“We shall do that directly.” He sighed. “I want to go home, John. London wears on me.”
“I know how you feel. Make the arrangements and I’ll be there.” Finally, he glanced at Caroline. “I can’t wait to show my wife around Ipswich.”
Finn rolled his chair over to them. “Since Drew took the smaller carriage, we can all pile into the larger one and put this madness behind us. Perhaps we can convince our brother’s butler to put together tea at this late hour.”
“I second that idea.” Brand nodded. Of course the talk of food would motivate him, whether he was wounded or not. As they moved as one entity toward where John had left the first carriage, Brand frowned at him. “Are you coming?”
John waved a hand. “I’ll follow in a hired hack. There are things I would say to Caroline that can’t be delayed any longer.”
“I understand.” A faint grin took possession of his mouth. “We’ve all been there. I’m happy for you, my friend.”
“Thank you.” John wrapped an arm about Caroline’s waist and led her toward the middle of the bridge. With the faint moonlight shining down to make the ripples on the water’s surface sparkle like diamonds, the setting redeemed a portion of the night. “How are you feeling?”
Streaks of blood stained her once beautiful gown. Parts of the skirting hung like rags from where she’d ripped it up. Her damp hair fell about her shoulders and back in heavy ringlets. But she lifted her head and held his gaze. The fear from earlier had vanished, but it was too dark to properly read the emotions that clouded her stormy eyes. “I am fine. Tired, worried about Brand, but fine.”
He had so much respect for her. When she’d had every right to dissolve into a shivering heap beset with fright, she’d held her ground, had made strides to help her cousin, had given John advice when he’d needed it the most. Almost speechless with a throat clogged with unshed tears, he encouraged her into a loose embrace. There was no reason to delay further. “I love you so much, Caroline. I can’t contemplate life without you in it.”
“Oh, John.” A frown tugged down the corners of her mouth. “No one has said that to me for so long.” She leaned into him, rested her forehead on his chest. When she looked at him again, tears welled in her eyes. “Why do you love me?”
Just when he feared his heart couldn’t expand any more with affection for her, she’d proved him wrong. It was an honor to say those words to her, continue to show her how valuable and worthy she was. “Why?” That one-word question was said on a choked whisper. As he peered into her eyes, wished for nothing except to lose himself in those blue-gray pools, he sighed. “Why?” Now was the time to confess everything his heart had realized in the last few days. “Because I wasn’t fully alive until I met you, for you opened my eyes to so many beautiful things.”
Wonder shadowed her face.
“Why?” he continued, almost reckless in his wish to tell her all. “Because you show me every day, I don’t need to be of the ton to be a good man, a man with honor and a gentle soul, a man who adores working a trade.”
A few tears fell to her cheeks as she curled her fingers into his waistcoat.
“Why?” John’s voice broke. This was the single most humbling and amazing moment of his life. Tears gathered in his own eyes, and he rejoiced in them. “Because those broken pieces of you that you despise? Well, they fit into the jagged holes in me that are left behind by my own broken pieces. Together, we somehow work; we are perfect for each other.” When his tears fell, he let them, wanted her to see that he was a man of feeling instead of holding it back. “I love how your mind works, sweeting, how you see life, how you see me.”
Of course, there was every possibility she didn’t return his regard, but that was all right. He’d work that much harder to win her heart.
“Oh.” Her lips formed an “O” of surprise, of shock, of realization. “So romantic.” She trembled in his hold. “My heart is happy, John.” The words were slow, deliberate. “You saw me when I was invisible, felt unlovable.”
“How could I not? You soul fairly called to mine that day on the snowy lane. And darling, I will rescue you again and again—from whatever dragon plagues you—if you need me to keep showing you how much I adore you.”
“John.” Another few tears tumbled to her cheeks. Then Caroline moved slightly. She held his face between her hands, lifted onto her toes the better to look into his eyes. “You are my hero.” Her voice shook from the force of the emotions no doubt battering her—new feelings that had undoubtedly surprised her. “Now, tomorrow, always. I… I…”
“Yes?” He could hardly force out the word, for they balanced on the precipice of a new life.
She smiled, and his world spiraled out of control. “I love you too.” When he gasped, she nodded. “I finally understand.”
“Understand what?”
“What this feeling for you was, this all-encompassing thing that makes me want to explode and fly from it when I’m with you. I am break from the glory frightened my heart might of it as it grows.” The delicate tendons in her neck worked with a hard swallow, and the out-of-order words didn’t matter. “I you, John, love.”
She loves me!
The dear, jumbled words were so like his dear Caroline that he laughed, and when she joined him, it was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard. Never had a woman said those words to him, and now that they’d come from his wife, he wanted to weep from the sheer joy of knowing he’d won her.
He tugged her into his arms and held her close. All the fear and uncertainty faded away in the face of these new and surprising emotions, shared by them both, born out of trust and patience and understanding. “Ah, Caroline, I am so glad you’re my wife. I couldn’t imagine anyone better for me than you.” Releasing her slightly, he traced a fingertip along the forming bruises at the side of her face. “Will you marry me again?”
“What?” She frowned. “We are already. See?” When she held up her left hand and the opal glimmered in the moonlight, he chuckled. She was a woman of fact.
“I mean for good this time. With love behind it. I want to start our life together anew and for the right reasons. Honestly. As a couple in love should, and especially now that you know what marriage will entail.”
Her grin gave him all the affirmation he needed. “I’m so happy.”
“As am I. Does that mean you will?”