Someone—perhaps the only one—she could honestly talk to about anything.
“Will you marry me?” she asked.
A thundercloud swept over his face. “That is terribly cruel.” He scrambled to his feet. “Do you know, Rose, I’m usually amused by the way you tend to say whatever comes into your head.” Clearly disgusted, he began to walk away. “But that was just plain cruel.”
Jumping up to run after him, she grabbed his hand and jerked him to a halt. “I meant it, Kit.”
“What?” He swung to her, glaring.
“You’re the best person I know. I want to be your wife.”
He focused hard on her, searching for the truth, perhaps finding it but unable to believe. It seemed he was also unable to talk. He opened his mouth, but a long moment passed before any words came out.
“I’ll never be Deputy Surveyor,” he finally said slowly. “I’ll never be a knight, let alone a baron, or a viscount, or an earl—”
“You’ll be Kit Martyn, the man I love.”
His eyes cleared. The tension drained from his face. He took a step closer, and her heart raced.
“No more kissing other men?”
She might have been offended if he wasn’t suddenly looking at her in that way that made her stomach dance. “None of them were any good at it, anyway,” she said flippantly.
He threw back his head and laughed. “Do you promise to always speak your mind? I do so love that.”
“Will you kiss me, already?”
The next thing she knew she was in his arms, their lips clinging together.
And nothing had ever felt so glorious.
FIFTY-NINE
“I’VE ASKED Kit to marry me.”
“Oh my,” Mum breathed, her eyes growing shiny. “You’re supposed to let the man propose.”
“Question Convention,” Kit quoted with a shrug.
He moved closer, trailing a warm, possessive hand down Rose’s back where her mother couldn’t see. It took all she had not to shiver with delight. “I was tired of men proposing to me. After the wedding, we’re taking a trip to Italy.”
Kit’s arm stilled. “We are?”
“And France. Everywhere there are beautiful buildings. I have my inheritance—”
“There’s no need for that. I’ve funds enough to travel as long as you’d like. And I shall be free as a bird once my current projects are complete…now that I won’t have the Deputy Surveyor post to tie me,” he added dryly.
She breezed over that. “We’ll leave right after we attend the queen’s birthday celebration at Whitehall. I wish to show the courtiers the sort of man it takes to win me.”
He laughed, a joyous sound that rippled right through her. “She’s planning my life,” he told Mum.
“Get used to it,” her mother said, delicately wiping her eyes. “Let’s tell Joseph the good news.”
“SIX MONTHS. You’re my last daughter. This is my last chance to throw a wedding that will be talked of for years.”
“Shot in her rear?” Father sat up straighter in alarm. “Holy Hades, who’s been—”
“No one’s been shot, dear.” His wife laid a hand on his arm and raised her voice. “Rose and Mr. Martyn are to be married!”
“Ah!” Though still appearing confused, Father’s smile was genuine. “That’s wonderful news, darling.”
Rose shook her head. “Two weeks, Mum. Violet and Lily only had to wait two weeks for their weddings.”
Her mother made a big show of sighing. “Three months.”
“I want to be married before the queen’s birthday,” Rose insisted. “One month.”
“Don’t I get a say in this?” Kit asked. “I vote for tomorrow.”
One month it was, and Rose felt victorious.
Until she heard her mother’s next words. “Kit, I wish to commend you on the outstanding job you’ve done planning my husband’s greenhouse. Given your management prowess, I have no doubt the project will finish quickly even in your absence.”
Rose’s brow furrowed. “His absence?”
Mum blinked at her. “Of course, dear. He cannot very well stay here.”
“Whyever not? He’s stayed here before.”
“Yes, before your betrothal. It wouldn’t be proper now.”
“But—”
“Besides, Kit must return to his building sites if he’s to finish all those projects before you whisk him away to the Continent.” Mum turned to him with a honeyed smile. “Isn’t that so?”
“Um…” His eyes darted between Rose and her mother. “I suppose—”
“Excellent. I’m sure you two will share a charming correspondence.” Mum rose from her chair. “I’m sending for Violet and Lily and their families—we’ll have a celebration supper before Kit takes his leave. In the meantime, why don’t you two take a turn in the garden before the sun disappears?”
Dropping a kiss upon her husband’s cheek, she turned on her heel and left the drawing room.
Rose shrugged and reached for Kit’s hand, thinking a walk didn’t sound like a bad idea. They’d have some time to themselves before parting.
Mum poked her head back in. “Joseph,” she called out, “perhaps you’d be so good as to cut some of those hollyhocks for the supper table?”
Hmmph. So much for privacy.
SIXTY
“DON’T YOU THINK she was acting strange?” Rose asked Kit as they strolled a flower-lined path, staying out of her father’s earshot—not that Lord Trentingham had much earshot to speak of.
“Strange?” Kit was only half listening. He held one of her hands, stroking her palm with his thumb and enjoying the way it made her fingers tighten over his. If only her father weren’t puttering in and out of sight between the flower beds, Kit would be kissing her right now.
But he supposed there would be plenty of time for kissing soon, after they were married.
He still couldn’t believe it.
Rose held a bloom in her free hand, rolling the stem back and forth. “She’s trying to keep us apart.”
Kit shrugged. “For the sake of propriety, she said.”
“There’s nothing improper about you staying at Trentingham with my family present.”
Kit shrugged again, busy realizing that she’d soon be sleeping at his house every night.
