Page 95 of Miss Beresford and the Beast

“I came here, six months to the day since you left me in Yorkshire, to ask if you love me too,” he said. “I don’t require it. It would be enough to know that you care for me sufficiently to⁠—”

“Of course it wouldn’t be enough!” Charlotte burst out. She set her hands on his chest in reprimand, giving him a scolding shove. “Why would you even suggest it? To settle for something less than what we both deserve?”

Magnus reached for her. “Charlotte⁠—”

“I do love you,” she said “I’ve loved you since that day in the small parlor. I told you then that I⁠—”

His mouth caught hers before she could finish. He kissed her fiercely, passionately, his arms coming around her in a crushing embrace.

Charlotte’s hands slid to his shoulders as she kissed back with half-parted lips. She was bolder than she’d been in the small parlor. And with good reason. There was no more cause for uncertainty about his feelings. No more reason to doubt. He loved her. He loved her!

“I’m sorry you didn’t find your fortune,” she said breathlessly when they at last broke apart. “And I wish you hadn’t sold your house in town. My inheritance truly is more than adequate for us to live on.”

Magnus drew back to look at her. His mouth hitched in a lopsided smile. “Who says I didn’t find my fortune?”

Magnus couldn’t recall ever having seen Charlotte’s eyes go quite so wide. She stared up at him, her kiss-swollen lips parted in shock. “You don’t mean⁠—”

“I didn’t give up after finding my father’s letter,” he said. “Naturally, I tore out the rest of the pantry wall.”

Her face shone with amazement. “And you found it?”

“I did,” he said.

It had been stacked inside the sawn-timber frame of the wall in various bags and boxes. The coins. The banknotes.

The jewels.

“Which brings me to the point of my visit.” Reaching into his pocket again, Magnus extracted a small, cylindrical Morocco leather box. He opened the small hinged lid, revealing the enormous sparkling diamond solitaire nested within. It was the same priceless ring his mother had worn for her official portrait. “I’ve already received permission from your father,” he said. “All that remains⁠—"

Charlotte’s robin’s egg blue eyes inexplicably filled with tears. She raised her hands to cover her face.

A jolt of alarm went through him. “Charlotte⁠—”

“It’s too much,” she replied, choking back a sudden sob.

Magnus’s heart clenched with love for her. “Nothing is too much for you, sweetheart,” he said. “You deserve it all, every jewel, every luxury, every happiness. I can give it to you now. You need only consent to be my wife.”

She slid her hands from her tear-damp eyes. They remained at her lips, half covering another sob. “But I don’t require any of those things. I only ever needed you.”

“You have me, whatever your answer,” he said. “All the rest just happens to come with the title of Countess of Eversleigh.”

She laughed through her tears. They were happy tears, he believed. Her hands fell from her face. “And Papa has already agreed?”

“He has.”

“He knows about your fortune?”

“He does.”

“It must be a very great one.”

It was, Magnus thought with some satisfaction. A staggering sum. Magnus had put it all safely back in the bank, except for the amount he’d used to arrange the staffing and restoration of both Moorcross Manor and the London house, and the small amount he’d spent on refurbishing himself.

“You will have everything your heart desires, my love,” he promised her. “And a few things you haven’t dreamed of yet.”

Charlotte gave another sobbing laugh. “Yes, then,” she said. “Yes. I will marry you, Magnus.” She held out her hand for him to slip the diamond ring on her finger. “But I caution you. I’ve dreamed of a great deal.”

The ring slid on easily, a perfect fit, as though it had been destined for her.