“Your Grace, I know how you feel. I wish you had told me this before, but then I also wish that I– well, I should have been honest with you too. I should have been honest with myself. For so long, I thought that I was being intelligent for not seeking love, but the truth is that I was hiding from it. I did not want to be hurt, and so I thought that if I hid from it forever, then I would not have to risk myself from it happening.”
“And yet…”
“And yet…”
All the while, they had not stopped looking at one another. Cassandra knew what he wanted to say, and she wanted so desperately for him to say it. She willed him to continue, for she had been longing to hear him say it for so long that it was becoming almost unbearable.
“And yet,” he said at last, “I chose to love you regardless.”
It was precisely what she wanted, but the moment she heard it she lost all ability to speak. They were but a few mere words, but they meant something else entirely when he was the one to say them. They felt sacred, and she wished that he had said them much sooner.
And strangely, she was also pleased that he had not. They would need time, but she could not help but see already that they had needed to struggle in order to truly see one another.
“And I still do choose to,” he continued. “I choose to love you, and I will always do so. I had not wanted to at first, and I know that you did not either, but it sounds wrong to say that we had no choice in the matter. I am a better man because of you, and when I think of how I want my life to be, I cannot imagine it without you. I need you, Lady Cassandra. I love you.”
“I love you too,” she whispered, “and you are right. I did not want any of this. I wanted to run from all of it, to keep the life I had before, but when I think about what I truly want, it is not a life alone by the sea. It is a life with you, one that I can live openly and honestly and surrounded by love. It is all that I want.”
“Then marry me. I know that the timing is not right, but it might never be perfect. I might never be perfect, but I cannot let that dictate what happens to me anymore. I love you, and that means we will find a way through.”
“We will. I know that we will.”
And she meant every word of it. It was true that they were not perfect, but they were perfect for each other. He had shown her what it meant to honor a commitment, and she had shown him to choose happiness, and that meant that they did not need to be their own ideas of perfection. They were happy, and as long as they both tried, they would continue to be.
At last, she looked past him, and saw Philippa standing behind them all. The smile on her face was wider than Cassandra had ever seen. Cassandra smiled breathlessly in return, and everyone finally came together and exchanged well wishes and smiles and tears.
“I cannot believe it!” Philippa gasped, embracing her tightly. “Does this mean that you will marry now?”
“Indeed it does,” she replied. “Everything is as it should be again.”
“How wonderful! I knew that you would find one another again, but I did not know how long it would take. I am so pleased that you did not make me wait too long to have a sister at last.”
Cassandra laughed at that, and the Duke did the same. Anthea and Sybil made their appearances at last, joining them and congratulating them warmly, and then tea was prepared and they planned to go to the drawing room.
“If I may,” Cassandra said gently, “might I speak with the Duke in private now? I shall only need a moment, and then we may continue our celebrations.”
There was not a single person that would have argued with her at that moment. They slipped into the drawing room, and Cassandra took the Duke’s hand and went to the parlor room with him.
“I would have preferred the garden,” she said softly, “but there has been enough scandal without the two of us being seen together.”
“Yes… it is all quite a mess, is it not?”
They both laughed quietly, and though Cassandra knew that she should have been daunted by that fact, she could not bring herself to be. She was simply pleased to be where she was, and there was nothing that could change that.
“What sort of wedding should we have?” she asked. “Now that you are settling matters with Lord Buxton, we could have something grander if you wish, something befitting a duke.”
“And a duchess,” he added. “Is that what you want? We can certainly make such arrangements, though I will admit that it will take time to prepare for that.”
“And that is precisely why I would rather not,” she smiled. “The truth is, in case you are yet to notice, I do not need the spectacle. I am content for it to be you and I, declaring our love for one another and promising to care for one another. I do not need anything more than that.”
“Do you promise?”
“I do, and if you still have that license for us to marry, I see no reason why we must wait. Is that strange for me to say? Should I have more caution after everything that has happened?”
“Perhaps, but I am pleased that you do not. If there is one thing that you have taught me, it is that I need not be so afraid to do what will make me happy. This, right here, is what makes me happy.”
He raised her hand at that, and kissed it gently. Her heart fluttered at the touch of his lips against her skin, and the heat of it warmed her greatly. When he looked at her, she thought she might shrink away, but she did not. Instead, she held his gaze and willed him to know what she wanted.
He had always seemed to know, and it had once infuriated her, but now it was the best thing about him. That moment was no exception. He brushed a lock of her hair behind her hair, then lowered his hand to her chin, holding her lovingly. Hebent toward her, pausing mere centimeters from her, and she whimpered at that.
