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He hugged her tightly, and then he took her arms gently into his hands and lowered them from his neck, looping her arm through his. “In fact,” he said as he began moving with her to a small cluster of trees near the border of his garden, “I would like to return to Lincolnshire and have the banns begun to be read the moment we arrive.” They were in the shade of the trees now, and he drew her farther in, so they were no longer visible from the veranda. “For now, however, I have waited far too long to repeat the kiss we shared at Alderwood.”
He cupped her face with his hands and lowered his head to hers. Their lips met, parted, joined again, leaving Rebecca breathless and hungry for more of him. She clutched his shoulders, straining on tiptoe again to get closer to him. And then he did what he had done on the very first day they’d met—he scooped her up into his arms, only this time he pressed her close to him and took her lips with his own. Their lips never parting, he moved until he was next to a tree and leaned back against it, Rebecca still in his arms, and then slid down until he was seated beneath it. “You are ruining your jacket,” Rebecca murmured, her mouth but the merest breath from his own.
“Worth it,” he muttered, and then he kissed her again.
Oh, but she was in heaven. She fleetingly understood why propriety required chaperones for couples who were courting, but that understanding fled as quickly as it had come, so overcome she was by the headiness of his arms about her, the beating of his heart, the texture of his hair under her fingers, and the exquisiteness of the flesh of his lips on her own.
“I want you to be mine, body and soul,” he whispered as his lips explored her face and throat, “as I wish to be yours.”
“Yes,” she said. “Oh, yes, please.”
He drew back enough to gaze at her. His eyes, heavy-lidded with passion, searched her own. Rebecca ran her fingers through his tousled hair. “I long for us to marry,” he said, caressing her face with his fingers, tracing the outline of her brow. “I want a union, a oneness I didn’t believe was possible between two people. But I believe it to be possible now. Oh, my darling, my heart, make me wait no longer than is necessary for you to become my wife and for me to become your husband. I long for this above all things.”
“Oh, Ben,” Rebecca whispered, “who could have imagined that what I thought was the worst thing to ever happen to me would turn out to be my greatest blessing? I love you so much.”
“Then let us return to Lower Alderwood and have your brother Isaac call the banns, shall we?” he said.
“Yes,” she said. And then she took his face in both of her hands and kissed him again.
“I do believe I saw them wander off in this direction,” Rebecca heard Susan call out from a distance.
Ben drew away from her and chuckled. “Your sister has impeccable timing.”
“Amongst other things,” Rebecca said.
“She is giving us fair warning,” he said. “Bless her for that.”
“Well, as she was just recently married,” Rebecca said, “I believe she, of all people, might deduce what is happening, based on our disappearance.”
“Undoubtedly true.” He gently scooted Rebecca from his lap and stood, then assisted her to her feet. “Fortunately, you, my darling, look just as you should.” Rebecca’s hand went to her mouth, which she was certain was swollen and pink from his kisses, despite his assurances. He smiled at her. “I’m afraid, however, that I could use a bit of help dusting off the many assorted leaves and twigs from my person.” He turned to face away from her, and she brushed as many leavings as she could from the back of his jacket as he swiped at the ones on the seat of his trousers. And then, taking her hand, he led her out from the trees.
“Ah, there you are,” Susan said, halfway between the house and the trees, a knowing look on her face. “Excellent.” She said no more, simply turned and headed back in the direction of the house.
Rebecca and Ben followed her, their hands tightly clasped together.
“Oh, by the way,” he murmured as they walked, “I hope this doesn’t dissuade you, but at some point, we shall have to go to Winton Court, for there are people there who will wish to celebrate the new Countess of Winton.”
“I am agreeable to that,” she said. For, as long as they were together as husband and wife and daughter, she would be happy anywhere.
