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“Thank you,” he murmured, stepping inside.
There was no servant to take his hat or coat, so he kept them as she led him down the hallway.
“Mina is upstairs packing. Her room is the third door on the left.”
Colin had not thought there was anything more capable of shocking him. “My lady, do you mean for me to enter Miss Fernsby’s bedchamber?”
“Do you believe my niece has not told me what passed between you last night?”
Colin choked on the air. That he had not expected.
“Oh, do close your jaw and go on. Simply leave the door open. However, you are not to come down until you have convinced her to accept your offer of marriage. If you need a gentle form of persuasion, you may close the door for no more than five minutes.”
He laughed at the viscountess’s incorrigible nature. “Yes, your ladyship,” he said, then hurried up the stairs.
The door in question to her chamber was already ajar, and it pained his heart to hear sobbing coming from within the room. Easing the door open, he watched for several seconds as Mina folded clothes and placed them in a valise. Her shoulders shook with the force of her grief, and some of the tension that had held him lessened. She cried because they were parting. After everything, she did not accept that she would be considered acceptable to his society and family. That he might marry someone else despite everything that had happened between them.
“Mina,” he said gently.
She spun around, her hand flying to her throat. How heartbreakingly lovely and miserable she looked. Shock widened her eyes. “Colin! What are you doing here?”
He walked into the room and left the door ajar. “Marry me.” He did not want to ply her with sweet flattery, just the honest truth. “Marry me, Hermina.”
Her lips trembled. “It is important for you to wed a lady with suitable connections and a good reputation to smooth your way in the ton.” She pressed her hand over her chest. “That is not me.”
“Wrong,” he growled. “It is important to marry a lady I esteem. A lady I think has a spine of steel who can weather any storm with me. While I hope my family will improve, I expect some scandal to still follow us. I want a woman by my side who will understand that and still stand beside me with her head lifted high. I want a woman who when she sees me, her eyes light up with pleasure as yours do every single time I walk into a room. A lady who works hard to help me do better with how I behave in society, not to obtain a paycheck, but because family and love are important to her.”
She gasped.
“Did you believe I had not noticed, Mina? I damn well noticed.”
“You truly wish to marry me?”
“Yes.”
She pressed a hand over her mouth and stared at him with disbelief.
He took another step closer. “Take this journey with me, Mina. We will learn each other’s likes and wants. Some days we might fight, but we will not sleep unless we are reconciled. We will have wonderful days filled with laughter and passion and family. You have not met most of my family as yet, and it will be intimidating becoming a member of the Fairbanks, but I promise you will not live with regret, only happiness.”
Tears spilled down her cheeks, and she took a halting step toward him. “Colin…I have nothing to offer you but the love that is blossoming in my heart and—”
“I swear, Mina, I swear it is enough. More than enough. Your love will only give me more strength and joy.”
Her smile wobbled, and with a harsh sob, she flung herself into his arms, cupping his face and kissing his mouth with short, frantic, and very loving kisses. “I am falling in love with you…no, I am already in love with you, and I know it will grow each day and year with you. I feel the well of it there deep inside, waiting to be filled. Oh, Colin, I cannot believe that you really want me to marry you.”
“Thank God,” he said fervently, “You had me worried. Now please say you will marry me, for I love you, Mina.”
She laughed. “Yes, I will marry you.”
“Good, I will procure a special license.”
“A special license?”
“Yes, I am not allowing you to change your mind. We are getting married in a few days’ time.”
Mina stared up at him in wonder, then she hugged him, tucking her head below his chin. They stood like that for a long time until her aunt cleared her throat, so they pulled apart. They turned around hand in hand to see the viscountess standing in the doorway, her eyes wet with tears and a bright smile on her face.
“Welcome to our family, Colin Fairbanks,” she said and dipped into a curtsy. The lady then walked away.
Mina giggled. “My aunt can be a little eccentric, but you will come to love her, I am sure of it.”
“I already love her,” he said, grateful to the lady for letting him into her home.
He drew Mina back to him and kissed her deeply and lovingly, a rush of happiness filling him. They were at the very beginning of their journey forward in this new life, and he was damn glad he would have a woman who loved him by his side.
