“I would love nothing more than to meet your family,” he said, thumb stroking Sage’s cheek.“And I fully intend to do just that, once we’re all back in London.”A pang of hurt in Sage’s chest made him wince.“It will give me the time I need to settle.A shopping trip with Harriet sounds like great fun, but I suspect I’ll add a few pieces to my wardrobe before then.Perhaps I’ll buy a pair of shoes that do not smell like lake water.”Sage was able to manage a pitiful, slightly wet laugh at that.“By the time you see me again, I’ll look like a true gentleman.”
Sage leaned into his palm.“I like you just as you are.”
Conrad’s smile grew.“I was hoping you’d say that.It will make our courtship far easier, from what I understand.”
Sage’s entire world slowed to a stop.
“Our what?”he whispered.
“It wouldn’t do for me to show up at your family’s estate looking like this and expect to make a good impression.I am only a simple man from Bristol, but I know that much.I want your parents to feel confident that I will be able to look after you when I ask for your hand.”He gave a small shrug.
Sage blinked once, twice, vaguely aware that his hands were shaking.
“Are you asking me to marry you?”
Conrad’s brows went up.“Oh, er…yes.I thought you realized.”
Sage’s jaw dropped as his magic twirled.“You,” he said with slow emphasis, “want to marryme?”
Conrad nodded eagerly.“Wasn’t it obvious?”
“I—” Sage wheezed.“I need to sit down.”
They found the bench again together.Sage stared intently at his shoes while Conrad rubbed a hand on his back.How many times had he dreamed of this exact moment—being proposed to in a lush Wrenwhistle garden by the man that he loved.When he finally managed to collect himself, he turned slowly to find Conrad’s waiting grin.
“This was…a dream.A fantasy.Life is not like this in London.”
“I am not afraid of working hard to make my dreams come true,” Conrad reminded him.“Is this not what you want?”
“It is everything I have ever wanted,” Sage said, a little breathless.
“Then you shall have it.”
Sage studied his face for a moment in the earliest morning light, searching his eyes for something he already knew he would not find.There was no uncertainty.No hidden emotions whatsoever.Conrad was exactly as Sage had ever known him to be—confident, hopeful, and wholly himself.As he wrapped his arms around Conrad’s neck, he set his magic free, allowing himself to be all of those things too, in a way he never felt that he could until now.
“You strange creature,” he whispered against Conrad’s lips just before he kissed him.
