A Duke for Daisy: The Blooming Brides Book 1 Read online

  “I shall be fine, Mother,” Daisy said, attempting to calm her. “I will take the stagecoach to London. It will take a few days, but it is perfectly respectable. I will write to you when I arrive.”

  “I’m not sure…”

  “There is no one else who can leave to accompany me.”

  Her parents looked at one another, as though they were aware that they should not allow her to travel alone, yet clearly, neither of them wanted to accompany her, nor did they want to spare another who might be needed at the inn.

  “When would you leave?” her father asked.

  “Tomorrow morning,” Daisy said, her chin set determinately, and seeing her expression, knowing it well, her father nodded.

  “Very well,” he said before showing that he observed far more than he allowed his daughters to see. “Let’s hope the duke will accept you. If not, you will always have a home here with us.”

  * * *

  Daisy’s eyes were watering the next morning as she hugged her family farewell. They might not always seem to be the closest of families, but when it mattered, they were there for one another no matter what threatened. It would be the first circumstance in which they would be truly separated for a long period of time, and Daisy wished her mother would stop crying, for she was now tearing up herself.

  “I will write immediately upon arriving, and perhaps I will be home much sooner than you think,” Daisy said with a teary smile of her own. “Best of luck, and love to you all!” She walked down the road to the middle of the village and the post office, where the stagecoach was to arrive. There, she was told that she likely had another hour or so, and Daisy sighed in frustration. Having no wish to wait around the post office, attempting to answer questions of other villagers regarding just why she was going to London, and not wanting to return home to repeat their tearful goodbyes, she decided that she had time for a quick foray to the meadow — her meadow, which was but a few minutes’ walk out of Southwold.

  The postmaster confirmed that she could leave her valise with him and all would be quite safe, and Daisy took off at a quick pace. She would collect a few blooms of bluebells to take with her, to remind her of the scent of her treasured field, for there was no other way to quite capture the scent of the flower.

  Daisy thought she could likely find the path to her meadow with her eyes closed, and close them she did once she reached it. As she stood still beside her tree, she breathed in the scent around her which, no matter where she went, would always speak to her of home.

  The warmth of the sun’s rays fell upon her face, and she finally opened her eyes in order to see it. She was about to take a step forward but gasped in surprise at the sight before her. Her heart slowed to a stop, her limbs remained immobile, and all she could do was stand and stare.

  Never before had she seen anything that had so stunned her. Daisy watched mutely as the man in front of her slowed his horse to a stop before gingerly dismounting, his face distorted in some pain.

  But he made no other show of it as he knelt, gathered a handful of bluebells, and brought them to his nose before carefully tucking them into the saddlebag, which was already full near to bursting.

  Daisy couldn’t believe her eyes, that he was here, not only in Southwold but in her meadow. It was as though she were barely breathing, but she must have made some form of movement, for suddenly his head snapped up, his body moving into a position of readiness for battle. He cringed as the sudden weight upon his leg must have bothered him, but he remained in position as though he were bracing for an attack, as though he were still at war.

  Daisy finally took a step forward, out of the shadows and into the sunlight, and called out to him from across the meadow.

  “Nathaniel,” she cried, hearing her own voice hesitant and yet… desperate. These were not emotions she enjoyed experiencing, but when it came to him, it seemed she had no control.

  His head snapped up and around, his gaze finding her, and then without a thought, she picked up her skirts and ran toward him as he dropped the lead of his horse and did the same toward her. She remained silent as tears fell down her cheeks the closer he came, until suddenly the length of meadow that was between them fell away, and she was in his arms, which lifted her up off the ground, swinging her around as she clung to him in equal measure. She had no idea how he didn’t fall to the ground upon his leg, but apparently, his right was strong enough to hold them both up. The moment he set her back on the ground, ever so gently allowing her feet to touch, his lips descended upon hers, roving over them in a passionate fire that would have caused her to weep were she not already crying.

  His strong hands wrapped around her head, kneading into her scalp, loosening her chignon. Her arms were so tight around his neck she thought she might be choking him, but when she loosened them even the slightest, he simply held her closer, as though he didn’t want to bear the thought of her ever letting go.

  Their lips found one another once more, their mouths fused together, pouring out the love they felt for each other, until finally, finally, he took a step back from her, his breath coming as rapidly and harshly as her own.

  “You came back,” she said, her voice just above a whisper.

  “I told you I would,” he said, cupping her face with his hands, his soft thumbs stroking her cheeks over and over, wiping away her tears.

  “I’m so sorry,” she choked out. “I should have trusted you, should have known that—”

  He held up one hand between them in order to stop her flow of words.

  “You have nothing to apologize for. It was I who should have been honest with you from the start.”

  “I understand.”

  “Daisy,” he insisted, his brown eyes darkening as he looked down on her. “I love you. I believe I have loved you from the day we ran into one another, you with your baskets from the market. You are practical, you see things through, and yet you do it all in a manner so loving, for I know you take it all on in order to allow others in your life the freedom to do as they please, be what they wish to be. I was a fool to question how you might fit into my life, for the truth is, Daisy, it is no life without you in it. I realize that now, and I can only hope it is not too late.”

  He knelt down within the bluebells in front of her, and Daisy gasped. His handsome face looked up at her, pleading, as he took her hands within his.

  “Daisy Tavners,” Nathaniel said, his voice just above a murmur. “I love you with all that I am and I long for you to be my wife. See me not as Nathaniel Huntingwell, Duke of Greenwich, but as the man you came to know over my time here. If you feel anything akin to the same for me, I beg of you… consider my words, consider my offer, consider… me. Be my wife, Daisy, please. Say yes.”

  Daisy’s lips curled up into a smile. She was still in shock as she could hardly believe that this man, this duke, could want her, Daisy Tavners. But here he was, asking for her hand in marriage in the middle of her meadow with a sincerity in his eyes that spoke of nothing but love.

  “Of course I will say yes,” she said, and he let out a loud whoop and stood, twirling her around in the air once more.

  “Stop!” she said, laughing. “Your leg!”

  “I can hardly feel it,” he said, “Knowing that you have agreed to be with me — for the rest of our lives — seems to have miraculously healed me.”

  She laughed at the ridiculousness of his words as he set her back down and brought his hands to her arms.

  “I must tell you though, Daisy,” he said, his brow furrowing slightly, “Life will change, as I’m sure you are well aware. The life of a duchess may sound glamorous to most, but it will be work, most of all becoming immune to some of the barbed manners of the ton. But there are good people among them too, Daisy, and I can hardly wait to see how you will turn around the entirety of my estate, for I know that if there is anyone who can do it — it is you.”

  “You are not marrying me simply for my skills in managing your estates, are you?” she teased.

/>   But instead of laughing, he turned serious, his eyes dark as he hovered over her once more. “Never,” he breathed. “I want you for the woman you are and the man you help me become.”

  Daisy had never heard anything more beautiful, and she threw herself back into his arms to show him just how much they meant to her.

  18

  The weight Nathaniel had been carrying since he’d left the military and taken on his ducal responsibilities lifted when Daisy said yes to his proposal. He had had plenty of time to think as he traveled here alone, and far too many times when he ran the scenario through his head, it had ended with her denying him.

  That she said yes, without hesitation… he could hardly believe it.

  “I was on my way to the inn to find you,” he said, still incredulous. “I was here to collect you a bouquet — one I thought you would appreciate.”

  He led her over to his horse, pulling out the bunch of bluebells. He gave them to her, though he felt rather idiotic about it, as they were standing in a field amongst the beautiful blue-violet flower. Daisy, however, didn’t seem to mind.

  “They are absolutely perfect,” she said, holding them to her nose and deeply inhaling. “Thank you.”

  “Did you ride?” he asked.

  “I walked,” she said, tilting her head. “Actually… I found out I had some time as I was waiting for the coach.”

  “The coach?” he asked, confused. “Where were you going?”

  “London,” she said, a shy smile crossing her face. “I received your letter, and one thing you must know, Nathaniel, is that I do not enjoy waiting. So I was coming to see you myself.”

  He laughed then, hardly believing that he had almost missed her — had she not come to this meadow, she likely would have already been on the next coach by the time he arrived, their paths missing by just a few moments.

  Fortunately, there was a greater power, one which had been hard at work ensuring that their journeys would intersect here, in this place that held so much meaning for the both of them now.

  “I shall have to plant you fields of these flowers,” he mused, “I promise to do so as a wedding gift to you.”

  “We shall be able to come to visit, will we not?” Daisy asked suddenly, turning anxious eyes upon him. “To visit my family, and this meadow, and the sea?”

  “I shall build you a fine home somewhere near this land if that is what you so wish,” he said, but she was already shaking her head.

  “Of course not,” she scolded him. “Nothing lavish simply because you are a duke. Visits to the Wild Rose Inn will suffice. I understand that life will change once I become a duchess — my word, I can hardly believe I am saying such a thing — but one thing you must know, Nathaniel, is that I have no plans in changing myself.”

  “Nor would I ever want you to,” he assured her. “Though you may have to become used to wearing the odd silk.”

  She laughed then, a merry, tinkling sound that reached into his heart, wrapping around it and pulling him close to her. He took her in his arms once more, kissing her soundly. When her tongue crept in to lick at him, he nearly had to step back at the shock that coursed through him from that one tiny movement.

  “We best stop,” he said, hearing the roughness of his voice, but she shook her head and refused to let go. He cursed inwardly as he found he couldn’t deny her, as much as he knew that he should.

  He could feel the moment she released the passion within her, and he couldn’t help but respond in kind. He wasn’t sure how it happened, but one moment they were standing in each other’s arms, and the next he was lying back in the field of bluebells, feeling the rich earth beneath him and the sun on his face as his senses were filled with the beauty of the meadow — and the woman above him.

  Nathaniel ran his hands down her arms, over her back, and then they were rolling to lie side by side, one of her hands over the stubble on his cheeks, the other within his hair, smoothing it back away from his face.

  “I love you,” she whispered.

  “And I you,” he returned.

  Her hands slipped within the folds of his linen shirt, and he sat up in order to remove his jacket to lay it beneath them so that she wouldn’t dirty her dress. When he lay back down next to her, he couldn’t help but run his hands down her bodice, cupping the breasts he had been yearning to touch for weeks now through her thin muslin dress.

  She arched into him, helping him slip the fabric from her shoulders to provide him full access, and he murmured her name in delight, hardly believing that she could be so perfect as this.

  Daisy’s hands came to the fall of his breeches, and he shook his head, but then she pulled back from him, looking him deeply in the eyes, hers stormy once more.

  “Make love to me?” she asked, biting her lip, nearly undoing him. “Please — here, in this meadow that has been everything to me as I have waited for you to enter my life, that has become the place where we found one another and the love that we share?”

  Nathaniel stopped thinking then, as his body and soul found the woman for whom he had been waiting so long. This time, he permitted her to undo his breeches, while he tenderly lifted her skirts. He held onto all the restraint he had within him as he ran his hands up her smooth legs to find her, ensuring she was ready for him. When she finally nodded, pressing against him with encouraging murmurs, he slowly, carefully entered her. He heard her gasp in his ear as he held her tightly to him, but with tender kisses and caresses, she was soon asking for more.

  It began as a soft, slow awakening, ending in an explosion of passion — nearly the opposite of how they had come together. One thing was for certain. Life with Daisy would be a life of satisfaction, one that would challenge him in all the ways he would welcome.

  They lay there for a time, smiling at one another in contented bliss, until she finally whispered, “I think I’ve missed my coach.”

  He laughed as they helped one another rise, straightened their clothing, and walked to his horse.

  “Ride with me?” he asked, and she nodded.

  “Always.”

  Daisy began laughing as they neared her home after collecting her valise, and he asked whatever could be so amusing.

  “My family,” she said, and he finally saw them all, congregating at the door as they watched their arrival with wide eyes. “I told them I might be home sooner rather than later — as it turns out, I was correct, but in an entirely different way from anything I could have ever imagined.”

  He joined in her laughter as the two of them dismounted and approached the door.

  “Daisy!” Iris exclaimed. “What happened?”

  “It seems I had no need to travel to London,” she said, turning her face up to Nathaniel. “For what I needed in London came to me.”

  “Mr. Tavners,” Nathaniel said, stepping forward. “I realize I should have come to you first. Please forgive me for not doing so. I would like to ask, however, for permission to marry your daughter — as soon as possible.”

  Tavners’ brows lifted so high they were near to his hairline as he stared at Daisy incredulously, as though he could hardly believe that his eldest daughter might actually not only leave home but marry this man and become a duchess. Nathaniel wondered how much of it was a surprise to him, and of how aware he had been of the possibility.

  “This will make you happy, Daisy?” Tavners asked, addressing his daughter, and she nodded with a wide grin on her face.

  “Very.”

  “Then, of course,” he said, his lips stretching into a smile as his wife began to squeal beside him. “Welcome to the family, Greenwich. I could use another man within it.”

  They all laughed then, before Tavners sobered for a moment.

  “There is something I must ask, however,” to which Nathaniel nodded. “You will return to visit? I can hardly imagine not seeing my daughter for a great length of time.”

  “Of course,” Nathaniel promised. “The Wild Rose Inn will remain one of our homes.”

&nbs
p; As they entered the inn to celebrate the upcoming nuptials, Nathaniel and Daisy paused for a moment, staring at one another as though they could hardly believe what all had transpired in so short a time.

  “I know this is sudden, Daisy,” he said, taking her hand. “But I could not bear for it to be any other way.”

  “Nor could I,” she returned, standing on her toes to kiss him, right there in the doorway, despite who might be walking by. “Nor could I.”

  Epilogue

  True to their word, a month later, Daisy and Nathaniel found themselves back at the Wild Rose Inn.

  Daisy had been worried throughout their journey to the inn, for she wasn’t entirely sure how to approach it. As a guest? As a member of the family who would be put back to work once more? It wasn’t as though she could sit there at a table as her sisters cooked for her and served her.

  “It will be fine,” Nathaniel attempted to reassure her, though Daisy remained concerned.

  Fortunately, he proved correct as Marigold had everything prepared. They stayed in one of the guest rooms — the very same one Nathaniel had previously occupied — but lived and dined with the family.

  “Tell me,” Daisy said eagerly. “What has happened here in the past month?”

  “Nothing much,” said Marigold, her eyes on her plate as she spoke. “We have new boarders.”

  “Oh?” Daisy asked, risking a glance over at Nathaniel, wondering if these new guests were soldiers such as him.

  “Yes, you are correct,” said Marigold, reading into Daisy’s unspoken question. “Or, at least, we believe you are. Father has not been entirely forthcoming about the men who have joined us.”

  Tavners shrugged. “I made a promise to share nothing of their origin — with anyone. And that includes my daughters, who ask more questions than they ever should.”

  Iris rolled her eyes, causing Daisy to emit a low laugh — until she caught her father’s glare and then began coughing to hide her mirth. Iris was many things, but no one else could so accurately respond to some of her father’s pronouncements.