Page 25 of A Gentleman's Kiss
“Let’s talk now. I’ll take you to the kitchen and make you some tea. Or maybe I could wake your maid to draw you a warm bath, and when you finish I could brush your hair.” At his last suggestion, he bit his lip, hoping he didn’t offend her by being so forward.
“Dominick, you forget yourself,” she reproached, but he could hear the laughter in her voice.
Wasn’t he always forgetting himself where she was concerned? She had that effect on him.
He pictured her standing behind the door, in naught but a thin silk nightgown. Her long blond locks cascading down her back. Her lips and eyes rosy and puffy from crying. All he wanted to do was scoop her up and hold her. Ease her pain. Maybe kiss her for real this time. Show her what it was like to be kissed by a true gentleman.
“Pardon my forwardness. I just want to make you feel better.”
“Come for me tomorrow, Dom. I will come out then.” Her voice took on a more throaty sound. “I just need to get some rest. Sort things out. But tomorrow, I shall have a clear head. I will be ready then.”
Could what he sensed beneath her words be true? That she wanted him... That she begged him to make her his in name and body? To ask for her hand? Was he reading too much into it because it was what he wanted too?
“Tomorrow,” he said, and then kissed the door, wishing it were her. “We shall make our own fate.”
Tomorrow would be the day. Tomorrow would be the day that changed both their futures. Now, it was only a matter of how not to anger all of London, by asking her to be his wife.
*****
Morning came and with it a new day.
Lillian awoke early and jumped from her bed. She ordered a bath, and went about deciding which gown she would wear.
Today was to be one of the happiest days of her life. Today would be the day Dominick confessed his love and asked her to marry him. She hoped. She glanced at the wall, not really seeing the floral paper, as she realized that perhaps today would not be that day.
She shook her head. No. Dominick had hinted that he would ask her to marry him today, hadn’t he? She wrinkled her brows, thinking back on it and realizing that perhaps he hadn’t. She bit her lip, doubt crowding her mind. She wouldn’t let it get the better of her. Today was going to be a good day!
After completing her morning ritual she flung open her bedroom door and almost tripped over a long white box, tied with a red velvet ribbon. She picked it up and brought it into her room, shutting the door behind her. She set the box on her dressing table and stared at it for a few moments, her fingers playing over the velvet. Finally, she pulled the ribbon until it fell to the sides, and she opened the box.
Inside was a beautiful bouquet of pink and white stargazer lilies. It had to be from Dominick! She frowned… or had Sir Trenton sent them as an apology? She opened the envelope attached and read the note.
My dearest Lillian,
My parents have arrived in London this morning, and I am to meet them at our house on Regent Street. I am so very sorry I could not greet you this morning in person, but you slept so well I couldn’t bear to wake you.
I have requested my parents host a tea and a play at Cambridge Estate this afternoon, for a few exclusive guests. I would be very pleased for you to join me. I shall arrive at Whitmore House at noon to retrieve you.
Yours in heart and spirit,
Dom
Lillian’s heart soared. Their talk was cryptic, she wasn’t sure if he really understood her, and doubt had filled her mind about whether or not she had understood him. But he confessed right there in the letter.Yours in heart and spirit.
He did love her.
She knew he did. Perhaps she’d known since the day they met, that first time she’d seen him standing at the foot of the stares watching her. Or maybe it was the morning she woke with him smiling in greeting in her bedroom, or the way he came to her rescue each time she was with Sir Trenton. Whenever it was that he realized, or she realized, the magical truth was that they loved each other, and nothing could tear them apart now.
“I am yours,” she said to the lilies as she lifted them to her face, their sweet musky scent encompassing her.
