4. Part IV #2
Soaked to the bone and shivering, she moved gingerly away from the tree, wincing slightly when her hair caught. It had been foolish to run outside without realizing the turn in the weather. But not as foolish as giving her heart to a man who had the ability to break it.
Lifting her water logged skirts, she stepped over a fallen branch, intent on returning to the manor for a hot cup of tea and another good cry, but before she’d gotten more than three steps Alec was there.
Wet, as she was, his tawny hair plastered to his temple and his eyes wild until they settled on her and he drew a visible breath of relief.
“Persephone. There you are. You’re alright. Thank God.”
She was many things at the moment.
‘Alright’ wasn’t one of them.
“Go away,” she muttered, trying to walk past him, but he stopped her easily and, whisking off his jacket, draped it over her trembling shoulders before drawing her against his chest.
“I’m sorry,” he said, resting his chin on top of her head. “I’m sorry you had to find out that way.”
“Are you?” she cried, shoving back to glare up at him. “Or are you just sorry that I found out? Is that the only reason you came here? To–to claim some inheritance?”
“Yes,” he said simply, and her heart cracked open all over again. “Let me explain–”
“I don’t want to hear anything you have to say!”
He closed his eyes. “I understand.”
“Well?” She poked him with her finger. “Say something!”
One eye cracked partially open, then the other. “I…I’m not sure what you want me to do.”
I want you to love me for no other reason than I am me, and you are you, and that is all there is.
“I w-want…” Her voice cracked as she drew his jacket closer around herself, hating that it carried his scent but loathe to let it go. “I want you to tell me the truth.”
“The truth.” His gray eyes stared solemnly into hers. “The truth is that I did have an ulterior motive when I came here. My father was…not like yours. He was abrasive. Cold. Vicious. My childhood was not an enjoyable one, to put it mildly, and when he died…when he died, I did not mourn him.”
It was most that Alec had ever shared about his family and Persephone listened in silence, her aching heart hurting even more for the little boy that he had been.
“Without getting into the legal details,” Alec continued, “my father put a clause in his will unbeknownst to me. It is simple enough, if unusual. If I am not married by my twenty-fifth birthday, then all that I have inherited, save my title, will pass to my cousin.”
“When do you turn twenty-five?” she whispered.
He met her gaze without blinking. “In nine days. Which is why I came here. Truth be told, I didn’t know that you existed until a short while ago.
Or if I did, I let myself forget until my solicitor reminded me of the contract our father’s signed.
My plan was to come here, sweep you off your feet, take you to London for the wedding, then promptly ship you back to the country. ”
She inhaled sharply at the admission, so bluntly stated. But wasn’t that what she’d asked for? The truth. No matter how hard it was to hear.
“You wanted a wedding, but not a marriage.”
Alec nodded. “That’s right.”
“And…” She could hardly force the words out. “And now?”
He cupped her jaw, his fingers warm against her cold skin. “Now I want you,” he said hoarsely. “Only you, and my inheritance be damned.”
She bit her lip when a fresh torrent of tears threatened to spill over her lashes. “But in the drawing room–”
“I wasn’t expecting my solicitor. He came because time was running out, and he hadn’t heard from me. He hadn’t heard from me because I stopped counting the days on the night I almost won that bloody game.”
She drew in a hiccupping laugh. “I wouldn’t say you almost won–”
“I love you,” he said fiercely, and her heart–her bruised, broken heart–stuttered inside her chest. “I told the solicitor what I thought he wanted to hear, when really I don’t care if we go to London tomorrow or next year or never.
I want to be where you are, Persephone. I want to marry you.
Not to save my inheritance or because of a damned contract, but because I love you.
I feel…I feel safe with you.” His voice thickened.
“I feel happy with you. I don’t think I’ve ever been happy before.
Not really. And I would gladly give away every penny to my name if it meant I could have the honor of being your husband. ”
She gasped in surprise when he dropped to his knee. Gasped again when he reached into his pocket…and withdrew Mr. Roundtop, wrapped in a piece of white cloth.
“I didn’t have time to get a ring,” he said gruffly. “But I thought in this case, a hedgehog might suffice. Miss Penelope Montague, will you marry me?”
She thought about it.
But only for a moment.
“Yes!” More tears, joyous ones this time, flooded her cheeks as she threw her arms around his neck. “Yes, yes, yes.”
He lifted her effortlessly with one arm while still holding Mr. Roundtop with the other and spun both of them around in a circle, leaving her dizzy, and breathless, and betrothed. For real. To a man who was utterly imperfect in all of the best ways.
“I love you, too,” she said, gazing down at him. “I love you, Alec.”
And so the Earl of Ashburn, the future Countess of Ashburn, and one very hungry hedgehog (honestly, what was all the fuss about, and where was the pie) bound themselves together, for better and for worse, in sickness and in health, for the rest of the lives.
It was a very happy life indeed.