“Tell you what?” He kissed the side of her neck and a shudder went through her.
“That playacting is quite fun,” she said, trailing her hand along the outside of his thigh.
He grabbed her hand, pulled it to his lips, and kissed her knuckles. “You know we can do that again whenever you’d like,” he whispered against her ear.
“Ooh,” she said. “Next time, can I pretend to be a housemaid?”
“Whatever you wish, my lady.” He kissed her long and deep, then pulled her against his chest and cradled her in his arms. “I was serious. I’ll double, no triple, whatever purse Sir Reginald offered your parents.”
“No doubt that will convince my parents,” she replied. “Only I’m afraid Father will just gamble it all away again.”
“I’ve no intention of letting your father have the money,” Lucas said. “I’ll set up an allowance for him through my solicitor so he can’t plough through it, at least until your sister is wed.”
Frances lifted up and turned to face him. “How did you know I have a sister?”
He winced. “I sort of did an…investigation of your family. After I realized how much I was beginning to like you.”
“You spied on us?” She blinked at him.
He lifted his shoulders. “Spying is such a complicated word.”
She arched a brow at him. “Is that how you learned my full name?”
He nodded guiltily.
She laughed. “Well, what else did you find out?”
Lucas settled back onto the pillow. “I learned the details and sums of your father’s debts. I’ll be paying them all off, and don’t worry, I fully intend to settle a sizable sum on your sister when it comes time for her debut.”
Frances caught her breath. “Truly?”
He nodded. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”
Her eyes filled with tears. She cupped her hand against his cheek. “That is the loveliest thing anyone has ever done for me.”
Lucas pulled her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles again. “I love you, Frances, more than words can say. I’d do anything for you, and I know I already said it, but I promise you, I’ll never lie to you again. Thank you for showing me what was right in front of my eyes.”
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
Lucas rubbed a fingertip against his temple. “The glaring difference between the classes. I’m ashamed to admit that I’d never stopped to think about it deeply until I was playacting at being a footman and talking to you about the Employment Bill.”
Frances sighed. “I’d like to say I can’t believe the guests at the party didn’t recognize you when you were serving them, but the truth is I shouldn’t have found it surprising in the least.”
Lucas nodded. “It may have begun as stupid, drunken bet, but I’ve learned more from this experience than I imagined, and I’ve gained far more than I deserved.” He touched his nose to her cheek and kissed her.
“I should thank you, too, Lucas. You and Lord Bellingham, I suppose,” she added with a laugh.
“For what?”
“Through our disagreement I realized something about myself.”
“What’s that?” he asked.
She winced and ducked her head under the covers.
Lucas laughed and pulled down the sheet to reveal her guilty face. “What?” he prodded.
“Well, this may be difficult for you to believe, but I tend to think I’m always right.”
“No!” he exclaimed, a mock-horrified look on his face.
She laughed and pushed at his shoulder. “Yes. I was so convinced I was in the right about you, I wouldn’t even let you try to explain yourself to me. I might have let you go and married Sir Reginald out of spite. That’s madness.”
“I thought I’d lost you forever,” he breathed, squeezing her hand gently.
“That’s just it. Lord Bellingham made me realize that things aren’t always as obvious as they appear to be.” She shrugged. “Apparently, there is gray in this world. Not just black and white.”
“Hmm.” Lucas stared at the ceiling and narrowed his eyes. “I believe I’ve heard Bell’s ‘gray’ speech before. It is a good one.”
“I was convinced I knew everything,” Frances continued. “But I’ve learned that I’ve been wrong about a great many things. And the best part is that I’m happy to have been found wrong.”
Lucas furrowed his brow. “A great many things?”
“Yes, in addition to realizing that you might actually have worthy reasons for behaving the way you did, I learned I was wrong about love and marriage. I was planning to marry Sir Reginald to keep my father from debtor’s prison, but I plan to marry you for one reason alone.” She leaned over and dropped a kiss on his forehead. “Love.”
Lucas pulled her atop him. “I’m awfully glad to have changed your mind.”
Frances kissed him soundly on the lips. Then she wiggled down and propped her chin on his chest. “Now, you must tell me something that Lord Bellingham wouldn’t.”
He ran his fingers through her hair. “What’s that, my love?”
A sly smile curved her lips. “Who is the third nobleman pretending to be a servant at this house party?”
Lucas let out a crack of laughter and clasped his arms around her back. “Would you believe me if I told you it’s the Duke of Worthington?”
“No!” Her eyes widened. “Are you quite serious?”
Lucas nodded. “Yes, he’s pretending to be a groomsman in the stables and apparently Lady Julianna Montgomery has already spotted him.”
Frances gasped. “No!”
“Yes, trouble’s brewing there, I can tell,” Lucas replied. “But now that you know about Worth and Bell, you’re sworn to secrecy of course. We’ve yet to see who’ll win the bet.”
Frances laid her head against his chest and stroked his shoulder. “Very well. I promise not to say anything now, but someday I intend to write a story about this entire outrageous affair. Otherwise, our grandchildren won’t believe a word of it.”
He dropped a kiss atop her head. “‘Our grandchildren.’ I quite like the sound of that. What will the title of the story be, my love?”
She giggled and squeezed his muscled shoulder. “I’m going to call it
