Daniel blinked, waited a moment, still expecting some horrible confession, but then realized that this was the something she had needed to tell him. She loved him. His mother had said she thought as much, and while it had given him hope then, having her actually tell him so was just . . . well, it was wonderful.

“Thank you,” he said finally, slipping his arms around her waist. “I love you too.”

“Do you?” she asked uncertainly, and then added, “Even though I’m not always a proper young lady?”

Daniel stiffened, recalling his words to her the first night they’d met when she’d protested his escorting her out onto the terrace because they hadn’t even been properly introduced. His response had been, “Very true. However, I suspect you aren’t a proper lady, so we should do well enough.”

Noting the vulnerability and fear on her face, Daniel closed his eyes briefly with regret, thinking it was amazing how one careless comment could come back to bite a person. He had no doubt the memory of those words had helped little when she’d read the letter Danvers had left supposedly from him.

Opening his eyes, he caught her face in his hands and said solemnly, “You are a proper lady when it is required, and when you aren’t, I love you even more for it. You are everything I could want in a wife, Suzette, and I love you just as you are; smart, funny, courageous and sassy. I do love you.” He hugged her close, admitting, “I just wish I’d said it first.”

Suzette shrugged in his arms. “You should have been faster then.”

Daniel closed his eyes and burst out laughing. In the back of his mind he heard Lord Madison saying that Suzette was like her mother and that he had been kept hopping to try to keep up with her. Daniel didn’t have a doubt in the world that it would be the same with Suzette . . . and he was looking forward to it.

Shaking his head, he tipped her face up and kissed her firmly. “Let’s go out to the courtyard. I can’t wait to make you my wife.”

“All right,” she murmured, pulling away and allowing him to lead her from the room before adding, “Though you aren’t fooling me, my lord. I know why you are really so eager to marry.”

“Why is that?” Daniel asked.

Suzette shrugged and teased, “You just don’t want to have to sleep with my father and Robert on the return journey to London.”

Daniel burst out laughing and hugged her close, thinking life would be a joy with this woman and he couldn’t wait to start it.

About the Author

About the Author