“It’s no such thing, and I will happily trod on whatever you choose for its replacement.” He straightened from the doorframe. “The duke would like a word with you,” he said, then stepped toward her. “Consider your heart and your future before you make any decisions. Be honest with him, and uncover all that needs to be known before you run headlong into…anything,” he finished, awkwardly pulled her into a rare hug.

“And if you wish to tell him nothing, your secret will always be safe with me,” he murmured, then released her as quickly as he had embraced her. “Go.” He nodded, taking a step back.

Joan blinked, her heart pounding with the implication of his words yet also the serious nature of their meaning. She tipped her chin, studying him before giving a single, solemn nod.

Wordlessly she left the library and walked on silent feet to the door leading to the study, the absence of her brother following behind a telling indication of what waited within the doors.

Her hand trembled as she pushed the slightly ajar door open. Nervous anticipation filled her as she raised her eyes to meet Rowles, who stood abruptly as she entered. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard, then bowed.

“Joan.”

Her heart raced at the sound of her name on his lips, and a smile slipped through her tension, softening the moment.

“Rowles,” she murmured, tasting his name on her tongue, reveling in the weight of it, owning it. Praying it was only the beginning of the millions of times she’d speak his name.

He took a few steps toward her, then paused, his lips parting, then closing as if searching for the perfect words. With a self-deprecating expression, he rubbed the back of his neck and looked up to her from his lowered chin, which gave him an almost shy expression. “Now that I have the moment I’ve wished for, I have no idea where to begin.”

“I suppose the most important part would be a good place to begin.” Joan traced a finger along the back of a settee as she took a step toward him.

“That is the heart of the matter. All of it is important.” Rowles’s intensely observant eyes followed her every movement as if he was captivated. “Because it’s all about you, and not one aspect is less grand than the other,” he confessed, his blue eyes trapping her with their hope, intensity, and love.

Good Lord, she’d never seen anything like it.

It enveloped her, as if she was jumping off a rocky shore into an ocean that immediately swallowed her, only to realize she was at home in the depths even more than on the land. It wove a spell around her, called to her, soul to soul. It named her beautiful, loved, cherished, and wanted all with one glance, filling her soul in ways she had never known it was empty.