He stepped closer, and she let him take her hands in his, feeling a measure of hope and inner fortitude from merely his touch.
Mustering her courage, she said, “First, I must ask outright if you are in love with another woman.”
He drew one of her hands to his mouth and kissed her bare knuckles, all their gloves having been removed in order to eat. “I promise you I am not.”
She breathed a sigh of relief. “Then I must confess how very much in love with you I am. You intend to become engaged tonight, and now I know you don’t even love the woman. Please don’t make me watch such a travesty. I couldn’t bear it.”
He raised her other hand to his mouth and brushed his lips across it, sending shivers down her spine.
“You will never have to watch me pay tribute to or court another woman. I promise you that, too.”
“Thank you. I am sorry I turned you away before —gave you the mitten, as my sister calls it — but I didn’t realize how empty everything would seem when you withdrew from my life. Instead of the happiness I usually feel when making chocolate, now the hours stretch endlessly ahead of me, and my beloved craft has become a chore, all because I do not have you in my life. Without you, it is far too narrow an existence.”
“I understand completely,” he said, his green gaze flickering over her face. “Everything I usually do to fill my days now seems petty or pointless because my heart wants to have you in my life.”
“Are you truly getting engaged tonight?” She could scarce credit him doing so.
“Yes, I believe so.” He said, staring down into her eyes through which she could no longer see him as they filled with tears.
“I must leave directly,” she said, tugging at her hands to free herself. “You are punishing me for not accepting you the first time. ‘Male pride,’ my sister said. Yet you just promised I did not have to watch.”
“You will be there for this engagement, Miss Rare-Foure.” With that, Henry dropped down upon one knee. Still holding her hands, he gave them a gentle squeeze as she realized what he was doing.
“Amity Rare-Foure, you have changed me, making me see the shallowness of my life as a duke. I was missing out on the rich experiences beyond the pampered and the privileged. I didn’t think I would find passionate, exciting, real love because I was trying to match up with the notion in my head of a composed and perfect duchess. After I spent precious time with you, I discovered your passion for chocolate and for life to be positively contagious.”
She did not want to cry, but blinking caused the tears to fall. Brushing them aside, Amity bit her lower lip to stop more from coming.
“I want to eat in public houses and window shop,” Henry added.
She laughed although it sounded more like a sob.
“But only if I can do those things with you,” he continued.
She squeezed his hands in return. Then, at last, he asked her. “Will you do me the honor of becoming my duchess?”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
