“May I put it on you?” he asked. She could sense the nervousness in his voice.
“That would be lovely,” she answered.
“I chose it because the sapphires remind me of your eyes, and I hoped the emeralds would remind you of mine,” he said as he fastened the delicate bracelet around her wrist.
The sheer romance and thoughtfulness made Jane catch her breath. Once the bracelet was firmly around her wrist, she stared at the sparkling jewels that lay against her pale skin. It was the perfect blend of the two of them, each distinct, but far more beautiful set together than either would be on its own.
“Lady Jane,” he said, “the first moment I saw you, I could not think straight. Your beauty practically blinded me toeverything else around me. But it is not your beauty that has brought me to this point. You have wisdom and determination, a spine as strong as steel. Even so, you are not inflexible. You are the kindest lady I have ever met, yet you know when to be stern.
“I love you. I have since we danced together at your mother’s ball. I can think of no greater joy, no better purpose, than to be your husband. Will you marry me, Jane?”
With tears of joy in her eyes, Jane breathed out the single word, “Yes.”
Colonel Fitzwilliam took her hand and looked down at the bracelet on her wrist. “It looks perfect there. Exactly where it belongs.”
With his other hand, he wiped away a happy tear that had fallen down her cheek. Then, he kissed her.
Through all Jane’s thoughts of marriage over the last five months, she had only considered suitability. When she had thought of love, she had mostly thought of the kind of daily love that comes with working alongside someone. Occasionally, she thought of romance such as grand gestures and gentle compliments. Sheer attraction had never figured into her plans.
She had been so wrong to leave it out, and she learned through his kiss so much she had never known before.
He was gentle but firm, showing exactly what kind of man he was through his kiss. Jane was lost in a sea of new sensations and new feelings.
When they separated, Colonel Fitzwilliam stared into her eyes. The expression of wonder that suffused his face was certainly mirrored in her own.
“I love you,” she said.
Chapter 19
Jane and Richard decided that the best thing for the duchess, and for them, would be to share a wedding date with Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. That way, though Jane’s mother still insisted on hosting a separate engagement dinner for the happy couple, she would not have to prepare two different wedding breakfasts.
Once again, Lady Matlock was called on to assist the duchess in preparing a special dinner, and once again, the house was in temporary uproar as preparations proceeded.
Mary paid it all little attention other than to be happy for both her sisters. She had noticed how overwhelmed Jane was at the idea of having her own title and her own estate, but now that she had found a good man to share it with, Jane was much calmer.
Though she helped her mother when she was asked to do something specific, Mary’s attention was mostly fixed on her books and her occasional visits from Lord Appleby.
After his first visit, he waited a week before calling again. Then she saw him once more at Elizabeth’s engagement dinner, where they spent much of the evening talking with each other. Since then, he had called three or four times a week.
Mary enjoyed their conversations enormously. Since he had always accepted her as she was despite the fact that theirfriendship had begun with her embarrassing herself completely, she somehow always felt easy about being herself and saying whatever was on her mind when she was in his company.
It didn’t take long for his attention to raise questions in her mind as to his intentions, but many long years of experience would not allow her to believe that he had any romantic notions. Their conversations were never peppered with flirting of any kind and instead were full of more esoteric thoughts.
That isn’t to say that Mary felt nothing for the gentleman. He was handsome and kind, and Mary would have been inhuman to not be attracted to the one man in the world who had treated her as though she mattered.
Mary was not inhuman, despite her efforts to the contrary. As the weeks passed by, she felt her attraction to Mr. Appleby grow. By the time of Jane’s engagement dinner, which was held in the middle of November, Mary’s attraction to Lord Appleby had grown to the point of pain.
She thoroughly enjoyed his company and his conversation, but she found it increasingly difficult to not wish that he saw her as something more than a talking library, perhaps something a bit more desirable than plain, awkward Mary could ever be.
Just as at Elizabeth’s engagement dinner, Mary and Lord Appleby were placed next to each other at Jane’s dinner. Mary assumed that Mama thought she was doing Mary a favor, but Mary began to wonder if Lord Appleby felt displeased with his placement.
Throughout dinner, he was a little more distant, and their conversation was a little more awkward than it had previously been. They still conversed, but unlike before, Lord Appleby also took time to converse with his dinner partner on his other side as well.
Mary knew she shouldn’t be disappointed. He was being polite. It was she who was being unreasonable by expecting him to ignore everyone but her.
After dinner, Mary did her best to mingle with the guests, not because she wished to but because it was the best way she knew to avoid speaking with Lord Appleby any further. If she was constantly in conversation with others, he could find no way to interrupt.
She wasn’t entirely successful. He still tried to talk to her towards the end of the evening. It seemed as though he wished to tell her something, but he kept changing his mind. This made their conversation stilted and confusing.
