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“The house is far from here, and the way back to the inn is in the other direction. Did you really come just for him?” I called out.
“Of course not, and you know it,” he replied. “When I arrived, I saw you walking in this direction. I did not hear a word your brother said, as my thoughts were full of you. I thought to return to the inn and wait, but I could not.”
“You followed me.”
“Yes, and you are a rather fast walker to get this far. Though I did get lost on the way. I nearly thought you had returned to the house.”
“What did you wish to happen upon finding me?”
“What were you dreaming of that left you in this state?”
I frowned, and he smiled wide. In the sunlight, he seemed to radiate with pure joy. Once more, he knelt before me.
“Verity, let us not pretend we do not desire each other. I meant what I said yesterday. I wish to marry you, and I will go to your brother and say so. All that stops me now is you.”
“I am still angry with you,” I muttered.
“What good is it for you to be angry at me and not get to show it? Should you be my wife, you could yell at me to your heart’s content.”
I snickered. “Would that not make me a disagreeable wife?”
“Nothing could make you disagreeable,” he said, taking my hand. “Everything about you is perfection.”
“You have clearly forgotten my nightmares—”
“I have not.”
“They have not gone away despite all efforts. You wish to have a wife who screams in terror beside you every night?”
“I will take it as a good excuse to hold and comfort you.”
“Theodore, I am serious.”
“As am I.” He kissed the back of my hand. Right there, I could have sunk into the earth. I was supposed to be mad at him, yet I found I missed him. On my trip back to Everely, I wondered why I was fond of him at all. And I realized it was because I did not feel abnormal around him. He was not perfect either. His background was complicated, his demeanor sometimes standoffish or awkward. He was kind at heart, he always went to someone’s aid, but in the company of others, he was aloof and a bit disagreeable.
I…I loved him, for he, like me, was…a mess of raging thoughts and emotions desperately trying to keep calm under the eyes of society. A perfect match for me.
“Verity, you are not saying anything.” He rubbed his thumbs over my knuckles. “I made a mistake in leaving you, and I’m genuinely sorry. I know not what to say beyond that. I—”
“Did I not already agree to marry you?” The words fell from my lips before I realized. His eyebrows came together in confusion. I reached to open my journal and took out his mother’s pendant. “Did you not ask me with this?”
He stared at it and then me. “I did.”
“I accepted then and you—”
“I ran. Now I’ve returned and you still have it,” he whispered, and I nodded.
“It is far too precious to abandon…if only you felt the same. Good day.” I rose to my feet, not wishing to be so close to him.
“What shall it take for you to forgive me?” he asked.
I frowned. “I do not know. Maybe you will change your mind and run from me again—”
“You do not trust I am sincere.” He hung his head and exhaled through his nose before nodding. “Very well, I shall prove it to you then.”
“How?”
“How else but to request your hand from your brother?”
My eyes widened as he rushed back to his horse!
“No, wait!” I called out. I ran to him in order to hold him back but I pulled so hard we both slipped and landed in the flowers.
“Are you all right?” he questioned, rolling over to look at me.
“Yes.” I winced once.
“Careful, let me help you up—”
I stopped him, holding on to his arm. “You cannot speak to my brother.”
“You want a guarantee I shall not go again, and that is the only way—”
“My brother might actually kill you!”
He brushed the leaves from my hair. “You do not believe I was aware of that risk before coming here?”
I frowned. “Theodore—”
“I’d rather die for your hand than live without it, Verity.” He kissed my forehead before moving to help me up. “Now come, I must speak with him.”
“You are too callous with your life,” I snapped. “If it is a matter of believing you, fine, I believe you. Now please—”
“No matter what, I shall need to speak to him, Verity.”
“Evander is currently at war with Fitzwilliam.” I groaned, as he did not understand. “I fear any other news, this news, will be too much for him.”
“When will this war of brothers end?” he asked.
“I do not know.”
