Page 46 of Snowed In with the Runaway Bride

“There was no need for him to spread it to the whole family.”

“We had a right to know,” he protested, but he understood why she was angry. Why should her health be the business of the extended family, something else for them to gossip and criticize her for?

“There was no need for them to know. Not only is there no way to predict whether it will happen, it doesn’t matter.”

His surge of anger at her flippancy surprised him. “It doesn’t matter that your heart could fail you at any moment?”

The intensity of her gaze on his seemed to will him to understand.

“Even if I stayed at home wrapped in cotton wool, I could still die. There is no way of knowing or predicting when it might happen, if it happens at all. So… I choose to live for as long as I can.”

She regarded him curiously, and he squirmed a little under her gaze. “I don’t understand why this surprises you so, Hugo. Have you not had to come to a similar decision yourself?”

“What do you mean?”

“The war, of course. You must have come to some sort of peace with the idea you could die at any time.”

Hugo shook his head. “No. No, I have never come to peace with the idea. It is always at the back of my mind with every voyage. I do everything I can to avoid death.”

“I have no wish to die. I want to live as long as possible. But I also do not want to live my life in fear of it. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” he said. He wondered a little at his own cowardice at not being able to match her acceptance. Perhaps it was his stubborn insistence that he could not possibly die that had preserved him for so long.

Penny regarded him for another moment, then shrugged. “I’m beginning to get hungry.”

As they prepared to go downstairs, Hugo realized this was another reason for him to ask Penny to marry him—perhaps insist on it. She clearly had no sense of self-preservation. She needed someone to keep a sharp eye on her to make certain she did not take any unnecessary risks with her life or her health.

Who will watch over her when you go to Bermuda?

They ate their supper in the taproom under Mrs. Robson’s indulgent eye. Hugo somehow succeeded in keeping his hands to himself though his palms itched to touch her. He felt he would burst if he did not ask her the question immediately, but he could not. Not in the crowded taproom in front of so many prying eyes. He could not take that chance.

As they returned upstairs, Penny said, “You were quiet at supper. Is anything wrong?”

“Not at all.” His stomach roiled. What if she said no?

He let them into their room and led Penny over to sit on the stool by the fireplace. She laughed.

“What is it, Hugo?”

Taking a deep breath, he sank to the floor to kneel in front of her, taking her hands in his. She gazed down at him, the firelight illuminating her beautiful face.

“I… Penny, you must know how I feel about you.”

She smiled, but shook her head. “I don’t know. Not really. Not for certain. You must tell me.”

Her gaze was so warm it made him ache with everything he had never thought to have.

“Tell me, Hugo.”

He swallowed hard. This was more terrifying than his first climb to the crow’s nest. More heart-stopping than his first battle.

But he must do it.

“Penny… ” His voice firmed. “Penelope Montgomery, I love you. I think I’ve loved you from the day we met.”

Her face lit up, more radiant than he’d ever seen her. “Oh, Hugo. I love you, too.”

He gaped at her. “You do?”