Page 40 of Avoiding the Merry Viscount
Lydia laid her head against his chest and he resumed carrying her all the way downstairs and to a room that appeared to be a study. Perhaps his or his father’s. He gently set her on the settee.
“Stay here.” He didn’t take his eyes off of her as he moved to grab the bellpull.
A few moments later, a footman entered. “Have my father and Lord Cary brought here straight away, but no one else. Tell them it is a matter of great import, but do not alarm any of the other guests.”
The footman nodded and hurried off to do as Elias directed.
Elias returned and knelt before her.
“Before they arrive, I have something that I wish to say to you.”
Lydia drew a breath, “I have something I wish to say to you too.”
Chapter Thirteen
Elias
“Iknow itisn’t the gentlemanly thing to do, but please allow me to speak first,” Elias said. He needed to ensure she knew his words were true and were not influenced by anything that she might say to him.
She nodded and looked so beautiful for a woman who had just been in such a perilous situation. Her neck was red and there was a thin line where the knife had broken through her skin, causing a small amount of blood to escape. He wanted to go back upstairs and thrash the bastard again for each tiny drop of blood she lost because of Durham’s horrid, disgusting behavior.
Elias pulled his handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at the cut on her neck. Once he was certain she wasn’t actively bleeding, he set the cloth aside and took her hands in his.
“I’m not a man of perfect words, nor am I typically a man of feelings,” Elias started. “I pushed down and swallowed that part of myself after my mother died, believing that love held no place in my future and that I’d be all the better for it.”
He drew a deep breath and watched as her eyes searched his. “But that changed when I met you, Beautiful. I fought it and told myself that what I felt for you wasn’t love. But I was mistaken, as I am wholly and completely a besotted man.” He paused and brought her hand to his lips to place a kiss on her knuckles. “What I’m trying to say, MissLydia Cary, is that I love you. And I need to know before our fathers arrive if you wish to be my wife? Because I’m not certain that I can live without you.”
For words that had been so hard for him to speak, and even harder for him to acknowledge, he found they rolled right off the tongue when his perfect woman sat before him. He knew it was true, that he loved Lydia with all of his heart. There would never be another woman for him, for as long as they were fortunate enough to have each other. Which would be for many decades to come if he had things his way.
Elias looked up at her and saw that tears had formed in the corners of her eyes. She grinned at him and then threw her arms around him. “I love you so much, Elias,” she said into his neck.
“Does that mean you will marry me?” he asked, turning to kiss her brow.
She lifted herself so she faced him. “I want nothing more than to be your wife.”
He leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers, needing her kiss more than he needed anything for the rest of his life, thankful that worse hadn’t occurred that day, and that they had found their way to their rightful places at each other’s sides. When she opened to him, he swept his tongue into her mouth, needing to taste her and brand her as his.
It would take a long time before the image of Durham holding her at knifepoint would no longer haunt him, but every kiss from her and every day spent with Lydia as his wife would help to erase it all. He could only imagine it was far worse for her, so he would do everything in his power to ensure she knew she would never fear for her safety and she would be deeply loved every day of their marriage.
“What is the meaning of this?” someone boomed from the doorway.
Elias broke their kiss, and realized they had been in quite thecompromising position with him on his knees clutching onto Lydia, suckling her tongue. He glanced over to see his father and Lord Cary staring at them.
Coming to stand, he held out his hand to Lydia and pulled her to join him. “Father, Lord Cary, we have a few important matters we must discuss.”
“I’d say we do,” Lord Cary said, glaring at Elias.
“Papa,” Lydia warned, encouraging her father to keep his cool.
“Lydia was attacked,” Elias said, watching as Lord Cary’s expression shifted to one that was downright murderous. “It was Durham,” Elias continued. “He had her a knifepoint, threatening to kidnap her in order to marry and rape her.”
Lord Cary’s face went white and Elias’s father spoke first. “Where is he now?”
“Tied up in Lydia’s chamber. Hudson is guarding him. We must send for the magistrate, but I wanted to inform both of you before I did so.”
Elias’s father reached for the bellpull as Lord Cary rushed to his daughter and threw his arms around her.
“Are you hurt, my sweet girl?” Lord Cary asked, pulling back from his embrace to look her over.
