'I'm sorry, I know it was too soon to speak. Forget I said anything. But I hope you won't hold it against me, and we might be friends.'
'Stop it!' Linda commanded.
'I'm sorry,' he began, but she jumped to her feet and grasped his hands.
'Simon, stop talking and let me get a word in edgeways! I don't need time, I don't want to humour you. It was the same for me, when you kissed me, I mean. I wanted it to go on and on, but I never thought I had a chance. You thought I was such an idiot, and I imagined you were only helping me out of kindness, and perhaps to get your pictures and things back.'
He was holding her by the shoulders, looking intently into her eyes. 'You mean it? Linda, can you possibly mean you love me, like I do you?'
Wordlessly she nodded, and he folded her into his arms. She lifted up her face and felt she would drown in the bliss of his embrace. It felt like coming home, she knew she would never again be alone, or frightened.
Some time later there was a discreet cough, and they broke apart, glancing towards the door.
'I said eight sharp for dinner, Simon, but I understand you have more important things on your mind,' Maggie said, beaming fondly at them.
Simon laughed. 'Sorry, Maggie, but I think, though I haven't actually asked her yet, you can congratulate me. We'll come right away.'
'Good, it's about time you found a good woman and settled down, and Miss Linda's the right one for you. I knew that straight away. I'm glad I cooked a special dinner. And bring that champagne with you.'
'She's a tyrant,' Simon grumbled as he reluctantly let Linda go and picked up the cooler.
'Do you really mean you'll marry me?' he asked some time later, when, after a superb meal, they were ensconced in the library again, curled up together on one of the big, comfortable chairs.
'How many times do you need telling?' she asked, twining her fingers round his. 'I fell in love with you when I saw you jousting. There's something so romantic about a full suit of armour. Though it's not very comfortable. Oh, Simon, I didn't dare dream of it! And if it hadn't been for Pete we'd never have met.'
'One thing's certain, we'll not invite him to the wedding. Now, when's the soonest we can get married? Next week? My parents will be back late tomorrow, and in the morning we'll go and buy a ring, two rings, engagement and wedding rings, and start looking for a house. Where would you prefer to be?'
'Simon, stop!' Linda said, laughing. 'I need a few more days than a week to plan everything.'
He laughed, and began to kiss her again, and Linda forgot the practical arrangements as she revelled in the feeling of security and excitement he gave her. It had been a wonderful time, despite the horrors, and she was a fan of re-enactment events, and Simon, for ever.
###
THE END
Marina Oliver has written over 75 novels, all are available as ebooks.
For the latest information please see Marina's web site:
https://www.marina-oliver.net.
More crime and suspense novels by Marina:
*
Veiled Destiny
When Sophie Stone is chased by another car through the narrow lanes of the Chilterns late one summer night, she thinks it’s just another drunken idiot - until he tries to block her in and wields a machete.
She is rescued by another motorist, Luke Despard, and he discovers she is wealthy. More attempts are made either to kidnap or kill Sophie, but who would benefit by her death?
There’s Pru, who would get the other half of their business, Sophie’s half-brothers and their siblings.
Convinced at last that they are real attempts Sophie goes to hide at Luke's cottage, but her trust in him is shattered when there is yet another kidnap attempt. Who knew they were there? Who can she trust?
*
A Cut Above the Rest
The second Dodie Fanshaw mystery
Which characters dared to write the author out of the script?
When Dodie Fanshaw went to stay with her daughter Elena in Markenlea, she had been expecting a peaceful, sedate village on the banks of the River Thames. But then a mermaid clambers out of the river and into Elena's garden.
Well, not a mermaid exactly, a mysterious, sopping-wet girl. Bizarre and intriguing though she is, it's only when Dodie and Elena call on Elena's neighbour, best-selling novelist Rick Wilbraham, that the real story unfolds. There they find Anna, Rick's girlfriend, hysterically clinging on to Rick's lifeless body.
Soon Rick's pleasant riverside garden fills up with his neighbours, ex-lovers, his publisher and agent, and Dodie can't help herself getting involved in this close-knit village.
*
Murder in California
The sixth Dodie Fanshaw mystery
A stolen pistol plopping into the pool beside Dodie, former starlet, announces murder.
Instead of relaxing in the Californian sunshine she and Joe Broughton, her ex-husband with whom she is staying in his house overlooking the Pacific, set out to discover who could have killed one of his neighbours and disposed of the pistol.
Dodie becomes aware of several tensions and jealousies among the neighbours.
They all deny having taken it, but one of the neighbours could have stolen the pistol.
Asking questions and testing alibis proves difficult.
*
Strangled in the Sauna
The seventh Dodie Fanshaw mystery
Why do the owners of fabulous jewels refuse to have the police called in when they are stolen? How could a thief open a bedroom safe?
Dodie has an aversion to exercise, and even more to massage when she is persuaded to go to the Yorkshire health spa by Elena, whose boy friend is cousin to the owners.
Suspicion obviously falls on the maids, but other staff have legitimate reasons to visit guest rooms. But how can they dispose of such well-known jewels?
Dodie and Elena question everyone, study lists of guests and staff rotas, but nothing makes any sense.
Then there is a murder and the plot thickens.
*
And very different:
Convict Queen
Few convicts returned to England but Molly Morgan was one who did.
She lived in a Shropshire village, first as a maid to a wealthy farmer then with her husband William, who was somewhat light-fingered.
He escaped when they were accused of the theft of flax from a drying field, but Molly was tried and sentenced to transportation.
She went with the Second Fleet and survived being on the Neptune, the worst ever ship to carry convicts to New South Wales. Many of the convicts died or were too weak on arrival to walk.
Molly found a protector on the ship, and another for whom she worked on land. After a few years she persuaded an American Whaling ship captain to hide her and take her back to England, where she lived in London and worked as a seamstress until she married a Plymouth whitesmith.
They quarrelled and she went back to London where she was accused of more theft and again transported.
After a while, and the accusation of stealing Government cattle, she began farming in the Hunter Valley and opened taverns. She became wealthy, known for giving help to convicts and support for charities. At the age of sixty she married a man of one and thirty.
She was named the Queen of Hunter Valley.
***
Theft of Love Page 8
