here, when all she was trying to do was the right thing, which was decidedly not option four.
“Miss Archer, who is this—?” Mrs. Forsyth appeared in the door and gave an outraged squawk when she saw the couple embracing. “I object, I most utterly object to this,” she cried. “No gentlemen are allowed in the house, I laid out that rule very clearly indeed, why, this is not to be borne—”
Sebastian half turned and slammed the door shut in Mrs. Forsyth’s enraged face while keeping one arm tightly around Annabelle.
She disentangled herself from his grip. “What is happening?” she asked, and then, “Oh God, is it your brother? Is he—”
“No,” he said. There was a hard, metallic look in his eyes that made her feel entirely off balance.
She took a small step back. “Montgomery, you worry me.”
A stern line appeared between his brows. “Don’t call me that.”
“Very well,” she said, and crossed her arms over her chest. “Sebastian. Surely there would be a more appropriate time—”
“I came to ask you to marry me.”
She looked at him blankly.
“Marry me,” he repeated, taking a step toward her.
She gave an uncertain laugh. “Why would you say such a thing?”
“You laugh,” he growled. He grabbed her hand and pressed it to his greatcoat, over his heart. “Put an end to this misery, Annabelle. Marry me.”
She tugged, and alarm tingled up her spine when he didn’t let go. “What has got into you?”
“I fell off the horse this eve.”
Her free hand flew to her mouth. “No.”
“There was a pheasant,” he said, “a small pheasant, hiding in a furrow. Apollo spooked and slipped. He is fine.”
Her gaze darted over him, searching for signs of injury. “What about yourself?”
There was a pause. “I thought I was going to die,” he said quietly.
The blood drained from her face as an icy hand reached for her heart.
“As you see, it was not yet my time,” he said. “The ground was softened from rain, and my hat took the brunt instead of my head.”
The feeling of terror that had kept her frozen to the spot subsided, and she flung her arms around his neck.
“Hush,” he said as his arms slid around her protectively, “I’m here now.”
She only clutched him harder and tried to burrow into him, wanting to tear the heavy topcoat off him, and all the layers of wool and cotton that kept her from feeling the pulsing warmth and strength of his body.
He pressed his mouth into her hair. “Marry me, Annabelle.”
Her head jerked back. “Please. Please, do not say such a thing.”
He frowned. “Why? You object to being my mistress. Are you saying you don’t want to be my wife, either?”
She tried to push away from him, but he would not let her.
As she stared up into his unnaturally bright eyes, fear gripped her.
“What I want is not the point,” she stammered. “I don’t want to be your mistress, but I certainly can’t be your wife.”
He tilted his head. “And why not?”
“You’ve fallen on your head all right! You know why; it’s impossible.”
“It isn’t, actually. I ask, you say yes. That is all it takes.”
That is all it takes.
She felt oddly light-headed. Her most secret, outlandish dreams were a simple syllable away.
“No,” she managed to say. “No, I would never ask you to ruin your name, your life for me—”
“You wouldn’t ruin my life.”
She strained against him, and his arms tightened around her, just short of crushing her.
“No,” she said, “please, release me.”
He did so with an exasperated huff, and she sprung back as if he were scalding her.
“Hear me out,” he said, his hands clenching by his sides. “For years, I worried I would fall off my horse before I had produced an heir. And now it has happened, and I was sure I was going to break my neck, and on my last breath, did I think of Castle Montgomery, or my title, my father, or my heir?”
Again he reached for her, again she evaded, and his face darkened.
“I thought of you, damn it,” he said. “I saw your face, as clearly as I see it now as you are standing in front of me, and all I felt was the most profound regret that my time with you had been so very short. My unfinished business here is you and I, Annabelle.”
Oh, heaven help her. He was dead serious about this.
Or so he thought.
She forced herself to sound calm. “I am honored,” she said, “of course I am. But surely you must know that