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His head whipped around and this time, he stared at her as though he had never seen her before. “You have?” he whispered huskily.
“You have loved me all this time?” she whispered with tears in her eyes.
“From the first time I saw you at the fiftieth autumn fayre in Agglethorpe,” he assured her.
She knew immediately what he meant and smiled mistily at him; too choked for words.
Trenton nodded. “I can see no reason why you should not retain your wealth once we are married. It would be something you could leave to our children when they grow older if you don’t spend it on yourself.”
“Pardon?” Ursula stared at him in stunned disbelief. Had he just spoken as though the marriage was already arranged?
“I have always been aware of you living next door,” Trenton admitted. “When your father said that you were off to Adelaide’s in search of a husband, and asked if I could keep an eye out for you, of course I was delighted to. I was determined to put a stop to you even considering marriage to anyone else. I just hadn’t expected to find someone so beguiling waiting for me. The stunning young girl I remember from my youth has turned into a delectable young woman who is perfect in every way.”
“Ah, how nice,” Adelaide whispered tearfully.
“I think we need to have a private word about this, Jeremiah,” Trenton murmured without taking his eyes off Ursula.
“Whenever you are ready, my boy,” Jeremiah assured him.
“Now that’s settled,” Adelaide said as she pushed out of her chair. “You need to come and help me with some things in the drawing room, Jeremiah. I think Isaac is about to announce dinner. Trenton, I should be delighted if you would join us?”
Trenton took his gaze off Ursula long enough to nod his thanks to the elderly woman. “I would love to, thank you.”
Ursula and Trenton remained seated while Adelaide and Jeremiah left. When they were alone, Trenton kissed the back of her hand before he drew her into his arms.
“Thank God you are alright,” he murmured with a sigh. Although chasing after the carriage hadn’t taken too long, he felt as though he had aged a good ten years. “I thought I had lost my world.”
“All I could think of was that I wouldn’t get to see you again,” Ursula whispered. She tried not to think about those dreadful moments in that dark carriage, but found the memories resurfacing anyway. “I knew that if I could just get out of there and get to you then everything would be alright.”
“I would have moved heaven and earth to find you,” Trenton growled. Before she could say anything else, he sealed the promise with a very thorough kiss.
“Why did you not tell me about the inheritance?” She said without any hint of accusation when he eventually lifted his head and had settled her against his chest.
“I didn’t want you to refuse to marry me because you had money to support yourself. You were so adamant that you would never find a husband that I just didn’t want that opinion being encouraged by the knowledge you had money to support yourself. Your wealth is not important to me because I have more than enough of my own. You need to keep yours and do with it whatever you wish once we are married. Maybe you could leave it to our children with the same arrangement in place so they too are given the freedom to choose who they spend the rest of their lives with when their time comes,” he murmured huskily.
“Children?” she whispered.
Trenton nodded thoughtfully for a moment. “I am afraid that I have to admit I was wrong to allow matters to go as far as they did the other night. I should never have touched you before our wedding,” he whispered without any hint of regret.
Her stomach dropped to her toes at the solemn look in his eye. “I don’t regret it,” she whispered defiantly.
“You have every right to be angry with me for the liberties I have taken, especially given that I didn’t take suitable precautions to prevent a child,” he declared with an unrepentant grin.
She gasped and stared at him in disbelief. At first she was shocked, horrified, then wondrously pleased, then awkwardly uncomfortable at the thought of having to explain herself to her father. “Oh Lord, I forgot.”
He grinned at her. “I am not saying it is a bad thing, you understand? Just that I would prefer our children to be born once we are married. After all, nobody is ever going to steal you away from me. When you lay with me the other night, you gave much more than your body to me. You committed your life to mine. In return, I gave you everything I have, including my heart, in the hopes that you would be in – er – agreement with the idea of being my wife.”
Ursula gasped and stared at him in shock. “You took me to bed to make sure I would marry you?”
Trenton laughed huskily. “Scoundrels come in many shapes and sizes. The only thing this scoundrel wants from you is your undivided love in return for his complete devotion.” He turned solemn as he studied her. “When I realised that Alfred Sinnerton had kidnapped you, my world stopped. While I was racing through the streets after you, watching the carriage you were in weave in and out of the traffic, it was like watching the sands of happiness slip through my fingers. I would have torn London apart until I found you if you had disappeared. You belong to me, Ursula. Your life belongs with mine. Share it with me,” he demanded in a voice that was choked with emotion. “Say you will marry me?”
Ursula felt tears slip steadily down her cheeks but she made no attempt to brush them away. “I would be honoured to,” she whispered.
She sighed and felt a warm flush of love sweep through her with such stunning force that she melted against his chest as he drew her toward him. He held her so tightly that she could feel the steady beat of his heart against hers and knew, with absolute certainty that was where home was; where her heart belonged. Here, in this man’s arms.
“I love you, Ursula,” he murmured when he released her lips and placed several tiny kisses across her cheeks.
“I love you too, Trenton,” she whispered as she returned the tender affection. “Thank you.”
