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The Duke and I

Midway through The Duke and I, Simon refuses to accept a bundle of letters written to hi that he e his mind, takes the letters and hides them, but when she offers them to Simon at the end of the book, he decides not to open theinally intended for hireat and important in those letters But when Daphne held them out, it became clear to me that Simon didn’t need to read his father’s words It finally didn’t ht of him

Readers wanted to knoas in the letters, but I must confess: I did not What interested me hat it would take to make Simon want to read them

The Duke and I:

The 2nd Epilogue

Mathematics had never been Daphne Basset’s best subject, but she could certainly count to thirty, and as thirty was the maximum number of days that usually elapsed between herat her desk calendar and counting to forty-three was cause for some concern

“It can’t be possible,” she said to the calendar, half expecting it to reply She sat down slowly, trying to recall the events of the past six weeks Maybe she’d counted wrong She’d bled while she was visiting her mother, and that had been on March twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth, which ain, physically this tier

Forty-three days

She was pregnant

“Good God”

Once again, the calendar had little to say on the matter

No No, it couldn’t be She was forty-one years old Which wasn’t to say that no woiven birth at forty-two, but it had been seventeen years since she’d last conceived Seventeen years of rather delightful relations with her husband during which ti—to block conception

Daphne had assu fertile She’d had her four children in rapid succession, one a year for the first four years of her

She had been surprised when she realized that her youngest had reached his first birthday, and she was not pregnant again And then he o, then three, and her belly remained flat, and Daphne looked at her brood—Amelia, Belinda, Caroline, and David—and decided she had been blessed beyondlittle boy ould one day take his father’s place as the Duke of Hastings

Besides, Daphne did not particularly enjoy being pregnant Her ankles swelled and her cheeks got puffy, and her digestive tract did things that she absolutely did not wish to experience again She thought of her sister-in-law Lucy, who positively glowed throughout pregnancy—which was a good thing, as Lucy was currently fourteen nant with her fifth child

Or nine ht be But Daphne had seen her just a few days earlier, and she looked as if she were fourteen

Huge Staggeringly huge But still glowing, and with astonishingly dainty ankles

“I can’t be pregnant,” Daphne said, placing a hand on her flat belly Maybe she was going through the change Forty-one did sees anyone ever talked about Maybe lots of women stopped their monthly courses at forty-one

She should be happy Grateful Really, bleeding was such a bother

She heard footsteps co toward her in the hallway, and she quickly slid a book on top of the calendar, although what she thought sheshe had no idea It was just a calendar There was no big red X, followed by the notation, “Bled this day”

Her husband strode into the roo for you”

“For me?”

“If there is afor me,” Simon returned

“Oh, dear,” Daphne murmured Normally she’d have a more quick-witted response, but her -very-old fog

“So about a dress”

“The pink one or the green one?”

Simon stared at her “Really?”

“No, of course you wouldn’t know,” she said distractedly

He pressed his fingers to his temples and sank into a nearby chair “When will she be married?”

“Not until she’s engaged”

“And ill that be?”

Daphne smiled “She had five proposals last year You were the one who insisted that she hold out for a love match”

“I did not hear you disagreeing”

“I did not disagree”

He sighed “How is it we have irls out in society at the same time?”

“Procreative industriousness at the outset of our e,” Daphne answered pertly, then remembered the calendar on her desk The one with the red X that no one could see but her

“Industriousness, h choice of words”

She took one look at his expression and felt herself turn pink “Simon, it’s the middle of the day!”

His lips slid into a slow grin “I don’t recall that stopping us ere at the height of our industriousness”

“If the girls come upstairs”

He bound to his feet “I’ll lock the door”

“Oh, good heavens, they’ll know”

He gave the lock a decisive click and turned back to her with an arched brow “And whose fault is that?”

Daphne drew back Just a tiny bit “There is no way I anor

ant as I was”

“Char the room to take her hand

She allowed hi when I assumed you were impotent”

He winced “Many things in life arein retrospect”

“Simon”

He nuzzled her ear “Daphne”

Histhe line of her throat, and she felt herself e and still

“At least draw the curtains,” she murmured Not that anyone could possibly see in with the sun shining so brightly, but she would feel more comfortable They were in the middle of Mayfair, after all, with her entire circle of acquaintances quite possibly strolling outside the

He positively dashed over to thebut pulled shut only the sheer scrim “I like to see you,” he said with a boyish smile

And then, with reility, he adjusted the situation so that he was seeing all of her, and she was on the bed,softly as he kissed the inside of her knee

“Oh, Si to do next He’d h

And he did it so well

“What are you thinking about?” he murmured

“Right now?” she asked, trying to blink her way out of her daze He had his tongue at the crease between her leg and her abdoht she could think?

“Do you knohat I’?” he asked

“If it’s not aboutto be terribly disappointed”

He chuckled, ht kiss on her belly button, then scooted up to brush his lips softly against hers “I was thinking how marvelous it is to know another person so completely”

She reached out and hugged him She couldn’t help it She buried her face in the warm crook of his neck, inhaled the familiar scent of him, and said, “I love you”

“I adore you”

Oh, so he was going to make a coh to say, “I fancy you”

He quirked a brow “You fancy me?”

“It was the best I could su “And besides, I do”

“Very well” His eyes darkened “I worship you”

Daphne’s lips parted Her heart thuht have possessed for synonyht out of her “I think you’ve won,” she said, her voice so husky she barely recognized it

He kissed her again, long, hot, and achingly sweet “Oh, I know I have”