Page 88 of Unmasking the Earl

“Admit that you love me.”

“Oh!” She pulled away in shock, but he caught her back into his embrace, pressing her hard against him, her face turned up to his.

He bent his head and gently tasted her lips. She reminded him of late summer honey. The feeling was so exquisite, he did it again.

The idea of any other man kissing those peach-tinted lips, ever, was unthinkable. Cassandra Blythe must be his alone.

Now and forever.

“Very well. I accept that you may not yet love me as I do you, but that’s no obstacle to marriage. Many husbands and wives were less than friends when they married, but have made one another happy, nonetheless.”

Her hands fluttered within his, like captured birds. Her eyes widened. “You love me?”

“I believe so.” He gazed down at her tenderly. “It may, of course, be a mere infatuation, so if I were you, I would marry me quickly and secure your future before I come to my senses.”

She blinked wordlessly up at him.

“Will you marry me, Cassandra Blythe?”

She pressed her lips together and frowned.

Did she not believe he was in earnest? Or perhaps…

“Do you want me to ask your father for your hand first? I don’t know if I can wait for everything to be done properly. We’ve already spent nearly a month apart, and it was unbearable,” he said.

Her eyes filled. “Then you must come now and meet Papa.”

Ned wanted this precious moment to last forever. The door to his heart had been opened, and to close it again and appear to the outside world as if nothing had happened would be impossible. “I cannot let you go until I’ve given you your gift,” he said to stall her.

“But was I not to have earned it first?” she asked uncertainly.

“You have special dispensation. Please turn round.”

As she did so, he took out the little box and opened it to extract a brilliant ruby on a delicate silver chain. He laid it carefully round her neck, trying to avoid touching the tempting silk of her skin. For if he did, how would he find the self-control not to explore further—the sensitive pulse below her ear, the column of her neck, the delicious cleft between her breasts?

“There.” Taking her by the shoulders, he turned her about to see how the family heirloom looked on the woman he dearly hoped would become the newest member of that family.

Her hand came up beneath the pendant, and she gazed at the ruby then sucked in a breath. When she looked up at him, he could not believe the change in her face. Hurt and betrayal had stolen the roses from her cheeks and lips, and her eyes were hot with unshed tears of pain, not love.

“How could you?” she cried. “Is this some horrible joke? Well, it’s not funny, Ned. Not funny at all.”

Numb with shock, he watched in disbelief as she yanked at the chain until it broke then threw the precious pendant into a corner. Before he could stop her, she surged across to the door in a flurry of bronze silk, unlocked and wrenched it open, and disappeared into the corridor beyond.

For a few moments, he just stood there, his heart racing in consternation. What had he done? How could he, with that simple but meaningful gift, have distressed her so?

Feeling sick at heart, Ned forced his limbs to move. He couldn’t let Cassie go now, not like this, not when he felt he’d come so close to winning her. With no idea what he was going to do or say, he strode out of the room, not even stopping to pick up the precious ruby. He was damned if he’d let yet another silly misunderstanding tear them asunder. Whatever this new problem was, he would find a way to deal with it.

She cared for him. She definitely cared for him. Bolstering his courage with this certainty, he broke into a run, determined she would not evade him.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Cassie ran blindly down the corridor, just needing to escape. There was a mill of people in one direction, so she took the other. She couldn’t face light and noise—her distress needed a haven, somewhere dark and quiet where nobody would find her.

That awful pendant. Had Ned been listening and watching Wycherley’s lesson on how to attract a man’s attention? What did he mean by invoking it? Had his heartfelt proposal just been a sham? But to what end? She had already given herself to him.

She was so confused.

Hot tears trickled down her cheeks, and she swept them away with her palms. She felt betrayed, and the pain of it pressed on her lungs and tightened her throat, forcing her to drag the air down in great gulps. Her body felt like a yawning, aching chasm of pain.