Lady Jane's Ribbons (32 page)

‘Jane?’

With a gasp, she turned. He was standing only a few feet away, the Corinthian perfection of his appearance giving him a presence that made the crowd around the Swan automatically shrink back a little. The light breeze ruffled his golden hair, and his eyes were very steady and gray. Slowly, she rose to her feet. ‘Lewis?’

‘I believe that I owe you yet another apology.’ His voice was soft, almost drowned by the raucous music from the street players. A faint smile touched his lips. ‘I seem to have owed you many an apology of late.’

‘I owe you one as well, Lewis; in fact, I’ve owed it for more than six months now.’

‘Alicia wasn’t my mistress. Not then.’

‘I know.’

‘That she became so afterward was because I felt myself to be the dog that had been given a bad name, and I behaved as such. I wanted to hurt you, Jane, because you had hurt me by having so little faith in me.’

Her heart was pounding so wildly that she felt a little weak. She put a trembling hand on the back of the bench, her fingers moving nervously over the smooth wood. ‘I – I believed her.’ She hesitated. ‘She’s so very beautiful, I thought….’

‘That she’d succeeded in stealing my affections?’

Her violet eyes were huge. ‘Yes,’ she whispered, the single word
inaudible
above the noise all around them.

‘Oh, Jane,’ he said softly, ‘can it really be that beneath that brave exterior you are so lacking in confidence? Don’t you know how beautiful you are yourself? And don’t you know that you are everything I’ve ever loved in this world?’

The tears which had been pricking her eyes for some time now shone on her lashes. ‘I love you too, Lewis,’ she said, her voice choked. ‘I love you so much that I can’t bear to continue without you….’

He came swiftly to her, catching her close. ‘Don’t cry, my love,’ he murmured, his voice muffled against her dark hair. ‘I’m so sorry for
behaving
as I did when I saw those roses.’

She raised her tear-filled eyes. ‘I’m not going to marry Charles, and there’s never been an understanding between us.’

‘I know.’ He put his hand gently to her chin, lifting her lips to meet his. He could taste the salt of her tears, and feel the quivering of her body as he pressed her to him. His mouth moved slowly, savoring the moment as if they had never kissed before, and they were both heedless of the astonished stares from the watching crowd.

Her heart ceased its frantic pounding and seemed to melt within her. She felt weightless, as if all the cares of the past months had suddenly been lifted from her.

He smiled down at her then. ‘Will you marry me, Lady Jane?’

‘Oh, yes,’ she whispered.

He took something from his pocket and held it out to her. It was the ring she’d returned. ‘Perhaps you should put this on again then.’

‘You had it with you?’

‘I’ve carried it ever since the day you gave it back to me.’

She stared at him. ‘Oh, Lewis….’

He took her hand and slipped the ring on her finger. The diamonds winked and flashed in the bright afternoon sun. Slowly, he drew her hand to his lips, turning it palm uppermost to kiss it.

A delicious joy swept through her and her fingers closed over his. His lips were on hers then, but as he kissed her again a voice interrupted them.

‘And about time too. I was beginning to think you were completely beyond redemption.’ It was Aunt Derwent.

They turned quickly to see not only her, but also Henry and Blanche. Aunt Derwent was holding some empty glasses, and Henry was in the act of opening an extremely large, extremely cold bottle of champagne.

The glasses were set carefully on the bench and the champagne frothed and foamed as it was poured into them. When they all had a glass, Aunt Derwent proposed a toast. ‘To Henry and Blanche, who were the first to put their untidy house in order.’

Blanche blushed as Henry kissed her.

Aunt Derwent smiled at them, but wagged a finger at her nephew. ‘And mind how you go from now on, my laddo. Blanche must always come before your coaches.’

‘She will.’ He turned to Jane. ‘I’ve much to thank you for, sis.’

Aunt Derwent nodded. ‘Yes, indeed you have.’

‘And we
all
have your health to toast, Aunt Derwent, since you’ve always had our happiness so much at heart.’

She smiled, pleased. ‘Thank you. Henry, it’s good to know the four of you appreciate my efforts.’

‘We do,’ they replied in unison.

She gestured to Henry. ‘Come now, fill up the glasses again, we have another toast to share.’ Henry hastened to comply, and then she held up her brimming glass to Jane and Lewis. ‘After the unconscionable length of time you’ve taken to get together again, I feel I should box your ears, but instead I’ll content myself with wishing you every happiness for the future.’

It was Lewis who proposed the final toast. ‘We’ve drunk to ourselves, but there’s one thing of considerable importance that we’ve yet to properly salute. He smiled into Jane’s eyes. ‘Your ribbons, Lady Jane,’ he murmured, raising his glass.

The other glasses were raised as well. ‘Lady Jane’s ribbons,’ they all said, and Jane laughed with sheer happiness.

Rakehell’s Widow

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