Chapter 13

13

F elicity shifted to find a more comfortable sitting position as she once again laid out her options. “Mr. Franz is the best contender at this point, don’t you think?”

She heard a sigh, but ignored it.

“Of course, Lord Wentley has the title, which will make him more appealing to my parents, but I’m the one who’d be stuck with my choice, not them.”

She set her chin in her hand and rested her elbow on her knee as she deliberated.

It truly was a difficult decision, made all the more so by the ticking clock that was her engagement announcement. Her uncle had informed her only this morning that her parents had settled on making the announcement at the Loggerfields’ ball, which was only ten days away.

She had to act and she had to act quickly.

You know how you can act quickly , Meg had said.

Accept Albright’s proposal , Ann had finished.

But neither of them understood that she could not do such a thing. She hadn’t wished to explain in detail, mainly because she didn’t even wish to dwell on the topic.

Truly, the sooner she could marry another man and never hear Albright’s name mentioned again, the better. The thought of him only made her mood fouler—which was difficult to do considering the day she’d had—so she endeavored to focus once more.

After all… “Pining over a man who does not return one’s feelings has never done anyone any good.” She frowned. “Who said that? I feel as though I’ve heard it before.”

No response.

Lud, she knew she was miserable company of late, but really.

“Perhaps I made it up.” She gave a hmph . “Perhaps once I am free of my family and my husband I shall set out to be a writer.”

This earned her a groan which she did not dignify with a response.

A silence fell and, like always of late, her silly brain tried to fill it instantly with thoughts of Albright.

The way he’d looked when he’d come charging in to her rescue. His grudging laugh when they’d first become acquainted, and his easier, more affectionate laugh once they’d formed a….

A what? A friendship?

No.

An alliance?

She shook her head. Didn’t matter. Mooning over Albright was a waste of precious time.

This was why she had to keep her thoughts focused. She opened her mouth to continue her list of potential husbands and all their pros and cons, but before she could, a voice split the night air.

“Felicity!”

She winced at Albright’s shout. Though, she had to admit the desperation she heard there was rather gratifying, but still…

“Not so loud, if you please,” she said quietly as he rounded the corner of her great uncle’s home. “I’d rather not wake Uncle Edward.”

He stopped short at the sight of her sitting under her beloved tree. “Felicity, are you all right?”

“Quite well, thank you.” She was proud of how strong her voice came out. No hint of a weepy wobble.

A grunting noise ruined what might have been an otherwise lovely moment.

Albright seemed to be frozen in place and the men who’d come with him faltered to a stop beside him. Most of the men she knew and so she waved.

This earned her a smothered laugh from Carver, and a wicked grin from Lord Kalvin.

She’d always liked these men, even before her friends decided they loved them.

Marlin took several steps forward. “It seems she has the situation well in hand.”

“Indeed I do,” she agreed. “But as this is not the most comfortable position…”

She held a hand out and every man present rushed forward to help her to her feet. Albright reached her first and she tried not to notice how warm his hand was as it wrapped around hers, nor how close he stood as the others retrieved the scoundrel from where he still lay prostrate on the ground.

She resisted the urge to rub her aching bottom.

Perching on that rascal Everson’s back had not been comfortable, but it had been the most assured way to keep him down until help arrived.

And she’d known they would arrive, eventually. It did not require a great leap to understand that the angry and unstable Mr. Everson would want revenge first and foremost…

And perhaps that dowry he’d been promised.

So yes, all of the men had arrived, and swiftly.

To her dismay everyone was making a fuss over her as Everson was led away—shamed, it seemed, since he’d been beaten by a woman.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” Rodrick asked.

She smiled and nodded, and gave the slightest tug of her hand. But Albright refused to let it go.

If the other gentlemen noticed the way he was clasping her hand in his, no one let on as they applauded her bravery and asked her about the circumstances that had led to her sitting atop their runaway fiend.

“It was not bravery or strength,” she finally admitted as she tried and failed to reclaim her hand once again. “I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.”

“The tree,” Albright murmured at her side.

The sound of his voice, all low and serious…it sent a shiver down her spine, and her hand?—

She tugged so hard she nearly stumbled into him when he held on tight.

“Yes, the tree,” she agreed. For the benefit of the others, she explained how the tree had long been her favorite place to come sit and think, particularly at night. “I saw him coming, of course.”

“And you didn’t shout for help?” Marlin asked.

She lifted a shoulder. “Help from whom? My elderly great uncle? He’d only be in harm’s way. And while we do have some footmen on the premises, they are little more than boys and no match for Everson in strength.”

A silence fell and Felicity felt their gazes fixed on her. She didn’t feel condemnation or disdain coming from them, however. If anything, she thought she saw a glimmer of admiration in their expressions.

Except for Albright. She couldn’t see his expression at all because she refused to look up at him.

“And you thought you are a match for Everson in strength?” Albright’s voice was as low and calm as ever, but she heard the undercurrent there.

He was angry again, no doubt. And perhaps a little relieved.

A niggle of warmth seeped into her chest at the thought of him worrying about her.

She shut the thought down instantly. She’d made the man fret far more than he ought of late, and only a fool would mistake kindhearted worry for something more.

While she answered Albright’s question, she kept her attention on the other men facing her. “I did not believe I could match him in strength, but I knew I had the element of surprise in my favor…” She glanced up pointedly at the tree limb. “Not to mention a height advantage.”

Carver sputtered a bit. Kal and Rodrick chuckled.

Marlin’s lips twitched. “And so you…jumped on him?”

Felicity started to laugh. When he put it like that, it sounded rather ridiculous. “I’d say it was more…” She paused and lifted Albright’s arm with hers in a sort of reenactment of her leap. “It was more like I fell on him.”

They were all laughing now, aside from Albright. He was squeezing her hand so tightly she was starting to wonder if she’d lose feeling in her fingers. But soon enough the others were taking their leave, and no one seemed to find it strange in the slightest that Albright made no move to join them.

And soon they were alone.

In the dark.

Under the tree.

And he was still holding her hand.

It wasn’t panic that flooded her veins, but it was something close. She wasn’t afraid of him, but…oh drat. She was afraid of this . Of the way he made her feel.

It was everything she didn’t want to feel, not when she had decisions to make. He was too tempting by far with his chivalrous offer of marriage. If he asked her again, she wasn’t sure she’d have the strength to say no.

She gave her hand another useless tug.

But it would be selfish and greedy…and all she had to do was think of the look of disappointment she’d see in his eyes eventually to know it would destroy her in the end.

“Let me go,” she finally snapped.

He dropped her hand so suddenly she wondered if he even realized he’d been holding it. Clutching it to her chest, she turned away. “I appreciate your rescue—again.” She rolled her eyes, though no one could see it. “But I find I’m rather tired, so if you please–”

“No.” He moved so he was standing in front of her, and his eyes were darker than the night sky as he gazed down at her. “I need you to listen to me.”

She started to protest.

“Not for long, and if you never wish to see me again after you hear me out, I will respect that. But please…” It was the please that got her. So gruff and filled with emotion. “Please let me speak.”

She couldn’t deny him now. With a jerky nod she waved for him to continue as she shifted closer to the tree, as if she could somehow hide in its shadows.

“I want to talk about what happened under this tree the other night,” he started.

She stiffened instantly and her gaze darted away. “I do not think that is?—”

“I want to marry you, Felicity.”

Her eyes returned to his, startled by his intensity. “I know you think you ought to?—”

“The way I feel has nothing to do with what is right or good or dutiful.” He reached for her hand again and this time he pressed it to his chest. “The way I feel is…alive.”

His voice was so raw on that last word, it made her throat thicken with emotion. “W-what do you mean?”

“After my wife died…” He paused. “After she passed away I was heartbroken, and I never wanted to feel that way again. So I…I didn’t.” He wet his lips, but his gaze never left hers. “You know, there was a time when even my closest friends wouldn’t say her name. They walked around me like I was breakable. No one wants to dwell on loss, and so I…”

She squeezed his hand when he faltered, her heart racing and her thoughts whirling.

“And so I pushed those feelings down, and I moved on?—”

“But you didn’t move on,” she said, jumping in rudely because her patience was well and truly spent. “You still love her. I understand.”

He shook his head. “You don’t understand. I do still love her?—”

“And no one will ever replace her, and certainly not someone like me?—”

“Felicity.”

She clamped her lips shut.

“Please,” he said again.

She nodded.

“II’ll always have a place in my heart for my wife, yes.” His brows furrowed. “I am not still heartbroken, nor am I pining away over her memory, if that’s what you think. I met Catherine when I was young, and we married quickly. Truthfully, I sometimes wonder how we would have gotten on if we’d had the time most couples have. As it was, I will always remember her with fondness, but…” His throat worked as he swallowed. “But I didn’t know her well enough to miss her in the way my grandmother misses my grandfather. He was part of her life for decades and they truly shared a life. With Catherine, I think sometimes that what I miss most is…” He looked upward, his eyes searching the stars. “I miss the life we thought we’d have. I miss the man I was when I met and married her. But I am not that man anymore. Grief and loneliness and forging a new path in life…all this has led me to be someone else altogether. I often think that if by some miracle Catherine were to come back to me today she would not recognize me. And she would likely not fall in love with me. And I’m…I’m not certain I’d fall in love with her either.”

Felicity took a step back, her brows furrowed. “Don’t say that. Of course she’d love you.”

His smile was so soft and tender, it took her breath away. “Do you think so?”

“Of course!”

He let out a huff of laughter and then reached for her again. This time he tried to pull her close, but she resisted.

“I appreciate the explanation…” She swallowed. “But it is unnecessary.”

“It is, though, because you clearly do not understand.” The exasperation in his voice made her want to smile and cry at the same time.

She’d grown oddly fond of his irritated gruff tone since she only ever heard it aimed at her, and usually when she was teasing him.

“For a long time I thought I would not marry again,” he started.

“You wanted to marry Ann,” she interrupted.

He arched a brow.

“It’s true, you wanted Ann,” she argued.

“I wanted what Ann and I could have together.”

She didn’t think her heart could hurt any more than it had the night he’d rejected her. But here she was, with her heart feeling as though it was cracking in two. “I see.”

“You don’t see. Not at all,” he snapped. “I thought I wanted Ann because…because she could never make me feel like this .” He snagged her waist and pulled her so close she could feel his body heat, so warm compared to the night breeze.

“I spent years trying to avoid getting hurt again. I avoided loving and losing. I didn’t want to feel too much about anything or anyone because I thought…” He shook his head. “I’d played the game and lost, and I had no intention of playing again.”

She frowned up at him. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying I felt that way right up until a ridiculous, funny, irritating young lady fell into my life.” He glanced up meaningfully at the tree limb as her lips parted on a gasp.

It wasn’t his words so much as the passion in his voice that left her trembling.

“Ever since that day I’ve been feeling things I never wanted to feel. I’ve laughed and lost my temper. I’ve…” He shook his head, his dark eyes blazing with emotion. “I’ve lived . I’ve lived more these past weeks with you than I have in years.”

Her heart was thundering in her ears and her hands fluttered over his chest as she tried to sort out if she wanted to pull him closer or push him away. He was confusing her. She’d been so sure she was making the right choice, doing what was right for him, and now here he was…

She shut her eyes tight. It was too much. “What are you trying to say?”

“I’m saying I’ve fallen in love with you, Felicity.”

She opened her eyes and her gaze met his. And it was there. That love he spoke of was right there in his eyes, shining back at her and making her heart swell and her eyes tear up.

He swiped a tear from her cheek. “I love you. That’s what I came here to say.”

“But…but that night…” She clutched his shirt now, and pulled him close. “That night…”

“That night I was a blasted fool,” he said with a shake of his head. “Your proposal caught me off guard, and I…” He sighed. “I didn’t know what to make of all these feelings. It was like a bottle of champagne had been popped open and all came spilling out.”

She nodded.

“And I thought…” He huffed. “I thought you were making light of marriage…making light of me. And I’d only just realized that I’m in love with you and?—”

She cut him off with a kiss.

After a second of shocked stillness, he growled and deepened the kiss. His arms wrapped around her waist and he held her so tightly she thought he might never let go.

Good.

She smiled against his lips, and soon he was smiling too, his lips still pressed to hers. “Shall we try this again, my love?” he murmured.

A shiver raced through her. “They say third time’s the charm.”

He chuckled as he pulled back to look down at her. “Marry me?”

Her heart leapt into her throat. “Yes.”

His joy was instantly visible in his eyes, in his smile. He let out a loud whoop as he tightened his grip on her waist and lifted her off her feet.

She laughed as he spun her around, her heart bursting with joy. “Shh,” she said through her giggles. “You’ll wake my uncle and we’ll be caught.”

“Good,” he said. But he set her on her feet so he could kiss her once more. “The sooner everyone knows, the sooner we can be wed.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight. “You’re that eager to marry me, hmm?”

His eyes grew so warm, she felt an answering fire spark low in her belly. He leaned down so his lips were next to her ear. “You brought me back to life, Miss Felicity McGovern,” he whispered. “And now I want to make sure I live every last waking minute…with you by my side.”

Thank you for reading! If you’d like to read more sweet regency romances, I’d love for you to check out my collection at www.maggiedallenbooks.com