“I, too, am eager to marry,” he murmured. “But Lady Wilde is not the object of my affection. It has been many days now where one woman alone has captivated my heart. I have found love at last, only to almost lose it in the cruellest circumstances imaginable.
“You have changed me, Miss Crompton, in ways I did not believe possible. I thought I was happy before we met. I realise now that could not have been further from the truth. You make me want to be a better man.” He sighed, glancing away and then turning back to her. “I know of my reputation, of what you have heard of me. I believed I had an excuse for my actions because I thought myself heartbroken. I realise now how foolish that was, and what my conduct might have cost me. I can do nothing to erase my past, but I can make its lessons build my future.”
Clarissa’s heart swelled at his words, but the doubts would not abate. Her family had been through so much. Can I believe him? Does any man ever truly change?
She wanted to trust it was possible, but Catherine’s scandal was prominent in her mind, her sister’s face floating across her vision like a spectre.
Lord Bolton lowered himself to the floor, kneeling beside the bed, and took something from his pocket, his eyes urgent. Pulling it free, he presented her with a silver chain in the palm of his hand. At the base of it was a beautiful locket, engraved with leaves across the lid and more intricate than anything Clarissa had ever seen.
“Clarissa,” he said haltingly. His hands shook as he showed it to her, a thrill of pleasure pulsing through her breast as he used her Christian name. “My aunt gave me this to give to you. It is a family heirloom, a symbol of true and lasting love. My father gave it to my mother when they were married, and it is my dearest wish that I can bestow it upon you, too.” His voice caught on the words. “I have spoken with your father. I know it was presumptuous of me, but I did not wish to let you slip through my fingers. You have no notion of how lost I was before I met you.”
He took her hand in his. She gasped but could not bring herself to pull away.
“He has given me his blessing,” he said solemnly. Clarissa looked at the sincerity of his face, almost unable to believe her greatest wish had come to pass. “I want to be at your side. I would think it the greatest honour to pass through this life with you, to be loved by you if I can but hope. Will you let me prove my love to you? I will show my devotion for as long as I live, if you will but give me this chance.”
Clarissa felt the tears she had held at bay for so long begin to fall down her cheeks. The man kneeling before her was notthe rake of his past but the man of her future. He had opened his heart to love and commitment for the first time, and in his earnest gaze, she found her answer.
She thought through everything she had experienced in the last few weeks. She recalled the sincerity, easy charm, and kindness he had shown her whole family. Lord Bolton had been attentive and sincere since the first day she had met him. His imploring gaze was desperate and hopeful, and her throat clenched as she recognized how her feelings had changed.
“I have been in turmoil these past weeks,” she confessed. “I have tried to stop myself from falling in love with you.” She frowned at him. “You have made it exceedingly difficult.”
He gave a startled laugh and surged forward, gently sitting beside her on the bed.
“I will not lie and say that your reputation did not concern me,” his frown deepened, “but I have come to realise that we are not built by our past actions. I pray and hope that is true of my sister, and I can only hope it is true of you.”
“I swear to you, on everything I love in this world, that I will never return to that life. I was living in a delirious dream, ignorant of the world I truly wanted. Perhaps it was a nightmare; it certainly brought me no fulfilment. Nothing like I had felt with you.”
“And you never thought of Lady Wilde—”
“Never,” he said firmly. “Not once. Since I met you, you have consumed my entire being.” He gave her a gentle smile, his fingers still tangled in her own.
She smiled, her lips trembling as she nodded just once, the fluttering in her chest almost all-consuming.
“Yes,” she said, with pure happiness, “Nicholas Bolton, I will marry you.”
He let out a great rush of air, and that wonderful smile spread across his face—the real smile he reserved for her alone,the smile she had grown to love so much.
With gentle, tentative movements, he took her face in his hands and brought their lips together with a feather-light touch in a wonderful, secret kiss filled with light and love. She felt his hands tighten around her, his scent envelops her, and for the first time in three long years, the pain she felt dimmed to nothing in his presence.
As they parted, both a little breathless, Nicholas rested his forehead against hers, and they each let out a sigh together.
It was the end of something between them and the start of something bright and new.
EPILOGUE
One month later…
Nicholas stood in the church with all of his friends and family before him and could not believe where his life had led him.
He was impossibly happy. Happier than he had ever been. Since Clarissa had accepted him, the joy in his heart had only increased day by day.
As the organ began to play and the congregation stood, he held his breath.
Clarissa appeared at the bottom of the aisle, standing beside Lord Crompton. He had trimmed his hair and eyebrows to a more socially acceptable style in the last week or so, and he looked proud and handsome beside his daughter.
Clarissa was a vision. He could not take his eyes off her. Her long honey-blonde hair was tied about her head and adorned with white flowers and pearls. The dress she wore was intricately decorated with silk and beading that sparkled as she walked. She looked open and happy, and as her eyes met his, she smiled that dazzling smile he adored.
He watched her eyes glance about the church as she approached him. They soon settled on her sister Catherine, who sat in the congregation with her husband and their young boy.
