Pauline stepped toward the rear of the shop, trying to steel herself.
He opened the door, ducking his head to enter. “Is this the—”
“Halt.” Charlotte blocked the doorway with a broomstick. “Are you looking for someone?”
“No.” His deep voice rang out. “I am most certainly not looking for ‘someone.’ I’m looking for Pauline Simms and no other.”
Her heart skipped a beat.
Charlotte held firm. “The cost of entry is a verse. No exceptions.”
Griff looked past her, scanning the crowded shop until his eyes locked with Pauline’s. Heavens above. He was even more handsome than she remembered.
“Miss Simms,” he said. “May I—”
“No exceptions,” Charlotte repeated. “A verse.”
“I don’t know any verses.”
“Write one.”
“Very well, very well.” He pushed a hand through his dark, damp hair. “There once was a libertine duke. He . . . He . . . preferred trout and cod to fluke. He let his love go, but he wants her to know—”
Pauline turned away, unable to look at him anymore.
He shouted after her. “I haven’t ceased thinking of you since that night, Pauline. Not for a moment.”
“That’s a terrible verse,” said Charlotte, holding the broomstick turnpike in place. “Doesn’t even rhyme.”
“I don’t know what else rhymes with duke.”
The ladies muttered among themselves, debating possibilities.
“I have it.” Charlotte’s voice rang out over all. “Puke! ‘He let his love go, but he wants her to know . . . that thoughts of her face make him puke.’ ”
“That won’t do,” Griff said. “That’s not right at all.”
“At least it rhymes,” Charlotte grumbled.
“Rebuke,” Pauline declared, exasperated. “He deserves a stern rebuke.”
“Excellent,” Griff said. “I’ll take that one. May I pass now?”
Daniela threw a biscuit. It bounced off the duke’s forehead. “Go, Duke. Leave my sister be.”
“Daniela has the right of it,” Pauline said. “You should go. I can’t imagine what you want after all these months.”
“I wanted to see you, see how you’ve done.” He looked around the shop. “This is brilliant, Pauline. I knew you’d make a go of it.”
That was all? He’d made the journey all the way down from London just to have a look at his investment, so to speak?
“Well, now you’ve seen me,” she said. “So you can go.”
The other ladies in the room agreed, adding their voices to the call for Griff to leave.
“Listen, if you’ll all just give me a moment alone with Miss Simms, I—”
“Just go,” she shouted, her nerves in tatters. The scent of his cologne was wafting its nefarious way to her, and soon she’d be reduced to a puddle on her newly painted floor. “You might be a duke, but you can’t make a habit of this. Popping into my place of work unannounced and turning my life on its ear. I won’t have it. I just can’t. So unless you’ve come here to fall on your knees, grovel for forgiveness, and beg me to marry you, you can leave this moment and never return.”
He didn’t leave. He merely stood there, staring at her.
Then he went down on his knees.
“Oh, no.” Pauline pressed both hands to her face. “Griff, no.”
“You can’t refuse before I even ask.” He ruffled his hair with one hand. “Why is this all happening backward? I knew you’d be surprised to see me, and no doubt angry that it’s taken me so long. But I thought you’d at least let me have a few words. I had a whole speech prepared, you know. A good one, too. But now that you’ve ruined the surprise . . .”
He reached into his pocket and removed a small velvet pouch.
Pauline peeked at it between her trembling fingers. By now she was crying messily. She swiped impatiently at the tears with both wrists, straining to make out the ring he shook free onto his palm. An emerald, set in a thick gold band and ringed with tiny diamonds.
Well, at least she knew he’d chosen it himself.
It was beautiful.
She turned away, burying her face in her apron. Griffin Eliot York, the eighth Duke of Halford, was here, on his knees. For her. Ring in hand, with the whole village watching.
It was too much. Too much impossibility to accept. To much joy to comprehend.
“I love you, Pauline Simms. I’ve loved you since the day we met. In fact, I suspect some part of my heart loved you long before then. There was no woman for me before you, and if you refuse me, there’ll be no one after. I know I’m no prize, but—”
She interrupted him with a burst of indelicate laughter. “No prize?” Turning, she dabbed at her eyes. “Griff, you’re a duke.”
“Yes, I’d noticed that. So?”
“So . . . we settled this. A duke can’t marry a serving girl. Or even a shopkeeper.”
“You were right. Our lives were too different. For the two of us to make a go of it, something had to change. I couldn’t change the world. And I didn’t want to change one thing about you. It seemed clear, however, that I was overdue for some improvement.”
“Improvement?”
“You’re familiar with the Halford legacy. I come from a long line of scholars, explorers, generals. They amassed quite the string of accomplishments and a vast amount of wealth. And I finally realized there’s one thing I had the heart to do that none of the rest of them could.”
“What’s that?”
“I could give it all away.”
The shop went very quiet.
“All of it?” Pauline echoed.
“Oh, no,” Charlotte moaned. “Now he’s worse than an arrogant, debauched duke. He’s a poor duke.”
“I’m no pauper,” he said. “You needn’t look so stricken. A duke can’t surrender his title. There are entailed properties, trusts. It’s boring solicitor business, that part. The short version is, I’ll always be a wealthy man. I might sink from fourth richest in England to somewhere about fourteenth. But even so, there was a great deal of money I was free to part with. And it went easily, once I applied myself to the task.”
Pauline eyed him, wary. “I don’t understand. What are you telling me?”
“I found my natural talent. I was born to give money away. But no more of this ‘squander a few thousand here or there’ nonsense. This is a full, systematic divesture of the family’s dispensable fortune. The eighth Duke of Halford will be remembered as the single largest charitable benefactor in England’s history. This will be my legacy.”
She stared at him, shocked. But he did look happy. Entirely at peace with himself and his place in the world. Not precisely humble. She didn’t suppose that rakish arrogance would ever wear off, nor did she wish it to. But he looked like a man with purpose and direction.
And the best part was, she knew he hadn’t given any of it up for her. He’d done it for himself.
“I confess, I did make one last selfish purchase.” A sly grin tipped his mouth. “A crumbling farmhouse, of all things. At the arse-end of Sussex.”
“You purchased the Whittlecombe farmhouse? That was you?”
“It was the only land for sale in the parish.” With a muttered curse, he shifted his weight. “Will you say yes soon? This floor is damned hard. And you’re much too far away.”
She moved closer. “I don’t remember hearing a question.”
“I don’t know what to ask, truthfully. ‘Will you be my wife’ or ‘be my duchess’ or just ‘be mine’ . . . they all sound dangerous. I don’t want to put names or titles to it, or you’ll find some way to argue. I don’t even care if you wear the bloody ring.” He tossed the velvet pouch to the floor.
“I’ll wear the ring,” Charlotte offered.
Pauline sent her a look. Don’t touch it.
Griff held out his empty hand. “Pauline, I’m here asking you—begging you, if it comes to that—to take my hand. Just take my hand, and promise before God you will never let it go. I will vow the same. Can we arrange for that to happen, someday soon? In a church?” After a moment, he added in a quiet voice, “Please?”
She put her hand in his. His fingers curled around hers in a grasp that was as poignant as a hug, as iron-forged as a promise. And she knew, in her heart, that the church vows would only be formalities.
This was the moment. And from here, the world only grew warmer.
He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it. “Tell me this means yes.”
“Yes,” she said. “Yes, to all the questions. To every question. And I’d be honored to wear your ring.”
Excepting Charlotte, who muttered “Drat,” everyone gave a hearty cheer.
Hours later, after all the biscuits were eaten and the teapot down to dregs, after Daniela had gone up to sleep upstairs, the two of them stood on opposite sides of the shop counter, holding hands and trading fond looks back and forth.
“I’ve just noticed something,” Pauline said. “I always feel most in love with you when we’re surrounded by books.”
“Well, then. I must speak with the architect designing our new house. I’ll instruct him to install floor-to-ceiling bookcases on every wall of our bedchamber.”
She smiled. “It’s enough that you’re here. I confess, I’d lost hope. I read in the paper that you went home to Cumberland.”
“I did. My mother went with me. I settled matters with my land steward so I wouldn’t have to return for some time. And we placed a stone for Mary Annabel in the family churchyard.”
“Oh, Griff. I’m glad you were able to do that together.”
“So am I.” He cleared his throat and looked around at the shop. “How did you manage all this without the funds?”
“I started with the books you sent, of course. The ladies helped me gather more. And for the shop rental, I took out a loan from Errol Bright.”
Jealousy flashed in his eyes. “Errol Bright made you a loan?”
She nodded. “A friendly loan. That’s all. I’m halfway to paying him back already.”
“I’ll bet you are.” He kissed her hand and stroked it fondly. “I will demand some compromise, you know. Spindle Cove is home now, but I have other properties that need attention. Responsibilities in London, as well. I’m now a governor of several charities. And I suspect the next year or so will teach us who our true friends are. If we’re invited to a ball or party, I should like to attend and show off my beautiful wife.”
“I’d like that, too.”
His brow furrowed as he studied the notch between her second and third fingers. “I can’t promise you children. You know that. I’d love nothing more than a family with you, but . . . there are no guarantees.”
“I know.”
“All I can offer you with certitude is a devoted husband and devious mother-in-law. Can it be enough?”
She smiled. “More than enough.”
“Well, and we can’t forget Daniela. She’ll be with us, too. I know change is difficult for her, but I’ve given it a great deal of thought. We’ll arrange for her to have a bedchamber in every one of our residences, each arranged and decorated exactly the same. So she’ll always feel at home. And we can hire her a companion, if you like. An excellent one. You know I only employ the best.”
Her throat itched so fiercely, it was all she could do to squeeze out, “Thank you.”
“There’s no need of thanks. You know I was raised an only child. It will be my joy to have a sister. If you’ll share her.”