Page 84 of His Wicked Secret
She couldn’t resist teasing him. “Yet here I am.” She felt giddy and a little nervous.
A tentative smile formed on his lips. “That you are. How do you feel?”
“Utterly wretched and wonderful at the same time.”
Jonathan laughed. “The wretched part is a good sign. Dr. Lewis warned that if you felt no pain that we would likely lose you. But pain is a good thing. It means your body is fighting to stay alive.”
“Well, you did say I am a fighter.” She tilted her head, batting her lashes in a way she knew favored her eyes.
“You’d better stop that,” Jonathan warned. “I want to kiss you bad enough as it is, and I can’t. You’ve had a serious wound.”
She pouted. “It was only a gunshot. A few kisses wouldn’t hurt.”
Jonathan rolled his eyes. “Onlya gunshot? Listen to me, woman, you will be still and focus on getting better, because we have a wedding to plan.”
They were the words she had longed to hear. Her eyes began to mist. “A wedding?”
“Yes. Unless I have completely misinterpreted everything that has passed between us, you love me as much as I love you, and you had every intention of saying yes to my proposal when you returned from France. Well, you have returned from France, have you not? If I am mistaken in anything I have just said, you’d best tell me now before it’s too late.” There was an earnestness in his tone that made it clear he was afraid she’d try to take the words back.
She tried to keep from laughing. “You’re sure you’re ready to be leg-shackled to a woman like me?”
“I don’t think you could be shackled to anyone or anything, Audrey. That’s what I love about you.” And then he very gently kissed her, so softly that it felt like the most wonderful dream. When their lips finally parted, she stroked his chin.
“How is Cedric? He must be frantic.”
“He is. All of us are. The entire League rushed to your aid, Lady Society.”
“Oh dear… You didn’t tell them about that, did you?”
“I’m afraid the secret is out, though it wasn’t my doing.”
She sighed. “Are they furious with me?”
Jonathan chuckled. “Furious? No, but a few feathers were ruffled. Speaking of which, Charles demands to know how you learned about the swans.”
“The swans?” she asked.
“Yes. You made reference to the incident in your column long before general gossip made the rounds.”
“I was there, of course. Vauxhall is not exactly a private place. I hid on the back of the boat and followed him at a safe distance once he and his mistress went out onto the lake.”
“Good Lord, I suppose you’ve always been a spy in your own fashion. I daresay you had quite an eyeful.”
She smiled wickedly. “Oh, I did. And when I’m feeling better, I should very much like to try a few of the positions I saw. Minus the swans, of course.” She saw a deep blush radiate from Jonathan at that.
“Being married to you will never be dull, I expect.” He lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a soft kiss on the back of her knuckles.
“I would certainly hope not.” Audrey stretched a little to yawn, but she couldn’t hide the jolt of pain it caused.
“Rest, please,” said Jonathan. “I need you to get better.”
“Only if you stay with me.” She closed her eyes, exhaustion slowly carrying her back to the land of dreams.
“Of course,” said Jonathan. “I’ll never leave.”
Epilogue
Two months later.
