He shook his head. “The only thing I’ve fallen for is you.”
“What are you saying?”
He shrugged those big shoulders. “I suppose I should explain myself,” he said. “I’m trying to make this seem like a normal and natural thing that we’ve both been expecting when the truth is that I cannot explain it at all. My father has always called me the wise one. He says I have an old soul. I do not act on whims andI do not make decisions that I will regret later. Every decision I make, no matter how small, is sound. The idea of marrying you… It has just come to me, that is true, but the more I think about it, the more I like the idea. I was attracted to you the moment I first met you and that feeling has only grown stronger.”
Mira was sitting back against the carriage seat, looking at him in astonishment. In fact, she was rather leaning away from him as if afraid she was going to catch whatever madness had infected him. But she was also jolted by the possibility that he might actually be serious. He said he was. He was acting as if he was.
She was absolutely speechless.
“I do not know what to say to that,” she finally said.
He was struggling not to feel embarrassed by a declaration of his intentions that seemed to come out of nowhere. As he’d told her, he hadn’t planned it. He’d also told her that he didn’t act on whims, but this certainly seemed like one. A reasonable whim. But one that feltright.
He endeavored not to feel vulnerable about it.
“You could start by telling me if there is any interest on your part,” he said. “If being married to me, if being the mother to my sons, is of no interest to you, then you only need tell me once and I’ll not ask again.”
She just looked at him. Nothing seemed to be coming forth. She simply stared at him with those green eyes that were pale and bright, an unearthly color that seemed to burrow down deep into him. He hadn’t even realized that until now.
Now, something was changing between them.
Something was happening.
When the wait became excessive, Douglas turned around and began to walk away. He couldn’t stand there with her staring at him and not have the answer he wanted. He would have to accept the fact that her silencewasthe answer. All of this washappening too fast. It was too sudden. He’d made a fool out of himself and he was embarrassed. But he couldn’t leave her alone in that carriage, so he was heading over to tell the soldiers who had remained to guard the horses to keep an eye on her when he heard her voice behind him.
“Douglas?”
By the time he stopped and turned around, she was nearly upon him. She had climbed out of the carriage and followed him. It was difficult not to be on his guard as he faced her.
“What is it?”
She was staring at him again, and he almost asked her the same question again, but she broke from whatever trance she was in. Somehow, she couldn’t seem to stop staring at him, as if trying to figure out if this was all real. If he truly meant what he said. Even though he’d told her he was serious, she was having trouble grasping it.
Her expression was full of questions.
And perhaps a little fear.
“You must understand something,” she said, her voice quivering. “I have never, in my life, heard those words where they pertained to me. I never imagined I would.”
He was a little less embarrassed by her confession, but not by much. “And I never imagined I would say them,” he said, folding his enormous arms over his chest and averting his gaze. “Contrary to what you might think, this was not easy for me.”
“I believe it. How do you feel now that you have said it?”
He was still looking away, but he started to chuckle. “I am not certain yet,” he said. “It all depends on how you intend to answer.”
“Might I have time to think on it?”
He nodded. “Aye,” he said, turning to look at her again. “I do not expect an answer today or tomorrow or even a month fromnow. It is an important question that should be taken seriously. But I would like to ask you one more.”
“What is it?”
“Is thereanythingabout me that you like, Mira?”
“There is everything about you that I like, Douglas.”
He couldn’t keep the grin off his face at her frank reply. There had been no hesitation. “Ah,” he said, now feeling the least bit giddy. And nervous. “I see. Then… then that is a fine answer. I am satisfied.”
Mira was starting to laugh because he seemed rather twitchy now that she’d eased his mind a little. “You had better take me into town and buy me something to eat,” she told him. “And probably to drink. I think I need it.”
