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It was time to speak of what had been going around in his mind all the hours he worked on the books and sent letters out. Indeed, the subject kept him awake nights and tied in knots every time he was near her.
“Perhaps not.” He turned toward her and took her small warm hands into his. “I don’t think you should marry Mr. Faulkner-Jones.”
Obviously, this was not something she’d expected. She frowned and stared at him. “Indeed? And why would you say that?”
“Because I believe you should marry me.”
Chapter 12
Should I be on my knees?
The thought popped into Edwin’s head as the last word had been spoken. He wasn’t sure what to expect from Rayne when he made his announcement, but it certainly wasn’t what he got.
She said nothing. She made no facial movement. She did not swoon—that was good. She didn’t laugh—that was also good. What she did was continue to stare at him. “What?”
Well, then. Apparently, she had no reaction because she hadn’t heard what he said. He cleared his throat and this time he slid to the floor—awkward, that, with a leg cast—and took her hand. “I am asking you to do me the honor of becoming my wife.”
“Why?”
Edwin was stumped. Why does a man propose marriage to a woman? Love? Not in this case—unless he was trying to fool himself. Security? Dr. Stevens had a thriving medical practice and if he was able to cajole her patients into actually paying for her services, she could provide adequately for herself.
Children? She never expressed an interest in the little urchins, although she was quite fond of Glory. Social standing? A female doctor would not have much social standing no matter who she married.
He answered the only way he could. “Why not?”
“First of all, as your doctor, I order you off the floor. It is not good for healing your leg.” She looked down at the floor. “It’s all twisted up.”
He shifted and sat alongside her.
This time she took his hands. “First of all, I am already betrothed. Not that I remembered it, or am particularly happy about it, but nevertheless I am not free to acce
pt your offer.”
“Engagements can be broken. In your case, it should be broken. Rayne, Faulkner-Jones is not a good man. I don’t mean he’s a criminal or a libertine—”
“—like you.”
He scowled. “Not like me. Well, maybe at one time, but not so much lately, at least according to my friends.” He sighed. “We are getting distracted. You haven’t answered my question.”
“Which one?” She actually looked confused, so she was not purposely trying to waylay him.
Now he was so confused he didn’t remember himself which question he was awaiting an answer on. Well, there was one important one and he decided to go back to it. “Will you marry me?”
When she opened her mouth to speak, he raised his hand. “Please don’t ask me why or we will be at this conversation all day.”
“Edwin, until Mr. Faulkner-Jones walked through my front door, marriage was the very last thing on my mind.”
“Had you never considered the married state?”
“As a young girl, yes. All young girls think about weddings, husbands, babies, that sort of thing. But once Father put it into my head that I should concentrate on my studies so I could begin medical training, the idea of a husband was relegated to the back of my mind.”
Edwin considered her for a minute. “Yet, he betrothed you to Mr. Faulkner-Jones, so he did expect you to marry.”
“Perhaps that was why he did it? Because I wouldn’t have time to do so?”
Despite her high intellect, Rayne was also an ignorant in so many ways of the world. He was beginning to believe her father did that to her on purpose. Almost as if he were molding her into something he wanted, rather than the person she was. “Truthfully, I have heard of many reasons why parents arrange marriages for their children, and I must say that ‘not having time to do so’ is one reason I have never heard before.”
She sighed, staring out at the room, the fatigue from the day before still evident on her face, although nowhere near as bad as it had been. “I still must answer his summons. I sent a note telling him I had a medical emergency and would not make my meeting. I suggested Monday afternoon, instead.”
