had the chance to get over Wainscott.”
“Get over him?” She shook her head and emitted an exasperated laugh. “I have been giving thanks every day since he did me the favor of dumping me. I may have felt heartbroken in those first few days afterward. But even in my lowest state, my deepest misery, I knew I was well rid of him.”
His gaze turned hopeful. “Is that true?”
“More important, I have been giving thanks every day that you are in my life. I held back telling you because I didn’t want you to think I was a fickle, frivolous girl. But if ever you were to walk out of my life, that is a heartbreak I would never get over.”
“Are you certain, sweetheart?”
“It is rushed, I will agree. Under normal circumstances, I would insist upon waiting.” Her eyes began to tear, and her voice became shaky because she was too overwhelmed to remain composed. “You almost died in Tilbury. I could have lost you. My heart would never have recovered from this.”
Robbie groaned, reminding them others were also in the room. “Bloody hell, just ask her already. That bloody book has ye both babbling like idjits.”
Ronan glared back at him. “How about a little privacy here?”
Her uncle was shaking his head and rolling his eyes. He was used to this by now. Falling in love with a Farthingale was a dangerous proposition in many ways, the most obvious being the physical danger. How many times had her uncle come to the rescue of these injured swains?
Robbie was more obvious in his impatience. “Ye had yer chance in the two minutes I gave ye earlier. Ye wasted it.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “What are ye waiting for? Stop dawdling and ask her.”
Ronan turned to her apologetically. “This is not at all how I wished it to be.”
She took his hand in hers again. “Just say it already, or I’ll think you don’t really mean it.”
“Blessed saints! I’ve never meant anything more in my life.” He tried to roll to a sitting position and sank back in agony. “Ow, that hurt. Oh, bollocks. That still hurts. Dr. Farthingale...” The last came out in an alarming wheeze. “I think my lungs are about to rupture.”
Suddenly, no one was grinning. “Robbie, get Dahlia out of here. Now!”
“Uncle George, what’s happening?” She felt as though her legs were about to collapse from under her. But she held herself together with sheer force of will. Ronan was the one in dire straits and in need of her uncle’s full attention.
“Those tow ropes did damage to his rib cage. One of his ribs may have just cracked and punctured a lung.”
Dahlia fainted.
When she awoke, she found herself in Holly’s parlor, sprawled atop the settee. Her sisters were staring at her, their brows furrowed in worry. “Ronan? How is he?”
Holly brushed a hand lightly over her forehead. “Joshua and Robbie are back up with him now. I don’t know how much help they will be to Uncle George, but they needed to be upstairs with him.”
“I need to be with him, too.”
Heather was in tears. “You will, but not now. Ronan forgets how badly he’s injured when he is with you. You make him feel invincible. He’s fortunate he only has a punctured lung. Uncle George is still optimistic that he’ll recover. He says it is not life-threatening when properly treated.”
Dahlia shut her eyes tightly as a shudder ran through her. “Thank goodness. Holly, is love always this difficult? He was attempting to propose to me when it happened. Perhaps this is an omen. I’m bad for him, and we shouldn’t be married.”
Holly cupped Dahlia’s face in her hands. “Don’t you dare think like that. Viscount Hawley’s idiocy caused this, not you. If anything, you are giving him strength and hope through his ordeal. He loves you so much that despite his injuries, he had to come home to be near you. This is the most precious gift anyone can bestow on you. Don’t you dare spurn it.”
Her sister was now squeezing her cheeks so that her lips were bunched like those of an openmouthed trout. “You can let go of me,” she said. “I wasn’t going to spurn him. I love him. Will you stop squeezing my face?”
“Move over.” Holly nudged her legs aside to settle on the settee beside her. “You must understand you are doing him no favor by deciding what is best for him. I never understood what love meant until