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Nick’s heart beat swiftly as he waited for Alice to say something... do something.
Why did she just stand there, watching him? Why wasn’t she already in his arms?
Maybe he hadn’t completely thought through the no-trousers thing. He wanted to go to her, take her in his arms, but he needed her to make this decision without any physical persuasion on his part.
Alice closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them again, they shimmered with tears. “Nick,” she said, her voice faltering. “You can’t uproot your whole life to follow me across the globe.”
“What life? I was living for empty pleasures, stumbling moment to moment. Living in fear.”
“But what of the report for Parliament?”
“Coleman’s behind bars and the Yellow House is in his son’s hands now. Patrick tells me the lad has a kind heart and has already made vast improvements.”
“What of March and Bill and Berthold?”
“My ragged band of misfit servants will be fine without me.”
Finally, she walked toward the bed, a little unsteady on her feet because of the motion of the ship.
When she was near enough he reached for her and tumbled her into the bed, sending an indignant Kali leaping away.
Smoothing her hair away from her face, he gazed tenderly at his beautiful wife. “I’ve made many mistakes in my life, Alice, but the biggest mistake I ever made was allowing you to leave without telling you I loved you and begging you to take me with you on your wonderful adventure.”
“Nick.” She closed her eyes. “You love me?”
“More than anything, Dimples.”
He kissed her eyelids. Then he kissed her dimples, because she was smiling.
“I love how you plunge headlong into life with the belief that you can conquer anything. Speak any language. Translate any text. You’ve conquered me, Alice.”
She opened her eyes and the clear, deep turquoise stopped his heart from beating.
“I can’t tell you that you won’t go insane, Nick,” she whispered. “That you won’t forget my name or forget me entirely. No one can assure you of that.”
“I know. And I can accept that now, if you can.”
She nodded. “Yes, Nick. I will always love you. No matter what happens.”
“All I can do is be here with you right now, Alice. Right here. We can create memories so vivid that they weave themselves into the fabric of the universe. Into the light of the stars. The memory of this moment. You holding me. The memory of our kisses.”
He kissed her then with all his heart and soul.
Because she wasn’t just any fever dream of a woman.
She was Alice.
His wife. His lover.
His future.
