“Properly ... courted?” she asked in a breathy tone that certainly didn’t sound like her normal voice.
“Indeed, and that proper courtship should last as long as you want it to last, and should be a time where you get to learn everything there is to know about your intended. It is also a time where you should be spoiled outrageously, although know that even after you’re married, you should expect to be spoiled outrageously as well.”
“I don’t believe I’ve ever been spoiled, let alone outrageously, although...” She glanced to her new gate. “That is definitely along the lines of spoiling me.”
“Again, that’s just a gate. Spoiling, at least in my humble opinion, would entail showering you with flowers and chocolate simply because you enjoy those things, or taking you to a country fair because you saw a flyer posted in town and decided you longed to go to enjoy the festivities offered there. It would also entail a great deal of dancing, if that’s something you enjoy. But if it’s not, it could simply be grabbing a few books and heading to the lake, where a picnic meal would be waiting for you, comprised of your favorite foods.”
“It does seem as if you know what you’re about when it comes to spoiling a lady” was all she could think to say.
He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it. “Per Eloise’s suggestion, although this is going to be a modified version of her advice, I would like to get your permission to properly court you, Miss Drusilla Merriweather. I would then love to spoil you outrageously, but you see, I can’t do that quite yet as I don’t know nearly enough about you. I don’t know what type of flowers you prefer, although I do know that you enjoy perfume that’s lemon scented, so perhaps instead of flowers, you’d prefer if I presented you with a lemon tree.
“I also want to discover, if our courtship leaves you with the impression you might like to turn it from a proper courtshipinto a proper so-much-more, how you would like to mark a betrothal. I will tell you right now, though, that I don’t have any Whittenbecker family jewels at my disposal, but I’d be more than happy to start a collection of jewelry to give you, but not until I know exactly what jewels you prefer.”
“I like sapphires.”
“Which I think is a most fitting gem as sapphires match your eyes, and know that sapphires you shall have if you decide you’d be agreeable to allowing me to properly court you.”
Drusilla glanced to the gate again, then back to Rhenick, who was now watching her closely. “May I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“What was Eloise’s original suggestion?”
He smiled. “She thought I should simply drop to one knee, proclaim my love for you, and ask you to be my wife.”
Drusilla blinked. “But you decided not to take that suggestion because you believe I need a proper courtship?”
“Exactly.”
“I ... see.”
Rhenick was lifting her chin a second later, his gaze locked with hers. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”
She smiled ever so slightly. “You just mentioned love—or rather, said that Eloise suggested you proclaim your love for me.”
“She did suggest that.”
“Does that mean you actually believe yourself to be in love with me?”
“IknowI’m in love with you, which is why I want to properly court you so that you can discover whether or not you might be able to fall in love with me as well.”
Warmth immediately began flowing through her as she realized in that moment that she didn’t need to discover if shemightbe able to fall in love with the man because—she wasalreadyin love with him.
Her lips curved straight into a full smile. “You don’t need to properly court me.”
Rhenick blinked. “Why not?”
“That probably came out wrong, because you can certainly take to courting me, but you don’t need to do that for the express purpose of allowing me time to discern if I could come to love you because ... I already do.”
Rhenick’s mouth went a little slack. “You do?”
She grinned. “I know, it’s taken me a bit by surprise as well, but you see, Mr. Rhenick Whittenbecker, you are the only person in my life—except perhaps for Annaliese, of course—who has ever seen me for who I truly am.”
“You’re extraordinary.”
Her grin widened. “In your eyes, I do believe I am, and that right there is certainly how it came to be—well, besides the fact that you’re incredibly charming, and authentically charming at that—that I have fallen in love with you.”
He returned her grin. “This is not how I expected any of this to go, but, before we’re joined by everyone, and I would say that’s going to happen soon because they probably only lasted five minutes at the Palmer House after we bolted, I have a proposal for you.”
