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“I am sorry, Lord Watt.”
Such was the pounding of his heart that he struggled to hear her. “You are sorry?” he repeated softly, his pulse racing all the more as she looked up at him with those beautiful, gentle eyes that seemed to pierce his very soul. “What have you to be sorry for?”
Her eyes searched his. “I did not write to you.” Her hands reached around and pressed against his chest. “When my father died, I spent my year of mourning lost in grief and confusion. I did not once write to you, did not once tell you of how I felt.”
“But nor did I,” he answered. “You know that I did not. That was my failing also.” The truth began to bring a fresh wave of shame and regret to him, but he continued to speak it regardless. “I, too, was lost, Daisy. I did not know what I ought to do or what I ought to say. I was grieving for the loss of your father and for the loss of your company also. In my foolishness, I thought to leave you alone for fear that a letter might somehow bring you more pain when I know now that it might have been of some comfort to you.”
A single tear ran down her cheek, and he could not help but wipe it away. “I am filled with regret for what I did not do,” he told her. “When I heard the rumor that you also had passed away, I felt so lost within my shame and sadness that it was as though I was walking through thick clouds with very little idea of where to go.”
“But we have found each other again,” she whispered, bringing him such a surge of hope that it almost knocked him back. “Is there any way that you might consider me again, Lord Watt?”
“Consider you?” He could barely believe what she was asking him, could hardly take in that she still had a question over his feelings. “My dear Daisy, I have never had a day go by where I have not thought of you, where I have not prayed beyond hope that we might one day have a chance to repair what was broken.” His hands went back around her, tightening just a little and pulling her fractionally closer. “You have never left my heart.”
Tears filled her eyes then, but such was her smile that Matthew knew precisely what she was feeling. A fresh joy surged through him, and he began to lower his head.
“I love you, Lord Watt,” she told him, reaching up to frame his face gently with her hands. “My affections were pushed aside with the grief and the pain that filled me, but now that I am returned to you, they have burst forth anew with such a strength that I cannot keep them back. My love for you will never fade. I am only sorry that it has taken so long for me to return to you.”
“Do not apologize for what has occurred,” he told her, swept away by happiness. “I understand it all. I am grateful for it all, for it has brought you back into my arms so that I might have the second chance I prayed for.” He lowered his head and kissed her briefly, resisting the urge to linger. There was more to be said. “I wanted to speak to your father some two years ago, Daisy, and now I come to you with the very same question.” He sm
iled at her and saw how her cheeks filled with color. “I want to make you my wife, Daisy. I do not want to lose you again.” He pressed her gently closer to him. “Will you marry me?”
Her answer was immediate. “Of course I will,” she whispered, looking up into his face and with a smile so beautiful that it lit up her eyes. “I have no one else in my heart but you.”
He kissed her then, feeling her melt into him and aware of just how his heart screamed for the joy of it all. He wanted to whirl her about the room; he wanted to throw open the windows and cry out aloud for everyone to hear that his joy had been made complete. But instead, he simply held his long-lost love, his one dear Daisy, who had been so far from him and had now had finally returned to his arms. Love had drawn them back together, and now their hearts would twine back together as one, holding fast for the rest of their days.
