Splendid (27 page)

“Emma, are you sure you know what you're doing?” he finally said.

She deflated. That wasn't a very positive response.

“What I mean is,” Alex continued, “usually it's the man who asks the woman to marry him.”

“I just couldn't wait until you got around to asking me,” Emma said, somewhat sheepishly. “
If
you got around to asking me.”

“You wouldn't have had to wait very long,” Alex muttered under his breath.

Emma obviously didn't hear him because she looked no less anxious than she had earlier. “The problem is that I need to marry you rather quickly, I'm afraid.”

Alex thought that was an extremely cryptic comment indeed, since they hadn't performed the act that usually required a woman to marry a man rather quickly.

“This is very uncommon,” he said, shaking his head.

“I realize that,” she improvised, “but you've often told me I'm an uncommon female.”

“I haven't actually heard of a woman proposing to a man,” Alex said, measuring his words carefully. “I don't think it's exactly
illegal
, but it just isn't done.”

Emma rolled her eyes. She was beginning to understand what was going on here. She had bruised Alex's considerable male pride. Normally she would be enjoying this, but her entire life's happiness was at stake. He was sitting over there, feeling sorry for himself because she'd stolen from him some kind of inherent male right, and he hadn't even given one thought to how much courage it must have taken her to come to his home unescorted and ask him to marry her. This wasn't exactly something she'd been brought up to do. “Methods of proposing marriage” definitely had not been squeezed in between Latin and piano lessons when she was growing up. Nevertheless, she decided that one of them was going to have to be the mature one in this scenario, and it might as well be her.

“Really, Alex,” she said with a sweet smile. “You should feel flattered. It's a rare man who has a woman so besotted with him that she defies convention and asks him to marry her.”

Alex blinked. “I was going to ask you on Friday,” he said in a slightly petulant tone. “I had even rehearsed what I was going to say.”

“You were?” Emma exclaimed joyfully. “You did? Oh, Alex, I'm so happy!” Unable to contain herself, she bounded up off of the sofa and knelt in front of Alex, taking both of his hands in hers.

He looked down at her, his expression still a little bit childish. “I was rather excited about proposing. I've never done it before, you know. And now I don't get to.”

Emma beamed, giving his hands a squeeze. “You still can. I promise I'll say yes.”

Alex sighed and then suddenly looked very seriously into her eyes. “I'm not acting very gracious, am I?”

“No,” she admitted, “but I really don't care. I'm just so happy that you want to marry me.”

“I haven't said yes yet, you know.”

Emma scowled.

“But I will, I suppose, if given the proper encouragement.”

“And what would
that
be, your grace?”

Alex looked heavenward in mock innocence. “Oh, I don't know. A kiss would do rather well to start with.”

Emma leaned forward, propping her hands on the arms of his chair. “You're going to have to cooperate,” she murmured, feeling extraordinarily daring now that he had accepted her proposal.

Alex leaned down, his hands covering hers. “By all means.”

He stopped suddenly, his mouth achingly close to hers. “Oh, Alex,” Emma sighed, lifting her lips that last half an inch. Ever so gently, she brushed her mouth against his, marveling in the thought that this was the very first kiss she'd initiated and thinking that it must be the sweetest of all for that very reason.

“I'm so very glad I thought to close the door,” Alex said, smiling as he nuzzled her neck. “Although…” His words trailed off as he reluctantly turned his head away from Emma and twisted his neck until he was facing the parlor door. “Smithers!” he yelled abruptly. “Get your ear away from that door! You've heard everything you wanted to hear! Now be gone with you!”

“Right away, sir,” was the muffled reply.

Emma could not help but laugh as she heard footsteps disappear down the hall and up the stairs.

“He's been trying to get me to settle down for years,” Alex explained. “Now where were we?”

She smiled seductively. “I think we were about to move over to the sofa.”

Alex groaned. He hoped Emma had no plans for a long engagement. He rose from his chair, pulled her to her feet and then off her feet, only to set her down on the sofa. “Oh, darling,” he murmured as he sat beside her. “I've missed you so much.”

“You just saw me three days ago.”

“That doesn't mean I didn't miss you.”

“I missed you, too,” Emma said shyly. “When I wasn't working myself into a frenzy of nerves about coming here today.”

“I'm most happy you did.” Alex brushed his lips against hers again, this time deepening the kiss with his tongue, running it along the smooth line of her teeth. When she let out a soft sigh, he took advantage of the moment, pressing in further, drinking her in, tasting her sweetness.

“I'm so glad marriage lasts a lifetime,” Emma said softly against his lips. “Because I don't think I'll ever get enough of your kisses.” She drew slightly away from him, placing her hand on his cheek. “You make me feel so beautiful.”

“You
are
beautiful.”

“It is very kind of you to say so, but red hair is hopelessly out of fashion, and besides, it would be impossible for anyone to look as lovely as I feel right this moment.”

Alex gazed tenderly down at her face. Her clear, fine skin was flushed rosy pink with desire, and her eyes were wide and sparkling, framed
by the longest lashes he'd ever seen. And her lips, oh Lord, they had never looked quite so pink before, nor so full. “Then you must feel very lovely, Emma. Because I've never seen anything in my life as exquisite as you are right now.”

Emma felt a warm glow take over her body. “Oh, Alex, please kiss me again.”

“Gladly, my love.” Placing his hands on her cheeks, he pulled her face to his. Emma offered no resistance at all, and his tongue immediately dipped into her mouth, stroking her soft flesh. Emma shyly followed suit, curiously exploring him in the same manner.

Alex thought that her hesitant caresses would be the death of him, he was so eager for more. He pulled her to him passionately, pressing her body intimately against his own, his hands roving uncontrollably.

Emma moaned with pleasure, barely able to believe the shivering tremors of joy that shot through her body. And then just when she thought she could take no more, Alex placed his hand on her breast, squeezing it ever so slightly. It felt like a fire had burned right through the fabric of her dress, searing her skin, branding her as his future wife. She was slowly losing control; all she could think about was getting as close to him as possible, touching him everywhere.

Just as Emma hovered at the brink of losing herself completely, Alex pulled himself away reluctantly, very reluctantly. “Darling,” he said, summoning chivalry he'd never dreamed existed, “I'm going to stop now, before we get to the point when I cannot. Do you understand?”

She nodded tremulously.

“I want our wedding night to be perfect. At that moment, you will belong to me in every way.”

“And you will belong to me,” Emma said softly.

He dropped a gentle kiss on her lips. “Yes, I will. It will be the most beautiful moment of our lives, I promise you that, and I don't want to spoil it in any way. Now, if you don't mind, I think I would like to put my arms around you and hold you for a few moments before I'm forced to send you back home.”

Emma nodded again, unable to find words to express the emotions coursing through her. She had never dreamed it was possible for a woman to feel as utterly full of joy as she did right then. Dimly she realized that he hadn't yet said that he loved her, but then, neither had she, and that didn't diminish her feelings for him in any way. Besides, she could sense his love, feel it, almost touch it. Over the past few months she had come to know Alex quite well. He couldn't hold her like this if he didn't love her at least a little bit. And in time, she knew he would say the words. Perhaps she'd even work up the courage to tell him first. How difficult could that be? She'd already asked him to marry her. Nothing could be scarier than that, and she had come through it just fine. But she'd have to put off talk of love. For now, she was content just to rest in his arms. She'd found a home there.

After a few minutes, Alex knew that he was going to have to take Emma home. She had said that Ned had escorted her to his front door—Alex didn't even want to guess what Emma had done to convince her cousin to bring her here. Nonetheless, he knew that Ned would come for her if she remained overlong, and if that happened, the entire Blydon family might get involved. All hell
would break loose. Everyone would be appeased, of course, once informed of their impending nuptials, but Alex thought that it would not be a rather auspicious beginning to their lives together.

And so, with great regret, Alex nudged Emma's shoulder. “Wake up, my love. I'm afraid I'm going to have to take you home.”

“I wish you didn't have to.”

“Believe me, love, I wish I didn't have to either, but the last thing we want is your entire family descending on us.”

Emma yawned and slowly extricated herself from Alex's arms. “I despise reality.”

Alex chuckled. “How does next week sound?”

“How does next week sound for what?”

“Our marriage, you ninnyhead.”

“
Next week?
Are you mad?”

“Obviously.”

“Alex, there is no way I can plan a wedding by next week.” Then Emma remembered that the entire point of her proposing to him was that she needed to marry right away.

But Alex had already given in. “Two weeks, then.”

“All right,” she said slowly. “Aunt Caroline is going to have a fit of the vapors. She'll want a lavish affair, I'm sure.”

“Do you want a lavish affair?”

Emma smiled up into his eyes. “I really don't care,” she sighed. All she really wanted was Alex. Although, now that she thought about it, she'd always dreamed of a beautiful gown, of gliding down an aisle to meet her future. “A week from Saturday,” she said quickly, hoping that she could find a dressmaker willing to work under such time constraints.

“Very well. I'm going to hold you to that date.”

Emma giggled slightly. “Please do.”

Alex was still wondering about her rather odd comment about having to marry him quickly. Whatever the matter, it must be something urgent for her to defy all convention and propose marriage. “Emma,” he said, touching her chin lightly. “I have one question for you.”

“Yes?”

“What on earth prompted you to ask me to marry you?”

“What
prompted
me? Well, it's all rather silly, actually, and I could just kill Ned over it, although I have to say it all worked out very well in the end. I really couldn't be happier.” Emma looked up at Alex and gave him a sheepish grin. “I needed money, actually, and I can't use my—” She stopped abruptly, horrified by the change that had just come over Alex. His entire body seemed frozen, tensed for a fight, and his face was a granite mask, hard and unyielding. Emma stumbled back a step, almost feeling as if she'd been pushed back by his frown. “Alex?” she said hesitatingly. “Is something wrong?”

Alex felt a white hot rage consume him, and he felt unable even to speak. Fury pounded through his mind, blotting out all reason.
I needed money I needed money I needed money
. Emma's words echoed unyieldingly in his head, and the walls around his heart that she had so recently broken down began to reform. How could he have been such a fool? He thought he'd finally found a woman who seemed to care for him, not for the material comforts and prestige that came along with his name. And he had actually believed himself to be in love with her. What an idiot. In the end, she'd proved to be just like all the others. He couldn't believe she'd
actually come out and admitted to him that all she wanted was money. That, he supposed, was a point in her favor. At least she hadn't been devious like all the rest.

Alex stared coldly at her, his eyes two chips of emerald ice. “Get out,” he said harshly, practically spitting the words at her.

Emma felt all the blood drain from her face, and for a moment she thought she might faint. “What?” she gasped, unable to believe she'd heard him correctly.

“You heard me. I want you gone.”

“But what about—?” She could barely get the words out.

“You may consider any agreement we have reached here today to be null and void.” His voice was icy, and he grabbed her arm, propelling her to the door.

Emma felt hot tears welling up in her eyes, and she fought to keep them from rolling down her cheeks as Alex pushed her through the room. “Alex, please,” she pleaded as she stumbled out of the parlor and into the main hall. “What is wrong? What happened? Please tell me. Please!”

Alex whipped her around to face him and looked her hard in the eye. “You greedy little bitch.”

Emma felt as if she'd been hit. “Oh my God,” she whispered, no longer able to control the tears that flowed freely from her eyes.

“Wait outside,” he said, roughly, putting her out on the front step. “I'll get a carriage to bring you home.” He turned on his heel and stepped back inside. Then suddenly, he turned around. “Don't ever come back.”

As Emma stood on the steps, she wondered if she had died. Wiping some of the tears off her cheeks, she took great big gulps of air, trying to
regain her equilibrium. She had to get out of there. The last thing she wanted was to return home in his carriage. Pulling her shawl over her head to hide her bright hair, she hurried down the steps and along the street.