“How might you be otherwise committed, sir?” she managed to ask.
“By already having chosen a bride, and having won that lady’s agreement, of course.” He caught her other hand in hisas Helena’s heart thundered. “I meant to renew my addresses to you yesterday, Miss Emerson, and dared to hope that my second offer might be accepted.”
“Oh!”
“Oh,” he echoed and she saw his smile. “I do recognize, though, that you have conditions upon the nature of any man you might choose to wed.” A waltz began to play and he met her gaze steadily. “Might I have this dance, Miss Emerson?”
“Here?” Helena caught her breath. “In the moonlight?” The very prospect was exciting beyond all and she knew that such a dance would be one she would long remember.
“Where else?”
“It would be scandalous indeed to waltz without supervision, sir.”
The viscount nodded as he considered this. “That is true, Miss Emerson. Would it not be unfortunate, though, to never know what it is like to waltz on a terrace like this, on a night like this, beneath the stars?”
Helena could not suppress her smile. “You read my own thoughts, sir.”
His smile flashed. “Perhaps the sole solution is to do as much with a man you are pledged to marry.”
“I think that would be far less scandalous. It might even be appropriate to share such an experience with that man.”
“Indeed. Will you do me the honor of accepting this dance, Miss Emerson, with the understanding that I will make an offer of marriage if the dance is deemed acceptable?”
Helena laughed. “I will.” She moved into his arms with contentment. As anticipated, he was an elegant dancer and they moved across the terrace smoothly, the weight of his hand on the back of her waist. He was close, so deliciously close, and she was excited beyond all. She wanted the dance to last forever.
As they turned, she saw the gold and green stripes of his waistcoat and the embroidery she would never forget. Her champion. How could she have doubted that he was the man for her?
She looked up to find him smiling down at her. “I must confess that I have another condition, my lord.”
“I have no doubt of it. You are a lady of firm convictions.”
“And you do not find that a flaw?”
“I find it most admirable to encounter a lady who knows her own desires.” He leaned closer, his lips brushing her ear. “I invite you to confide them in me, Miss Emerson.”
Helena closed her eyes in delight. “I thought, sir, that you abandoned all the pleasures of your rakehell days.”
“It is true that I did, but now I consider that such experiences had a purpose.”
“Truly?”
“Truly. For I have realized that such temptations can be savored in smaller measure, that a man can be wicked, for example, for only his lady wife, to ensure their mutual satisfaction, but be sober and reliable in all other facets of his life.”
“What a notion, sir.”
“I did not mean to scandalize you, Miss Emerson.”
“No, sir, I find the suggestion most compelling.”
He chuckled, a lovely sound that Helena wanted to hear again and again. “Now, what of your next condition, Miss Emerson?”
“I must be certain that the man I wed is the same man who captured my heart the day that I turned my ankle.”
His brows rose. “A man captured your heart and you are unaware of his identity?”
“He was disguised, but no hood could hide his merit.”
The viscount smiled, his eyes fairly glowing. “And how would you be sure of his identity, Miss Emerson, if he was disguised?”
