Unable to sit still, Violet retrieved her cloak from her room and slipped outside into the frosty morning for a long walk.
Could her dream really come true?
Was it enough that Sebastian loved her?
He said his intentions were honorable; yet there were many factors against their marriage, not the least his parents’ wishes. Would his need to fulfil his duty to his family allow them to marry? If they married and she did not produce a son, would his family ever forgive her? Would marrying her sever him from his family forever?
There were so many things to consider.
Two hours later, the church bells pealed merrily, summoning the congregation to the Christmas service. Violet walked the short distance to the church. The ground still crackled with frost despite the hour approaching eleven o’clock.
She still had not reached a decision. She would hear him out. In truth, her body thrummed with excitement at the realization that her greatest desire might be within her reach. Would she dare to grasp it, if it was offered?
Violet greeted Mrs Sperling and passed through the lychgate. She glanced towards the open doors of the church and her breath caught. Sebastian stood to one side of the wide opening with her father.
Was her father giving Sebastian a piece of his mind?
Their conversation did not look at all uncomfortable. In fact, they seemed perfectly in accord—both talking earnestly and smiling. Most perplexing.
Upon seeing her, Sebastian raised his hat and sent her a tentative smile. “Miss Hambleton, good morning. I hope the day finds you recovered from last night’s upset?”
“Thanks to some news I received this morning, I’m well on my way to recovery,” she replied.
The concern in his eyes died and his smile widened. “I’m glad,” he murmured as he took her hand in his and bowed.
Tingles of awareness skipped up Violet’s arm.
“May I speak with you now?” he said, his eyes pleading.
Violet met her father’s gaze and he gave a faint nod of encouragement. “Of course,” she said.
The Reverend turned his attention to Mrs Sperling, who had just entered the church grounds.
Sebastian offered Violet his arm, which she did not to take. He hadn’t explained himself fully yet. Side-by-side, they walked into the silent graveyard beside the church. They paused beside the crooked gravestone that marked the last resting place of the former rector, who had passed away three decades ago.
Sebastian turned to her, his brow wrinkled and his mouth turned down. “I owe you an apology and a truthful explanation.”
The worry in his eyes and anguish in his voice snagged her heart, but she did not yet feel like making this easy for him. “I think you do,” she said in a firm voice.
“Whatever reason my friends from university had for sending their Valentine offerings, it was never mine. I have always admired you. By the time I went to university, I was in love with you.”
As early as that? Violet drew in a deep breath to steady the butterflies swooping in her belly. “You were a youth of eighteen. How could you love me?”
“I knew my feelings and my own mind by then. I was determined that I would marry no one but you, despite all my parents’ efforts to tie me to a wife of their choosing. But, I couldn’t propose to you when I had no hint that you felt anything for me except for fondness towards one of your father’s pupils.”
Why hadn’t he even hinted at his feelings for her? Violet opened her mouth to speak, but he placed his index finger upon her lips to shush her.
“It was not until last February that I first dared hope you may have an interest in me. Was I right?”
She shook her head. Could she really tell him that her feelings for him had changed more than two years ago?
There had never been any hint from Sebastian that the mysterious billets-doux were from him. Even last night, he had denied with a laugh that he had a poetic bone in his body when she broached the subject of writing poetry.
Despite the fading of her hopes, her feelings had only blossomed into unrequited love. Now, finally, there was hope that they shared a mutual attraction. “I have felt the same for you since you came of age,” she admitted shyly.
His grip on her hand tightened. “Then there is a chance for me?”
“My feelings are not all that count, Sebastian. What of your parents’ wishes?”
