Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

" W hat do you think of this deep burgundy for the curtains?" She asked, gesturing toward the color. "Or is the blue best?"

"Both are lovely, but perhaps blue is the better color to go with. After all, this room had some nice light, but the burgundy is a tad bit dark for the room, do you think?" Margaret replied.

"I wondered at that. There is such wonderful light in the space, it would be good to make the most of it."

"And which wallpaper do you think?" Margaret asked, looking more closely at the book in her hands.

"I'm not certain. Perhaps this?"

As she was flipping through the book again for the right match, the door burst open.

Margaret was halfway out of her seat before both of them realized it was Matthew. But there was certainly something different about him.

Perhaps it was the brilliant smile on his face or the way he seemed to be positively bursting with energy. The way he quickly crossed the room toward Diana and practically dragged her out of her chair before he'd begun to speak.

"I have found it! It is perfect! You must see this! Prepare the carriage!" At that last he strode back to the door and stuck his head back into the hallway. "Prepare the carriage!" he repeated and there was some small bustle as a servant raced off to see to it. "Come now, Diana, let us go."

"Mathew, Mathew, what in the world … what have you found?" She asked, wondering vaguely if he had completely lost his head.

"The house. It is the perfect house," he managed to get out. "And we must go now to see it," he added impatiently.

"If it is so perfect, how have we not seen it already?" she asked, confused. "We have already looked at every house available within miles of our current residence."

"It was not for sale. But I persuaded the owners," Matthew explained with a wink, of all things!

"And how did you convince them to leave their house?" Diana raised an eyebrow, though she was unable to keep herself from smiling.

"Well, the owners are an elderly couple with no children of their own, and I helped them see that there's no reason for them to have a house so large. They agreed when I made them a rather generous offer. Just wait until you see it."

The carriage was waiting out front, and Matthew helped her into it without further ado. Then they took off.

"How did you stumble across this perfect house?" Diana asked, caught up in his excitement.

"I had business in town, as you know, and on my way back I happened to be watching the countryside."

"Not something that you would regularly engage in," she replied and he acknowledged that with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

"Well, I was watching anyway and I happened to see a little lane that led to a large townhouse. And it all looked very cute and comfortable. I just had to have a closer look. So I had my driver take a closer look and even from the outside I could tell that it was an excellent opportunity for us."

"What is it about this house that's so perfect?" She asked, glancing outside the window and wondering just how long it would take to get there.

"It looks perfect on the inside. The rooms are just right for everything that we need and there's a garden out back and it's the best of every house we've looked at."

She couldn't help but laugh at the infectiousness of his smile and his excitement. Clearly, he did think this house was going to be just right for them, and she could only hope that he was right.

In fact, as they hurried toward his ‘perfect' house, she debated the idea of telling him it was perfect even if it wasn't. Had nearly resolved to tell him that she loved it even if it wasn't what she'd always wanted when they stopped before the place.

And she was mesmerized.

"Oh!"

That brilliant smile lit up his face again, and he helped her out of the carriage, giving her plenty of time to look over the front of the house, to assess its location, with London not far and the house set back just the right distance from the road, with a gate and large windows across the front…

"Just wait until you see the inside," he told her, and the way he grabbed her arm and dragged her forward was almost childlike. The way Arabella used to drag her about to look for woodland fairies in the garden or the way Marigold used to drag her to the kitchen for extra sweets after tea.

There was an excitement in him that she had never seen before.

Diana laughed aloud but hurried after him, nervous but excited to see the rest of the house.

At first glance, it seemed perfect. The front entrance was large and full of natural light, and it was brilliantly designed with tall ceilings that would make anyone who saw it more than pleased.

"The place is furnished, but of course, they will take the furniture with them," Matthew informed her.

Diana cast a careful glance around the place, trying to remember where things were placed. The layout of the furniture and décor seemed ideal, and it would be a good idea to inform whoever would decorate their home.

Each room that they walked into seemed more perfect than the last, with large windows that allowed in natural light. Each was bright and airy and… everything that she could have hoped for.

And each window looked out onto a beautiful view. The gardens… extensive, winding gardens behind the house with stables in the distance that could house their horses.

And through the front windows, they could see London, though it was far enough away that it would not feel as though they were living in the city.

"What do you think?" Matthew asked.

Diana realized he was… anxious. An expression that she had never seen on his face before as he regarded her, and she knew that he was just as nervous about all of this as she had been.

"It is…" She was going to say ‘lovely,' but that did not seem a strong enough word for what she was feeling right now. "Wonderful. It is wonderful."

"There is one more room that you must see," he told her, a sparkle in his eyes that only made her that much more curious. Surely there could be nothing else? But before she could respond, he led her down the hall and opened another door, ushering her inside. "This is the ballroom."

"Oh!" She could do nothing but exclaim upon seeing the spacious room, walking quickly to the center so she could see it to full effect

Floor-to-ceiling windows let in the natural light, with balconies on two sides. And there was a second tier above the first where they could fit even more couples for dancing and relaxing.

"I believe I could enjoy a ball held in a space such as this," Matthew admitted, and her eyes widened even more as she turned to look at him. "The room is quite spacious, and I think even you might have a hard time filling it," he said with a smile. "And there are two levels, which will keep me from feeling too closed in. And it is certainly not stuffy with all these windows. It almost feels like the ballroom is in the gardens!"

A ball. He said that she could host a ball here. Something he had outright refused from the start, but now…

"What say you, Diana?" he asked.

Diana could only beam at him. This man, her husband, seemed to finally understand her. To know what she wanted and what she looked for in a home. And to actually care about her. How could she possibly be unhappy with him or with her marriage now?

"It is perfect. Though I do pity whoever is tasked with decorating it, for I am quite particular. And they shall have quite a task with how beautiful the rooms are, and empty—or rather, they will be once the current owners remove their things."

"I believe our designer shall be up to the task," Matthew replied with that same sparkle in his eyes. "I heard she has a good eye."

"Oh? And who might that be?" Diana asked.

"One who is most capable for the task," he replied. "Who will surely do this place justice."

She stared at him for a long moment, but his smile grew prouder.

"You, of course," he finished.

Her eyes went wide. "You wish for me to…"

"But of course," he replied. "No one else could do better."

Without thinking, she practically flung herself into his arms. She pressed her lips to his for only a brief moment, but it was long enough for his hands to catch her waist and his eyes to close slightly, as did hers.

And then she jumped back from him with a giggle at her forwardness.

"What was that for?" he asked, but his voice was soft, his eyes searching her own.

The light pressure of her lips on his own had been… amazing. And now, standing so close to her, looking into her eyes… it was even more so.

But the suddenness of it still took him by surprise.

"I'm just so… happy. Everything seems to be just perfect. For years, I watched my parents… watched the way they seemed to be… uninterested. They were two totally different people who didn't care a whit about one another. And then I watched my friends get married and lose all sense of their individuality and who they were… I was terrified of getting married myself."

It all made sense. The way she had seemed so pragmatic from the start when discussing marriage. How she had not seemed to care a bit that she would be marrying someone she didn't know and how she did not expect love or any other emotion.

The way she had seemed completely different after meeting with her friends on their wedding day. If she feared marriage and feared what it would turn her into…

"But that's not the case now. After all this time… after spending this time with you, I see things differently now. I see… I see a future with you that makes me happy." She blushed, and his eyes widened in surprise.

Matthew clutched her hands in his own at first, but she dropped her gaze, and he hooked one finger beneath her chin and tilted her head upward so he could look into her eyes.

"That first day we met, I thought you were obstinate and headstrong, but your passion and the way you stood up for your sister… it made me feel… I'm not sure what it was at the time, but I admired you for it.

"And the days after that, when I witnessed the way you could hold your own and argue your point, and how creative you were in coming up with ideas for decorating the house… everything about it attracted me to you even more."

"You like that I'm headstrong?"

Diana seemed surprised, but that didn't surprise him much. He was sure that she had often been chastised for exactly that. And hadn't he seen the way her parents reacted when she spoke up on her sister's behalf for himself? And how his uncle had reacted when he talked about her?

"I did not like it at first, I will admit. Or rather, I did not think that I did, but as I continue to witness it… as I continue to see the way it helps you become a strong and amazing person… I am so proud of you, Diana. So proud to call you my wife."

Diana was blushing now, and he realized his finger was still under her chin, still tilting her face up to his own, and he very much wanted to kiss her again.

"My life before you was all business. Or rather, the majority of it was business. With only small amounts of happiness with John and Isabelle. But now… now I want so much more than just business. I want to spend time with you. I want to enjoy my life. And I would very much like to do that together.."

"Oh!"

She seemed to have no idea what else to say, but the brightness of her eyes and the smile on her face were enough to tell him that she was happy with his words, and his pounding heart slowed slightly.

When he leaned down to kiss her gently, she relaxed into his arms, and the sweet kiss took slightly longer than he had intended. But even when he broke the kiss, he kept his arms around her, keeping her close.

"Is this place everything you want?"

"It's absolutely perfect," she replied, leaning into him. "I can't wait to begin the rest of our lives here."

"Neither can I," Matthew murmured.

With her in his arms, he would pay any price for this house and all the things that would make her smile like that. Even if that meant hosting a ball every week.