He waited for her to speak. She’d looped her arms around her knees again and was looking at the counterpane, rather than at him. Her face was made of light and shadows; her dress was dark. He could see she was frowning a little.
“You didn’t marry Louisa?” she finally asked softly.
It was more of a statement than a question, given that she was sitting on his bed, in the Eversea house, and Louisa wasn’t in it.
“Well, no. I’m going to marry you,” he said reasonably.
She was quiet.
“Very well, then,” she conceded.
He laughed at that. “Don’t be afraid, Mad.”
Her head snapped up. “I’m not—”
“You are. So am I, but that’s to be expected, as I’m the most dreadful coward.”
He said it because he knew she would leap indignantly to his defense. “You’re perhaps the bravest, most perfect man there is, Colin Eversea.”
Now this was funny, indeed, and he laughed again, and she made a frantic shushing sound.
“Perfect for you, perhaps. Kiss me, Mad.”
She obliged, leaning forward a little awkwardly, pressing her soft mouth lightly against his. Her lips were cool from the night air, but he’d warm her quickly enough.
He sighed, and pressed his cheek against hers to let his heat seep into her. Breathed her in. Ah, Madeleine.
“What of Louisa?” she whispered against his cheek. Scooting her body a bit closer.
“Do you care?”
She leaned back then and shrugged, and looked somewhere off beyond his shoulder.
“Louisa was delighted to see me alive. She is married to Marcus. And I believe they will be very happy together, and nothing makes me happier than knowing this, unless it’s knowing I’ll spend the rest of my life with you.”
A silence as she took this in.
“Do you love her?” she asked, and it wasn’t a tentative question.
“Yes.”
Madeleine began to pull back, but he wasn’t about to allow that. His arms looped her and he held her fast.
“I love her the way I love…memories of youth. Or the way I love my sisters Genevieve, or Olivia, or…Well, I wasn’t going to say, ‘No, I don’t love her, Mad,’ because it isn’t true, and I won’t ever lie to you. But don’t you see? You are my…very heart. You are love to me. I’m in love with you. I simply can’t live without you. I…well, for heaven’s sake, don’t make me keep talking like this. Like a romantic fool. Do you understand? Tell me you understand.”
She smiled her beautiful smile. “I understand.”
And he felt what surely must have been all the joy in the universe unfurling in his chest.
“Do you think you’ll like married life out here in the Sussex Downs, Madeleine? On a farm?”
“I don’t know,” she said honestly.
He smiled a little. “That will have to do, I suppose.”
“I shall try,” she added quickly.
“We shall never grow bored,” he promised her, just as quickly.
“No,” she agreed, not without some trepidation.
“Perhaps we’ll even grow staid in a decade or so.”
She took a long, deep breath and exhaled, gathering her courage. “It doesn’t matter what we grow, as long as I’m with you.”
She’d looked away when she said it. Following a hunch, Colin brushed the back of his hand against her cheeks and felt the heat of her blush. She’d said the words rather in a rush. Brave girl.
She looked up at him again, and he cradled her chin in his hand.
“Precisely,” he said steadily. And though he was nearly as terrified as she was, he would be brave for her from now on. He would protect her all his days, so that she was never afraid of anything again, and never alone again. She’d made a hero of him. He would be a hero for her every day for the rest of his life.
He was light-headed, dizzy with happiness at the idea of forever with Madeleine.
“I love you, Colin,” she said. “You’re my heart, too, you know.”
“Ah, very good,” he said contentedly. “And I know an infinite number of ways to show you how much I love you, if you’re curious.”
“Start now, please,” she ordered.
Far be it for him to disobey an order. He pulled her down into his arms and began to show her.
Acknowledgments
My deepest gratitude to all the breathtakingly accomplished people at Avon Books/HarperCollins who’ve made me feel so welcome and appreciated, in particular my sharp and adorable editor, May Chen; to Karen, Melisa, and Toni for unflagging humor and friendship; and last but never, ever least, to my gifted agent, Steve Alexrod, who remains one of the loveliest things ever to happen to me.
About the Author
San Francisco Bay Area native JULIE ANNE LONG originally set out to be a rock star when she grew up (and she has the guitars and fringed clothing stuffed in the back of her closet to prove it), but writing was always her first love.
She began her academic career as a Journalism major, until she realized Creative Writing was a better fit for her freewheeling imagination and overdeveloped sense of whimsy.
And when playing guitar in dank, sticky clubs finally lost its “charm,” Julie realized she could incorporate all the best things about being in a band—namely drama, passion, and men with unruly hair—into novels, while also indulging her love of history and research. Since then, her books have been nominated for awards, including the RITA®, Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice, the Holt Medallion, Bookseller’s Best, and The Quills, and reviewers have been known to use words such as “dazzling,” “brilliant,” and “impossible to put down” when describing them. Visit Julie at www.julieannelong.com, www.julieannelong.typepad.com, or www.myspace/julieannelong.
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By Julie Anne Long
THE PERILS OF PLEASURE
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Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
THE PERILS OF PLEASURE. Copyright © 2008 by Julie Anne Long. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
ePub edition December 2007 ISBN 9780061749285
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