Haversham had said Daniel was helping Richard carry something upstairs, so that was where she headed, hurrying up the stairs and then striding along the hall. She was just passing her room when a door up the hall opened and Daniel stepped out. Suzette paused at once, her heart suddenly racing. This time she was not going to run up and throw herself at the man. She would let him come to her and tell her what his decision was and that was that.

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Daniel closed the bedroom door behind him, but then paused, a little concerned about what might be taking place in the master bedroom. He and Richard had barely got the carpet-wrapped George in bed and covered him with the bed linens and blankets when Christiana had entered in search of her husband. She hadn’t seemed to notice the lumpy presence in the bed destroyed by the melting ice, but she might if Richard did not get her out of there quickly, and if she saw George there would definitely be trouble. Everything would have to be explained to her and he wasn’t at all sure how she would respond to finding out that Dicky really was dead, but hadn’t really been Dicky at all. Not to mention the fact that Richard was the true Earl of Radnor and was a man she hadn’t even met until the day before, just hours before he’d bedded her. She would probably be incredibly upset.

However, Richard had said he should leave and indicated he would handle things. Daniel supposed he would just have to hope for the best and go downstairs to wait and see what happened. There was very little else he could do at the moment. Shaking his head, he turned to start up the hall, but slowed as he spotted Suzette standing by her door in the hall facing him.

She looked beautiful to him in a gown of white muslin, her dark hair falling about her shoulders in soft waves. But her face was a little pale and there were dark smudges under her eyes that suggested she hadn’t slept any better than he had last night. It made her look oddly vulnerable and delicate and as he came to a halt before her he couldn’t resist reaching out to brush his fingers down her cheek.

“You look beautiful this morning,” he said quietly, his gaze settling on her lips. They were slightly swollen and rosy at the moment as if she’d been biting them with worry and he had a strong urge to kiss them better, but made himself resist the urge.

“Thank you,” Suzette murmured and managed a smile. She then blurted, “You look beautiful too. I mean handsome.”

Daniel chuckled slightly, and let his hand slip back to his side before asking, “How did you sleep?”

“Horribly, I kept fretting,” she admitted baldly, verifying what he’d suspected, and then she just flat out asked, “Are you going to marry me?”