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“I’ve been thinking of marrying you for months, and you’ve had one night to consider the idea. ”
“Yes, but I crammed a lot of consideration into that one night, and my feelings were there all along. I’m a highly efficient thinker,andI’m a woman. When it comes to marriage, a woman can consider more things in one night than a man considers in a decade. I have thoughts on the headstone, by the way.”
“The headstone?”
“Yes. The headstone that you said we’d be buried under, side by side. I want to be clear from the outset that it must have my name. There’s nothing worse than a headstone that says ‘Mr. Manford Manly McManning’ in engraved letters, and then in tiny chiseled script at the bottom, ‘his wife.’ I won’t be a ‘his wife,’ Justin. It must say the full thing. Chloe Anne Garland Montague, Lady Cheverell. If not, I shall haunt the house with a vengeance. I’d be good at haunting. Sounds more amusing than heaven, if I’m honest. Maybe I can divide my eternity. You know, the way people summer in Ramsgate or Bath.”
Justin rubbed his face with one hand, amused. She truly was astounding. This was going to be an interesting forever.
“You may put whatever you like on the headstone,” he said. “I don’t care if you reduce me to ‘her husband.’ However, we will write an engagement announcement first. And that will take place after I have proposed to you properly. Sometime in March, perhaps.”
“March?”She made an indignant little bounce. “You will make me wait until March?”
“It’s only three months.”
“That’s a quarter of a year.”
“Correct. It’s also approximately thirteen weeks, or ninety-one-and-a-quarter days.” He held out his palm. “Give the ring here. I’ll put it in the lockbox for safekeeping.”
She snatched her hand away. “You willnot.You just told me the ring was mine to keep. That I could do with it as I wish. And I wish to wear it.”
“Chloe.”
“I know that you mean well,” she said. “You are concerned for my reputation and you would like my family’s blessing first. Most of all, you want to be sure that I’m sure. I adore you for being protective of me and my family.”
“It’s no less than my duty as a gentleman.”
“Justin, you’re very good at doing what youshould.But sometimes you need a nudge to do what you trulywant. That’s where I come in.”
Hah. If he did what he trulywantedat the moment, the divan beneath them would require new upholstery, and they’d need to marry by the end of the week. She would do well to be careful with those nudges of hers.
Carnality aside, however, she was doing remarkably well at reading his thoughts.
“You weren’t exaggerating,” he said. “You did do a lot of thinking last night.”
She grinned. “You’ve no idea.”
“I don’t even want to know the full extent of it, do I?”
“No. You’d be terrified.”
“Well, then. Let’s just close that Pandora’s box, shall we.”
She held up the ring. “Here ismyproposal. You put the ring on my finger today, but I promise to keep it secret for now. I’ll only wear it to bed until you ask my father’s permission and formally propose. Twelfth Night would be the perfect occasion, in my view.”
“That’s less than two weeks away.”
“Precisely.” She squeezed his wrist, and his pulse pounded under her touch. “I love you. I don’t want to spend another minute pretending I don’t. I want to show off this gorgeous ring. And I want everyone to know I’m yours, and you’re mine. You want that, too.”
He pretended his chest wasn’t exploding with joy. He couldn’t be a complete milquetoast, giving in to her every whim, or they’d never get on. She needed him to be resolute and practical on occasion, just as much as he needed her to remind him of life’s delights. “If I agree to this...”
“Whenyou agree to this. Which will be a minute from now, if that.”
“I insist we add three months to our engagement. Six months in all.”
“A June wedding would be acceptable.”
“And I must be allowed to call you dearest and darling.”
