“That sounds wonderful.”
Once inside, they mixed with the crowd, Daniel heading in one direction and her in another. She met with a few ladies she enjoyed talking to and watched him from across the room. The ladies always questioned her sanity, but it amused her. She and Alex had figured out why Daniel’s reputation had been exceptionally poor. He was an independent thinker who had been looking for a woman with a mind of her own, as well. When he rejected the ladies he courted for whatever reason, they had retaliated by spreading rumors and lies about his treatment of them while dating.
Since he felt free to do what he wanted, he was never discourteous to Cynthia, showed her respect and was kind to her on a daily basis.
She saw him from across the room, chatting with some friends. He threw his head back and laughed heartily. She liked the sound of it as it traveled across the room. He had laughed like that with her a few times. It made her want to make him laugh more.
He glanced over in her direction and their eyes locked. He smiled at her, and she felt her heart skip a beat. She smiled back.
Alexander had asked her if she thought she could marry without being in love. She had already decided she didn’t have to worry about that part. She was nervous still, and a bit worried that he might not really be who he said he was. But her doubts were decreasing steadily. She wondered if he could feel about her the way she was beginning to feel about him.
It surprised her when she saw Daniel excuse himself from his friends and make his way through the crowd to where she was standing.
“How is your evening going, my lady?” He asked, leaning close to her.
“I’m having a good time, thank you, Daniel. How about you?”
He stood up straight and looked around him. “It’s another dance.”
He chuckled, and she smiled up at him.
“Would you care to go for a walk on the grounds with me?” He asked, holding out his arm, crooked at the elbow, for her to take.
“I would love to; my lord but is it not raining out there?”
“Let’s go and see.”
She slipped her hand through his arm and walked next to him as they went through the large double doors that were left open to allow extra ventilation in the crowded room.
The night sky had cleared, and the two of them followed the stone pathway around the garden, avoiding the small puddles that had gathered.
“Have you given any more thought to our arrangement?” Daniel asked. She noticed his voice was low and smooth. It was filled with emotion. She wondered why.
“In what way?” She looked up at him, enjoying the way he looked in the moonlight and in the glow of the lamps burning around them.
“You are not wanting to back out of the deal, are you?”
“Not at all, my lord. Are…are you?”
Daniel shook his head quickly. “No. I am…quite happy with things the way they are going.”
“I feel the same way.”
He stopped and turned to face her. She scanned his handsome features, resisting the urge to reach up and touch his face. When he looked at her, she saw something different in his eyes than she had seen before. She remembered the way he had stared at her over the table when they first met. His eyes had seemed so cold, so distant. Now they were warm and inviting. She found herself drawing closer to him instinctively so that there were only a few inches between them.
“Lady Cynthia, I…my…my feelings for you have changed in the last month. I see the way you treat your servants as friends, how you talk to the children, how you manage your life so well. I am impressed with you. I only wish you had not held yourself back in the shadows for so long.”
“I was not expecting to…” She hesitated. “To find love again, my lord.”
“Have you?” His voice dropped even lower, and he breathed the question out. “Have you found love again?”
Her breath became rapid as she sensed how close he was to her. He lowered his head so that they were nose to nose and asked the question again.
“Have you found love again, Lady Cynthia?”
She felt his breath on her lips, and it sent shivers down her spine.
“I have, my lord. I love you.”
She saw him smile just before he moved close enough to touch his lips to hers. He pulled back after only a moment and whispered, “I have fallen in love with you, too, Cynthia.”
When he kissed her again, she knew she had made the best deal of her life and would finally be truly happy again.
*****
THE END
CLEAN REGENCY Romance - A Time for Love