“Christopher!” she called out his name, louder than intended. Moments later, she fell into his arms. He wrapped his arms around her, and she realized that this was the closest they had ever been. Even during their clandestine meetings these last few evenings, they had always maintained a physical distance. Nothing beyond the innocent holding of hands, or the quick caressing of one’s cheek or arms had happened between them.
Now, being in his arms, Rowena was more convinced than ever that this was where she belonged.
“I am ever so sorry that I lost my composure,” he said as he let go of her. “The shock of his announcement took me so by surprise.”
She nodded, tucking an errant hair behind her ear.
“I was fearful you would make an announcement of your own right there.”
He grimaced. “I very nearly did. If not for Henry I would have ruined it all for us. But Rowena, this cannot happen. The betrothal cannot be made official or it will all be over.”
She nodded, allowing him to take her hand as they walked to the small iron bench at the far end of the well house.
“I know. We have little time. Father intends for the banns to be read as soon as we return to London. What will we do?”
There was silence for a moment as he squeezed her hand harder.
“I will have to speak to your Father. I was planning to do so tomorrow, but that was before Thornmouth inserted himself into the business. Now everything is even more complicated.”
“I will come with you, to speak to him. Perhaps the two of us together–”
Christopher shook his head. “No. I must speak to him alone. I cannot let the woman I intend to wed do my work for me. I will see him in the morning.”
She swallowed. “What if he is against it? What if he will not relent?”
He looked out over the vast expanse below. His angular face was illuminated by the faint moonlight, making him look all the more handsome. When he turned back to her, there was a determination in his eyes she’d not seen before.
“If he says no, there is always Gretna Green.”
Her breath caught in her throat. “Gretna Green? Christopher, I–”
He shook his head. “There is no other option. It is that or we must part. And I cannot imagine life without you.”
She placed a hand on his cheek. “Neither can I, Christopher.” Gretna Green. Rowena knew several girls who had gone against their families wishes and wed the men they loved at Gretna Green.
Two of her friends had run away to Gretna Green to wed, and the results could not have been more different. Her friend Hester, the daughter of an Earl who owned the house next door to theirs on Charles Street, had run away to Gretna Green two years prior. She’d wed her sweetheart, a lowly baronet, much to the shock of her prim and proper family. After the marriage, her father had begrudgingly accepted the young man into the family. Now they were about to have their second child.
Her friend Charlotte however, had not been as lucky. After running away with a merchant she’d know for less than two months, her family had all but cast her out. Rowena hadn’t seen nor heard from Charlotte in years. The last she’d heard she was living in poverty after her merchant paramour had left her with a small child.
I know Christopher would never do that to me, leave me by myself in a terrible pickle. But would Papa and Mama ever forgive me?
Sensing her reluctance, Christopher cupped her face. “It will not come to that, I am certain. I will speak to your Father tomorrow. All will be well.”
She blinked, not believing that he was as certain as he tried to sound.
“Faith, Christopher, am I making a cake out of myself? Hoping that I can have what I truly want, even when the odds are so against us?”
He lifted her chin so they were eye to eye.
“If you are making a cake of yourself then so I am, for I want this as much as you. And I will make sure that we can be together, Rowena. I cannot be without you. You have changed me. You have made me better. You have inspired me.”
She sighed as she looked up at him, tears springing into her eyes.
“As you have inspired me. I never questioned my destiny before meeting you. I never ventured to think that I might be more, have more. You have turned my entire life upside down, Christopher Newmont. And I …I love you for it.”
For a moment, she was horrified at her own, rash words. To declare one’s love to a man was entirely unheard of and she had just done so. Would he think less of her?
She needn’t have worried at all, for just a moment later, she felt his warm lips on hers. She closed her eyes, and as she sank deep into his arms, he withdrew his lips just long enough to whisper, “And I love you, Rowena Burton,” before kissing her once more.
