She blinked. “We do not?”
“We can stay,” he said. “Another day. A week or year, if you like. Let the gossips whisper in our wake and chase the stories we have left behind.”
She laughed softly, pressing a hand to his chest. “But we must return, eventually.”
“Yes,” he said. “But when we do, it shall be on our terms. Not theirs.”
She tilted her head. “And what sort of terms shall we set?”
He reached into his pocket and withdrew something small. Delicate.
Frances blinked, confused—until he unfolded his fingers.
A ring.
Not the plain band from Gretna, hastily purchased in a forge still smelling of soot.
This was a new ring. Thoughtful. Intricate.
A single sapphire set in a gold band, shaped like a half-moon curling around the gem. Elegant. Bold.
Her breath caught.
“I know we are already married,” he said, his voice rough with sincerity. “But this is the part that should have been yours from the beginning.”
She looked up at him.
“I want you to have a proposal,” he said. “A real one. Not out of desperation, or flight, or survival. But out of love.”
Her breath caught, and she blinked rapidly, her fingers curling slightly against her side. “You do not have to?—”
“I want to.” He dropped to one knee, the full moon casting silver light across the floorboards.
“Frances… my fierce, impossible, brilliant wife. Will you do me the honor of saying yes again?”
A rush of warmth filled her chest, so fierce and unexpected it stole her voice.
“Yes,” she said, voice trembling. “Time and again, I will always choose you.”
He slipped the ring onto her finger.
And when he rose to kiss her, the world did not blur or spin.
It simply stilled.
And everything felt right.
The next morning broke slow and golden, light filtering in through the gauzy curtains of their room. There was no rush to rise, no breathless urgency pressing at her heels.
Frances opened her eyes to the sight of Johnathan beside her, his face still softened by sleep. He looked younger like this—less the notorious rogue and more the boy she used to know, the one who had once dared her to steal strawberries from her aunt’s garden and sworn to protect her from all imaginary beasts hiding in the dark.
She reached out and traced the edge of his jaw.
His eyes opened the moment she touched him.
“I was dreaming about you,” he murmured.
“I hope it was a pleasant dream,” she said.
