The Duke’s Darling Debutante by Maggie Dallen

Epilogue

Two weeks later…

Tabetha had a plan.

With a quick glance over her shoulder, she checked to see how far behind her sisters had fallen. She grinned. Far enough. “This way,” she called to Luke, who galloped on his horse beside her.

She took a side path that curved and twisted as her betrothed laughed from behind. “Should I be concerned that you are leading us astray?”

She tipped her head back, her smile bright under the sun-dappled leaves. He was teasing her, echoing her words back to her from their first ride in this isolated area of the park.

The breeze was brisk, the temperature warm, and the day...utterly perfect. She brought her mare to a halt at the base of a large tree that had branches hanging long and low

Excellent protection against prying eyes.

She turned to face Luke as climbed off his mount and strode toward her, his grin so warm and wide—had she ever truly thought him stern?

What a fool she’d been.

He moved toward her with that predatory look in his eyes, his smile turning wicked. “Are you hiding again, my love?”

“Not from you,” she said with a laugh. “And you’ll notice I’m not running away, either.”

He tugged her off the horse’s back and into his arms with a growl that sent shivers down her spine. “I should hope not.” He nuzzled her temple as she looped her arms around his neck. “You never need run from me.”

“Never again,” she promised. She tilted her head back, and he claimed her lips with a kiss that left her breathless. Warm and firm, his lips moved over hers, telling her better than any words just how much she was loved.

She hoped she was just as eloquent when she returned the kiss.

They both heard her name being called a few moments later by her wonderfully lax chaperones.

“We don’t have much time,” she whispered. “They’re trotting as slowly as they can, but they can’t dally forever.”

He dropped one last kiss on her lips with a sigh of regret. “How much longer until our wedding? These stolen moments are not nearly enough.”

She laughed, delighted that he was just as eager to wed as she was. “As soon as we’re able, Luke. After all…” She gave him a teasing smile as she reluctantly pulled out of his arms. “We wouldn’t want to cause a scandal.”

His answering huff of amusement was nearly a growl. “Since when does one of Darling’s sisters worry about that?”

She laughed at his teasing because they both knew that of the two of them, he was now the one most likely to cause a scene. Why, just the night before he’d caused an entire dinner party to gasp in shock as he’d loudly and proudly declared his love for her.

Of course, she’d repaid him in kind by stealing him away for a kiss in the garden, which had left her family exasperated and her brother asking about the possibility of obtaining a special license before she well and truly ruined herself.

But that was the funny thing about marrying a duke. It seemed that one could get away with quite a lot of bad behavior when one was titled, wealthy, and in love.

The ton had taken to calling them ‘the lovebirds,’ and when he claimed all her dances—or they stole away into the night—there were whispers, to be certain. But they were interlaced with indulgent smiles and dreamy sighs.

It seemed even the ton enjoyed a good love story.

This was illustrated once again when Tabetha and her sisters arrived back at her home with Luke in tow, only to hear Evelyn talking at a high, fast clip in the drawing room.

“We’re all anyone is talking about,” their sister-in-law cried.

Tabetha exchanged a quick look with her sisters. It was difficult to say whether Evelyn was crying out in dismay or elation, but Clarissa wore a suspiciously guilty expression when she asked, “What have we done now?”

Tabetha lifted a shoulder as they entered the room. Evelyn spun to face them and all three sisters, and even Luke, sighed with relief to find that Evelyn was smiling.

“Did you see?” she asked, handing over a scandal sheet that was filled with news about the Duke of Walton and his engagement to Lady Tabetha Rutland.

“So we’re not in trouble then,” Mariah said with a relieved sigh. “I thought perhaps there’d been another scandal.”

Darius gave a grunt from where he sat sifting through correspondence. “Not yet. It’s just a matter of time with the way you all carry on.”

“Us?” Clarissa pretended to be offended. “You’re the one who started all the rumors in the first place.”

“By becoming an earl?” he asked. “That’s hardly my fault.”

“Well, not to put too fine a point on it, but there was that business about a duel,” Clarissa said, crossing her arms.

The bickering went back and forth, and Tabetha only half paid attention as it was the sort of quibbles that happened often amongst her siblings.

Luke wrapped an arm about her waist and leaned over to whisper in her ear. “Have I mentioned how much I love your family?”

She grinned up at him. “That’s good to hear since they adore you as well.”

Evelyn interrupted the bickering by striding to the center of the room and holding up a stack of correspondence. “Just look at all the invitations we’ve received,” she said. “We’ve been invited to every social event of the season.” She sat on the settee between Clarissa and Mariah, and handed each a small stack to sort through. “We have our pick.”

Evelyn sounded so delighted that Tabetha could only look on and smile. Darius was watching his wife with an indulgentgrin. “It was all your doing, love.”

Evelyn rolled her eyes as she gestured toward Tabetha and Luke. “More like, it was all Tabetha’s doing.”

Tabetha looked up at Luke and gave him a wink. “It was my pleasure.”

He chuckled softly as he leaned down to kiss the top of her head. “And mine.”

“Well, now we have the good fortune of being sisters to a duchess,” Mariah said.

Evelyn nodded. “Mariah and Clarissa’s prospects are looking splendid indeed. They can take their time and find love matches of their own.”

Mariah dipped her head with a shy smile as Clarissa wrinkled her nose. “Maybe one of us doesn’t even have to make a match at all.”

Evelyn shook her head with a smile. “You’ll have a change of heart when you meet the right gentleman.”

Clarissa didn’t look convinced, but she didn’t argue. And she was spared any more talk of prospective marriages when Mariah plucked one invitation out of the pile. “This one,” she said.

Tabetha blinked in surprise. Mariah rarely wanted to attend any events, so it was odd that she’d chosen one herself.

“Perhaps Mariah is coming into her own as well,” Luke said so softly only Tabetha could hear it.

Tabetha tilted her head to the side as she studied her sweet sister. “I hope so. But even if she never overcomes her shyness…” She glanced up at Luke. “She deserves to find someone who loves her as she is, just as I have done.”

He grew serious. “I couldn’t agree more. To find love with someone who complements and completes you so perfectly—it’s better than anything I could have imagined.”

She sank into his touch, reveling in the feel of his arm at her waist and his warm breath against her temple.

Darius’s growl cut through their moment. “This wedding can’t come soon enough.”

Luke laughed. “Funny, I was just thinking the same thing.”

Clarissa plucked the invitation Mariah had been studying and read it herself. “A masquerade.” She leaned forward to look past Evelyn to Mariah. “Truly, Mariah? This is what you wish to attend?”

Mariah nodded. “I think a masquerade sounds delightful.”

Clarissa pursed her lips. “Personally, I’d prefer to know exactly who is boring me to tears, but I suppose if you really want to…”

Darius was laughing softly in the corner. “Of course Mariah chose a masquerade.”

Tabetha grinned, completing his thought. “She can hide in plain sight.”

Luke squeezed Tabetha’s waist as he whispered, his voice dark and promising, “And so can we.”

“We’ll go!” Tabetha called out, making Luke laugh with her eagerness.

“Why not?” Clarissa added. “We should all go.”

Evelyn was the only one who hesitated. “I don’t know…” Her gaze moved to her husband. “The Ainsworths are friends with the family who’s hosting it—”

“Then it’s all the more reason we should be there.” Darius leaned forward, his gaze warm as it met his wife’s. “I did nothing wrong, and we have no reason to hide.”

“Besides,” Luke added. “The Ainsworths aren’t going anywhere and neither are you.” He glanced down at Tabetha. “Perhaps it’s time the two families learn to live with one another.”

Evelyn nodded with a sigh. “I suppose you’re both right.”

“Then it’s decided,” Clarissa said. “We’re going to the masquerade.”

Tabetha smiled up at Luke. “Another chance to dance with you and be held in your arms. I can hardly wait.”

He returned her smile with a wink of his own. “And I can hardly wait to steal you away to the garden.”

* * *

Thank you for reading!Be sure to turn the page for a free sample of Clarissa’s story, up next in The Viscount’s Darling Adventure.