Page 45 of Escaping the Earl
As they began to dance, he pulled her close to whisper in her ear. “I never imagined I would find you again, not after that night.” He guided her with such grace and ease, it was as though they danced in a castle in the clouds and not upon this mortal ground.
“These last months have been empty, until I found you. Will you finally tell me who you are?” Peregrine asked.
“No,” she whispered, still afraid her voice would betray her. She pulled free of him, the warmth and comfort of his touch too much to bear. She fled the ballroom, desperate for air, and burst out onto the terrace. Rain cascaded down on her, but she didn’t stop despite the icy chill of the water sinking into her skin and dampening her dress.
“Wait!” Peregrine’s shout came from behind her, but she didn’t dare heed him. A hand caught her arm and she spun to face him.
“Please, I can’t lose you again,” Peregrine said.
Sabrina was glad she couldn’t see half of his face due to his mask. Looking at him made her weak, made her want to throw herself into his arms. That was the one thing she couldn’t do, not if she wanted to stay strong and survive without him.
“You don’t know me,” she said quietly, making her voice more breathless to disguise it.
He smiled a little, the expression full of sorrow. “Don’t I?” When she didn’t respond, he continued. “I have one last riddle for you.”
The rain was still pounding down on them, but Sabrina didn’t move.
“What is an empty shell that once flowed with life, but now is shattered, and has but one force in all the world that can mend its fractures?”
She swallowed thickly, unable to speak. She’d never heard that riddle before.
“I don’t know.”
Peregrine took one of her hands in his and slowly got down on one knee. “It is a man with a broken heart, on his knees, praying that the woman he loves will give him a second chance.”
“A second chance?” Her voice was faint now.
“Yes. I should have asked you to marry me that night at Lady Germain’s ball. I never should have let you leave my arms.”
Her shoulders dropped. He still didn’t know who she was. She was still just some mystery creature to him. In a strange way, she was jealous of herself. His hold on her hand tightened slightly.
“Please,” he begged.
“You do not know me,” she repeated.
“You asked me to make love to you beneath the stars,” he said, his voice full of quiet desperation. “That is the woman I would spend the rest of my life with.”
“That woman is a dream and nothing more.” She pulled her hand free of his and turned away.
“Sabrina...”
She halted in her steps and slowly turned, shivering as the rain made her dress heavy and cold around her.
“Sabrina,” he said again and stood, holding out his hand to her. “Be my wife. Be the light to my darkness, the joy to my sorrow. Be my world, my hope, mylife.”
She couldn’t move, no matter how much she wanted to.
“You knew?” Her voice broke a little.
“Yes,” he said.
“When?”
“My heart knew the day I rescued you and your horse from the bog, but my head didn’t realize it until tonight. When we danced, the second I held you in my arms, I knew. It was like coming home. I knew you must be the woman from Lady Germain’s ball, but I also knew you were my darling Sabrina. In that moment, I became whole.”
“But I heard you were engaged... that you couldn’t marry someone like me.”
“What? Where on earth did you hear that?”
