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His gaze was wholly focused on her lips.
“You wish to kiss me, don’t you?”
Running his hands through his hair, he closed his eyes. “I’m afraid so.”
“I have it on good authority, Herr Vogel, that kissing alone does not render one in a family way.”
He dropped his hands in shock at her language, though he also huffed out a laugh.
“I’m not jesting, Frederick. Forgive my forwardness, but I must share this in the interest of avoiding misunderstanding. Of everything we share, it’s not a commitment to chasteness. Only to not bearing children. I wish to kiss you, too.”
He stood tall, regarding her silently for a while, and when he took her hands, his were trembling. In her years of watching him work, she had witnessed nothing but steadiness from him—even when his eyes would stray to her every so often.
Molly was sure that his reticence had not departed in its entirety, but he allowed her to see more than ever the nature of his feelings.
“Two factors prevent me from kissing you in this moment,” he said in a low voice. “First”—he glanced around the public setting of the park—“if we’re going to indulge, it can’t be here. Second, the belief that if I ever do taste you, I won’t wish to stop. That one kiss will beget one thousand.”
His hungry look elicited a shiver from her. “I hope it will. But Frederick, I worry not about changing my mind. I never shall. It’s life or death for me. I have it on good authority, however, that there are forms of…wickedness that we might share.”
“What?”
She recalled her ladyship’s words, even though speaking them aloud caused her cheeks to prickle and her lips to feel numb. “There are activities in which two interested parties may partake without resulting in maternity.”
He looked intrigued and a little amused. “Is that wicked?”
“Isn’t it? I cannot speak to what God intended, but many would. Without the purpose of creating a family, isn’t the only motive of such activities wickedness?”
His eyes dropped pensively, and when he raised them, they conveyed a mix of affection and hope that stole her breath.
“Molly, what if our purposeisto create a family—one that is you and me?”
“Oh, Frederick.”
Those were the only words she could utter, but they were filled with felicity and tenderness.
“Christmas,” he said, sounding decided.
“What about Christmas?”
“It’s my favorite time of year, and it’s two-and-a-half months hence. This could be my best Christmas yet. Even better than when my parents gifted my brothers and me with a spinning top. Martin recently found the thing in a wretched state. I spirited it away to my workshop, where I’ll refurbish and lacquer it anew.”
She smiled, easily imagining the care with which he’d undertake that project. “Oh?”
“I’d known this Christmas would be special with the Vogel children delighting again in such a bauble. But now it’s my hope thatmyChristmas wish will be granted. Molly Hawkins, on Christmas, I shall ask for your hand in marriage.”
