Part 29 (2/2)
”I had hope,” Amelia whispered, her chest crushed by grief such as she had not felt since she first believed Colin had died. ”I hate myself for having hope. Why can I not learn from the past? Those I love do not stay in my life. They all leave. Every one of them. Except for you...only you stay...”
”Hush. You are overwrought.”
Strong arms curved beneath her as Tim lifted her up. She curled against his chest as he carried her back to her bedchamber with Maria in tow.
Colin straightened from his low bow, his eyes meeting Ware's as the earl mimicked his movements. He felt the hot trickle of blood weeping from the shallow wound caused by Ware's blade, but he did not care. Ware had satisfaction, but that was all he would have. I t would have to be enough for the earl, for Colin intended to take the spoils.
”But regardless of everything that recommends you, my lord,” Colin continued, ”I concede only this duel. Not Miss Benbridge. Her deeper affection is for me, as always. And I believe my feelings for her are quite obvious to one and all.”
”Which is why you abandoned her for several years?” the earl scoffed.
”I cannot alter the past. However, I can a.s.sure you that from the present moment onward, nothing on Earth can take her from me.”
Ware's blue eyes narrowed, and thick tension filled the air between them. Then the corner of the earl's mouth lifted. ”Perhaps you are not the man I thought you were.”
”Perhaps not.”
They bowed again, then quit the lawn, both men heading in the separate directions their lives would now take them.
The next half hour of Amelia's life-or was it an hour?-pa.s.sed in a daze. Maria forced tea upon her, as well as a hefty dose of laudanum.
”I t will calm you,” her sister murmured.
”Go away,” she muttered, slapping at the many hands that sought to soothe her brow.
”I will read quietly,” Maria said, ”and send your abigail away.”
”No. You go, too.”
Eventually they gave up and went away, leaving Amelia to curl into herself and fall back into a dreamless, drug-induced sleep.
Sadly, the respite did not last long. Far too soon another hand brushed the curls back from her face.
”I suppose I have only myself to blame for your lack of faith.”
Colin's voice brushed across her skin like a tangible caress. She rolled into him, grasping with her hands. He caught them with his own and squeezed.
”You were supposed to sleep straight through this morning,” he murmured, pulling the blankets back from her. ”I wanted to spare you any possibility of distress.”
She was lifted and cradled to a warm, hard chest. The scent of his skin, so alluringly masculine and uniquely Colin, urged her to bury her tear-streaked face in his cravat.
She was distantly aware of being carried. I t felt as if they descended a staircase, and then fresh air was drifting over her skin, making her s.h.i.+ver.
”There's a blanket in my carriage,” he murmured. ”A minute more and then you will be comfortable again.”
A moment later she was jostled into a carriage, and it set off with a lurch, the wheels crunching across gravel. She was held securely in Colin's lap and covered warmly. Tears leaked out between her closed eyelids, and she prayed that she would never wake from such a wonderful dream.
His firm lips pressed tightly against her forehead. ”Sleep.”
Drugged by the laudanum, she did.
I t was the sudden cessation of motion that woke Amelia. Blinking, she fought off the remnants of sleep.
”The horses are fatigued and I am near starved.” Colin's deep voice pulled her from half awareness to full cognizance in an instant.
The duel...
Bolting upright, the top of her head made sharp contact with his chin, causing them both to cry out.
”Ow, d.a.m.n it,” he muttered, rearranging her atop his lap as if she weighed nothing at all.
Wild-eyed, Amelia took in the luxurious appointments of Colin's travel coach and then leaned out the window. They were in the courtyard of what appeared to be an inn.
She glanced at him and found him rubbing his chin. ”Where are we?””On our way.”
”To where?”
”To be wed.”
Amelia blinked. ”What?”
His smile revealed his dimples and reminded her of the boy she had fallen so deeply in love with. ”You said that we had no hope of moving forward together if I was forever leaving you behind. Since I had no further reason to enjoy Lord Ware's hospitality, it was time for us to go.”
She stared at him for a long moment, trying to collect what it was that he was saying. ”I do not understand. Did you not duel this morning?”
”Yes, we did.”
”Did he not win? Did you not say he was the better man? Dear G.o.d, am I losing my mind?”
”Yes, yes, and no.” Colin tightened the arm banded around her waist and pulled her closer. ”I allowed him first blood,” he explained. ”He had a right to it. When I took you, you were still his.”
Amelia opened her mouth to protest, and he covered her lips with his fingertips. ”Allow me to finish.”
She stared at him for a long moment, absorbing the sudden gravity reflected on his countenance. Then she nodded and slipped free of his embrace, moving to the opposite squab so that she could think properly.
I t was then she noted that she was dressed in her night rail. For his part, Colin was beautifully attired in a velvet ensemble of dark green. She still encountered difficulty correlating the Colin before her with the Colin of old, but she had no difficulty loving him, regardless. The sight of him filled her with pleasure, just as it always had.
”There is no point in denying that Ware can offer you things that I cannot,” Colin said, his dark eyes watching her with a mixture of love and determination. ”That is what you overheard this morning. However, I have come to realize that I don't care.”
”You don't?” Amelia's hand went to her fluttering stomach.
”No, I don't.” He crossed his arms, revealing the powerful muscles she found endlessly arousing. ”I love you. I want you. I intend to have you.
Every other consideration be d.a.m.ned.”
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