He led her toward the path where other couples strolled, dressed to be noticed. “Rather like old times, eh? Except we’re both grown, and you’re even more beautiful than you were then.”
“You thought me beautiful then?” she asked, surprised by his admission.
His brows lifted. “You never noticed?” He laughed. “And here I thought I made a fool of myself every time you were about.”
Cecelia lowered her head, knowing she was blushing furiously. “I had no idea.”
People watched them as they passed, taking note of the way he held her arm. No doubt, speculation about their courtship would soon be seasoning the day’s gossip.
“Have you been to Dorset recently?” he asked in reference to her family’s country estate.
The question pulled Gullsville Manor, with its sprawling verdant lawn and overgrown gardens, to the forefront of her mind. Time had taken its toll on the old estate, but it was still an elegant structure with an array of windows glinting from its expansive face. “We go every year when Parliament lets out,” she replied.
“Is Mrs. Wigman still stodgy?”
Cecelia laughed softly. The head housekeeper had been a force to be reckoned with in their youth. “She certainly is,” Cecelia replied. “Though I confess, she was invaluable after my mother died. I scarcely know how I would have gotten by without her.”
“I imagine it was difficult for you to take on the role of mistress of the estate.”
Cecelia pondered the statement. “In truth, I never really even considered the difficulty. I suppose I simply focused on what needed to be done.”
“Well, I for one am pleased that I did not do what was needed.”
“I beg your pardon?” She glanced up at him and found that cocky smile on his lips.
“If I’d married the woman I intended, I wouldn’t be here with you now.” He winked at her.
“You intended to marry a woman?” She hadn’t realized he’d even courted anyone previously. But then she’d been too preoccupied with her own family to notice.
“No one important.” His gaze lingered on her, his interest blatant. “And no one nearly as alluring as you.”
His flattery left her with an airy feeling, as though she were flying, sweeter and more intoxicating than the finest port.
“I’m sure you’ve had many alluring women if the rumors are to be believed.” She chanced a glance up at him.
He stopped and turned to her. Those green eyes met hers, and her heartbeat stopped mid-beat. “No one like you.”
She bit her lip and silently wished she could believe him. “I confess, your past makes me nervous.”
“Because I am so enamored with you?”
It was now or never. She pulled a shaky breath. “I know it’s been some time since I’ve allowed myself to consider marriage and thus do not truly deserve the right to be demanding…”
One dark brow quirked upward.
“I am not a woman who will abide a mistress.” She tried to infuse her words with confidence when it was the opposite that pushed her words from her lips. Knowing the man she wed was with another woman would break her heart. She could not trade one life of solitude for one of even starker loneliness.
All the playfulness fled Philip’s expression, leaving only sincerity. “That is something you need not worry after,” he replied fervently. “If we wed, you will be the only woman in my life.”
The tension drained from Cecelia’s shoulders, and a smile took its place.
“Those women were merely diversions,” he replied in a low, intimate tone. “A way to learn how to please my future wife in every way possible.”
In every way possible?
What did that even mean?
Her thoughts raced, and her body went hot.
