by Dilly Court
‘You’re not afraid to put him in his place. He needs someone who will stand up to him, and he’d never put up with a silly girl who demanded his attention all the time and talked about nothing but folderols and fripperies. Matt’s not like that.’
‘He’s wonderful,’ Prissy breathed, closing her eyes. ‘If I had one big wish I know what it would be.’
Lily glanced over her shoulder at the sound of approaching footsteps and for a moment she thought she was seeing things. She blinked hard. ‘I think your wish and mine might have been answered, Prissy,’ she murmured as she saw two familiar figures striding towards her. They appeared to be deep in conversation and her breath hitched in her throat. She hardly dared to hope as Matt and Gabriel drew nearer, with Mark and Luke close behind them. Anxiously she scanned Matt’s face for signs of outrage, but she could see that he was smiling. He threw back his head and laughed, slapping Gabriel on the back.
‘It’s all settled, Lily,’ Matt said, encompassing her and Prissy in a warm smile. ‘Gabriel’s worn me down and I’ll not stand in your way any longer.’
Prissy uttered a shriek of joy and threw her arms around Matt’s neck. ‘You’re a toff, Matt Larkin. A real toff.’
He lifted her off her feet, planting a kiss on her lips. ‘I’ve wanted to do that for a long time, Prissy. You’ve done something to me, girl. I dunno what it is but I like it.’
‘Well I’m blowed, you dark horse.’ Mark slapped him on the back. ‘I thought you hated women.’
‘I hadn’t met the right one,’ Matt said, grinning. ‘I’ve been plucking up the courage to make the first move, but she did it for me.’ He kissed her again, receiving a round of applause from his brothers.
Gabriel slipped his arm around Lily’s waist. ‘It seems like a happy outcome after all, my darling.’
Still clutching Prissy as if he was afraid she might suddenly fly away, Matt nodded his head in agreement. ‘You can marry your bloke, Lily, and I wish you well.’ He picked up the heavy basket of meat and vegetables that Prissy had put down, proffering his arm to her. ‘Let’s go inside. I want to put everyone straight as to how to treat you now, Prissy. You’ve been treated like a servant and it’s got to stop.’
‘Yes, Matt,’ Prissy said meekly. ‘Anything you say.’ She tucked her hand in the crook of his arm, but paused as they reached the door, turning to Lily with a broad grin. ‘I done it, Lily. I done it.’
‘I wish you well too, Lily,’ Mark said, giving her a smacking kiss on the cheek. ‘And you’d better treat her right or you’ll have me to answer to, Gabriel.’
‘I’ll treasure her for the rest of my life,’ Gabriel said softly.
Luke nudged his brother out of the way. ‘I’ll write a poem for your wedding day, Lil, and I’m going to speak to Christian about getting a job on his newspaper. It may not be poet laureate stuff, but I think I’ve got a talent for putting things into words.’ He gave her a hug, turning to Gabriel with a wide grin. ‘It looks like she’s all yours, old chap.’ He hurried into the house, leaving them alone on the quay wall.
Gabriel took hold of Lily’s hand, looking deeply into her eyes and smiling. ‘I’m no poet when it comes to writing down how much I love and adore you, but I think you know how I feel.’
She nodded her head. ‘I do.’
‘And I’ve managed to convince your brothers that I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to make you happy. You know that too, don’t you?’
She smiled. ‘I do, Gabriel.’
‘According to Lockwood the exhibition was a huge success and I’ve already sold two of my works, so now I can ask you humbly and from the bottom of my heart if you’ll consent to be my wife, my dearest Lily.’
‘You already know the answer to that, my love.’ She slid her hands around his neck, drawing his head down until their lips touched in a kiss that sealed her pledge to love him until the day she died.
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Version 1.0
Epub ISBN 9781407071879
Published by Arrow Books 2011
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Copyright © Dilly Court 2011
Dilly Court has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work
This novel is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser
First published in Great Britain in 2011 by
Arrow Books
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 9780099538844
