“Oh, thank God! For a moment I thought—”
“That I had run away again?”
“Yes! You will not… will you?” He heard the pleading tone in his voice, but he was helpless to suppress it. He could not bear to lose her, not again. He mustneverlose her again.
She set the candle on the bedside table, then sat on the edge of the bed, taking his hand. Smiling gently at him, she said, “I will not run away from you ever again, Ian Farramont. You arean astonishing man, do you realise that? How could you not tell me how you felt?”
“I thought you knew,” he said, surprised. “Why else would I have married you?”
“For sons,” she said at once. “You were almost thirty, and you decided it was time to secure the succession. That was what I assumed, anyway. And you went to my father afterthree days, Ian! We were introduced on the Tuesday, and you asked to pay your addresses on the Friday. You could not possibly have fallen in love with me in three days.”
“Very true. It was a lot less than that… three seconds, perhaps.”
She chuckled and shook her head. “What nonsense you talk!”
“It is true. I fell headlong in love with you the instant I saw you and it was a whole six days before I talked to your father. I first saw you the Saturday before that. Robert Osborn had met you at some rout or other, and he knew you were going to be driving in Hyde Park that day, so he dragged me along. And there you were, in a barouche with Josie and your mother and your aunt, Lady Tarvin. You wore a blue hat with a curling brim and a huge feather around it, and when Osborn waved to you, you turned your head and smiled at him and… I decided there and then that I wanted to marry you.”
“Did you? Truly?”
“I did. That mischievous smile and your eyes! So much delightful expression in those lovely eyes. How could I help falling in love? I told Osborn as much that night, and asked him if it would cause a rift between us, if we were both pursuing the same girl.”
“What did he say? Did he mind?”
“No. Or at least, not as much as I would have expected. He knows his own worth, after all. He had all the roguish charm, and you were already looking favourably on him, whereas I havered hair and all the charm of a stick of furniture. You never even noticed me that day in the great press of admirers surrounding the carriage.”
“I confess I did not. I remember Robert… and the hat! It got wet one day when it came on to rain unexpectedly and was ruined.”
“Everyone remembered Osborn,” he said easily. “I saw you again the next day at church, but again, you did not see me. On Monday, I saw you dancing at a house in Grosvenor Square, I forget whose, but I was too timid to approach you. Then on the Tuesday, I got Osborn to introduce me at last, at some Venetian breakfast somewhere.”
“It rained. Another hat ruined.”
“You love your hats! I swear you spend more at the milliner than anywhere else. On the Wednesday, I met you at a ball for one of the Bucknell girls.”
“Lady Grace. She is a lovely creature.”
“She is nothing to you, and too placid by half. I like a bit of life in a woman. I tried to dance with you, but you were engaged for every dance already, so I brought you some lemonade instead. Anything to be near you.”
“Did you? I cannot remember that.”
“We exchanged three words. You asked me where I lived, and I said,‘Stonywell, near Nottingham.’That was the full extent of our conversation. On Thursday, I was determined to dance with you, so I was almost the first at the Carrbridges’ ball, and then stood by the steps into the ballroom until you appeared. I had my dance, and I was so delirious with joy that I slept not a wink that night. So as soon as I decently could that morning, I called upon your father and asked his permission to court you. He must have thought I was insane, but I did not care. I knew what I wanted.”
“You were the first, you know,” she said, reaching out to stroke his face. “Papa came through to the breakfast parlour, because you were so early that we were still at breakfast, and said,‘Congratulations, Izzy, you have just received your first offer.’I said,‘Who is it, Papa?’and when he said it was Lord Farramont—”
“You said,‘Who is Lord Farramont?’I imagine.”
“I did!” She giggled. “But he just said,‘Red hair,’and then I remembered you, of course. It is your great distinction, you know.”
“My great curse, you mean.”
“No, I like your hair, and your height. I can look around a crowded room and know exactly where you are at all times. It is very reassuring. But I was so excited! An offer, so soon, and a viscount, too. I was in alt, I can tell you. I noticed you after that! You took me driving a few days later, and I was very forward and told you that I knew all about it. I thought, you see, that you were going to propose on the spot and I wanted to make it easy for you.”
“Then I am very sorry I disappointed you.”
She laughed. “But you very sensibly told me that you would propose, but not for a few weeks, because I would have other offers and you did not want me to rush into anything. You are always sosensible, Ian. You can surely understand why I had not the least idea that you were nurturing this passion for me. Even when we married, you tiptoed around me, creeping into my bed at night and creeping out again.”
“I was terrified of encroaching, and giving you a disgust of me. I assumed you only married me for my title, and would be horrified if I hung on your sleeve like a besotted youth.”
“Oh, Ian! You foolish man!” She lifted the cover and snuggled alongside him, rendering him almost speechless with joy. “And after Aurelia, you kept away from me altogether.”
