Chapter 35
God forgive me for I know not what I am bloody well doing!
~From the diary of Lady Fiona MacKintosh—May 1895
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“Harry, I...I...”
Fiona stumbled for a response, tensing in his embrace.There was so much she wanted to say to him.
“Shh,” he whispered, brushing his lips against the top of her head.“There is nothing to say.Just let me hold you.I might have lost truly you today if things had gone differently.”
“But it did not.”
“But it may have.”He lifted her head so that he might meet her eyes.“What would I do?”he asked, giving a voice to the very thoughts she had had of him.“Please do not put yourself in such danger again.I love you too much to lose you.By the way, I have something for you.”
Lifting her off his lap, Aylesbury looked around for and found his jacket, searching the breast pocket before turning back to her.“This is not the setting I had imagined in which to present it.I had pictured a quiet corner at the Ritz, perhaps, but I will have to take the opportunity where I can.”
“What is it?”she asked, curious despite herself.
He settled her back into his lap and opened his hand to reveal a ring set with a yellow diamond as big as her thumbnail encircled by tiny pearls and silver filigree.Fiona’s eyes widened with surprise and leapt back to his.
He shrugged casually.“I cannot say all that I might have wished to, as I made you a promise not to ask again.”
“In all fairness, you never asked.”Fiona looked back at the gorgeous ring with a mischievous smile.“Since I haven’t been asked and therefore been denied the chance to say yes or no, I don’t really know what I would say in any case.”
He closed his hand over the ring, nonplused.“I did ask.Several times, in fact.”
“No,” she countered, shaking her head.“I heard a lordly statement or two.A near command but no questions requiring a yes or a no.”
“Is that what you’re waiting for?A grand proposal?Shall I drop to a knee right now?”
She laughed, catching him by the shoulders before he could drop her on the floor and fall dramatically at her feet.“Not if you want me to sayyes.”
“Is there a situation where you would?”
“Perhaps.”Fiona chewed her lip uncertainly.“It might not be while we are sitting naked in your parlor or...Harry, what if I can’t ever sayyes?”
Despite the lack of affirmation, he liked how she phrased it.It sounded far more positive than if she had asked, “What if I sayno?”
