Page 97 of The Austen Intrigue
She stopped and pulled him into a little arbour in the shrubbery. ‘What bolt has got loose in your noggin? I can hear it rattling around in there.’ She tapped his head. ‘I sang that song because it was a good choice for the company. I had more to think about than sending opaque messages to my lover, if you recall. We were trying to unmask a killer.’
He let out a huge sigh of relief. ‘Good. Excellent.’
She cocked her head. ‘You’ve been worrying about that all night, haven’t you? I thought you were acting strangely.’
‘I don’t want you to feel trapped into marrying me because Ruby blurted it before the world. I want you to want to marry me as much as I want to marry you.’
Dora squeezed his fingers in hers. ‘I understand, but you’ve forgotten an essential element.’
‘I have?’
‘You asked me, and I told you, on several occasions since, that I am thinking about it.’
‘Yes, I remember words to that effect.’ He grimaced. ‘I’ve been on tenterhooks.’
‘Well, Ihavebeen thinking about it. I even took advice from Madame Catalani who reminded me that some decisions in life are really quite simple and are nothing to do with anyone else. You said the same to me too. I did listen. I can’t be ruled by Ruby; I must be ruled by my heart. I now have an answer.’
His own heart began to race. ‘And?’
She shook her head. ‘Not like that. Ask me again. I recently came to see that a second proposal is always much more romantic than a first.’
He cast his eyes heavenward. ‘It’s that damn book again, isn’t it? You haven’t stopped thinking about it.’
‘Is that really what you should be worrying about? Besides, it isn’t a damn book; it is a wonderful, heavenly study of a person of wit and intelligence marrying… a lot of money.’ She smirked at that description, then leaned forward. ‘You have to read it to get the joke.’
‘I will, I will.’ He looked about him, not that he minded if anyone saw, but some things were better without an audience. The path was clear. ‘Dora Fitz-Pennington.’ He went down on one knee. ‘Light of my life and friend of my heart, will you do me the very great honour of marrying me?’
She looked down at him for a second, keeping him in suspense, until she leaned down and said:
‘Yes.’
