Hmm.Well, he had plenty more where that had come from.
“And now it is my turn to remindyouthat you have yet to answermyquestion. Will you marry me?”
“Neville, I…” Once more, she halted before completing the thought. “I never expected to fall in love. Indeed, before coming to Yorkshire, my plan was to visit with old finishing school chums and then go on to adventure on the Continent with Auntie Louise. I suppose the scandal surrounding me because of the painting left me somewhat disillusioned.”
“If you think I care about the scandal, I can assure you that I do not give a damn about it or the painting.”
And it was true. The man who had arrived at Fangfoss Manor had believed he did care about scandals and rumors. Hell, the man he had been even a fortnight ago had. But something had changed. All the rules and order he had imposed upon his life had begun to fade away.
He did not need them any longer. All he needed was Charity.
“I did pose for it,” she surprised him by admitting. “Not in the nude as was rumored, however.”
He grinned. “Having seen both the artwork in question and you naked, I can promise you that you are far lovelier than the Venus captured in oil.”
Her cheeks flushed. “That was wicked of you to say.”
“Shall I beg forgiveness?”
“No,” she denied, searching his gaze. “You should not. I like you when you are wicked. I like when you break rules and forget about propriety and curse.”
Her words sent an instant surge of lust through him. But this was not the time or the place. He was attempting to make her his betrothed, not to seduce her on the garden bench. Although the latter did, in truth, hold every bit as much appeal as the former…
“I can be more wicked,” he promised. “With your aid, of course. I was never wicked until I met a goddess here in the moonlit gardens. From then on, I am afraid I have been quite a lost cause.”
Her lips twitched as if she stifled a smile. “Perhaps we may be lost causes together.”
“Is that a yes?”
“Why does the oyster prefer not to share?” she asked, surprising him.
“Because it isshellfish,” he answered instantly.
The smile that formed on her lips stole his breath. “Yes.”
“Yes I was correct, or yes you will marry me?” he asked, hope rising like a tide within him.
“Yes to both, you silly man.”
With a smile of his own, he kissed her.
* * *
“Knock-knock,”Auntie Louise said later that evening as she breezed through Charity’s chamber door while Charity was preparing for dinner.
Her lady’s maid had already been dismissed, and Charity had been in the midst of selecting her jewelry. She placed the earbobs she had been considering atop the table containing a small looking glass and turned away from her toilette to consider her aunt.
“Did you just say knock-knock instead of truly tapping upon the door just now?” she asked.
Auntie Louise gave her a bright smile. She was dressed in a smart navy silk that heightened the glittering depths of her eyes.
“Yes, I suppose I did. Do you object?”
“No.” Charity frowned, thinking it rather curious, for her friend Olive had recently pointed out that Charity did the same thing. “I do that often. My friends think me silly, but I find it easier.”
“Yes!” Auntie Louise stopped before her, beaming. “Precisely, my dearest girl. Knocking is dreadfullyde trop. Oh, look at you! You are beautiful. Is there something you wish to tell me?”
Neither she nor Neville had yet announced their engagement to the house party. They had been rather…occupied. And then, the hour had grown late and they had made their way back to the manor house in haste lest anyone note their collective absence.
