“I thought to court you, since I believe you once held me in affection.”
Her gaze flew to his, and color touched her cheeks. “But you love another,” she whispered.
Nicholas shook his head with resolve. “Never. There has never been another queen of my heart save you, Mrs. North.”
“But you left,” she said with urgency.
“Because I had no hope of offering for the daughter of a duke.” He held her gaze. “And you wed, purportedly for love, proving my conviction that I loved alone to be correct.”
She dismissed this with a gesture, setting aside her knife and fork with welcome purpose. “Because you left,” she repeated. “I told you I never loved Frederick in that way.”
Nicholas smiled at her. “But I was informed at the time that you wed for love, taking a man of an income of only two thousand pounds. I might be able to match that sum, in a few years.”
“Nicholas!” she said with an indignation that warmed him to his toes. “I do not care about fortune! I only ever desired you.”
“And I, you, Eliza,” he murmured, watching her smile of delight dawn as he said her name. “But I could not pursue you, not when I might be the cause of your unhappiness.” She began to protest but he lifted a hand. “You desired children, and I did not believe I could offer you any.”
Her lips rounded in a perfect ‘o’.
“Until this morning,” she whispered.
“You have healed me, and so there is only one deed to be done.” Nicholas dropped to one knee beside her and she turned to face him, letting him take both of her hands in his. Her eyes were alight, her happiness so tangible that he could not believe he had ever doubted her regard. “Marry me, Eliza, and build a home with me at Southpoint. I vow I will do my utmost to see you happy and to fill our lives with children.”
“You cannot accomplish that feat alone, sir.”
“No, only with the lady I love, the woman who will always hold my heart captive.” He bent to kiss her hand. “Wed me, Eliza,” he whispered. “Please.”
“I will, Nicholas,” she vowed, then caught his face in her hands and kissed him with a passion he could not doubt.
He was barely aware of the slight click of the door opening, but he definitely heard Farrell clear his throat portentously.
“There is a gentleman to see you, my lady,” the butler said. “A Mr. Galveston.”
Nicholas straightened.
Eliza looked to be equally startled. “Here?” she said. “Now?”
“Indeed, my lady. I have placed him in the front parlor and hope this is acceptable.”
“Of course,” Eliza said and rose to her feet. Nicholas followed, rather liking the idea of Galveston being placed in a specific location like a piece of furniture. He would have placed the man in question at somewhat of a greater distance however.
That all changed when Mr. Galveston revealed the reason for his visit.
Helena was not ruined, after all!
Lady Dalhousie was never fond of obligations but this particular one was overly bitter. She owed a visit to her rival, Lady Haynesdale, as well as an expression of gratitude for that lady’s daughter retrieving Helena. The chit had sent her a letter from Haynesdale, confessing all of the tale and revealing that she was in the company of Nicholas and Mrs. North. The relief had been nigh overwhelming, even though it necessitated this mission.
She was obliged to enter Haynesdale House to perform this office, the abode that she had long ago believed would be her own home. It was a burden that she should not have been required to endure, especially in the moment of her own greatest defeat. Her own townhouse was sold. She had no destination. All was in ruins, and she could only believe that Lady Haynesdale would gloat.
Had their places been reversed, Lady Dalhousie would most assuredly have gloated.
She was not late. She was not early. She was not over-dressed. She was not under-dressed. All was precisely as it should be, save the sense of injustice that simmered in her heart.
Constance looked well. Not as young as once she had been and not quite as slender as in their youth, but still attractive. It was on Fanny’s tongue to comment how well widowhood suited her former rival but she refrained from saying as much.
She was glad of that choice when Constance spoke.
“And so our families are to be joined in matrimony,” that woman said, prompting Fanny to clatter her teacup in the saucer.
