“I was afraid to tell you. You do not have to say it back, I know it is soon, really quite quick, but it is how I feel.” He was speaking in a rush, as if desperate for the words to escape him. “I just wanted you to know the truth, to know that I am not going anywhere, Emily. Because I –”
“I love you too.” The words came easily from Emily. She had already known she was falling in love with the man before her, but this moment right here was the thing that made her certain. He had taken such efforts to comfort her, to assure her that he was not going anywhere. How could she not love him for that?
“You do?” he asked, laughing, in almost a befuddled happy state.
“I really do,” she giggled, seeing his smile grow so much wider, it was a wonder his face could contain the grin.
“Is your maid still looking out of that window?” Aaron asked, nodding his head in the maid’s direction. Emily turned her head, thankful to see Helena had fixed her focus on the most distant window in the entire room, looking out to the garden with her back firmly to them.
“Very much.”
“Thank god for that,” Aaron murmured as she turned back to face him. He leaned down toward her, lifting those fingers to caress her cheek one more time, before his lips found hers.
Emily was frozen to the spot. Her first kiss was something she had pictured often, but never had she thought such a chaste kiss could be so enthralling. Her body responded to his touch, as if she had been struck by a bolt of lightning delivered by him. She reached up on her toes, trying to maintain that kiss for as long as possible, with his lips pressed firmly to hers.
When they parted, with Emily resting back down on her soles and Aaron placing his forehead against hers, they both laughed softly.
“I didn’t think a kiss could be so…” She struggled for the right words.
“Exhilarating?” he offered.
“Oh, so you think your kiss is exhilarating?” she teased him instantly, loving the way he tipped his head back, lifting his forehead off hers and laughing warmly.
“Yours certainly is.” He leaned down toward her again. She forgot any want to tease him, loving this mischievous moment of a stolen kiss. His lips were hovering over hers, tempting her with the promise of another. “I realize I have been bold already, Emily. Permit me to be bold again?”
“I beg you to hurry to do it before we are interrupted,” she whispered, against his lips. He moved down toward her, before his body stilled, his eyes going wide.
Emily realized but a beat later what had stopped him. There were footsteps in the corridor beyond the door.
They both leapt away from each other, stumbling back so that there was a distance between them.
“Will they know?” Emily asked in a harried whisper.
“Not if your maid agrees to keep a secret,” Aaron said with a wink as he hurried to a seat nearby, affecting a comfortable position, as if he had been there all along.
“Helena?” Emily asked, turning her head to her maid as she copied Aaron on the other side of the room, affecting a similar pose of nonchalance with her book in her hand.
“Yes, I agree. Though I have proved myself to be a poor chaperone indeed.” Helena broke off sharply as the door opened.
“Ah, I thought we might find them in here.” Archibald’s voice greeted them as he stepped into the room, shortly followed by Arthur. “How was the tea with your mother, my Lord?” he asked, turning his focus on Aaron.
“It was pleasant indeed,” Aaron said, his tone perfectly at ease. Despite the casualness of the conversation, Emily was fidgeting in her chair, something Arthur clearly noticed, for his eyes were flicking between them, with a suspicious frown upon his face.
Aaron must have sensed that look, for he turned his eyes on Emily and winked, just for her to see. She had to bite the inside of her mouth to stop herself from laughing.
Scandalous indeed!
“My Lord, would you care to stay for dinner?” Archibald asked and gestured back through the door. “It is not long now, after all.”
“He seems to be here for dinner most days, father,” Arthur said with amusement as he folded his arms.
“If the offer stands, yes, Lord Dowding, I would love that,” Aaron said, turning his eyes back to Emily as he spoke.
“I could have laid a wager on his answer.” Arthur spoke with mischief, even as Archibald urged him out the door again.
“Are you trying to cause mischief?” Archibald asked, following him out of the door.
“Who could resist?” Arthur shrugged with the words.
