Page 66 of A Lady's Beastly Duke
Rachel followed them, hanging back a little to give them the sense that they were not being overheard. Anastasia smiled at her. She would not have worried, however, if everyone in the park was gawping and staring. Some heads did turn as they passed, but she barely noticed. Her world was full of sunshine, and their stares were like paper arrows fired at a stone—insignificant and not able to do harm at all.
“What think you of the rose garden?” Sidney asked as they approached an area of the park that was planted mostly with roses.
“I am fond of it.” Anastasia beamed.
“Good.” Sidney chuckled. “Because we are headed that way.”
Anastasia laughed warmly.
“I am glad you like this place,” Sidney told her as they settled on a bench that was situated close to a lovely flowerbed of roses. Rachel sat on another bench across from them. “Because I would prefer to linger here.”
“You would rather be here than further along the path?” Anastasia asked, feeling curious. He was sitting beside her on the bench, a distance of perhaps five inches between them. It was close enough for her to feel, almost, the warmth of his armthrough his sleeve. Her heart was thudding fit to burst and it was hard to concentrate on what he said.
“Yes,” Sidney answered with a smile. “Because I believe my cousin, Giles, is over there, showing a lady the exotic plant collection.” He gestured towards where a hothouse stood across from a fountain.
“He is?” Anastasia frowned. She barely recalled having met Sidney’s cousin, though she was sure that she had seen him once before, at a ball or party where she had spoken with Sidney himself.
“Yes.” Sidney grinned.
“How strange,” Anastasia replied. “My friend Camilla likewise had to meet someone in the gardens.” She felt a frown crease her brow. “It seems we each know somebody here.”
“Yes. Stranger still is that they are here to meet each other.” Sidney grinned.
“What?” Anastasia giggled, lifting her hand to her lips. “No! Truly?”
“Yes.” Sidney smiled; his expression warm. “Giles mentioned to me that he was coming here to escort Lady Camilla on a walk about the gardens.”
“No!” Anastasia giggled, heart soaring with delight. “How remarkable.”
Sidney smiled. “It is.”
They sat silently, and Anastasia breathed in the fragrance of the roses and shut her eyes for a moment. She felt blissfully happy, sitting beside Sidney. She had always longed to be free to talk with him, to spend time with him. And all her prayers had been answered.
“I am happy here, with you,” Sidney murmured.
“As am I, with you,” Anastasia told him, turning to face him with a big grin on her face.
Sidney smiled. He reached up and tenderly tucked a ringlet behind her ear.
“I want to do this forever,” he told her slowly. “I want you to marry me.”
Anastasia gaped at him. She had known that she loved him, that she wanted that more than anything on Earth, but she had, somehow, not expected him to say it. At least not so soon.
“Sidney.” She gaped at him, her eyes wide, her jaw falling open. Tears filled her eyes, and she blinked, a grin tugging her lips. “I think I would like that more than anything on earth.”
She swallowed hard; her throat too filled with emotion to say anything else.
His eyes widened, a look of utter astonishment crossing his face. Then, slowly, a grin moved across his countenance, beginning at his lips and then spreading to his eyes so that he gazed at her, joy and delight shining from him.
“I...you...you said yes.”
Anastasia giggled. “Indeed, I did. You are most dear, delightful, and wonderfully foolish! I hold a profound affection for you. My love for you surpasses all else upon this earth. I love you for all eternity.”
Sidney blinked, and she realized that he, like herself, was close to tears, though a grin bloomed on his face for all to see.
“Dearest Anastasia,” he murmured, his voice laden with emotion. “I too hold you in my affection. My love for you is boundless, enduring through all time. With every beat of my heart, I am yours, now and always.”
He leaned towards her, and she shut her eyes as his lips pressed to her own.
