Page 90 of Unmasking the Earl

“I don’t.” He gave her a gentle shake. “You must tell me, Cassie. I’m not letting you out of my sight until you do.”

She couldn’t look him in the eyes. “The ruby pendant…”

He frowned. “A family heirloom. What about it?”

She took a deep breath, looking chagrined. “Wycherley advised me to wear one like it to entice a man.”

Ned appeared genuinely confused. “A ruby?”

“Between my… To make him think about my…” Her face blazed, and she glanced away in mortification. “You must know what he said, as I’m sure you were spying on us through the keyhole.”

Her fists clenched and unclenched at her sides. She wanted to throttle Ned for putting her through this horrible chaos of emotions. But a small part of her just wanted to run her hands over the mounded muscle of his upper arms and up into his tousled dark hair, to forgive him and pull him close for a kiss.

Her mind was telling her one thing, her body and her heart another. The agony of this conflict was close to unbearable.

“I did no such thing,” Ned replied firmly. “I already liked you more than I should, and it would have been anathema to watch him touch you. What, exactly, did Wycherley teach you about rubies and the art of seduction?”

She had to clear her throat a couple of times, and knew she was blushing furiously, but she told him the story. His eyes grew rounder with every word. When she finished, he chuckled and gave her an affectionate squeeze.

“That sort of ploy might affect a more shallow, lecherous man, I suppose. But the last time I saw that pendant around a woman’s neck, it was Georgiana’s, and before her, my mother’s. So all the associations in my mind are most innocent. That damned Wycherley! I cannot believe I’ve agreed to take him as a brother-in-law.”

She looked up in surprise and smiled. “Really? You agreed to their betrothal?”

“Given your defense of him, I assumed you wouldn’t marry me otherwise.” He grimaced. “I may yet come to regret my generosity of spirit.”

Could it be true that Ned had completely abandoned his dire intent? Had he finally learned to forgive and put the happiness of his sister above his need for revenge? Thank goodness.

“He is forgiven?” she asked hopefully.

“Not entirely, but for Georgiana’s sake, I have curbed my desire to ruin him and instead will allow him to attempt to win me over.”

He was smiling, revealing the dimples that she so loved to see. As she gazed up into his dark eyes, she knew she was utterly smitten and could forgive him absolutely anything. She unclenched her fists and slid them around his waist.

It felt so good to be touching him again!

He responded with a sigh, held her closer, and brushed his lips across her temple.

“So,” he said, his voice so soft she could barely hear him. “Are you going to marry me or not?”

Her whole body felt deliciously, gloriously alive. A wave of joy crashed over her, and she knew exactly what she wanted.

His love, his heart, his smile.

She pushed up on tiptoe, lifting her lips for a kiss.

His mouth was just a whisper away, but he said, “And can I be certain that you no longer have any tender feelings for Mr. Carnforth? I couldn’t bear it if even just a fragment of your heart belonged to anybody else.”

Cassie never knew what prompted her to tease her poor, long-suffering lover after this heartfelt confession. Because, after all, she’d told him she had happily refused Julian’s offer of marriage. What more proof of her devotion did he need? But there must have been a little imp inside her that wanted to provoke him into an even stronger declaration of his own love.

She replied, “Well, I can’t exactly say one hundred percent. But I daresay time will tell.”

He suddenly let out a great roar of frustration. The next instant, she was hauled up and thrown over his shoulder, knocking all the breath from her body.

As soon as she recovered from the shock, she kicked out wildly and pummeled her fists against his broad back and buttocks.

To no avail.

Her wig fell off, and her head bumped up and down like a puppet’s as he strode out of the maze with her and back along the gravel path toward the lawn. She let out a shriek, half defiance, half fear, and was immediately silenced by his threat of throwing her across his knee in front of everyone at Highmore and giving her the spanking she deserved.