"We," she agreed with a tone he found endearing.
James gazed down at her. At the remarkable woman who had walked into his portrait gallery with her mind made up and her heart on her sleeve, and she hadn’t retreated a single inch. She knew all of it, the worst of it by far, but she was still here, looking up at him with adoration sparkling in her eyes. “I should probably court you,” he said.
A ghost of a smile lit her lips. “That would probably be a good idea.”
“But,” he began with a wink, “no one knows how short their time is, and I don’t see any reason to waste any more of what I have.”
“Courting me would be a waste of your time?” Her brow lifted in surprise.
James agreed with a nod. “I think you should just marry me instead.”
Her knees must have buckled because she fell against him slightly. James was only too happy to steady her.
“That is, if you’ll have me,” he said a bit sheepishly.
Cori’s smile lit up the gallery. “Have the banns read and?—”
“Ah, to hell with waiting for the banns. We’ll get a special license.”
“Hannah?” she asked.
James laughed. “Oh, she will be insufferable about this. I think she may love you nearly as much as I do.”
"She’s delightful," Cori said, and the sincerity of her voice made his heart buoyant in his chest.
"The Archbishop of Canterbury owes me a favor," James told her as the plans began to materialize in his mind. "I'll send a letter to Lambeth today."
Cori’s eyes widened just slightly. "Acklan?" she asked. "While everyone is still here?"
James loved that idea. It was perfect. He nodded. "Fairleigh is already under this roof. Daniel and Caitrin haven't sailed yet. Everyone is here. That won’t happen again for some time."
Cori appeared to be doing several calculations at once. "How quickly will it take to get a special license?"
"A sennight. Perhaps less."
"A sennight," she echoed and nibbled just a bit on her bottom lip.
Certainly, she wasn’t reconsidering. "I can send a man with orders to only stop to change horses and?—"
She laughed. "A sennight is perfectly acceptable, James." Then she shook her head. "Cara will need a day to recover from the shock before she can be useful. Cait will be thrilled, as will the duchess."
“Ah, and my Aunt Harriet,” he confided. “She’s been rumbling for some time that I needed to get on with my life. I’m fairly certain she had decided on you before we even met.”
“Did she?”
“She is not as subtle as she thinks, but in this her judgement was spot on.”
A tiny bit of color stained Cori’s cheeks. “Do you think everyone else will be surprised?”
"Some more than others, I suspect." He shrugged. His sister, for one, would not be surprised in the least. He’d passed her in the corridor on his way to the gallery and she had looked at him in that particular way she had. She knew precisely what was going on. Of that he had no doubt.
"Perhaps—”
Meow.
James and Cori both turned their attention to the doorway to find a little orange kitten strutting into the gallery. Marmalade was in full possession of a regal air as he crossed the floor without an acknowledgment of either of them. The kitten sat down between their feet and then looked up at James as though daring him to say something.
From the corridor came the sound of small rapid footsteps.
