thought he could give her up, no matter that he had assumed he was doing so for the right reasons?
Elijah knew people were watching them, but he was glad of it. They should all see Joanna for who she truly was, for how she deserved to be regarded.
“You are beautiful,” he said, hearing the awe in his voice, needing her to know of it.
She blushed most becomingly.
“It’s the dress,” she said, looking down at herself. “It was the dress I wore on Christmas, but I made a few… modifications.” She leaned in close. “To be honest with you, I used a fair bit of fabric that Cecily provided me to make hers.”
“Your secret is safe with me,” Elijah said with a laugh, and she smiled up at him. “But it’s not the dress. You could wear anything and be simply stunning.”
“You look quite handsome yourself,” she said.
“Why, thank you,” he returned, “although in my case, it most certainly is the costume that has made the man.”
The song came to a close, and he bowed low over her hand. He noticed a figure coming up behind her, and he was well aware that many would be requesting her name for a dance.
“Come,” he said, tugging at her hand once more, “the jester has a trick to play — I am going to make you disappear.”
“Disappear?” she echoed, following along with him.
“Just for a time,” he said, as he led her through the corridor, past doorways that had previously been filled with mistletoe and other greenery — all which had been removed and were now burning in a roaring fire in the drawing room.
“Where are we going?” she asked breathlessly.
“You’ll see,” he said, leading her down before finally stopping just before the library. “Joanna—”
“No,” she said, holding out a hand and shaking her head, “I must speak first.”
“Very well,” he said, rather liking the command in her tone.
“Elijah, I’m so sorry,” she said, hanging her head slightly, but he reached out and lifted her chin so that he could look into her eyes. “I didn’t believe in you, and that was wrong. I should have known that you would never leave me, that this would never be some great joke to you. I had thought that, perhaps, the boy you used to be might have done such a thing, but the man you are now never would. You would never hurt me like that.
“The truth is, Elijah…” her voice caught for a moment, tears filling her eyes, “the truth is that I love you. I love you so much that it hurts. I know that I am but a seamstress, and likely not a woman you would ever have seen yourself with, but I needed you to know how I feel. And I need you to know that you are more than worthy of finding a woman who will believe in you just as thoroughly.”
“Oh, Joanna,” he said, reaching out and brushing away a tear that was traveling down her face with his thumb, “you have nothing to be sorry for. I did you wrong many years ago, it’s true. Yes, we can blame Alex, but I was just as much a part of it. Even when I first saw you here in this library at the beginning of this Christmas season, I wanted you because of your beauty, not taking time to find the woman you were beneath it all. But over this Christmastide, I have been blessed, because I have been provided the opportunity to know you, all of you, and I am a better man for it. That you would ever doubt me is my own fault. But—”
Why did there have to be a but?
“Yes?”
“I don’t know… that is, my mind isn’t what it once was. There is an excellent chance that I will forget things that are important. That I won’t remember your birthday, or the servants’ names, or maybe even our own wedding.”
She only smiled at him, her lips curling softly.
“Then how fortunate I will be there to remind you of it all.”
He nodded at her and then turned around, backing up through the doorway, coming to a stop just on the other side.
He crouched down on one knee.
“Joanna, there is one thing I promise to never forget — and that is how much I love you,” he said reverently, holding out his hand. “I have but one Christmas wish, and that is this — will you become my wife?”
She stood there for a moment, saying nothing,