Tears were streaming freely down Nora's face now, and she made no attempt to stop them. He moved closer, stopping just a few feet away from where she sat.
“I swear, I am through with lying, Nora. To you, to myself, to anyone. So here is the truth, all of it: I love you. I have loved you for longer than I care to admit, and I will love you until my last breath. I know I have no right to ask anything of you after everything I have done. I know I have hurt you in ways that may be unforgivable.”
He dropped to his knees before her, taking her hands in his with a gentleness that made her heart ache. “But I am asking anyway. I will to do whatever it takes to earn your forgiveness, to prove to you that I can be the man you deserve. I will spend the rest of my life making up for the pain I have caused you, if you will let me. I will be patient, I will be honest, I will be anything and everything you need me to be.”
His grip on her hands tightened slightly. “Please, Nora. Please give me the chance to show you that what we have is real. That it is worth fighting for, worth believing in. Please... marry me.”
The world seemed to stop. Nora stared down at him, at this proud, broken, beautiful man kneeling before her with his heart laid bare, and felt the last of her carefully constructed defences crumble.
She should say no. She knew that. Any sensible woman would refuse him after everything that had happened. The lies, the manipulation, the heartbreak – it was too much to simply forgive, too much to move past.
But Nora had never been particularly sensible. And more importantly, she knew, with a certainty that went bone-deep, that Godric was telling the truth now. She could see it in his eyes, could feel it in the trembling of his hands as they held hers. This was not the calculated duke who had used her family for revenge. This was simply Godric, stripped of all pretence, offering her everything he was and hoping desperately that it would be enough.
“You hurt me,” she said quietly, and felt him flinch. “When I overheard you speaking with Luther about your revenge, it felt like the ground had been ripped out from beneath my feet. Everything I thought I knew about you, about us, seemed like a lie.”
“I know,” Godric said, his voice hoarse. “I know, and I am so –”
“But then,” Nora continued, “After the ball, when you told me that our relationship meant nothing to you, I saw your face. Just for a moment, before you locked it away, I saw how much it cost you to say those words. And I realized that you were lying to protect me, not to hurt me.”
She freed one hand from his grasp to reach up and cup his cheek, feeling the slight roughness of stubble beneath her palm. “And at the warehouse, when you thought Luther might kill me, I sawthe truth written all over you. You looked at me the way I have always dreamed of being looked at – like I was your entire world, and losing me would destroy you.”
“Because it would,” Godric said fiercely, turning his face into her palm. “It would destroy me, Nora. You have become essential to my very existence.”
“I know what it is to be lonely,” Nora said softly. “When my engagement ended, when everyone looked at me with pity or disdain, I felt so utterly alone. And then you came into my life, and suddenly I was not alone anymore. You saw me – truly saw me – in a way that no one else ever had. You challenged me and infuriated me and made me feel more alive than I had ever felt before.”
She paused, gathering her courage. “And yes, you hurt me. You made me feel things I was not prepared to feel, and then you pushed me away in ways that left me shattered. But you also came back. You saved me, you confessed your love, and now you are here, offering me everything.”
“Is it enough?” Godric asked, and there was such vulnerability in the question that it broke her heart all over again. “Am I enough?”
Nora smiled through her tears. “You are certainly enough of a challenge. Frustrating, maddeningly stubborn too. Far too secretive for my taste, if I am being honest.”
The hope in his eyes began to dim slightly.
“But,” she continued, her smile widening, “You are also brave and loyal and capable of such tenderness that it takes my breath away. You make me laugh even when I want to strangle you. And when you look at me the way you are looking at me right now, I feel like I could conquer the world.”
“Nora,” he breathed, and it sounded like a prayer.
“So yes,” she said firmly. “Yes, I will marry you, Godric Millington. On one condition.”
He nodded vigorously and she giggled.
“No more secrets,” she said. “No more lies, even the ones you think will protect me. If we are to build a life together, it must be built on truth. All of it, even when the truth is difficult or painful or frightening.”
“I swear it,” Godric said immediately. “No more secrets. No more lies. I will tell you everything, always. Even the things I am ashamed of, even the things that make me vulnerable. You will know all of me, Nora. The good and the bad, the light and the dark.”
“Then yes,” she said again, joy beginning to replace the tears. “Yes, a thousand times yes.”
Godric surged forward, pulling her into his arms with enough force that they nearly toppled off the sofa. His lips found hersin a kiss that was desperate and tender all at once, conveying everything that words could not express.
Nora kissed him back with equal fervour, her hands tangling in his hair as she poured all her love, all her forgiveness, all her hope for their future into the embrace. This was what she had been missing, she realized. This connection, this perfect meeting of souls that transcended logic or reason.
When they finally broke apart, both breathing hard, Godric rested his forehead against hers.
“Please, marry me, princess,” he murmured against her lips, using the endearment that had always made her heart skip.
“I already said yes,” Nora laughed, but the sound transformed into a gasp as he kissed her again, slower this time, deeper, until she forgot how to breathe.
They might have continued indefinitely if not for the sudden opening of the door and Cecil's voice announcing, “Time's up!”
