DENNIS’S DAUGHTER, to everyone’s relief, awakened a few hours later from her drugged sleep, groggy and frightened but physically unharmed. She threw herself into her father’s arms and let loose a torrent of tears of joy and relief. She did not move from her position in his lap for the entire time that they sat and related the adventures of the evening to the Moreland family. Megan, sitting beside Theo, with her hand firmly clasped in his the whole evening, could understand how the girl felt.
Not surprisingly, the duke and duchess took everything in stride, undismayed by the sudden addition to their household of a group of strangers. A large collection of cheeses, cakes, cold meats and breads soon appeared on the sideboard in the breakfast room, and the participants in the evening’s raid remembered suddenly that they were starving.
Much later, after the tale had been told and retold many times, and Reed and Barchester had returned from the police station with the news that Julian Coffey was languishing in a cell, charged with a variety of crimes ranging from extortion to kidnapping to attempted murder, the party began to break up.
Dennis and his children left with Deirdre and Frank Mulcahey, and the various Morelands began to make their way toward their own beds. Even the twins were at last calmed down enough to agree to sleep. But Theo, instead of starting toward the stairs, took Megan’s hand and led her toward the conservatory and the door into the garden.
They went down the steps, and he curled his arm around her shoulders. Megan leaned into his side, resting her head against his chest. She would not think about the future, she told herself. She would just revel in the present. Theo had said he loved her, and for the moment that was enough. It would have to be enough.
“Do you think Coffey will get out of jail?” she asked.
Theo made a scornful noise. “Not any time soon. The Morelands may be considered odd, but our word still carries weight. And Barchester told the police the whole story, even the parts that made him look rather foolish. All the followers are now scrambling to shift the blame for their actions onto Coffey, claiming that they were all drugged and unwitting.” He shrugged. “Who knows? It may even be true.”
He bent and kissed the top of her head. “He will pay, believe me.”
“Good. When I think of what he did to Dennis and to you…Of the way he lied—and all those years that we thought you had killed Dennis! I don’t think he could possibly pay enough.”
“What about Dennis?” Theo asked. “Is he going back to South America?”
“Yes. He loves Tanta too much to remain here. But he said he would stay with us for a few days. Not long—his wife is at home, not knowing what has happened or if her daughter is dead or alive. He can’t let her remain in suspense. But he has promised he will visit us in New York and bring his children, too. He believes that it is important that they come to know the outside world, as well as the beauty of their village. We will just have to work very hard to keep their village a secret from the world.”
“Megan…” Theo stopped and turned to face her, taking both her hands in his. The light of the full moon slanted across his face, washing it with pale light.
“Yes?” Megan’s heart sped up at the serious look on Theo’s face, and suddenly her stomach tightened. She was not at all sure that she wanted to hear what he was going to say. Surely he could not send her away, not after what had happened tonight!
“Wait,” she said quickly, holding up a hand to forestall his words. “I want to tell you something first. I love you.”
“I love you, too. That is why—”
“No, let me finish. Loving you is enough for me. I understand you have responsibilities and…I can accept that. I am not saying I like it, but I can—I want to be with you in whatever way I can. I don’t care about your title or my reputation or any of that. All I care about is you.”
“Are you finished now?” he asked patiently, a smile lurking at the corners of his mouth.
She nodded.
“Good.” He bent to kiss her lips quickly. “I am glad you don’t care about my title, because, frankly, I don’t, either. But I do care about your reputation. And mine. Most of all, I care about you and our life together. Megan, I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” He paused, then went on, “Will you marry me?”
Megan could not stop the smile that burst across her face. “Oh, Theo!” Her throat was suddenly choked with tears. “I love you, too. More than anything. I can’t tell you how much it means that you want to marry me.”
She reached up and curved her hand lovingly against his cheek. “But you will be a duke. You can’t marry a commoner. An American one, at that.”
“Believe me, you are anything but common,” Theo retorted. “And what difference does it make that you’re American? You act as if I’m royalty or some such thing. I’m not. I’m merely me.”
“But your family—you owe it to them to make a good marriage.”
“It will be a good marriage. I promise you that.”
“You know what I mean!” Megan exclaimed in exasperation. “The sort of marriage a duke should make. Your parents—”
“My parents love you. They could not be happier.”
Megan looked at him in surprise. “You mean—you told them?”
“Of course. I talked to Mother yesterday. She gave me this ring.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold ring with a magnificent ruby set in its center.
“It belonged to my father’s mother. She left it to my mother when she died—not because she liked my mother, you understand. Grandmother was something of a harridan and believed that my father had married very much beneath him. That is one reason my mother stuck the ring away in a box and never wore it. But it is tradition that this ring passes from duchess to duchess. And, as you will be the next duchess, she agreed that it would be the perfect engagement ring for you.”
Theo extended the ring to Megan. She saw that his fingers trembled slightly with nerves, and all her insides went as soft as melted wax at the thought.
“Oh, Theo!” Tears glimmered in her eyes, and she raised her fingers to her lips, unable to say more.
“Please take it, Megan. Tell me you will marry me. If the title bothers you that much, I will give it up, make Reed take it. There must be a way I can do that.”
“Oh, Theo!” Megan cried again, the tears spilling out now and rolling down her cheeks, and she launched herself at him, her arms encircling his neck. “Yes! Yes! Of course I will marry you!”
He let out a gusty sigh of relief. “Thank God! You were beginning to worry me.” He hugged her to him tightly, nuzzling into her hair before he pulled back and took her hand, slipping the ring upon it. “I thought you might insist I move to New York and go to work or something.”
Megan let out a watery chuckle. “I don’t care where we live or what you do. I will go wherever you go—China or Africa or the North Pole. All I care about is being with you.”
“Then we are agreed,” he said, adding with a grin, “for once.”
“Don’t get used to it,” Megan warned.
“I won’t,” he promised, bending close and looking into her eyes. “But I plan to get used to loving you.”
With that, he pulled her close, and their lips met in a long, slow kiss.
*