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Edward could have laughed. What an arrangement he was agreeing to—marrying the woman he loved and receiving help from her business-minded father. “Yes, sir. I will absolutely accept the terms you’ve set.”

Mr. Coventry’s lips thinned with clear displeasure. “Then might I suggest you remain here for a moment? I will return shortly.”

Edward watched him walk from the room, staring at the open doorway in utter shock. What on earth had just happened? And how?

He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. That was certainly a turn of events he had not been expecting.

Now the question burgeoned in his mind—when would he get to speak with Miss Coventry?

He glanced at the oversized chair in the corner of the room, no books nor crumbs in sight. She hadn’t returned when he’d left?

“I read in the library at nine o’clock.”

Edward swung around at the sound of her voice. His breath caught in his throat. He’d thought of her every day, every moment, since they’d parted. Yet, somehow, he was overcome with even more love by the mere sight of her.

She smiled, her hands clasped together, dimples deepening at the edges of her mouth. Her father stood behind her with eyes narrowed at Edward.

“You have less than a quarter of an hour,” he said with a stern brow, then he gave a brief nod, and his footsteps retreated down the corridor.

Finally, Edward was left alone with Miss Coventry.

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

Edward had longed for this moment, to see Miss Coventry again, to be graced by her presence. But now that it was here, he hesitated. Would moving toward her break the spell between them? Scare her away as it once had when he’d imagined her to be the ghost of Daffley Park?

As she stood before him with an unwavering smile, tears glistening in her green eyes, he knew at once she would not leave—just as he would never leave her again.

He bowed in greeting. “Miss Coventry.”

She did not return with a curtsy. Instead, she rushed toward him without hesitation, her grin matching his own. He met her with open arms, encircling them round her to welcome her back where she belonged.

“Oh, how I have missed you!” she breathed against his ear, her fingers sliding through his hair at the nape of his neck, her soft cheek against his.

He closed his eyes, pressing his nose into her neck and breathing in the scent of her. “And I, you,” he murmured against her skin.

He could never have imagined loving this woman more than he had when he left Daffley, but now as he held her in his arms, his love delved deeper into his heart, never to be removed, never to be forgotten.

A moment passed, neither of them speaking as they drew in each other’s presence. How he longed for this to last, to never release her from his arms again.

But Mr. Coventry had been firm. They did not have long—and Edward had one very important matter to accomplish.

Slowly, he straightened, leaning back to take in the sight of her. “I never thought I would see you again,” he said, brushing back a stray curl from her brow. “But however did you make this come about? I assume your father did not change his mind of his own accord.”

Slowly, her smile faded away, her arms sliding down to rest on his. Edward’s stomach churned. “What has happened?”

She shook her head. “It was not I who changed Father’s mind but Beatrice.”

Edward narrowed his eyes. Had the elder Miss Coventry some great influence over her father? “I do not understand. Your father was adamant. As set as any man I had ever seen. He wanted you to marry a gentleman.”

“He did. But Beatrice offered him something he wanted even more—a connection to an earl.”

“But how could he obtain such a thing? Your sister is in love with the stable hand, is she not?” he asked, recalling the shock he’d experienced when she’d admitted such a thing to Marianne.

“She is. Or at least, she was. But that marriage will not occur. You see, she has agreed to marry Mr. Wakefield, who is a cousin of Lord Ryecombe’s.”

Edward cringed. He would never escape that man. “Why would she promise such a thing if she does not love Mr. Wakefield?”

Miss Coventry drew a saddened smile on her lips. “She made an arrangement with Father. If she marries Mr. Wakefield, Father will allow our own marriage to occur.”