She relaxed, and a faint smile began to play around the corners of her mouth. “A not insurmountable problem. I am sure I can adjust to the role of lady of the manor. And the second problem?”
“I am afraid that once you cease your foolish prattle and allow me to carry you off to my bed, I shall not willingly let you out of my embrace for days and days.”
“Perhaps even weeks?”
“I promise to do my best,” he said, picking her up in his arms.
“And as I have already ascertained, your best is quite good indeed.”
“I love you,” he said with no more levity.
“Then cease your ‘foolish prattle’ and show me just how much,” she said with an impish grin.
It was all worth it, he realized. Every moment of pain he had suffered—every slight and indignity he had endured—it had all brought him to this point. He had spent years wishing that his father had treated his mother with the respect and honor that she deserved, and yet now, if he had the power to go back in time and change whatever he wished, he would alter nothing.
Because all of the events of his life had conspired to bring him to this place and time, and Bethia was now so firmly entrenched in his heart, it was impossible for him to imagine life without her beside him.
“You are crying,” she said wonderingly, reaching up to brush a tear off his cheek.
“I have never been happier in my life,” he replied, carrying her over to the bed and laying her down gently.
“You will be a wonderful earl,” Bethia said. “Everyone will come to admire you, I am sure.”
He laughed out loud. “What do I have to say to persuade you that I don’t care a fig about the title or about anyone else’s opinion?”
“Why,” she said looking up at him innocently, “you do not have to say a thing...”
Taking her meaning, he quickly lay down and wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.
“And as for me,” she said, “I shall exercise great restraint and forbear to point out to you that you have been insisting since the day we met that I should care about such things.”
He silenced her with a kiss, and after a few more moments, his darling beloved wife abandoned all thoughts of restraint.
The Counterfeit Gentleman Page 24
