“You are sure you are not angry with me?” he said between kisses.
“Angry? You were my lifeline.” She ran her fingers through his hair, loving that he was no mirage, but a true oasis. “I only wish you had told me sooner, so I didn’t have to spend so many nights, long after I became a widow, wondering what your lips felt like.”
His gaze dipped to her mouth. “Now you know.”
She traced his lips again. They were delectable to the touch—everything she had ever dreamed of and more. “Not well enough—never well enough.”
Chapter 4
***
Clarissa danced. It was three o’clock in the morning, but she was still bursting with energy and euphoria. Thanks to Christian’s promise to look after her guests in her stead, she and her wonderful James had been able to spend eight solid hours together, making love, talking, making love some more, and talking some more. And once her lover stopped thinking of her as the Duchess of Lexington, but only as his dearest friend and correspondent, he didn’t even have that much trouble speaking.
Now she had to wait until morning to see him again—morning could not come soon enough.
She was twirling past the fireplace for the third time when a light knock came, followed by an envelope from under the door.
When she opened the unsealed envelope, she was greeted by a most familiar and beloved hand.
My dear Duchess,
I know I have said it in your presence, but permit me to also set it down in writing: This has been the most marvelous day of my life. I am filled with such a sense of well-being and invincibility that I just might attempt giving a speech in public. Perhaps I’d even commandeer the nearest piano, pound its keys, and sing at the top of my lungs.
I am drunk without having touched a drop of spirits.
Will you make me permanently intoxicated with life and all its beauty by consenting to become my wife? I am already the happiest man alive. But as your husband, I would also be the proudest.
Yours devotedly,
J.M.K.
She pressed the note against her heart, but only for a moment, as she rushed to open the door and pull him inside. Before he could speak, she placed a finger over his lips and led him to her sitting room, and with him leaning over her shoulder, penned her reply.
My dear Mr. Kingston,
Why, yes, of course I will marry you. I did say that I would choose a gentleman from among those at my house party for my future spouse, did I not? I am a woman of my word.
If it is agreeable to you, let us marry as soon as we can obtain a special license. Where should we go for our honeymoon? We need not return until the Eton and Harrow game in July.
Yours impatiently,
Clarissa
Her dear James solemnly read the note after she handed it to him, even though he already knew exactly what it said. He then kissed it, folded it carefully, and put it into the inside pocket of his jacket.
“When your party disperses, will you come with me to my house and see my hydrangea garden?” he asked.
In other words, would she like to come and see his heart held out before him and the hope that had sustained him all these years?
She rose and wrapped her arms around him. “Yes, I will, darling. There is nothing I’d like to see more—except you, every day of my life.”
***
Thank you for reading Claiming the Duchess.
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Claiming the Duchess is related to Beguiling the Beauty, which tells Christian’s story. If you would like to skip ahead to an excerpt of Beguiling the Beauty, click here. To see a list of Sherry’s other books, click here.
About the Author
***
Sherry Thomas writes both historical romance and young adult fantasy.
On the romance side, she is one of the most acclaimed authors working in the genre today, her books regularly receiving starred reviews and best-of-the-year honors from trade publications. She is also a two-time winner of Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA? Award.
On the young adult side, The Perilous Sea, book 2 of the Elemental Trilogy, releases September 2014.
Sherry writes in her second language. She learned English by reading romance and science fiction—every word Isaac Asimov ever wrote, in fact. She is proud to say that her son is her biggest fanboy—for the YA fantasy, not the romances. At least, not yet…
You can receive email updates on Sherry’s upcoming books, contact her, and find her on the web at http://www.sherrythomas.com/contact.php.
Beguiling the Beauty: an excerpt
Prologue
***
It happened one sunlit day in the summer of 1886.