“You can be in no doubt of what I feel for you, Julia, not after last night.” His voice had deepened. He needed her to know the truth of what he felt now, all of it.
“I thought I did, but…” She paused and played with the connection of their hands, adjusting it so that their fingers locked together in a more intimate way. “You once said to me you could not fall in love again.”
“As my wise sister recently said to me, it seems the heart has more capacity in it to love than we first believe. Perhaps it is endless.” He smiled as Julia returned her gaze to him, her breath hitching once again. “Now, I will say to you what I was too scared to say last night.”
“Why were you too scared to say it?” Julia asked softly, her brows quirking together.
“Because I was afraid of saying it, then losing you.”
I didn’t want to lose love again.
“I went through that once. I heard someone declare they love me, then I lost them. I couldn’t bear the thought of doing that to you, leaving you behind if I was hurt or worse, to think of what could have been.” He brushed his thumb across the back of her knuckles, breathing deeply before he allowed himself to utter the words.
“You realize I would have thought that anyway.”
“Oh, have you been imagining what more could happen between us?” he asked with a playful smile.
“Ah, that would be revealing a secret.”
“Then allow me to tell you one of my secrets first.” He held her gaze and allowed silence to fall in the room between them. The only sounds were of a clock ticking on a mantelpiece, and the distant muffled voices of Esther and Charles talking to the physician.
“What secret?” Julia whispered, urging him on.
“I am in love with you.” The moment the words left his lips, he felt a lightness take hold of his body. “I know it was never what either of us planned, and had I known it would have come to this, believe me, I would have just kept kissing you the first night that you kissed me. I do not think I would have stopped, even when we were caught.”
“Ha! You would have certainly made tongues wag then.”
“That I would have done. Let them talk all they like now, I do not mind, because here is the truth of the matter. I love you.”
“Truly?” Julia said, her eyes wet with unshed tears.
Please let them be tears of happiness!
“Truly.” He sat forward. “I love you, more than I can say, and I do not want this betrothal to be a deception any longer. Marry me, Julia? This time, for real.” His heart thudded harder in his chest this time, barely able to contain the hope that swelled within him.
Julia’s smile grew wider, and a tear escaped down her cheek.
“I love you too.”
“Is that a ‘yes?’” he said, leaning toward her once again.
“Yes,” she whispered quietly. “Of course, it is a yes, you fool.”
He laughed at her calling him a fool before he placed his lips to hers in a much-needed soft and loving kiss.