Page 161 of A Modest Independence

“Besides,” she went on, “it’s lately occurred to me that you and I have exhibited an infinite capacity for solving other people’s problems. Surely, we can use a fraction of that ingenuity to solve our own. There must be a way we can both have what we want. We’ve only to set our minds to finding it.”

“At this point,” Tom said, “all I want is you.”

Her fingers tightened on the front of his waistcoat. “That’s rather convenient because I feel the precise same way where you’re concerned.”

Tom bent his head to hers. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” It hadn’t been an easy decision. There would be consequences to giving up her freedom. She’d have to adjust. Adapt. But the alternative was no longer an option. A life without Tom would be no life at all. She loved him too much. Needed him too much. “It won’t be easy, but…if I have you by my side, I feel I could endure anything.”

“You won’t have to endure. And you won’t have to take it all on faith. There are things that can be done to protect your money. Legal safeguards. I’m still your solicitor. I can draw up documents. Set up a trust. It won’t be the same as remaining wholly independent, but it would give you some sense of autonomy.”

Her heart swelled. She hadn’t thought it was possible to love him more. “And you’d do that for me?”

“Anything it takes,” he swore. “If you’ll stay with me, I’ll make it my life’s work to see that you’re happy.”

“If,” Jenny repeated. “As though there’s any doubt when I’ve traveled all the way here from Egypt just to see your handsome face.”

“It’s hardly that.”

“Isn’t it? To me it’s the dearest sight in the whole world.”

He stared down into her eyes. His gaze was no longer unreadable. It shone with tenderness and rare vulnerability. “I confess I still can’t believe you’ve come back. I thought you were an apparition standing up there on the path. Something conjured out of my desperate imagination.”

“Would you like proof that I’m real? Evidence that I mean it when I say that I love you?”

“Jenny, I—”

“Here, I want to show you something.” She took a step back from him to reach inside the neckline of her jacket bodice. After a bit of fumbling, she withdrew the end of her necklace. His diamond ring sparkled there in the sunlight.

Tom went still. “Have you been wearing that this whole time?”

“Since last month. Do you think it too sentimental?”

He touched the ring. “What I think is that it belongs on your finger.”

“You must put it on me afterward.”

“Afterward?”

She unclasped her necklace and dropped it into his palm. “You did say that we’d done everything backward.”

“Ah. So we have.” He unthreaded the engagement ring from the chain. “After today, I propose we proceed in a more linear fashion. It will make things easier.”

“You propose.”

Tom smiled. “Yes, that. Forgive the oversight. I suppose I never quite got up the nerve.” He took her hand. It trembled slightly in his. “Will you marry me, Jenny?”

“I will. With all my heart.”

Tom slipped the ring onto her finger. It caught at her knuckle before sliding snugly into place. “There. A perfect fit.”

She held out her hand to admire it. “I don’t know how you managed to guess my size with any accuracy.”

“Don’t you?” His expression softened as he looked at her. “I’ve memorized everything about you. In the end, I fully expected those memories would be all that I had.”

Jenny brought her hand to cradle his cheek. “Because you respected my choice. You were willing to let me go in order to make me happy.”

“You make me sound frightfully noble.”