She tilted her head. “Then say it.”
Richard shifted in his seat, visibly struggling. “As you are well aware, I am a marquess. But beneath that title, I am still just a man.” He exhaled and dragged a hand through his hair. “This isn’t coming out the way I rehearsed it.”
“What is it that you intend to say?”
Running a hand again through his already disheveled hair, he replied, “I know I have no right to ask you this, but is there a part of you that sees a future with me?”
Now that was the last thing she had expected him to say. “I beg your pardon?” she asked, fearing she had misheard him. Or at least misunderstood him.
“I don’t know when, but somewhere along the way, I fell in love with you,” he said. “I look at you and I feel as though I’ve found something I didn’t even know I was searching for. And it terrifies me. Because now that I’ve found it, I can’t bear the thought of losing it.”
She was quiet, stunned by the raw honesty in his words.
He reached across the space and took her gloved hand. “I know this is all so sudden, but I don’t want to face life without you. I love you for the part of me that you bring out.”
She swallowed. “Why me?”
“Because you don’t care about what I can offer you. You care about who I am. And that… that is everything.”
She looked down at their joined hands. “You realize I’m only the daughter of a baronet. I am hardly a match for a marquess.”
“I know there are other women, but I don’t want anyone else,” he replied. “I’ve spent my whole life doing what was expected of me. Fulfilling duty after duty. But for once, I want something for myself. And what I want is you.”
She gave him a pointed look. “But I seem to annoy you to no end.”
“I was never irritated,” he said. “Merely confused by how thoroughly you unsettled me.”
“And your mother and sister?” she asked. “They are well aware of your intentions?”
He chuckled. “Who do you think sent me after you?”
Her heart swelled with disbelief and cautious hope. “This feels like a dream.”
He leaned in, eyes never leaving hers. “If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that you have always belonged with me,” he said. “Marry me, Dosia. Be my marchioness. Be mine.”
She laughed softly, her lips trembling. “I would make a terrible marchioness.”
“I disagree,” he said. “And besides, I hope you’ll take over managing the estate accounts. You’d do a far better job than I ever could.”
She perked up. “Truly?”
“Truly.” He moved to sit beside her on the bench, never letting go of her hand. “I know my limitations. And you, my dear, are not one of them.”
Feeling as if she were about to burst with happiness, she replied, “Then I suppose I have no choice but to say yes.”
His brow quirked. “Is it the accounts that convinced you?”
“No,” she said, turning fully to face him. “I’m saying yes because I love you. I think I have for some time.”
“Are you certain?”
“I am,” she said, her voice steady. “I realized it during the waltz. I felt safe when I was in your arms and realized I never wanted you to let me go.”
He lifted her hand and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “And I think I first fell for you when you dared to dismiss me so soundly in your drawing room. No one had ever spoken to me that way. It was… exhilarating.”
“You didn’t appear exhilarated at the time,” she teased. “In fact, you looked downright bothered.”
“Promise me you’ll always speak your mind,” he said. “I want all of you. Your thoughts. Your opinions. Your fire.”
