He had not paused to change clothes.
His dark hair was awry. His fine jacket was bunched at odd angles. His absent neckcloth was wherever he’d dropped it after his hiccups the night before. His scarred face was unbandaged. His wounded leg was encased in a stiff metal brace.
He had never looked more dashing.
“Wouldn’t it be easier to marry someone else?” Virginia called out, her voice shaking.
“Marriage?” Gloria kicked Virginia’s shin. “Lord Ormondton wants to make you his wife, and you fail to mention that tiny detail to your bosom friend?”
“It’s complicated,” Virginia whispered back. “And mostly my cat’s fault.”
“I’m not looking for easy,” Theodore answered, his voice ringing clear. “I’m looking for you.”
Her pulse skipped.
“I don’t want temporary,” he called out. “Life won’t be worth living if it means leaving you behind. I want forever. I wantyou.”
She caught her breath.
“You’re as necessary to me as breathing.” He pressed a hand to his heart. “You make me whole.”
Her heart pounded.
“I love you,” he called out. “I’m here to prove it.”
Excited whispers rolled through the crowd like the crashing waves of the sea.
Theodore took one limping step closer. “I, Theodore O’Hanlon, Major Viscount Ormondton, want you, Miss Virginia Underwood…”
“I’m swooning,” Gloria whispered. “I can’t watch because my heart is exploding.”
“To be my wife,” Theodore continued, striding forward as if his damaged limb was not screaming with pain. “From this day forward; for better, for worse…”
Gloria kicked Virginia’s other shin. “Go to him, you ninny!”
“For richer, for poorer…” Theodore took another uneven step.
Virginia summoned her courage and started through the crowd. “In sickness and in health…”
Theodore began to walk faster. “To love and to cherish…”
“Until death do us part.” Virginia ran the rest of the way until they stood less than a breath apart.
With a crooked smile, he took her hands in his. “Is that a yes?”
“I love you,” Virginia blurted, and lifted her lips to his.
“It’s a yes!” Gloria called out.
The crowd erupted into deafening shouts.
Virginia barely flinched at the noise. Her heart was too full. “Is your carriage close by?”
“My sleigh.” His cheeks colored. “I may have left in a hurry.”
“Sleighs are splendid.” She turned toward the door and linked her fingers through his.
Whatever the future held, they would face it together.
