In the end, however, Chance couldn’t bring himself to sit. He needed to protect himself, protect his emotions. He’d already lost this war, or so he had thought. He wasn’t sure how many times he could relive it.
Aubrey sat primly, hands in her lap, and looked up at him. “Do you…” She licked her lips. “Have you fallen out of love with me?”
What the…?
Chance frowned. “Why on earth would you think that? I’ve done nothing but try to show you, try to prove to you, that I’ll love you forever. How can you doubt me still?” His heart wanted to sing but the rest of him was angry with her. Angry that she had not been able to learn to trust him again.
“I went to Chauncey house.” Her eyes begged his understanding as she spoke. “I went to tell you that I’d made my decision, that I wanted to make a life with you… that I loved you––only you. There wasn’t any choice really, Chance. Ever. It was always you. I just needed to gather my courage again. But when I did, you were gone. And it was my fault this time… I’d waited too long… You had every right to leave without saying goodbye.”
The brothel. The night spent at Hyde Park Place and his infernal wandering. He stepped forward and dropped onto one knee, not caring that his breeches would be stained and that he might be kneeling in shite. “Listen to me.Princesse.”
She nodded and clasped his hands between hers.
“I didn’t leave London until yesterday. My valet and my luggage coach left forSecoursahead of me––without me. When I was finishing up work on the hothouse, Cline proudly informedmethat you had consented to go with him. But still, I waited. I’d never leave you again without saying goodbye, I’ve learned my lesson well,Princesse. I just now checked in to this inn. You arrived here before me. Do you understand?”
At last she was listening to him and it seemed that every wall she’d had up had finally crumbled. She raised his hands to her mouth and placed a kiss on one of his knuckles. “I thought I’d waited too long… I thought I’d lost you forever.” In her eyes, he believed he saw all of the love and vulnerability that he’d felt since he’d returned to London to beg her forgiveness.
Chance frowned. “Just tell me one thing. Why are you here, at this inn, today?” He had an inkling, but he needed to hear the reason from her own lips.
“I was coming after you. I was on my way toSecours, to beg, to wallow, whatever it would take to make up for my… distrust… this summer. I’m sorry I waited so long. I just… but then when I thought you’d left, everything became crystal clear. You’re my love. You’re my life.”
Chance could hardly believe his ears. “You rejected Dandy Dick?”
“My dear Mr. Bateman.” She smiled and placed one hand along his cheek and jaw. “I could never have married him. From the moment I saw you in the park, I only ever thought of you. It was not well done of me. I ought to have told him right away. I was just so afraid. But I know now that none of it was ever your fault. You couldn’t have done anything any differently. If you had, you would not be the man that you are.”
A tear escaped past her lashes and slid along the curve of her cheek before dropping onto his hand.
“How did you know that I was here?” Her eyes flew open wide as the thought struck her.
“Purely fate, my love. And luck, and fortune, or whatever it was that brought us together in the first place. My heart stopped beating when I believed you’d decided to be with another man. I was dead inside. I thought I’d failed to earn back your trust. I was simply on my way back home, to lick my wounds.”
“She was right.” Aubrey’s voice broke as Chance lifted both of his hands to cradle her face.
“Who was right, my love?”
“The fortune teller who read our tea leaves. She told me I would have my love for a short time, but that I would then go without... In the end, however, she said I would be with my love again. We had that one night and then I went a long time without knowing where you had gone, what you had done, and whether or not you even lived. In the end, however, she said I’d have all that I wanted. You do forgive me, don’t you? For doubting you?”
“I do.” She was here, in his arms and Chance couldn’t hold back a second longer. He captured her lips with his. “I do.” Whispers of endearment floated in the air. It seemed that both of them were putting all the tenderness and love that they could into this single kiss.
“You will marry me, my love?” He could still hardly believe she was real.
But she felt real. She tasted real. And the words he heard could not be mistaken.
“Oh, yes, Mr. Bateman. Yes!”
Epilogue
Aubrey
The next morning
Aubrey stretched contentedly and then snuggled deeper into the mattress. The memory of passion and tenderness and unmatched intimacy floated through her mind.
It had not been a dream. When she had gone to his town house a few days ago and been informed thatHis Gracehad departed for his country estate, she’d feared that she’d lost him forever.
And she could not.
She could not lose him again.
