Jonathan and Amy (11 page)

Authors: Grace Burrowes

BOOK: Jonathan and Amy

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She tried to wiggle away, but Jonathan was having none of that.

“Inherit? From whom?”

“Your grandfather. He left significant sums in trust for you, which the family solicitors have been managing. If you had reached the age of twenty-eight unwed, the money would have all come to you, along with instructions to use it as you see fit. If you were wed before your twenty-eighth birthday, then the money would be disbursed to your spouse, with a requirement that your sisters be adequately dowered from the proceeds, providing they were yet unwed.”

“I see.”

Jonathan was fairly certain she did not see all the ramifications. Had Nigel been her husband, he would have had absolute control over the funds, and her sisters would have been dowered only in so far as necessary to pass each one off into some grasping fellow's keeping.

“I have a question for you, Amy Ingraham.”

She brought their joined hands up and kissed his knuckles of his left hand, the one with the most scars. “Ask.”

He slid off the bench to one knee, keeping her hand in his. “Will you marry me?”

She did not hesitate, she did not prolong the moment, and if he hadn't been top over tail in love with her before, he was when she gave him a crisp, confident, “Certainly.”

He bent to kiss her hand and felt her palm smooth over his hair.

“Certainly, I will marry you, Jonathan Dolan, and as soon as you can arrange it.”

Lest he drag her down into the grass, Jonathan resumed his place beside her. “We have a challenge before us in that regard.”

“A small wedding will do very nicely, Jonathan, and I'm sure the marchioness will keep an eye on Georgina if you want some sort of wedding journey.”

“You've been forming conspiracies again.” Though it warmed his heart that she'd been making such plans. “You and the marchioness will have to be patient. When the good gentlemen of the beau monde surrendered Nigel's vowels to me, they placed conditions on the exchange.”

“What sort of conditions?”

“Nigel's mother is due a public set down. We shall be married in St. George's at Hanover Square. Lady Eve's papa will give you away, and Nigel will escort your sisters. All of Polite Society shall be invited except Nigel's mother. You are to have bridesmaids from several of the best families, and Deene and his lady will stand up with us. The wedding breakfast will be scandalously lavish, and also, I'm sure, very well attended.”

“Lady Eve's papaâ¦” Amy's free hand cradled Jonathan's jaw. “She's the daughter of a duke, Jonathan. This is not about Nigel's mama, not entirely.”

“Of course it is.”

“No, it is not, trust me on this. This has to do with Deene taking up for us, and with you, with who you are.”

She was looking at him with such intensity, Jonathan could not look away.

“I'm a stonemason's son, Amy. Shrewd, as you put it, and desperately in love with you, but no more than that. That you will have meâ¦”

He broke off, words being inadequate, but when he would have kissed her again, she drew back.

“
They
will have you.
They
will
have
us.
This demand to attend the wedding, it's a way of saying you're one of them, Jonathan, a gentleman, a man of honor whose cause is more deserving of their loyalty than Nigel's title or his mama's consequence.”

“A gentleman.” He wanted to pretend it was merely a word, but the warmth spreading in his chest belied that notion. For Marie's memory, and for Georgina, but mostly
for
Amy
, he wanted to be a gentleman. “Perhaps I am a gentleman, if you say so.”

“I say so, and I am your lady.”

It was much, much later when the lady and the gentleman sneaked into the house, but Jonathan had been right: their wedding went down in history as one of the best attended ceremonies ever to grace Mayfair, and their union one of the happiest.

Don't miss the first in Grace Burrowes's NEW Captive Hearts Regency romance trilogy:

The Captive

Coming July 2014 from Sourcebooks Casablanca

Also by Grace Burrowes

The Windham series

The Heir

The Soldier

The Virtuoso

Lady Sophie's Christmas Wish

Lady Maggie's Secret Scandal

Lady Louisa's Christmas Knight

Lady Eve's Indiscretion

Lady Jenny's Christmas Portrait

The Courtship (novella)

The Duke and His Duchess (novella)

Morgan and Archer (novella)

The MacGregor series

The Bridegroom Wore Plaid

Once Upon a Tartan

The MacGregor's Lady

Mary Fran and Matthew (novella)

The Lonely Lords

Darius

Nicholas

Ethan

Beckman

Gabriel

Gareth

Andrew

Douglas

David

About the Author

New
York
Times
and
USA
Today
bestselling author Grace Burrowes's bestsellers include
The
Heir
,
The
Soldier
,
Lady
Maggie's Secret Scandal
,
Lady
Sophie's Christmas Wish
, and
Lady
Eve's Indiscretion.
The
Heir
was a
Publishers
Weekly
Best Book of 2010,
The
Soldier
was a
Publishers
Weekly
Best Spring Romance of 2011,
Lady
Sophie's Christmas Wish
won Best Historical Romance of the Year in 2011 from
RT
Reviewers' Choice Awards, and
The
Bridegroom
Wore
Plaid
, the first in her trilogy of Scotland-set Victorian romances, was a
Publishers
Weekly
Best Book of 2012. Her Regency romances have received extensive praise, including starred reviews from
Publishers
Weekly
and
Booklist
, and Grace is hard at work on a brand-new Regency trilogy.

Grace is a practicing family law attorney and lives in rural Maryland. She loves to hear from her readers and can be reached through her website at
graceburrowes.com
.

For more information about Grace Burrowes's romances, sign up for her newsletter at
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