The Duke Hadn’t Laughed Since the War

say something that is going to sound mercenary, regardless of how I phrase it, and I want to ask you, before I say it, to set the practical question entirely aside and answer me honestly.”

She had not expected this shape of conversation, but she kept her face even. “Go on,” she said.

“Would you be willing,” he said, “to marry me? Not as a solution to continue reading …