Lady Crosby gave Samuel a sharp look. “Lord Lymington would never be so ungentlemanly as to importune a distressed lady with his attentions,wouldyou, my lord?”
“Of course not, my lady,” Samuel said, with a provoking smirk for Brixton.
But all his humor vanished as soon as he closed the door and turned to the bed where Emma lay. It looked as if every blanket at Lymington House had been piled atop her. She was so bundled up only the top of her head and the tip of her nose were visible.
Samuel crept forward, wincing as the floorboards squeaked under his weight. He didn’t want to wake her—
“Samuel?” The blankets shifted, and a hand appeared, beckoning him forward. “Come here.”
Samuel was overcome with an unfamiliar wave of shyness, but he approached the bed and peered down at Emma. Her face was pale, but her eyes were bright, and a soft smile curved her lips. “Closer, please.”
Samuel took another hesitant step forward.
“Come, my lord. I’ve never known you to be bashful before.” Emma wriggled her fingers, urging him closer.
Samuel shuffled closer, trying to swallow the lump in his throat. She looked so small lying there, so fragile. If he hadn’t burst into the icehouse when he did, if he’d taken even a fewseconds longer…
Emma patted the empty space beside her on the bed. “Come lie down next to me.”
There was nothing in the world Samuel wanted more than to hold her, but he shook his head. “I’m covered in dirt and blood, Emma—”
“You’re warm. I’ve never known anyone warmer than you.” Emma gazed up at him, firelight flickering in her eyes. “Please, Samuel.”
Samuel’s hesitation melted away at that soft plea. He could refuse her nothing. So he shed his coat and boots and stretched out on the bed next to her. She snuggled close, and he opened his arms to her.
“There, that’s better.” Emma lay her head on his chest with a happy sigh.
They lay there together listening to the crackling of the fire, Samuel holding her as tightly as he dared, his heart thundering in his chest. Just when he thought she’d fallen asleep, Emma asked quietly, “Lord Dunn?”
“Locked in the icehouse. Lovell and Humphries have gone after the magistrate. They’ll see to it he’s dealt with.”
Samuel said no more, and Emma didn’t ask. Neither of them wanted to talk about Dunn. His neck was destined for a noose, just as Brixton had said. As far as Samuel was concerned, there was no reason to ever speakof Dunn again.
All he wanted to think about, all he cared about, was Emma.
Samuel stroked her hair. “You should sleep, love.”
“I will, but I need to say something to you first. When I was in the icehouse with Dunn, when he…he attacked me—”
“Emma, please—”
She clutched at his hand, her fingers trembling. “Shh. Let me speak now, Samuel, and we need never mention Lord Dunn again.”
Samuel couldn’t speak, but he held her as close as he could, so she knew he was there, and she was safe. That she would always be safe in his arms.
“Those moments in the icehouse were…I was frightened, Samuel, but all the terror I felt, all the rage at Lord Dunn for everything he’d done, was nothing at all to the regret I felt for not telling you how much I love you when I had the chance.” Emma turned his face down to hers with a hand on his cheek. “I never thought a man could come to mean so much to me, but you hold my whole heart in your hands. You’re everything to me. I love you, Samuel.”
“Emma, my love.” Samuel closed his eyes, buried his face in her hair and let her words sink into him, into the deepest cornersof his heart.
They were quiet for a time, content to lie wrapped in each other’s arms, until Emma wriggled closer and rested her cheek against his chest. “Your heart is beating so quickly,” she murmured sleepily.
“Yes, I’m, ah…a little nervous.”
“Nervous? Why should you be nervous?”
Samuel smiled against her hair. “Because I know myself to be a presumptuous, demanding, arrogant marquess, but I’m hoping you’ll agree to marry me in spite of it, though I daresay you could find a more agreeable husband.”
Emma went so still, for one breathless moment Samuel thought she might refuse him, but then she rose onto her elbow, a smile tugging at her lips as she looked down at him. “I don’twantan agreeable husband, Lord Lymington. I wantyou.”
