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Oh please, Mummy. Don’t make an issue out of this, Tricia begged silently to her mother.
A moment which seemed like an eternity passed before Lady Clementine finally responded. “I suppose it should be all right. Just this once.”
Tricia’s heart nearly burst. And then she coughed.
“Are you all right, sweetheart?” Thomas asked.
She was perfectly fine now, especially since he called her “sweetheart.”
“Take a drink of water, please.” Thomas glanced toward his night table, where a glass of water and a pitcher sat next to the lovely vase Tricia had admired two days earlier.
She nodded and poured herself a glass. “I simply inhaled a lot of smoke,” she said when she was finished. “The physician said I will cough for a few days while my throat is healing, but there is no permanent damage done.”
“Thank God.”
She laid a hand on his shoulder. “I’m much more concerned about you.”
“Both my lower arms and part of my left hand are burned, and I may have some scarring.” Thomas grimaced. “But other than that, I got through quite unscathed. The only reason I passed out was from sheer exhaustion.”
“Are they sure, Thomas?”
“They’re quite sure, sweetheart. I shall be fine, and I’ve been assured by my physician that you shall be fine as well. That means the most to me.”
Tricia swallowed and cleared her throat of the excess phlegm from the cough. “It means the most to me that you shall be all right.”
“I know it does. And Tricia, you do realize that everyone saw me kiss you last night?”
“Yes, I know, but Thomas, you know?—”
“For the love of God, Tricia. Please let me say my piece.”
Tricia bit on her lower lip and nodded. “All right, Thomas. Say your piece.”
“Your brother will insist that I marry you.”
Tricia opened her mouth, but Thomas glared at her.
“Please allow me to finish, Tricia.”
Tricia glued her lips closed and nodded once more.
“I shall marry you, Tricia. I want to marry you.”
“May I speak now?” she asked.
“No.”
She let out a breath and nodded for the third time. “Fine. Continue.”
“I’ve already ruined you, but we both know that. You told me that you’d only consent to a marriage of love.”
Tricia’s heart broke in two. She nodded.
“Three days ago, I couldn’t tell you I loved you, Tricia. But now?” He burned his gaze into her. “I can say that I love you more than the earth and the heavens. The thought of losing you to that fire…” Thomas closed his eyes.
Tricia’s heart mended, nearly burst out of her chest. “Thomas…”
He opened his eyes again. “It’s the truth, dear Tricia. You are my everything. You are the woman I want to bear my children, to be my countess. Live with me until my dying day. I love you, Lady Patricia Price-Adams. I love you so much, and I should be forever honored if you would consent to be my wife.”
