She looked back at Will.
“It’s too grand.”
“Nonsense. Now the last.”
Ada reached for the smallest box, slipped aside its snowy satin ribbon, and lifted its lid to find a mystery within a mystery. Inside the main box were two smaller ones with wads of crumpled paper to cushion and keep them apart.
“That one first.” Will pointed to the square box on the left.
This lid did not lift off but bent up on a hinge. Inside, on rich blue velvet, a ring glinted up at her in a rainbow of color. Small red faceted jewels surrounded a central fiery opal, all set on a gold band.
Too stunned to speak, Ada watched as Will lifted her hand in his and slipped the ring on her finger.
“I did say you needed a ring.”
Ada was grateful for Will’s strong body behind her, holding her up. She was lightheaded with joy, as if she might float away.
“There is one more.”
“It’s already too much.”
And it was too much—too much happiness, too emotion bursting the seams of her heart, too much of the contentment she never dreamed she would find. And she did not wish it any other way.
She reached for the last box, a small rectangle, and found the rest of the broach’s opals inside. They had been transformed into earrings, two teardrops of colorful white stone surrounded by smaller opal rounds.
When Ada said nothing, Will tensed behind her.
“Do you like them, love?”
She stroked his hand at her waist and turned her head to smile at him.
“I told you to give these opals to a woman who would cherish them, and you.” Ada gazed at him, her eyes reflecting the emotions welling inside. “And you did.”
He kissed her then, tenderly, lingering at her mouth for another kiss and another.
Ada was breathless when he pulled away and spoke to her, his tone earnest, as if proclaiming a solemn vow.
“We’ll cherish each other.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Christy Carlyle writes sensual, and sometimes downright steamy, historical romance, usually set in the Victorian era or Regency period. She loves heroes who struggle against all odds and heroines that are ahead of their time. A former teacher with a degree in history, she finds there is nothing better than being able to combine her love of the past with her die-hard belief in happy endings.
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Stay tuned for Brazen Wager, the next Whitechapel Wagers novella, coming in August 2014!
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