chosen a safer path for you. If you had become my wife and not married Turner, you could have been harmed in the duke’s quest to wipe my family from the face of the earth. I prayed the duke would overlook that you’d been a friend of my sister and mother and that as Turner’s wife you would remain free.”

Her other hand covered his as tears spilled down her cheeks. Oliver quickly wiped them away, his heart full of love for her and her precious emotions. “I’ve been alone all my life, Elizabeth, either by design or the absence of choice. I don’t wish to remain in one place forever, but I don’t wish to be without you. The world is a very large place and I cannot bear to be so far away from you ever again.”

Her eyes closed, blocking his view of her expression.

“I think you ought to marry me and when George is a little older we should travel the world together.”

Her throat moved as she swallowed. “And if I do not wish to travel beyond England?”

He had always believed that he was alone in his desire for adventure. If she didn’t want to share in his dreams then there could be strife between them in the future. He didn’t want that. He couldn’t bear to lose now what he’d searched his whole life to find. “Then loving you will be the greatest adventure of my life. Do you think you could put up with me that long? I will likely say and do all the wrong things and make you angry. I’m blunt and the niceties of social discourse quite often bore me.

“I offer myself to you, Elizabeth. To be your husband and friend, though little good it will do you. Let me love you all the days of my life and protect and treasure every one of your scowls.”

“Well, it certainly will be an adventure.” Her gaze grew flinty. “Did you really frighten Henry enough to soil himself in a public tavern?”

“Not one of my finer moments, but I had quite enough experience with madmen to pull it off convincingly.” He dug into his pocket and pulled out the other matter that he wanted to discuss with her. “While I have you alone, I need your advice. Do you recognize this?”

He opened his hand to reveal the jade brooch once belonging to his sister.

“Oh no.” Elizabeth took the brooch from his palm and held it, her thumbs sliding over the glossy, deep green stones. “This belonged to Rosemary. Where did you find it?”

“In the duke’s sanctuary,” he admitted without a shred of hesitation at revealing the truth. A weight came off his shoulders with his confession. If he truly loved her, then there shouldn’t be secrets between them. “Should I tell my brothers I found it and where?”