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I am requesting your presence at the same spot where we met previously. I will be waiting there for you within the hour. Please, come as quickly as you can. It is an urgent matter.
Sincerely,
RW
He didn’t realize he was smiling until Roger spoke up.
“My lord?” he asked.
Andrew looked at him, hurriedly folding the letter and putting it in his coat pocket.
“Please, arrange a carriage to Hyde Park at once, Roger,” he said. “I must depart immediately.”
The footman looked perplexed, but he simply bowed. He rushed from the room, and Andrew followed closely behind. He could see his mother coming down the stairs, but he turned and headed toward the entryway before she spotted him. If the meeting with Miss Whitworth went as he hoped it would, he would never need to finish the conversation his mother had started earlier.
In record time, Roger and the coachman brought around the carriage. Andrew hopped into it before it pulled it to a stop, and it pulled away from his home a moment later. Throughout the whole trip, Andrew stared out of the window, his mind racing.
He knew the meeting could go either way. But something told him that, if Miss Whitworth had decided to reject his offer, she would have told him in a letter. He could not get his hopes up until he knew for sure, however. He just hoped she had considered the offer well and saw it as he did.
When he arrived at the park, he leapt from the carriage, straightened his coat and ran a hand through his hair. Then, with his heart beating loudly in his ears, he headed straight for the tree behind which he had hidden when the woman and her maid had slipped out of the park the day before.
Miss Whitworth was sitting nearby on a bench with her lady’s maid. Before he even reached her, Andrew could see she wore a serious expression. He knew then that she had, indeed, given his proposal a great deal of consideration. He couldn’t discern her answer from her face, so he straightened himself and slowly walked over to them.
“Good day, Miss Whitworth,” he said, tipping his hat and bowing as he stopped before her.
She and her maid rose and curtseyed to him. The maid went to stand over by the tree, watching them intently, just as she had before. However, Andrew noticed she did so with considerably less reluctance than she had previously. Andrew hoped that was a good sign.
“Good day, Lord Elsbrook,” Miss Whitworth said. “Please, sit with me.”
She scooted to one side of the bench and patted the large, empty space on the other side.
“Thank you,” he said, placing his hat between them and complying with her request. He tried to look casual as he sat down, but his heart was racing. Whatever she said next would change his life, and her own, forever. He knew she knew that, as well, as was evident from the look on her face. He waited patiently for her to be ready to speak.
“I have given your proposal a great deal of thought,” she said at last.
Andrew nodded. His anticipation was building at a rapid rate, but he remained collected.
“I am glad,” he said. “I know it is a big thing I sprang on you, not to be taken lightly. But I am glad to see you here again so soon. I take it that you have come to a decision?”
Miss Whitworth looked at him for a long moment before nodding.
“I have,” she said.
Andrew took a deep breath. All he could do right then was hope she would say yes.
“Very well,” he said. “I will hear it whenever you are ready, Miss Whitworth.”
The woman nodded again, sitting up straight and lifting her chin. He could see in her eyes that she was as nervous as he felt, and he held his breath.
“I am willing to accept your offer,” she said.
Andrew’s heart stopped. It was the answer he had hoped for, but he only realized then that he had truly expected her to reject him.
“Wonderful,” he said, but she held up her hand to stop him.
“However,” she said cautiously. “I have a condition. And this condition must be met for me to agree to marry you.”
Andrew was sure he would have promised her the moon and found a way to deliver it too, if it meant she would marry him. But he simply gave her a soft smile.
