Adeline grasped his head and pulled it back so he had to look at her. “Malcolm, why did you think I was dead?”
“Your father came to see me in my cell. He wanted to know where the artifacts were. He told me he had lured you out of Hartwick House by sending a note that your mother was ill and that he had poisoned your tea. He claimed it had been so simple to get rid of you.”
Adeline’s hands slipped down to cup his cheeks. “All lies. I have been here at Hartwick House the whole time. Just like I promised you. Why would you believe him?”
Malcolm flipped onto his back next to her and stared at the dark blue canopy above them.
His practical Adeline would think him ridiculous. “I thought, because I loved you so much, that I was the reason for your death.” He shut his eyes. “Everyone I love dies.”
Adeline climbed on top of him. Her legs straddled his hips, and her palms lay flat on his chest. “You sweet, foolish man. Don’t you see? It is because of your love that I am finally able to envision my future lived to its fullest. That I will no longer only exist in the circumstances subscribed to me but grab hold of all the things that I want. And I want you most of all.”
Overwhelmed, he grabbed hold of one of her hands and pressed a kiss to the palm.
Adeline scooted up and off of him. “Sit up. I cannot do this with you lying down.”
“Do what?” Malcolm pushed himself to sit against the headboard. He looked down and found he was still in his filthy uniform. “How long have I been here?”
“Just the afternoon. We rescued you this morning, and I have been feeding you little bits of broth all day.” Her fingers ran over his temples and down over the thick stubble across his jaw.
The furrow he loved appeared between her brows as she frowned at his lack of grooming.
“I am still angry with you for not eating and drinking.”
He would take her anger any day. He wanted all her emotions, all of her time; he was never leaving her again. Except maybe to take a bath.
“Malcolm, I have spent my whole life being quiet, being no trouble to the people around me, being invisible.” She placed her hand over his heart. “When you came into my life, for the first time, I felt seen. I admit I was confused by your compliments, your kisses, and your attention. But now, I don’t think I could live without all of it, without you. I do believe that we are fated to be a pair. You are my North Star, my home. Will you marry me, Malcolm?”
“Yes.” He pulled her onto his lap. “God, yes. But I warn you that I will be the most possessive of husbands. I will want to spend all my time with you. I will want to make love to you constantly. I want to live at Bridestone and have a large family. Are you up for the six children the fortune-teller portended?”
Adeline laughed and nodded enthusiastically. She threw her arms around his neck, and he sank into her kiss. He couldn’t fathom how he was so damn lucky that fate sent him this amazing, clever, forthright woman to love. But he planned to do his damnedest to love her the way she deserved to be loved, with his whole heart, mind, and body.
“Yes, but first, maybe let’s get you a bath.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
A few weeks later…
“Are you ready?”Lucy asked her.
Adeline nodded and accepted the bouquet of red and white amaryllis. Today was her wedding day. “More than ready. Being apart from Malcolm the last three weeks has been torture. But I needed to help George shut up the London townhouse and help organize the move for him and Mother to Millstone.”
“You have been so brave in the face of all the gossip,” Violet said. “It seems as though it is all anyone could talk about in town. I overheard my father say to my mother it was a shame that your father would make such unfortunate, rash decisions. He was friends with Lord Galey, you see.”
Over Violet’s shoulder, Adeline caught Lucy’s grimace before her friend composed her features.
Adeline’s father had been found guilty of conspiracy to murder in Lord Galey’s death and sentenced to twelve years in Newgate Prison. Adeline and Lord Hartwick had both testified what they knew at his trial. The scandal had indeed swept through London. Even thePiccadilly Press—previously so supportive of theirfavorite wallflower—had jumped at the chance to report all the details. Everyone wanted to know why he had wanted to murder Lord Galey and Lord Hartwick.
Lucy and Hartwick had been keeping their own secret. They privately explained to her and Malcolm about the duel that had led to the murder of Hartwick’s father and brother. And how the men in attendance, including her father and Violet’s father, were all desperate to try and cover up their involvement in the events of that day. Lucy confided that Ms. Harper, the editor of thePiccadilly Press, had been engaged to Hart’s brother and thus had quite the vendetta against all the men who did nothing stop the tragic circumstance that led to the death of her love.
Lord Hartwick did not wish the details of his family’s demise to become public yet as he couldn’t prove exactly who had been there that day. Though he expected that all his father’s friends would eventually get their comeuppance much as Lord Griffen and her father had, Adeline was inclined to believe him.
She was slowly starting to believe in fate and that things would work out as they were meant. There was nothing that she could do about the scandal that her father had rained down on her family, but her mother had the right of it, the three of them still had each other. And now she had Malcolm, and he didn’t give one wit about her family’s tarnished reputation.
Poor George. He would bear the brunt of the consequences of their father’s actions. He had admitted money would be tight as he reinvested in the estate. She and Malcolm discussed how they could help, deciding that her dowry money should be returned to George. Malcolm insisted it was hers to do with as she pleased.
“I have missed Malcolm so much. He doesn’t like being apart from me,” she said.
Violet sighed dramatically from behind her as her friend artfully arranged pearl-studded pins throughout her hair. “You two make a lovely couple.”
