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Until.
Will broke from the kiss, his eyes shining with a love and affection that I had never seen before.
“Will you marry me, Miss Allen?”
I lost myself in his ocean eyes for a moment. The sun was beginning to rise beyond the park, and the golden reflection was sparkling within the blue ocean of his irises.
“Yes.”
It was the easiest yes that I had ever said.
Chapter Twenty
Will
Itookalookat myself in the mirror, adjusting my cravat. I was clean shaven, my hair tousled back… and I felt a jitter of nervousness in my stomach.
A strong hand clapped me from behind.
“Marsden, you look good, my friend.”
It was Cavendish. He was grinning, though I could see the slightest hint of confusion in his expression. Indeed, ever since Amelia and I’s engagement had become known, I’d been getting that reaction quite frequently.
I suppose I couldn’t blame everyone for being confused. After all, I had built my reputation around being arake. I had made it a point to never commit to any woman, and I had, up until now, stuck to my guns.
Marriage was a bit of a left turn.
“Thanks, Cav.” I said, grinning at him.
Both Cavendish and Arlington had looked stumped when I told them of my upcoming nuptials. They had only met Amelia once, and briefly… they’d thought she was just another girl on my long list of conquests.
But she wasn’t.
No, Amelia was something far different. I think I had always known it, ever since we were children. I had never met another woman like her… and there was no one else on Earth who understood me, inside and out, the way she did.
It had just taken me ten long years and a lot of drunken stupidity to figure it out.
“Fancy a scotch, Mars?” Arlington asked, pulling a flask out of his jacket pocket.
I paused for a moment, considering.
In the weeks since the debacle at Bedham House with Lord Turley, I had barely had five drinks. I hadn’t given it up entirely, of course – I was still a Lord, and there were plenty of occasions where a nice drink was in order. But I’d stopped carrying my flask on me at all times, and I’d even gotten rid of the liquor cabinets that were once ubiquitous in every room of my London townhouse. They had been there since my father lived here… and now they were gone.
Amelia hadn’t forbid me from drinking, though I knew how she felt about it. I had quit of my own accord, just as I had promised myself I would after she had left my townhome weeks ago.
I never wanted to lose her again.
But more than, I no longer wanted to lose myself.
“I’m alright.” I answered finally.
Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw a flash of surprise on Arlington’s face, followed by a funny look from Cavendish. But I wasn’t bothered.
In fact, it almost me laugh.
Who knew, being sober could be so… surprising.
“Any minute now, I think. I’ll go and check on the schedule… I’ll come back when they’re ready for you.” Arlington said, glancing at his pocket watch.
