Page 96 of Sinful Persuasion of a Lady in the Making
“The day before the dinner party,” he admitted, avoiding her gaze. “I came to see you. Diana and I, we’d had an argument and—”
“And what? I don’t understand.” She sounded frustrated, exasperated, and he looked at her strangely.
How can she not remember?
“I heard you and Mrs. Jones talking. In the garden. And you said it, and then you both started laughing, and I… well, I left.”
Jenny fell silent for a moment, and then she burst into laughter not unlike that day in the garden. Sebastian looked at her aghast.
“What is so funny?” he demanded.
“I’m sorry, Sebastian, I really am.” She reached out and took his hand. He willingly let her, wanting her to soothe him. “It’s not funny, it’s really not. Except… we were not talking about me.”
“What do you mean?” Sebastian asked, shifting in his seat.
“We were talking about a maid I once knew who somehow found herself married to a Duke.”
“But I thought—”
“You thought wrong. Goodness, I can’t believe all this heartache has been over a handful of silly misunderstandings. Just knowing that is enough to lift my spirits.”
“So you don’t feel that way, then?”
“No. Heavens, no, not at all. You’ve got to believe me; I love you with all my heart. I have never in my life felt so distraught or destitute when you did not turn up to the dinner. It was as though someone had punched a hole in my chest and ripped my heart right out.”
“Really?” Sebastian asked, feeling relieved and foolish and meek all at the same time.
“Really,” she said. “And quite frankly,Lord Hartwood, I am surprised you would ever think such a thing of me.”
His breath caught in his chest; his body froze. She was angry at him for jumping to conclusions. Except, she wasn’t, because upon seeing the shocked expression on his face, she erupted into giggles. He laughed, too, between the great big sighs of relief. It felt as though a world of heaviness had been lifted from his shoulders.
“Do you think I will ever stop being such a fool?” he asked in the same, teasing tone.
“I hope not,” she said indignantly. “I love you just the way you are.”
“Good. Because I love you, too, Jenny Jones. More than I have ever loved anything, ever.”
“That doesn’t, of course, mean you are forgiven for disappearing on me and leaving me so wretched.”
“I can never repay you for the hurt I’ve caused,” he said, soft and sincere. “But know this…I was wretched, too. I can’t even begin to describe the pain I went through when I thought you did not love me in return.”
“Let’s make a promise, then, here and now. To renew our love, and our betrothal.”
“Yes, and never to let anything like this get in our way again. We must always be honest and talk often, even if we fear the outcome.”
“Agreed,” she said with a firm nod.
She held out a hand as if to shake his, a business agreement come to a pleasing conclusion. He looked at it with his head tilted, then up at her face.
“I will not shake your hand,” he said. “That is not how true love seals a deal.”
“No?”
“No.”
He put a hand to her cheek, pulling her toward him, and he kissed her.
* * *
