“Perhaps you wouldn’t mind if I spoke?”
She shook her head.
He could hear his own breath gusting in and out in the silence, as if it were part of the weather. He could feel his own heart, his own precious heart, rising up from the ashes, thudding in his chest. Measuring out seconds before the courage gathered completely.
“Catherine... I am fatally in love with you.”
His words seemed to echo in the absolute silence, like the toll of a bell. They hovered there, glistening. Nothing would ever be the same after.
“I think I fell in love with you the moment you handed your handkerchief to me. I love your wit, your kindness, your gentleness, your wisdom, your optimism, your eyes, your hair, your resilience, your mouth, and oh God, the way your body fits against mine. I could foresee no happiness for me unless you were happy, and yet I didn’t think I could ever be what you wanted, or offer you the kind of life you wanted to live. And I tried—God how I tried—but I could not imagine the rest of my life without you in it. It was quite a predicament, Catherine. I have been wretched. I am confessing my wretchedness. How cruel of you to look so radiantly happy about it.” Her face was, in fact, blindingly beautiful, a tiny sun. “And now you’re smiling. All those white teeth. You monster.”
She laughed delightedly and dashed her tears away with her hand.
One landed on the back of his hand, like a perfect diamond.
And that’s when his own eyes began to burn in earnest.
“Bloody hell.” The words were a soft, cracked laugh. “I like you better than anyone I’ve ever met.”
Which only made her more radiant.
They gazed at each other, smiling, and no oneexcept a nearby bird said a thing for a good long while.
“I think I can speak now,” she ventured, whispering.
He drew in a steadying breath, preparing.
“I came here to tell you that you have indeed ruined me,” she said softly.
“Have I?” he said gently.
“Oh yes. For... polite people. For people who take the easy way. For men who have never had their hearts broken, who don’t know what passion means, or what commitment means, or what forever means.” Her words trembled with urgency. “If what you want is my happiness, you must accept that I love you and allow me to love you. I will do it so well, Dominic, I promise you, and I will never stop and Iwillnot leave you. That’s... that’s what I came to tell you.”
He nodded because he couldn’t speak. She was blurry now, and he pressed a palm to his eyes to clear his tears.
“And...” She pulled in a breath. “I want to apologize for being so unkind and such a child and for hurting you. I didn’t know... I wasn’t sure... I didn’t want to make you miserable by saddling you with a wife. Making you miserable while I loved you so is the worst thing I can imagine.”
“Well,” the word was graveled. “Don’t apologize. I was a fool, and I deserved a thorough castigation. But I have never been more grateful to be an orator whose words are written in the newspaper. Because here you are. I summoned you. Like a genie from a lamp. Thank you for being brave when I could not be.”
“No.” She shook her head vehemently. “It was easy for me to be brave because I’d never before had my heart savagely broken. I think you are the bravest person I have ever met. So many people in England think so.” She pulled in another breath. “And I have something else to say.”
“Oh?”
“I came to tell you that I lied.”
He went still.
“When I said the word ‘never.’” Her lips tipped in a tremulous smile.
A gust of joy swept through him and took his breath with it.
It was a few moments before he could gather enough air to speak.
And when he spoke, his voice—the voice that rang out over the floor of the Commons, that stirred jaded grown men to tears, that little by little helped to move the mountains that stood between the vulnerable people of England and a safer, freer, more loving future—was textured like coarse velvet. And shook.
“Catherine. You are... you are my very heart. I am yours, forever, body and soul, no matter what happens after this day. I want only you, forever. If you would do me the honor of marrying me, the whole of my life will be devoted to loving you and our family. I think we would be so happy. I willliveto make you happy.”
She dashed her hands against her eyes again. Her words were tremulous.