So she leaned towards him and pressed her lips to his.
It was like coming home. All the long years of hopeless yearning, of smiling when he carelessly flicked her cheek and called her Mouse, of pretending not to mind when he looked admiringly at other women, of congratulating him when he betrothed himself to Bea Franklyn, all of that was behind her. For ten endless years she had waited for this moment, for a kiss steeped in warmth and affection and friendship and happiness andlove.His arms were round her now, holding her tight against him, and she knew she had found a love that would sustain both of them through all the trials and joys of life together.
Eventually, sated for the moment, she lay snuggled against his chest, savouring the feel of his arm around her back, his other hand playing with her hair.
“I love the way this one curl always escapes from bondage,” he said, twisting it loosely around one finger. “I love everything about you, but this one lost curl is especially lovable. You always look slightly disarranged.”
“My mother despaired a long time ago of ever keeping me tidy,” she said, not looking at him, suddenly shy. “I am afraid I have mangled your cravat.”
He chuckled, rocking her slightly as his chest rose and fell with each breath. “It was ruined anyway. I got soaked, and now you are wet, too.”
“It is a small price to pay,” she said. She dared to look up at him, but the joy radiating from his face almost undid her. It was too much! She was not worthy of such affection.
“I think you have answered my question, anyway,” he said.
“What question?”
“Whether you could ever care for me.”
She tilted her head to look at him fully. “I cannot imagine how you can even ask me that, Walter Atherton. How can you not know that I have been head over ears in love with you for the past ten years?”
“What!” He moved sharply, rocking her violently, so that she clutched his cravat again. “Ten years?But you were only fourteen ten years ago.”
“That is old enough to fall in love. You probably do not remember the occasion at all, but it was July, and I was here in the woods with Hebe and Mabel… not Lily, I think… no, it was just the three of us, and we were paddling in the stream, our skirts pulled up, and completely drenched, because Mabel thought it was funny to splash us. I must have looked an absolute fright. Then Hebe slipped over and twisted her ankle, and we did not know quite how to get her back to the house. But then, out of nowhere, you appeared to rescue her on that white horse you used to have. Do you remember its name?”
“White Knight.”
“Exactly! White Knight, and so you were. You were up at Oxford then, so we had seen nothing of you for months, and you were the last person we could have expected, and yet there you were, riding up to rescue Hebe like a hero from one of those romantic novels. You never even dismounted, you simply swept her up onto White Knight and carried her off. It was the mostastonishing thing, and I fell in love with you on the spot. I had never before wished that I had twisted my ankle, but I did then.”
“I wished it too, as it happens, for at least you would not have cried. Hebe cried all the way back to the house, you know.”
“Did she? Good gracious! But she always was a watering pot. The least thing would set her off. So youdoremember!”
“Lord, yes! You looked like the veriest ragamuffin, I remember that well enough. I wondered who on earth would marry a hoyden like you. Little did I know it would be me. But I cannot say how soon it will be, my dearest Mouse. Ah… you dislike that name. But what am I to call you, otherwise?”
“Darling?”
“Beloved? Dearest one? Love of my life? Dear heart? I could run on like this all day. Sweetheart. My cherished love? Flower? My pet? Light of my heart? My angel?”
“Oh, not that. I have never been angelic.”
“To me you are, my sweet, beloved Winnie. I am not sure why we are talking so much when we could be kissing. Can you think of any reason?”
“None at all.”
After that, the only sound was the rain still thundering on the roof.
32: A List Of Transgressions
“Miss Winnie! Miss Winnie! Are you there?”
The distant voice, barely heard above the rain, broke into the euphoric bubble in which Winnie existed. Walter was there with her, the man she loved with all her heart, who by some miracle also loved her, and what need had they of the world beyond? But it seemed that the world beyond had need of them, for there it was again, that faint voice.
“Miss Winnie! You’re wanted at the house right away.”
Tearing herself with the utmost reluctance from Walter’s arms, she went to the tree house door and peered down. There was an umbrella directly below. As she watched, it tilted, and the anxious face of James the footman appeared.
“There you are, Miss!”
