Effington 03 - The Marriage Lesson by Victoria Alexander

Author:Victoria Alexander
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Romance, General, Fiction, Love Stories, History
ISBN: 9780380818204
Publisher: Avon
Published: 2001-11-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

. . . and he said it was madness. Sheer madness. And, dear cousin, how soon I realized the truth.

It was indeed madness.

Sweet, sweet madness . . .

The Absolutely True Adventures of a Country Miss in London

Marianne had never imagined such peace, such contentment, such joy.

Such love.

She’d suspected it in recent weeks. Suspected love was to blame for her eagerness to be with him, for the newfound, tentative feelings he aroused. Suspected there was more to what they shared than mere friendship, but the very idea was absurd and more than a little frightening. Until now she’d preferred to ignore it altogether.

She snuggled closer to Thomas and his arms tightened around her. How ironic, that she had found love when all she was looking for was life. And adventure. Ironic as well that she didn’t seem to mind.

Oh, certainly her future would be much different than she’d envisioned. But surely her dreams could expand to accommodate two adventurers instead of one. Realistically her adventures could not be quite as extensive as she’d planned— after all, Thomas had responsibilities right here in England— but she was willing to compromise. Still, regardless of anything else she may have believed heretofore, love may well be the grandest adventure of all.

He nuzzled her ear. She sighed with contentment and lifted her face toward his. His lips met hers, and for a long, breathless moment she forgot everything but the joy of being in his arms.

He pulled away and smiled down at her. “You need to return to your room before the servants are about.”

She laughed. “If you are concerned about my reputation— ”

“I am indeed,” he said with mock solemnity. He kissed her once more, slid out of bed, plucked his discarded dressing gown from the floor and slipped into it. “It will not do to have my wife as the subject of idle gossip.”

She sat up, pulling the sheets around her. “Your wife?”

He grinned. “I shall make the arrangements today. We can get a special license and be wed before the week is out.”

A lovely wave of warmth washed through her. “You want to marry me?”

“Of course.” He found her nightgown and handed it to her.

Of course. She should have realized it at once. She wanted nothing more than to spend every moment of every day for the rest of her life with him. Obviously he felt the same. Still, it would be wonderful to hear him say it. “Why?”

“Didn’t you have some sort of robe as well?”

She ignored him. “Why do you want to marry me?”

He snorted. “There’s little choice now.”

Her heart stilled. “Little choice?”

“Certainly.” He knelt down to peer under the bed. “Your brother would probably shoot me should he ever learn of our, well, lessons. As for my mother”— he shuddered— “I hazard to think what she would do. It’s a question of honor at this point. Mine as well as yours.”

“That’s why you said there was little choice.” She chose her words with care.

He got to his feet, obviously more concerned with finding her robe than with what he was saying.

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