“Why?” The desperate question spilled out before he could stop it. Without giving her time to answer, he pushed forward with the words that had been building inside him since he’d heard the news. “If you will marry, then why not wed me?”

She shook her head adamantly, which stirred his desperation all the more. “Please, Mercy.” He hadn’t proposed to her correctly the first time. And this time he had to do it right and wouldn’t let his fears hold him back. He lowered himself on one knee and reached for her hand. “You have captured my heart, and I would be honored if you consented to be my wife.”

“My stars, Joseph,” she whispered, pressing a hand to her chest.

He hadn’t drawn her into this alcove intending to propose marriage to her again, but now that he had, his entire body yearned for her to accept his offer. He wanted her more than he wanted anyone or anything ever before.

Did he indeed love her?

He hadn’t believed it possible, hadn’t known how love would feel. But now, faced with the possibility of losing her to someone else, his chest ached with something he could only describe as love.

Should he declare the intensity of his ardor? Would that sway her to accept his offer?

“Mercy, I didn’t propose to you properly the first time.” He took her hand more firmly in his. “I was a proud fool and see that clearly now—”

“No, Joseph.” She cut him off, pulled her hand free of his grasp, and started to turn away.

“I love you.” As soon as the words were out, the truth crashed into him with an intensity that left him weak and breathless. He loved everything about this beautiful woman. From the first time he’d met her until now, he’d known she was special, the kind of woman a man meets but once in a lifetime. If he let her go, he was certain he’d never meet anyone like her again, nor would he want to be with anyone else as much as he did with her.

Mercy couldn’t move. Had Joseph really declared his love or had she only imagined it?

“I want to marry you because I love you,” he said again, his voice ragged with emotion.

An ache formed deep inside Mercy, swelling with a storm of emotions—ecstasy, worry, desire, uncertainty, longing, reality. But most of all, fear.

He might think he loved her, but he’d remember soon enough just how different they were, just how incompatible. Not only were they from opposite worlds, but he was eventually going back to England. She couldn’t leave Vancouver Island, not with Patience hopefully arriving on the next ship. And she couldn’t ask Joseph to stay, not when his estate and life were back in England.