Page 55 of To Steal a Kiss

“And….” Nate hesitated, and she looked up to see him take a deep breath. “And what of me, Alice?”

She smiled at him and all at once her shyness returned with full force and she was compelled to look away and study the ground at her feet. “I-I thought perhaps you… you might have a question for me, Nate?” she said, so anxious now her voice was little more than a whisper.

Nate paused, turning to her, his gaze intent.

“Keep walking,” she urged, tugging at his arm. “People are looking.”

“Damnation,” he muttered with frustration. “I’d like to do this properly, but I can hardly get to my knees in the middle of Kensington Gardens.”

Alice smiled at him, her heart soaring and whatever he saw in her eyes must have reassured him.

“Alice, darling, please. Please will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?”

“I will,” Alice replied, finding her reply was not difficult to find, in fact the words came easily without a trace of doubt. Perhaps things would not be as simple as they appeared now, and perhaps they had much to learn about each other, but she knew Nate’s heart and she believed it to be true, and honourable. Everything else would come.

Nate let out a shaky breath and turned to look at her. “This is intolerable. I need to kiss you.”

Alice couldn’t help but laugh at the sincerity of his complaint and he returned a rueful smile.

“Don’t tease, love. I’m in agony here.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, leaning into him a little. “But the more pertinent problem to overcome is how we shall achieve a marriage at all. I’m assuming Gretna Green,” she added.

“Good heavens, no,” Nate replied, so obviously horrified at the idea she was a little dismayed.

“But Nate, how else are we to achieve it in time? We must be married at once.”

“Marrying me will be scandal enough,” he said with a glower before giving her a rueful smile. “I’ll not subject you to the ignominy of an anvil wedding too.” They walked in silence while he considered. “We’ll marry at St Paul’s Church in Covent Garden. If we get a common licence, there is no need to read the banns.”

Alice let out a sigh of relief. “Yes, I’m over twenty-one so there is no permission needed. We’ll need witnesses, though. Do you think we can manage it?”

“I do,” he said, excitement glittering in his eyes. “But can you get away?”

“I will, somehow, but when?” she said, finding it hard to breathe. Excitement, fear, and a dawning realisation that she really would disoblige her parents and marry an unsuitable man made her feel quite giddy.

“It’s Sunday tomorrow, dash it all,” he cursed, frowning with annoyance. “I’ll not be able to make the arrangements tonight, so it must be Monday morning. I’ll arrange it for eleven a.m.”

Alice’s hand tightened on his sleeve and she could feel the colour leaving her cheeks as she imagined her parent’s reaction to the news.

“Can you do it, Alice?” Nate asked, and though she did not look at him, she could feel the heat and weight of his gaze upon her. “Can you go against everything they want and marry a man they think beneath you?”

Fire scalded her chest at that. “You’re not beneath me,” she said, such anger in her voice that Nate’s eyes widened a little. She let out a breath, allowing the rage to leave her, and smiled at him. “You’re not beneath me,” she said again, gently now. “You’re a good and kind man and I believe you’ll be a loving husband, though….”

Nate frowned, ducking his head to meet her eyes.

“What is it?” he asked, daring to reach out and touch a finger to her chin, turning her to face him. “Tell me. What is it that makes you hesitate?”

“I’m not hesitating,” she said with a soft little laugh. “I’m marrying you.”

Though there was hesitation, if not in her heart, then in her mind.

“Alice,” he said, her name on his lips sending a shiver of awareness down her spine. Good heavens, by Monday afternoon she would be this man’s wife. She shivered again. “Alice, if we are to marry, we will have each other’s hearts for safekeeping. How can I do that if I don’t know what troubles you, what makes you afraid?”

She drew in a breath, knowing she had to confide this, her only real fear for their future, the only thing that could truly break her if she’d made a mistake in trusting him with her heart. Alice lifted her eyes to his and dared to speak her mind. “What if it’s just an infatuation, Nate? What if you tire of me, or… or grow bored?”

For a moment, there was a flash of anger in his eyes and she quailed a little.

“Is that what you think of me?” he asked, the hurt in his voice unmistakable.