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She removed her bonnet and set it on her lap. “Will you…kiss me?”

Good Lord, I had longed to do so for weeks. “I should be delighted to oblige you.” I sat beside her and took her hands, admonishing myself to use restraint lest I overwhelm her. My lips lowered to hers, and I revelled in their soft, pliable touch. Her enticing essence enveloped me, and my every nerve stirred to attention. Never had I experienced such bliss. Her delectable and unique taste made me greedy for more, yet I held back from deepening the kiss.

As the seconds passed, I edged towards a form of delirium, with all rational thought abandoning me. Then her muffled whimper brought me back to myself, and I ended the tantalising contact with a rough exhalation. I held still to revel in her sweet fragrance and the lingering warmth from our embrace.

Elizabeth’s eyelids fluttered open. “Thank you.” Emotion obscured her words.

“You must know the pleasure is mine.”

She gently retracted her hands and raised the handkerchief to absorb a new tear. “I am exceedingly sorry, but I cannot marry you.”

What? My insides writhed as though enduring an internal thrashing. In a quavering voice, Elizabeth related an encounter with a Romani woman who had given her a “love potion” and admitted having added the substance to my coffee last month at Lucas Lodge.

I raised my palm to halt her narrative. “You cannot truly believe this potion caused me to fall in love with you. This is too outlandish!”

“I am aware of how preposterous this must sound to you, and I did not reach this conclusion without a great deal of rumination. You may not be aware that there are people among us who possess abilities that cannot be explained by scientific or logical means.”

“What sort of abilities?”

“My late grandmama Bennet, for example, used to have premonitions. In one instance, she begged my father to change his plan to visit a friend in Steventon. Papa had learnt to trust her instincts, so he made arrangements to go the following week instead. Later, we found out that several travellers on the road between here and Steventon had been shot and killed by highwaymen on the day my father had intended to leave. My grandmama Bennet also informed my aunt Gardiner that she was enceinte with her firstborn before anyone else suspected her condition, and she knew my aunt Gardiner would have a female child.”

Those anecdotes did not prove anything. Besides, how many of her grandmother’s “premonitions” had been wrong? Nevertheless, I refrained from voicing my scepticism.

“Therefore, it is not out of the realm of possibility that Mrs. Greenwood could have the ability to create effective potions.” Her voice wavered.

My God, she believed this twaddle!

“There can be little doubt that the potion influenced you.” Elizabeth cleared her throat. “After you drank the coffee at Lucas Lodge, you underwent an unmistakable alteration.”

“What do you mean?”

“You followed me throughout the rest of the evening. Until that time, you had never so much as approached me.”

“Nevertheless, you fascinated me before I took my first sip of that coffee.”

“That does not fit my recollection of events.” Her eyes flashed. “You and I never uttered more than a few words to each other between the Meryton assembly and the Lucas’s party, so how could your opinion of me have undergone such a material transformation?”

Dash it all. Would my intemperance at that blasted assembly ever cease vexing me? “My affront to you in October was abhorrent. You were never tolerable.” Hang it. “That is not…I meant to say you were never merely tolerable.”

She shifted back, holding me in her study. “Tell me, have you been rude to other ladies in the past?”

“Yes, more than a few I am sorry to say.” How is this relevant?

“How many of those ladies received apologies from you?”

“I…” My chin inched lower, and my hand brushed over my mouth. I should be honest; nothing less would do with her. “To my shame, none of them.”

“So I am the exception. Do you not see? An unnatural force has been at work upon you, causing you to act in ways you never would have of your own accord.”

“The actual explanation is far simpler—none of the other ladies confronted me as you did. You paid me a service when you forced me to acknowledge my lapse.”

“You are too generous.” Her brows knitted. “There is nothing laudable in the way I alluded to your prior insult that night. My intention had been to embarrass you. Even worse, I had given you the potion out of malice. Although I had not believed it would work, I wished that it would because I had wanted to see you suffer.” Her fingers crushed the fabric of her bonnet.

“Elizabeth, I deserved every jot of your anger and resentment. Let us not dwell upon the past. Notwithstanding the deplorable first impression I made upon you, we have spent time together in a more harmonious vein since then. And minutes ago, you kissed me. Unless I am wildly mistaken, you return my feelings.”

“Yes, I do.” She croaked the words in a near whisper.

Thank the stars. “Then there is no reason why we should not be man and wife.”