“That’s not what I am saying. I just want you to be sure.” His eyes searched hers, but she couldn’t read them. They were guarded. “Are you sure, Georgie?”
Georgie blinked back the hot tears that were starting to form in the back of her eyes. She didn’t want to cry in front of him. “I thought I was, but I don’t want to force you into marrying me.”
“Force me?” He chuckled. “I’m afraid you’ve misunderstood me. Iwantto marry you!”
“You do?” she asked, feeling nervous hope build back up inside of her.
William gently brushed a hand along her jaw and cupped her cheek as he leaned closer. “I want to make something clear. I am not marrying you out of obligation. Maybe at first I was, but everything is different now. We are different now. I want to marry you because I’m afraid I can’t live without you,” he said. He took a deep breath. “The truth is, that I am in love with you.”
“You are?” Her voice quivered on the simple words.
He smiled. “How can I not be?” he asked. “You have taken my desolate existence and replaced it with hope for a brighter future.”
“I love you, too,” Georgie breathed.
His breath hitched, and for a moment they were silent.
“I suspected that you cared for me after that kiss, but I didn’t dare presume that you loved me,” William said. “I hoped as much, though.” His eyes dropped to her lips. “May I kiss you?”
She gave a slow nod even as her gaze darted to his mouth and then back to his eyes. “You may.”
That was all the encouragement William needed. He caught her lips fiercely with his own, and she kissed him back with equal fervor. This wonderful man was her future, her everything.
They were lost in each other for a moment, and then Georgie thought she heard Evie ask, “How long do we let them kiss?” Was her mind playing tricks on her? Why would Evie be all the way out here, so far from London?
“Not much longer,” Lord Hawthorne said as Lord Haddington snorted. “I want to go home to my wife and change out of these dusty clothes.”
William broke the kiss and leaned back just enough to ask, “Marry me, tomorrow?”
“How would we accomplish such a feat?” Georgie asked. “We have no coachman to take us the rest of the way to Gretna Green.” Her eyes involuntarily made their way to the slain servants, and she hastily turned back to William.
“We’ll go back to London. Now that Hawthorne is your guardian, he will grant you consent to marry me by special license,” William said.
Lord Hawthorne nodded. “I will allow it, but only if you two agree to stop kissing.”
“I’m not going to agree to that, but I will refrain from kissing her around you,” William responded.
“Very well,” Lord Hawthorne sighed, feigning to be put out.
William slipped his arm around Georgie’s waist and turned to face his friends. “Thank you for following us. I hate to admit that you were right.”
“They were?” Georgie asked.
Evie stepped forward with a rifle in her hand. “I saw your lady’s maid sneak out of the townhouse after you were asleep and followed her to your brother’s house.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Georgie asked.
“We didn’t know exactly what your brother would do: if he would send hired men, if he’d come personally to retrieve you, or whether he’d even do anything at all. No one was able to discover anything, either, though we tried. We decided it would be best to simply follow you and help if needed,” Evie explained.
“I must assume you were the sharpshooter in the woods,” Georgie posited.
“I was,” Evie replied. “We were a little down the road when we heard gunfire. After conferring a moment, we thought it would be best if I remained hidden.”
“Thank you,” William said. “You helped save our lives.”
Evie gave him an appreciative nod before saying, “We should get you home.”
Georgie’s eyes flew to her brother. “What do we do with his body, and the others?” she asked. “We can’t leave them out here.”
