Page 26 of Memories Made At Midnight (Chronicles of the Westbrook Brides #9)
On a less-traveled road to
The Frolicking Fox
THREE HOURS LATER
A t the first glimpse of the Duke of Latham’s coach grinding along the path in the distance, Cassius’s blood quickened. His beloved Beatrice was in there, and soon he’d be able to take her in his arms and kiss her until she was breathless, profess how much he adored her, and beg her to accept his hand in marriage.
What a stupid lummox he’d been, refusing to allow himself to love her.
He whistled, and Baldwin glanced over his shoulder.
Grinning, the coachman waved and slowed the team to a gradual stop.
As Cassius approached, Beatrice and Nala poked their heads out the window. Craning to look up at the drivers, Beatrice shielded her eyes from the sun. “Why have we stopped?”
Baldwin jutted his chin in Cassius’s direction, and Beatrice dutifully glanced down the roadway.
Nala woofed a canine greeting.
“ Cassius ?”
Wonder and perhaps a hint of doubt lit Beatrice’s eyes.
The emerald green bonnet adorned with silk flowers and white feathers enhanced her glorious hair and eyes. A matching spencer with an intricate rose braid and undone silver buttons covered her slender shoulders.
God, she’s lovely .
She’d either borrowed from the Westbrook women or, while she convalesced, had ordered a few garments and accouterments made. If the latter, knowing her as he did, Cassius would bet his studio, she had sewn a portion of her new wardrobe herself.
How Cassius had missed her.
His heart turned over, and joy he thought to never know again thrummed through him.
No, that wasn’t true.
He had never been this happy—had never anticipated the future as much as he did now.
She scrunched her nose in that cute way she did when she was confused.
“Why are you here, Cassius?”
“You, Beatrice Fairfax, left without saying goodbye.”
“ I’m not the one who left without saying goodbye.” More than a little heat laced her saucy retort. “You weren’t even at Hefferwickshire House when I left. The same cannot be said of me when you departed.”
Did a driver chuckle?
Cassius didn’t spare them a glance to see which one.
It didn’t matter if they thought him a besotted fool.
What mattered was the woman in the coach.
“And I regretted it every second I was away from you, which is why I am here now. To make amends.”
She eyed him as one might a long-denied treasure—with yearning and wariness.
Distrust and hope.
He never took his focus off her as he dismounted, tied the mare to the back of the vehicle, and opened the coach door.
“Where to, Lord Cassius?”
Farrel didn’t even pretend to hide his amusement.
“Home.” Where Cassius and Beatrice would marry by special license as soon as feasible.
“Have I no voice in this decision?” Beatrice asked, clearly miffed.
Cassius placed a dusty boot on the step. “Of course you do.”
She had no choice but to scoot over, which she did with admirable speed.
Once inside, he knocked on the roof and the coach slowly turned around.
Teddy and Nala wasted no time in greeting him with eager doggy kisses and wagging tails.
“I missed you too.” Laughing, he nudged Nala aside so he could sit closer to Beatrice.
Lifting her nose with an Almack peeress’s regal air, Beatrice regarded him cooly.
“I do not appreciate your highhandedness. I am on my way to Brighton. I have arrangements to make for Millborn and my animals.”
“I suspected as much.” He gathered her gloved hands into his. “But that can wait a few more days.”
Her eyes grew round, and she released her breath in a rush. “Oh, I’m a selfish dolt. What news have you of Captain Westbrook?”
Cassius sighed. “We still haven’t located him, but my brothers and cousin are following a strong lead.”
“I feel responsible.” Her eyes grew misty, and she dropped her chin to her chest. “Especially as we now know my uncle was behind his abduction.”
“You did not cause any of this, Beatrice, and there is nothing you could have done to prevent it.” Cassius nudged her chin upward until she met his eyes. “I missed you. Very much.”
She formed a tremulous smile. “I missed you too.”
He shook a finger at her.
“However, I’m not happy that you did not take a few more days to recover.” Glancing at her emerald muslin-covered thigh, he asked, “You are healing well?”
“Yes. As you know, I was merely grazed. Fletcher’s expertise in cleaning and stitching my wound no doubt also contributed to my swift recovery.” She patted her leg. “I barely have any pain at all. Just if it’s bumped, or if I move too quickly.
“I’m relieved to hear it.” Cassius slipped an arm around her shoulders and when she didn’t object, drew her nearer.
“Why did your brother give up practicing medicine?” Beatrice searched Cassius’s face. “He’s a talented doctor.”
“That he is, but he couldn’t abide the darker side of medicine. Specifically dealing with children dying.” Cassius traced his fingers up and down her shoulder. “For all of Fletcher’s outward sternness, he’s a very compassionate man. It drove him to the bottle.”
She laid her head on his shoulder, and if Cassius hadn’t already given her his heart, it would have flopped at her feet. “It is heartbreaking when a patient dies, although mine are only animals.”
He kissed the top of her head, and a feather tickled his nose. “I believe people can love animals as much as humans.”
“Cassius?”
“ Hmm ?” His eyelids grew heavier with each passing clip-clop of the horses’ hooves.
“Why did you come after me?”
Leave it to Beatrice to get directly to the point.
With his forefinger, he turned her face so that she peered up at him.
“Because, Beatrice Fairfax, I love you and want to marry you.”
He pressed his mouth to her forehead.
“Oh.” She blinked, and a blush tinted her cheeks.
Oh ?
“I thought when a man proposed, he kissed his intended on the mouth.”
Cassius burst out laughing as he pulled her onto his lap. “I am more than happy to oblige you.”
The first touch of his lips upon hers was the sweetest homecoming.
This, this was what love should be.
It was more than physical desire or lust. Love was the blending of two spirits, two souls finding completion in the other.
He teased the seam of her mouth until she opened the honeyed cavern to his gentle probing. Sighing, Beatrice looped her arms around his neck and kissed him back with an exuberance that made up for her inexperience.
The miles passed as he explored her mouth and gentle curves. Exhaustion and fatigue faded away under his growing ardor.
At last, Cassius reluctantly lifted his head.
Beatrice opened sultry, desire-filled eyes.
“Why did you stop?” Her siren’s smile nearly undid him.
He eyed the opposite bench, mentally calculating how comfortable it would be to make her his in every way.
“I quite enjoyed kissing,” she said.
“As did I, and that is why we must stop.” He set her on the seat beside him and gave a pointed look at his hard groin. “When I make you mine, it will not be in a bumpy coach with two dogs watching.”
“That would be a bit awkward.” Beatrice giggled as she petted each dog. From beneath her lush lashes, she gave him a sideways, coy glance.
God help him resist the tempting armful that was Beatrice.
“I have a confession, Cassius.”
He skewed an eyebrow upward. “Oh?”
“I vowed I’d get you to kiss me so that when I was an old, dried-up prune of a spinster and I couldn’t sleep, I could recall that precious memory as I sat in my rocking chair, gazing at the moonlit, midnight sky with a couple of dogs curled at my feet.”
Emotion clogged Cassius’s throat, and he grazed his fingertips over her cheek.
“We’ll have a lifetime to make memories at midnight, my love.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “If you agree to marry me.”
Consternation suddenly gripped him.
What if she didn’t love him as he did her?
“You do love me, Beatrice, don’t you?”
She cupped his face with her palm.
“Yes, I love you, Cassius Westbrook. You’ve shown me that there are good men in the world, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you and only you.”
The breath left his lungs in a whoosh.
“Thank God.” He pressed his forehead against hers, relief flooding him.
“I do have a condition or two.” She leaned back, her eyes twinkling. “I want to continue rescuing animals.”
“Darling, you can have an entire menagerie.” He would have to give up his studio. There wasn’t room for an animal hospital there. The idea didn’t cause him undue concern. “Whatever makes you happy.”
“You, Lord Cassius Westbrook. You make me happy.” Smiling, she lifted her mouth to his. “Now kiss me again.”