Page 10 of Jillian’s Wild Heart (Ladies of Munro #4)

It was silly, really. Miss Kinsey would not have reached out to him in the forthright manner she had if she were not of the same thinking as he. Still, she could have changed her mind. They could have changed her mind. So, he stood and waited. He paced. He stared out the window. He paced some more.

Where was she?

Just when Lewis thought he could bear it no longer, a light step approached the door.

He knew that sound. Only one person walked as if the world were an open field and she must fling her arms open and spin until she tumbled, breathless with laughter, and watch the colorful blur of it settling upon her vision.

The steps paused. Another set of feet were catching up, feminine but more assertive, as though the hallway and the ground beneath belonged to her.

“Please, Jilly, think! You cannot change your mind without bringing shame on both households. Once it is done, it cannot be undone!”

“Good!” said the determined voice of Miss Kinsey. And she stepped into the drawing room.

Lewis sucked in his breath. This was it. She had wanted him here. And he had come. But there were unspoken things…

“Mr. Bradford!” cried Miss Kinsey as she entered the room alone. In a trice, she had crossed the space between them and looked about ready to fling her arms around him when she pulled up short and sat down quite suddenly.

“Ellena says I am too graceless to mix with your sort of people. But, as you can see, I am perfectly able to restrain myself, even in circumstances where the lack thereof would be quite forgivable.”

Lewis allowed himself a moment to process the series of emotions that had just bombarded his senses. Where to start?

“I see Lady Howell shares her husband’s reservations about… our, er… mixing company,” he began.

“Needless to say,” Miss Kinsey answered matter-of-factly, “it is not an opinion with which I agree. They are very sweet to worry, but their thinking is rather dull. I suppose it must be, when all day one weighs up matters of great importance.” She blinked twice, then her mouth made a shocked “o.” “Not that your work isn’t meaningful.

Goodness! I would never want you to assume I do not understand its worth.

But you have wisely chosen to leave those dusty, old law books at the office and let yourself live a little.

Lord Howell never laughs, you know. Well, not that I’ve seen, at any rate.

What a waste, when the world is full of things to be joyful about.

Although why I should tell you this when you and I are so like-minded that there is no need to explain…

It’s only that their thinking is so very different and yet they are comfortable imposing their thoughts upon us as though they were the only ones worthy of consideration. Do you see?”

“Er…” said Lewis.

He had only witnessed this once before. This chattiness of Miss Kinsey.

It had happened when they had first met, a year ago.

She had been new to the city, the estate, the complexities of etiquette.

And it had made her nervous. She had gabbled away in this seemingly easy way, but, really, she had just been covering herself in words like a protective blanket.

“Miss Kinsey,” he said, both to stem the tide of her words and to rescue her from the need for them, “let us speak plainly.”

“Oh.” She sat a little straighter, her hands clamped to her knees. “Yes.” She nodded briskly. “I am ready.”

Lewis suddenly felt quite out of his depth.

This was not like a courtroom, where everyone else was either an opponent to be defeated, a witness to be summoned, or a judge to be convinced.

The many years of study had given him little opportunity to consider marriage before now.

No practice having been possible, nor, indeed, likely, as these things tended to be a once-off affair, Lewis considered himself wholly unprepared for this moment.

Under different circumstances, he would have mulled it over more, practiced the wording of his case before presenting it to Miss Kinsey.

The young lady in question waited, her head tilted up expectantly.

Lewis sat down opposite her. He steepled his fingers, his wrists on his knees.

“Miss Kinsey.”

“Yes?”

Lewis cleared his throat and looked up into her lovely face. Saints above, but she was beautiful! He wished this awkwardness was behind him and he could claim those lips, those eyes, the soft skin inside her wrist…

He cleared his throat again.

“Your letter—for which I must thank you, as it was sent at great risk—was very, er… thorough .”

Miss Kinsey shifted happily in her chair. “Oh, good! Ellena was totally against any correspondence between us, of course, but then I wouldn’t have seen you for months , and some grand heiress might have caught your eye.”

Lewis tried to hide a smile that was itching to surface. “I assure you, Miss Kinsey, no one else can catch my eye while you exist.”

“Oh, well, that’s all right, then.” Miss Kinsey beamed.

“It seems, however, that our friends do not share our enthusiasm when considering a match between our houses.”

Miss Kinsey giggled. “Is this your barrister voice? It isn’t half funny!

I can just picture our crowded, little cottage wed to your parents’ fancy home.

” Her eyes looked up to the side and were joined by a tiny frown.

“Actually, I can’t imagine it all. I have no idea what their estate looks like, having never visited. ”

“We shall remedy that soon enough, if this conversation has a satisfactory end.”

Miss Kinsey returned her open gaze to Lewis. “Never you mind Lord and Lady Howell and their opinions. They have said their piece. They get to live their lives according to their hopes and expectations. I would rather hear what you have to say.”

“I… I… It is no secret that I am very fond of you.” Lewis knew he was blushing. He only hoped it made him seem endearing rather than foolish.

“Is that all?” Miss Kinsey’s face fell.

“Oh, no! That is to say… I did not want to overstep the mark. I would not want to startle you by saying too much too soon.”

“Mr. Bradford.” Miss Kinsey folded her hands and huffed impatiently. “I have seen pigs give birth. I am not so easily startled.”

“Ah.” Lewis was momentarily put off his stride. “That is… useful to know.”

“I am very fond of you too,” Miss Kinsey declared. “Though I haven’t exactly made a secret of it. You know me to be a forthright sort of person. What these Munro ladies call ‘subtlety,’ I call ‘an outrageous waste of time.’ Which is why I spoke so plainly in the letter.”

“Yes. Yes, you did.” Lewis faltered. He felt he was losing the initiative. “I suppose the only question I must ask is…”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Yes, I will marry you.”

“Oh, er… that is good news.” Lewis was now quite flustered. “What I had meant to ask was whether you could bear to live in Munro. But the, er… other question…would have followed.”

Miss Kinsey waved a hand about nonchalantly.

“I don’t mind the city so much. There is so much to do.

I would be able to move more freely as a married woman than I do now as Ellena’s companion.

We could attend more theater. I love the theater, but Lord Howell rarely takes us to a show.

And our home would be less of a mausoleum than Munro House.

Besides, you would not begrudge me a visit with my family if I missed them, would you? ”

“Certainly not,” said Lewis, glad that the conversation was righting itself. “I would very much want for you to be happy. Of course, a certain measure of formality would be required when hosting the occasional dinner. But, by and large, the basics of decorum would suffice.”

“Like not running barefoot?” Jillian offered a lopsided smile.

“Exactly. Servants do need to respect their employers, or they will talk out of house. But that is not to say we could not go on a picnic and kick off our shoes…”

“That sounds fair. And we can host dances? Not a ball, of course. That would be too formal and we would not have the room for so many people. But a gathering for friends with music and some country reels.”

“Absolutely. Though perhaps you will want Lady Howell to assist you with the planning, at first. I believe there is much to organize before the music can begin. My mother rarely hosts a ball anymore for this very reason.”

Miss Kinsey clapped her hands. “I can’t wait! I shall write to my parents at once! After all, I cannot leave Munro now when you and I have so much to discuss What date shall I give for the wedding?”

“Miss Kinsey…”

“Oh, but you must call me ‘Jillian’ now. Or ‘Jilly.’ And I shall call you ‘Lewis.’ Dear, dear Lewis. And you must kiss me. Goodness, how I have waited for such a kiss from you!”

She tilted back her head and pouted her lips in readiness for said kiss.

Lewis stared at her. They were betrothed. How, exactly, it had occurred was a bit of a blur. He hadn’t actually asked for her hand. Not that he hadn’t planned to. It all seemed a little back-to-front. This was not how he’d wanted their lives together to start.

“Miss Kinsey. Jillian.”

“Yes, Lewis?” she answered, her eyes still closed, her lips returning to their puckered form.”

“Please open your eyes.”

She complied, her chin dropping, her eyebrows lifting in a question mark. “You do not want to kiss me? Are things done that differently in the big cities?”

“All in good time, my love.”

He slid down from the chair onto one knee, his hands cupping hers.

“Miss Kinsey, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

“I thought my answer was obvious.”

“Humor me.”

“Oh. Well, then, yes. Will you kiss me now?”

“It will be my pleasure…”

He rose to his feet, pulling Jillian up by her hands until they were both standing, face to face, a few inches apart. Then he closed the distance.

His hand slipped across the small of her back as he drew her toward him, their bodies crushing against each other as his mouth sought hers.

His passion awoke, heat searing through his core as he pulled her ever tighter against him.

She answered his touch with equal fervor, wrapping her arms around his neck, her fingers pushing through his thick hair.

Lewis lowered his lips to her chin, her neck, his tongue wetting her smooth, feminine skin, while Jilly—his own hot-blooded Jilly—did likewise with the shell of his ear, teeth gently tugging at his lobes until he was forced to pull away.

“Merciful heavens, woman, you will undo me!” he cried, only to draw her back into a deep embrace. “Was that what you wanted, my love?” he whispered into her hair. “Was it the kiss of your dreams?”

Jilly lifted her chin, her cheeks flushed with exertion, her eyes dancing. “It ended too soon,” she said, and she placed her head on his chest, where his pounding heart struggled to slow.

“I suppose we should tell our friends the good news,” Lewis murmured.

“Not yet,” said Jilly. “They will only spoil it with their disapproving looks.”

“I think they worry for us. But when they see how happy we are, they will share in our joy. We will show them it is not a fleeting whim, but a lifetime of bliss, just like their own.”

Jilly pulled back quite suddenly. “We will have the wedding in Ermenbrough, won’t we? I don’t want it here, where people like the viscount and Ellena—and maybe even your parents—will mean well but will wish to add excess to the event.”

“You want it at your village church?”

“Yes, among people who don’t care about silverware or who is wearing the latest fashion.

I want to be married in a place where no one will shame my family, with simple folk who only want to celebrate our special day.

I don’t mind if that means only our families attend, or whether I am holding a posy of wildflowers instead of an arrangement from an expensive florist. None of those things matter. ”

“Then that is exactly what we shall do.” Lewis tucked Jilly back into his arms.

But she extricated herself again and added, “When shall I meet your family? I think I shall love Miss Bradford—or Penelope, I suppose I’ll be able to call her—most of all.

After you , that is. The rest shall have my respect as long as they are kind to you.

I shall be quite the tigress in your defense. ”

Lewis tucked a golden curl behind Jilly’s ear. “I can see I shall have to make arrangements at once. And while I am at it, I shall write to the vicar at Ermenbrough and have the banns read beginning next Sunday. For it seems you will not stand still in my arms until we are wed.”

“Oh, I think we could sneak in a little something before that,” said Jilly as she climbed back into his embrace. She nestled there as if it were her home, and Lewis felt his heart beat more evenly, as if he had found his home too.