The First Proposal - Chasity Bowlin Page 0,22
went to a distant cousin who had no interest in building relationships or in seeing to the care of his spinster relative. And Daphne swept in and said she wanted to put aside our past, petty differences and be sisters to one another as we should have all along. And so I came to London and discovered that being Daphne’s sister meant being governess to her children and sleeping in a room in the attic that is only slightly larger than her maid’s.”
“You are remarkably blasé about her poor treatment of you,” he remarked.
“Well, I suppose I have to be. I’ve nowhere else to go unless I wish to live on the streets. And I do not wish to live on the streets. Also, I should have known better. Daphne is… well, Daphne. She’s no different now than she was when we were fourteen and I confessed that I had a terrible crush on our neighbor’s nephew, James Fennelworth.”
“Wait… you wanted to marry the man who is now your brother-in-law?”
“That’s a bit of a strong statement,” she admitted. “I had a school girl crush on him. And Daphne had a spiteful need to deny me anything that I wanted. So she set out to catch his eye and catch it she did. They were engaged by the time she was sixteen, married at eighteen and that was the end of it.”
Percy watched him as he slowly digested each piece of information. Never in all her years had anyone seemed to pay such close attention to her. When they were together, she had his undivided attention. “What about you? Why have you never married?” Immediately, she regretted asking the question. What if he had been married? What if he were widowed? What if he’d been left at the altar?
“Well, I was fairly content in my bachelor state for a very long time. When I began to think that it might be time to settle down and find a wife… that was when Olivia’s reputation was destroyed. I couldn’t send her away and no respectable woman would wish to share a household with her,” he said. “And she is my only sister. My only family. What sort of man would I be if I had turned my back on her?”
He’d turned to face her with that last question, his expression quite earnest. The setting sun illuminated the chiseled planes of his face casting one side in beautiful golden light and the other in shadow. Seeing him thus made her regret that she wasn’t artist enough to capture the moment. “You’re a very good man, Algernon. Better than you know. And your sister was very lucky to have you.”
“Well, she’s abandoned me now, hasn’t she? Off to live with the love of her life,” he mused. “What did you think of Olivia?”
“She’s lovely and very spirited… quite intelligent, also. I think she’s a great deal like you, honestly.”The breeze rustled through the trees and Percy shivered.
He looked down at her, his face a mask of concern. “It’s too cold out here for you,” he observed. “I shouldn’t have asked you to sit on the cold ground.”
“I don’t mind it,” she admitted. It was worth a bit of cold. More than. And he’d told her he would only be as improper as she wished. “I have heard that a kiss can be an excellent way to stay warm.”
“Have you now?” he teased with a warm smile. “There is only one way that I know of to determine if such a thing is accurate.”
Percy found herself leaning closer to him, close enough that she could smell the faint scent of his shaving soap. Then there was the faintest whisper of a touch as he brought one hand up and gently tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Percy shivered again, but that time it had nothing to do with the cold. And then he was leaning in. He paused for a second, his lips hovering above hers. She knew that he was giving her an opportunity to change her mind.
When she made no protest or attempt to retreat, his lips moved against hers, a gentle brush, then another. Whisper soft and so unbearably sweet. Her heart was pounding so furiously it was a wonder the sound didn’t deafen them both. And then his lips settled more firmly against hers, molding and caressing. One of his hands cupped her cheek gently, then slipped behind her neck, holding the weight of her head in his