She continued to stare at him with that delightfully dumbfounded expression on her face. For once, it was Nellie who was taken aback by his surprising actions, not the other way around. But he knew he was doing this all wrong. He had rehearsed what he wanted to say when he was on the train, but in his haste it had all come out wrong. He should have made a formal proposal of marriage, not just blurted it out in such a haphazard way.
It was time to make things right. He dropped to one knee in the middle of the shop and took her hand in his.
‘Nellie Regan, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?’ He looked up at her and smiled. ‘I promise I will do everything in my power to make you happy. I will give you everything you could ever desire. I’ll endow you with all my worldly possessions. Nellie, will you marry me?’
She continued to stare down at him, still with that delightfully shocked expression. She blinked a couple of times and drew in a deep breath. Dominic also drew in a deep breath and held it as he waited for her reply.
‘No, Dominic, I will not marry you.’
He must have heard wrong. Either that or she had misinterpreted what he had said.
‘Nellie, I’m offering you marriage. I’m offering to take you away from all this.’ He released her hand and waved his arm around her small shop, to encompass her living quarters and the entire neighbourhood. He took hold of her hand again and looked up at her, beseeching her to understand. ‘You’ll live a life of luxury on your estate in Kent and in your town house in London.’
Her expression did not change, but she pulled her hand out of his clasp.
‘You’ll be able to have your own lady’s maid if you want and never have to work again.’ He was desperate to make her understand. ‘I want to marry you, Nellie, and I’m prepared to ignore whatever society says, because for the first time in my life I want to follow my heart, not my head.’
He continued to smile up at her, but his smile was starting to fray at the edges.
‘Dominic, please get up off the floor and leave. I’ve given you my answer. I don’t want to marry you.’
‘Nellie... I...’ She was no longer looking at him, but staring straight ahead. He rose slowly from the floor.
He had heard correctly. She really had said she didn’t want to marry him. That was a possibility he had never considered. He had been so certain of himself, so certain of her, and certain that this was the right thing for them both.
He had imagined her crying with joy when he proposed, of falling into his arms, of kissing him with abandoned passion. He had also hoped she would invite him upstairs and they could continue what they had started at Lockhart Estate. He had hoped they would seal their engagement by consummating it in her bed. He had never expected this. Rejection.
Slowly he rose from the floor. She remained staring off into the distance, her jaw clenched tightly, her face resolute.
She reached down and picked up the abandoned key and handed it to him, never once meeting his eye. ‘Please let yourself out.’
He looked down at the key, as if unsure what it was that she was giving him. He looked back at her. There must be something he could say to convince her to accept his proposal, to make her change her answer. But his mind was blank. All he could think was that she had refused his proposal of marriage. He had offered her everything and she had said no.
‘But, Nellie, I...’
‘Please, Dominic. Leave.’
She turned her back on him, returned to the counter and stared down at the accounts’ ledger.
It seemed there was nothing more for him to say. He turned the key in the lock and left the shop. Without knowing where he was going, he walked off down the street and out of her life.
Chapter Twenty
Dominic hardly registered the journey home. He must have hailed a hansom cab at some point because he was sure he hadn’t walked all the way to the station. And he must have taken the return train journey back to his estate. Then he must have summoned another cab from the station, otherwise he wouldn’t be standing at the bottom of the steps, staring up at his house as if unsure what it was and how he had got there.
She had said no. She had said she would not marry him. He had never considered the possibility that she would turn him down. He loved her. He had assumed she loved him. He had been prepared to sacrifice any possible advancement in society by marrying a former servant, something that once would have been so unlikely it would have been ludicrous. But the ex-lady’s maid didn’t want him. Unbelievable.
Had he misjudged her feelings for him? Had he seen what he wanted to see? Had he been so sure that she loved him because he loved her? She had given him every indication that her feelings for him were as strong as his for her. From the moment they had first met there had been something intangible between them, as if they were made for each other. Hadn’t there? Every moment he had spent in her company had reinforced that belief. He might not have admitted
