which I will leave. You need to marry at some point, Rhys, and it wouldn’t be fair on your wife, for me to remain at Kington House. I love you, but not even for you will I live the life of a fallen woman.”
He sighed. “Once again I have muddled my words and made them come out all wrong. Wister, I am not offering for you to be my mistress…Just a minute…Did you just say you love me?”
Wister nodded. “Yes, I did. You baffle me at times, but I love you, Rhys Morgan.”
He quickly rummaged around in his coat pocket, then finally produced a small brown box. He handed it to her. “I love you too, Wister. Perhaps this will make things clearer.”
With tremulous fingers, Wister took the box. Her pulse began to race as hope flared in her heart.
He loves me.
“Open it,” he said.
The box and its top were joined by a spring which creaked as Wister lifted the lid. Inside was a round silver brooch of ancient design. She ran the tip of her finger over the top of the markings which decorated the jewel.
“The pattern is meant to represent the Welsh dragon. If you look closely, you can see the dragon’s scales,” said Rhys.
“It looks very old,” she replied.
He gently took the box back from her and removed the brooch. Wister fought back tears as Rhys opened her coat and pinned the trinket to the top of her gown.
“It is a priceless Morgan family heirloom. My mother used to wear it.”
“Oh, Rhys, I love it.” A soft kiss met her lips.
“And I love you. I should have said it before we left England. I just wasn’t sure how you would take hearing those words, and then they got all tangled up in my mind.”
Rhys dug into his pocket once more and went down on bended knee before her. He held up a ring. Wister placed her hand over her heart at the sight of the incredible piece of jewelry. The band might have been plain gold, but the glistening emerald which sat atop it was nothing short of stunning.
“Marry me, Wister. Be my baroness. My wife.”
Wister slowly blinked, mesmerized by the fiery glow of the green stone. “Yes. Yes. Oh, forever and always, yes,” she finally replied.
Rhys took hold of her hand and slipped the ring onto her finger. He got to his feet, softly chuckling. “I finally got something right.”
Hot tears sprang to her eyes as the heady mix of relief and joy course through her. “Yes, you did. Everything is perfect.”
Rhys wrapped her up in his embrace and held on tight. Wister sent a prayer to heaven that he would never let her go. This man was the one thing she had been waiting all her life for—her soul mate. She would never again be alone in the world.
Wister glanced at the ring on her finger. The emerald was set above a gold flower. Like the brooch, it was old—another Morgan family treasure.
Rhys wrapped his hand around hers and lifted it to his lips, placing a soft kiss on her skin. “The flower is a daffodil, the national flower of Wales. This ring has been in my family for some three hundred and fifty years. Every baroness during that time has worn it. It was one of the few things that the Morgan family managed to salvage when the castle burned.”
“I hope to do it honor,” she replied, her voice shaky with emotion.
“If there is one thing, I know about you, Wister York, it’s that you do everything with integrity and grace.” As another kiss found its way to Wister’s lips, Rhys released her hand and slipped his arm around her waist. He nuzzled against her neck and whispered, “Thank you for your wise advice about the castle.”
She pulled back and their gazes met. “I hope you can see my reasons. If we had the money, I would love to see this place reborn, but it would take a king’s ransom.”
“Yes. In fact, it was basically the decision I had already come to, but I wanted your unbiased opinion. You are right. If I try to rebuild the castle, I will effectively ruin the Morgan family. All that I will have left to pass on to our son will be a worthless title.”
Children. She had pushed the dream of having a family to the dark corner of her hopes. While she had been trapped at Kington House, the chance of Wister finding a loving husband