They stayed hugged together for several beats, their breathing ragged.
“God, I missed you,” he murmured.
An ache of sensation pricked behind her eyelids, and she held him to her, loathing that there was still some shadow of doubt in her heart.
It wasthe morning of her wedding, precisely eight days after Phineas had said, ‘marry me,’ unlocking all her buried dreams and hopes. Felicity stood on the cusp of gaining everything she had ever wanted. A husband to call her own, a family that did not think her an oddity. A man who looked at her as if she tempted him beyond endurance. A man who touched her as if she were a treasure. A man who made love to her as if she were priceless. A man so tuned with her emotions, he had questioned her sudden distance from him and the merriment in the air, but she had been unable to provide an answer.
Phineas would be her husband.
He would be hers.
He would be mine.
Felicity smoothed down her hands over the most beautiful dress she had ever worn. A crème high-waist gown flattered her figure and showed it to its best advantage. It was seeded with pearls at the sleeves, hem, and neckline. The modiste Phineas had paid to make this in such a short time had outdone herself.
Taking a deep breath, she made her way from the bedchamber and went downstairs. Suspecting her groom was in the library she went down the hallway, knocked on the door to the library and then entered.
Phineas slowly stood. “You should be on your way to the chapel. I will be down soon.”
“I…”
He frowned. “What is it? You’ve gone pale.”
Her throat worked on a swallow, and a terrible ache formed behind her eyes. “Why are we marrying?” she asked, her voice a squeak.Is it because you have fallen in love with me these last several days?Those words rose inside of her like a desperate ache but would not fall from her tongue.
A tender smile touched his mouth, and his eyes gleamed with carnal memory. “Have you forgotten what happened last night when you returned. And the nights before you left and the night…”
She hurriedly slapped a gloved hand over his mouth, fiercely blushing. “Is that the only reason, Phineas, because I…I wantonly came to your bed several times?”
Say yes.
As if her words brought carnal images to his thoughts, he groaned, fluttering his lashes as if in acute delight. Knowing he teased her dreadfully, she laughed, grateful that some of the tension dissipated. If that was the only reason he married her, she would happily put aside her discomfort, because it meant he married her out of wanton desire.
“I like you, Jane…”
She scowled, and he grinned, gripping her chin between his thumb and forefinger and lifting her face up. “Felicity,” he murmured. “Ilikeyou. More than like. I am falling in love with you. I have never loved another lady before, but the way I feel about you…what else can this be?”
Her heart stuttered.
“I like you too,” she whispered achingly, “so very much.”I love you.Love did not lie or deceive. Pain lanced through her—sudden and breathtaking.
“Good. Now let’s get down to that chapel before my nanna takes her last breath.” Though his words were casual, wild grief flashed in his eyes, the pain so profound it stung her. He was more worried than he had let on about his grandmother.
She flinched, drawing back from his caress. Felicity felt as if she wanted to cast up her accounts. Oh, God, she could not do it. She could no longer deceive him in this horrible manner. That she could not rest easy told her she could never lie to him. Trust and honesty had been the foundation of their friendship, and that should also be the ground upon which their marriage was built.
“What is it?”
“Your nanna,” she began hoarsely.
He frowned. “Yes?”
“She…she is not dying.”
“I know you have grown fond of her, Felicity,” he said softly, “And I—”
Once again, she slapped a hand over his mouth. “She is in good health,” she confessed in a rush. “It was all a ruse to get you up to scratch. After you are married, she will make a miraculous recovery.”
The shock of her words seemed to have rendered her lover into a marble. Felicity lowered her hand and took a few steps back, putting careful distance between them.