“Drake?” Elise prodded over the clatter of horses’ hooves. She held her breath, waiting for him to admit the truth. What a relief it would be to no longer have to hide her knowledge of his aristocratic status. “Is there something you should tell me?”
Her fingers bit into the silk-tufted side panel as the coach bounced over another rough patch of road. She’d almost abandoned hope of receiving an answer when he pinned her with a level stare.
“I must plead guilty, sweet. There is a matter in which I’ve been less than candid with you.”
Her lips compressed. She lifted her chin, hoping she appeared sufficiently annoyed by his evasiveness. “And yet you’ve assured me I can trust you.”
“You needn’t concern yourself on that score. I’d never harm you on purpose,” he promised. “What I’ve been remiss in sharing concerns my place in society, not me as a man.”
“That sounds ominous.” She aimed for a light note that would encourage a quick account from him.
“Hardly.” His long fingers scraped back the soft black hair from his furrowed brow. “The long and short of it is that I possess a title, lands and the wealth bequeathed to such a heritage.”
Though she’d anticipated his announcement, hearing the truth fall from his own lips sent a frisson of panic through her limbs. Somehow it hadn’t seemed real that her Drake was a high and mighty lord of the British realm.
Quite suddenly he seemed like a mysterious stranger, foreign to everything she believed and held dear. With a delicate cough, she cleared her tight throat. “The soldier referred to you as ‘Your Grace?’”
He tipped his noble head. “The fifth duke of Hawk Haven at your service, Your Grace.”
She flinched as though he’d cast a slur upon her name. Light pierced the window lace, creating a silvery, speckled pattern that ebbed and flowed with the swaying coach. The curtain whipped in the breeze and she reached out to straighten it, grateful for something to fix upon besides his dark looks and her darker thoughts.
Elise knew she should exhibit some kind of emotion—joy, dismay, even anger for having such important information withheld from her—but at the moment her emotions were a torturous web of confusion.
The liberation she’d expected upon hearing his confession eluded her. A crushing weight settled on her shoulders and a perverse sense of guilt churned her stomach. How could she accept his confidences when she harbored so many secrets of her own?
“My situation is a trifle complicated,” he continued. “I hoped you would view your new status in light of the honor it is. But, I dare say, you appear less than gratified.”
“I’m sorry. I’m a touch overwhelmed.” Reminding herself that he would see the gift of a title as an honor, she fiddled with the ivory lace that edged her light green sleeve. “When were you going to share this news with me? Surely, it would have been more fitting before we wed?”
His eyes shifted to the window. “It may have been more opportune, but I had my reasons for silence.”
“I must confess, I’m faint with curiosity. Why would you wish to keep something so important from me?”
“I wanted to be assured you wed me for no other reason than you cared for me alone.”
“I do care for you,” she was quick to assure him. “But if you’re a duke, how can you wed me, a simple colonial girl?”
His expression softened. “You’re anything but simple, though I have wondered why you play the simpleton on occasion.”
She shrugged. “Most men prefer a woman of little brains.”
“I don’t. I prefer you just as you are. Don’t ever hide yourself from me, Elise.”
She nodded even as guilt washed through her. She’d never felt more of a liar. How she wished she could tell him all her secrets, but her loved ones’ safety hung in the balance.
As the coach rumbled through the streets, he sighed. “Where was I?”
“You were explaining why you didn’t tell me you’re a peer.”
“Ah, yes. My first wife married me because the king desired an alliance between my family and hers. She was in love with someone else and resented me from the first day of our marriage. As you can probably guess, there was no warmth between us. After she died, I was hard-pressed to notice she was gone.”
Elise sat forward and took hold of his hand. Drake was a proud man. She knew it cost him to admit what must seem like a monumental failure in his eyes. “She didn’t deserve you.”
His grim smile said otherwise. “I should have tried harder.”
“It takes two to try,” she whispered.
He nodded and released a wary sigh. “Last year, I acquired a fiancée.”
She gasped. “What happened?”
“I found her with a lover. She had agreed to wed me at her family’s insistence—for my fortune and title.”
“You must have been devastated!”
He shook his head. “Not in the least. My pride was bruised and I was angry, but not hurt. I’d sought to wed her for my own less than heartfelt reasons, though I would have been faithful and trustworthy.”
“The girl must be an imbecile.” She snorted. “Both of them were. I don’t see how any sane woman couldn’t help but love you.”
He smiled, his white teeth flashing in the coach’s dim interior. “Are you sane, then?”
Her cheeks flushed. “I was until I met you. Now, I’m just crazy about you.”
“And I adore you,” he assured her with more honesty than she’d ever encountered. “For the first time in my life I’ve found love.”
Her heart swelled with tenderness and her throat closed with emotion. “It’s the same for me, too.”
He bent his head to kiss her, but the coach began to slow and rolled to a stop. Drake flashed a wry grin. “Barring the possibility of additional overzealous redcoats, I believe we’ve arrived at the house I arranged for our use. We’ll be residing here until we make for England.”
Elise peered out the window for a better view of the whitewashed brick three-story townhouse. Aged magnolia trees provided shade in the trimmed front yard, and potted white roses flanked either side of the gleaming red front door. “And how long might that be?”
“God willing, not much longer,” he said. “I’ve been absent from Hawk Haven for half a year. My sister will be anxious to see me.”
“Why must we remain in South Carolina at all?” She tried not to sound overeager, but she wouldn’t feel completely safe until she and her family were far away from everyone who knew their secrets. “Why not sail for London as soon as possible?”
His sculpted face turned hard as flint. “Soon, sweet. I’m not quite finished with a few business matters here in Charles Towne.”
The driver opened the coach door, eyes averted to the road. Drake jumped down first, then raised his arms to help Elise alight.
The moment Drake’s hands encircled her waist, her nerves jangled in giddy alarm. Without pause, he swept her into his arms. The air whooshed from her lungs in a hearty, startled laugh as she looped her arms around the strong column of his neck.
His joy palpable, he raced up the brick walk to the front door. The door swung wide as though welcoming them of its own accord. The scents of roses, herbs and roasting beef greeted them. They were inside the wide entryway before Elise looked over Drake’s shoulder to see who’d opened the door.
A stout woman of about three score or more thrust the door closed, casting the front hall into twilight. Her broad smile made her eyes mere slits above her weathered apple-red cheeks. Wiping her hands on her apron, she bobbed curtsy after curtsy while she spoke in brisk German.
“What did she say?” Elise whispered from her lofty height in Drake’s arms. “I didn’t understand.”
Drake grinned down at her. “This is Frau Einholt, the housekeeper. She’s welcoming us to our new home. She said there’s a light repast ready for us to enjoy whenever we like, and the trunks you sent from Brixton Hall have been unpacked.”
He paused, listening as the robust woman chirped with animated enthusiasm. “She’s congratulating me on my fine choice of bride.”
Elise smiled and thanked the housekeeper for the compliment. The beaming woman curtsied again, obviously understanding some English even if she didn’t speak it.
When Drake answered in German, Elise waited for the translation, but none came. He’d started up the curved staircase before she asked, “What did you tell her just now? I know it was something improper. The two of you shared a most mischievous laugh.”
They reached the second floor and he placed her on her feet. “She wished us good fortune, long life and a house full of sons. I thanked her, ’tis all.”
Elise eyed him with playful suspicion. “There’s something more. I’m sure of it. What else did you tell her?”
Drake chuckled. “It’s ill indeed when a new wife distrusts her husband.”
She tried to sound stern. “Tell me what else you said, Drake Amberly.”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he caught her to him, pressed open a door behind him, and pulled her into a large candlelit chamber. “I merely mentioned we plan to begin work on filling the house full of sons tonight.”