“My lords and my ladies.” The constable’s usual lethargy was replaced by an air of palpable excitement. “You will not believe what we discovered.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
“Rose…”
“No, don’t talk, my love,” she wept. “Save your strength.”
“Too late for that.” Despite the stain blossoming over his bandage, Thomas smiled. “It doesn’t matter, my darling. I have already evaded death once, and I have no fear of what is to come. There is only one thing I must do so that I may go in peace…”
“Tell me. Whatever it is, I will see it done,” she vowed.
“Marry me, Rose.”
How much more could a fractured heart bear before it was crushed into smithereens?
“I want to,” she said between hitched breaths. “More than anything. All those times you asked me before...I wish I had said yes. I wish I had had the courage to follow my heart. Now it’s too late.”
“It’s not.” He lifted a shaking hand to cup her cheek.
Regret and sorrow clogged her throat. “There isn’t time to make such arrangements?—”
“In my desk, there is a special license. I never gave up hope that you would say yes. And finally, you have.”
The glowing contentment in her beloved’s eyes released another flood of tears.
“All we need n-now…”
He started coughing, and panic gripped her until the spasms eased.
“Go fetch the rector,” he said.
“I…I cannot leave you, Thomas,” she whispered. “I want to stay by your side.”
Gazing into her eyes, he said solemnly, “I vow to you that I will not leave this earth until you are mine, and I am yours. Until we are joined in name as we are in body and spirit. I will not rest until the world knows the story of our love.”
“Gigi, love. Wake up.”
Slowly, she opened her eyes to find Conrad gazing down at her.
“You were having quite the dream.” Concern creased his features. “Was it a nightmare?”
“No.” With a trembling hand, she brushed aside his stray forelock. “It wasn’t a nightmare.”
Curling into the crook of her husband’s arm, she described her dream.
“In the end, Thomas and Rosalinda conquered all odds and found happiness,” she said tremulously. “He died knowing that he had won the woman of his heart. And wherever she went, she took with her the knowledge that she was worthy of the man she loved.”
“Theirs was a love story, just as Wally claimed,” Conrad mused.
Gigi had to laugh. “You listened to Wally?”
“I didn’t have much choice, did I? There’s no escaping the old codger.” He paused. “Since he played a part in saving my hide last night, I suppose enduring his tours is the least I can do. In fact, I was thinking of consulting him on the plans for revitalizing Chuddums.”
“If you do that, Wally will love you nearly as much as I do,” she teased.
“Minx.”
He pulled her atop him, his kiss slow, adoring, and heated. When they’d arrived home mere hours ago, they’d bathed and tumbled naked into bed. They’d traded kisses and sweet promises until they fell asleep. Now desire leapt between them, bright as a flame, and she writhed against her husband, reveling in his virile strength.
