He put hands on each of her shoulders and studied her beloved face in the firelight. “Mary Milne, I fancy addressing you as Lady Paxton. It would make me the happiest man in all of England if you would oblige.”
Her pale blue eyes widened. Then she gave him a coy smile as if they shared a private jest. “I should be inclined to oblige if words of love had accompanied your proposal, my lord.”
Now he smiled. “Very well. Allow me to start over. Mary Milne, I am quite certain I have loved you from the moment we met. I shall never love another, and I shall go mad if you don’t do me the honor of agreeing to become my countess.”
She buried herself in his embrace. “Oh, my lord, the answer is yes! And I didn’t think it was possible to fall so completely in love in so short a time, but I, too, plead guilty.” She looked up into his face. “I love you most ardently, my lord.”
“David,” he murmured. “You’re to call me David henceforth.”
“Allow me to repeat that. I love you most ardently, David.”
He settled gentle kisses on the lips of his intended wife.
A moment later, she laughed to herself.
“And what do you find so amusing?”
“That was the second proposal of marriage I received today.”
David rolled his eyes. “Blatherwick?”
She nodded.
“You obviously turned him down.”
She did not respond for a moment. “Actually…”
“Mary?” he growled.
“I didn’t accept him. It’s just that I…I hated to disappoint him. He was so sure of himself, so sure that any woman would be happy to marry so fine a matrimonial catch such as he that I didn’t have the heart to destroy his hopes.”
David glared at this woman he adored. “So what did you tell him?”
“I told him it wasn’t a good time, that I had much Christmas planning to do and couldn’t think about it.”
“Surely you weren’t going to consider accepting him?”
“I wasn’t considering it favorably or unfavorably. Frankly, I never expected a proposal from you, so I didn’t wish to completely eliminate my sole suitor.”
Was she so modest she hadn’t been able to see how much David had come to worship her? “It would have been much easier, actually much more humane, to have let him down today than to give him false hope. David was not entirely successful at suppressing the anger from his voice.
“I’m sure you’re right. I’m a terrible coward.”
He stroked her cheek. “You’re possessed of too tender a heart.”
“A condition I credit you and your father with. I found out about the girl you sent to help care for Mr. Knight.”
He shrugged. “It was a very minor thing to do. Look at all you’ve done for him.”
“He’s very appreciative. He thinks almost as highly of you as I do.”
“Back to Blatherwick…You do realize that as egotistical as BlatherBoast is, it’s likely he may perceive that you’ve accepted him?”
“He couldn’t be that much of a dunderhead.”
“Oh, but he could. You forget I’ve known him all my life. Which explains why I do everything I can to avoid the fellow. But that’s enough talk about him. Now, about us…I want you to be my bride on Christmas.”
“That soon?”
“That or I compromise your virtue, and I’d rather not. You’re too good.”
“But Christmas is just two days away.”
“I’ll procure a special license.”
“How wonderful! Just this morning I was thinking what a wonderful Christmas this would be for us. Because of you. I had no idea just how wonderful it really was going to be.”
“I’m going to be a very busy man tomorrow if I’m going to be speaking to the appropriate clergymen regarding the special license. One more kiss, my love, then it’s off to my lonely bed.”
“But only for two more nights,” she whispered seductively as she moved into his embrace.
Mary slept late the next morning. Her excitement kept her awake for hours. She couldn’t believe such good fortune had fallen on her. She was to wed the most perfect man, a man she loved more than she’d ever thought possible. Not for a moment had she ever allowed herself to even hope she could win Lord Paxton’s affections. He was too far above her touch. Even in the dark bedchamber, a perpetual smile lifted her face.
By the time she came downstairs for breakfast, David had already gone. She regretted that they had not discussed telling others about their upcoming nuptials. She, quite naturally, wanted to tell Stevie as well as the Ballards, but she would wait until David permitted her to do so.
After breakfast she found Stevie in the morning room engaged in a full-scale battle with an army of toy tin soldiers. “Where did those come from?” she asked.
“Lord Paxton found them. They were his when he was a lad. He gave them to me.”
The smile she directed at her son was really meant for the man she loved. She stood watching for a moment, though she had no interest in military battles, hoping Stevie might mention that David might have brought up the topic of their imminent marriage.
As excited as her son was over the toy soldiers, he wouldn’t have forgotten the prospect of having Lord Paxton for a stepfather. She was sure David hadn’t told Stevie—which was really as it should be. The news should come either from her or from them jointly. She’d wait and discuss it with him.
She went next to the table in the entry hall and was pleased to see the post had already come. There were only two pieces of mail, and they were almost identical. Both she and David each had received a letter from the solicitor’s office.
She opened hers, her brows knitting in puzzlement.
Dear Lord Paxton,
You will shortly be receiving communication from the solicitor Henry Bosworth, who will be writing to inform you that your challenge to Mrs. Mary Milne’s ownership of Darnley Lodge may very well stand up in a court of law. Expect his letter spelling out the legal aspects of the challenge.
I remain,
Your servant,
Percy Stonehouse, Esquire
She flipped over the sheet upon which the communication was written and saw that the clerk had mistakenly addressed this to her. That meant the one addressed to…his lordship was the communication Stonehouse had meant for her.
She felt as if the house she was standing in had collapsed on top of her. Indeed, it was as if her whole world had crumbled—except that, thank God, Stevie was well.
David had come here hating her and wanting to take away the only thing she owned, the legacy from his dear father.
She had grossly misjudged him when she’d credited him with being like his parent.
She had been blind to trust him—all because he was handsome and pretended to be kind to her.
It felt as if her heart had been hatcheted from her chest. She was too stricken even for tears. It had been like that when Peter died. Now she had painfully lost the only two men she’d ever loved.
She believed he had finally grown to love her, but she could not trust a man who had been so dishonest with her.
So absorbed in her own grief was she that she never heard the noise associated with the arrival of Mr. Blatherwick just a few feet away. Ballard showed him in.