“I loveyou, my darling ghost, and I love you all the more because you arenotIzzy. I will always be grateful to Izzy for being the first to unlock such tender feelings in me, and your likeness to her drew me to you when we first met, but she and I would have driven each other mad within weeks. Whereas you, my love, bring peace to my poor mind, and calmness to my life.”
He was standing bare inches away from her, but he still had not touched her… he had notkissedher, and Olivia was almost driven wild by his hesitation.
He sighed, and took her face in his hands, his warm, strong hands. “You arenotIzzy, my dearest one. You are yourself and unique and very precious to me.”
Closing his eyes, he leaned his forehead against hers with the softest of sighs. She could feel strands of his hair tickling her skin, and smell the soap he used — a strong scent, very masculine.
And still he hesitated, with some anxiety lingering in his eyes.
“Are you going to kiss me now?” she said hopefully.
With another sigh, he released her, his face troubled. “Iwantto, of course. There is nothing I should like more, but sooner or later it will stop and then it will be over and that will make me sad.”
She giggled. “The first kiss will be over, but there will be a second and a third and so on.”
“Will there?” His face was alight with affection.
“I promise you, there will always be one more kiss. If you want it.”
“I shall always want it. I shall always wantyou,” he whispered.
Then his arms were round her and his lips were on hers, burning her with a fire that set Olivia aflame. It was a long, long time before they broke apart, rather breathlessly.
“Oh dear,” Olivia said. “I am afraid the posy has become horribly crushed.”
“Never mind,” he murmured, bending to kiss her again. “I will buy you more. I shall fill the house with flowers for you, my love.”
This time when they parted, Olivia said, “You may propose to me now, Robert. A proper proposal, mind.”
He shifted a little further away from her, although with his arms still around her waist. “Do you know, I think I will not.”
“What!” Olivia screeched. “Have you been taking advantage of me under false pretences, Robert Osborn? Shame on you!”
“Olivia, how old are you?”
“Nineteen. Well, almost.”
“And you have been nowhere, met no one, not even had a season. But you should. You ought to go up to town for the first time unattached, so that you can be fêted and mobbed and swamped with suitors, just as Izzy was. You will be the season’s Incomparable, just as she was. That is what you deserve, before you settle into marriage. And I shall be just one of your horde of admirers. I shall court you in proper form, and take you driving in Hyde Park, stand up with you at Almack’s and fight for a glimpse of you at the theatre. I shall come to every event you attend, just to see you, hoping for a dance with you at balls.”
“I shall keep every supper dance for you.”
“Shall you? That will be wonderful. And at the last ball of the season, my love, I shall take you out onto the balcony in the moonlight. The air will be filled with the scent of roses, there will be a fountain splashing gently and peacocks will be strolling on the lawn. There under the stars I shall kiss you and propose… or I might propose first and then kiss you. No, because if you turn me down, I should not get a kiss at all, so definitely kiss first.”
“How absurd you are!” she said, laughing. “And what happens if it is raining?”
“Then we will huddle under umbrellas and it might be a fairly rapid proposal. But I am serious, Livvy. I want to court you properly, as you deserve, but I also want you to have the chance to meet other potential husbands, and if you choose one of them…” He stopped, taking a ragged breath. “I will try to accept it with equanimity. I shall, of course, be doing my best to prove that I am the best of them, but I want you to have the choice and not be tied to me before you even show that adorable dimple in town.”
“Very well, but…”
“What is it? What have I forgotten?”
“What about you? What if you change your mind… or meet someone else?”
“My mind is entirely unchangeable at this point, Livvy, my love. I would have proposed to you here and now, and I am as bound as if I truly had. In fact, I should do this formally so that you know precisely where you stand.” He cleared his throat ostentatiously. “Lady Olivia, would you do me the very great honour of receiving my proposal of marriage at the final ball of next season?”
That made her laugh again. “I am very much obliged to you, Lord Kiltarlity, and I should be honoured to receive yourproposal of marriage at the final ball of next season. And I mean to accept.”
“Those words will sustain me when I have to watch you stand up with every eligible suitor in the Kingdom,” he murmured.
