Page 107 of A Match of Misfortune

“Happenstance. When you have hands and feet the size of a giant’s, things like this occur.”

Cecily laughed for the first time in days. “And to think I once saw them as an advantage.”

“How mistaken you were.”

It turned out Cecily had been mistaken about a lot of things regarding Nash.

Nash drew a step closer, causing her whole body to go on alert. “So you see, without all the bad that happened, I would not be here, unequivocally and wholly in love with the single greatest fortune in my life. I don’t know how I ever got so lucky.”

Tears brimmed in Cecily’s eyes, but this time, uncertainty and disappointment did not cause them, but relief. And joy.

His fingers brushed the skin on her arm, sending a burst of pleasure through her. “I’m not exactly sure how⁠—”

“I shall come to India with you,” Cecily said. She felt as certain of her decision now as when she’d first come to it. More so even. Nash was worth any sacrifice.

He did not blink but stared at her, slack jawed. “You would come with me to India?”

She swallowed down the last bit of her trepidation, squaring her shoulders. “If that’s where you are, then that is where I shall be.”

“I …” His eyes seemed to drink her in. “I hardly know what to say. That means more to me than you could ever know.” He drew in a breath, his chest broadening, before he released it. “But I shall not be the reason you give up your life here. The reason you leave your sister.”

Cecily’s heart trembled to a stop. “I cannot bear to be apart from you. Not again.”

“Nor I you.” He gave a knowing smile, his hands taking hold of hers. “Do you know how often you would come to my mind in those years I was gone? How vividly I recalled everything about you? Your intoxicating scent—like jasmine and rose water. The exact shade of your velvet-brown eyes. Your golden-brown hair …” He ran a finger down one of Cecily’s curls, letting his hand come to rest near her collarbone. Then his gaze lowered to her lips. “And your lips. You cannot know how often I thought of them. How intensely I regretted not having kissed you that day all those years ago. But even in the stupidity of youth, it was as though I recognized how that one kiss would have had the potential to change everything.”

He shook his head. “I had so many plans, and I could not risk them. But what I didn’t foresee was that, even without that kiss, you had already taken your hold on my heart. That the thought of you would preoccupy me relentlessly. There was not a day that passed where something would not remind me of you. Where the image of you would not come to my mind.”

There was no use in attempting to hold back her tears. It could not be done. Cecily’s heart was too full, her soul too content.

Nash smiled, wiping tears from Cecily’s cheek. “So, if you think for one moment that I shall suffer through that again, you are sorely mistaken.”

“But how …”

“As I started to say before your most welcome interruption, I don’t know exactly how it will all work yet, but I’m going to start my shipping company here, out of London. That is what I’ve been doing this past week, trying to get everything sorted. I wanted to make certain it was possible before I spoke to you about it. And I’m nearly there … almost. But even if it can’t be done, then so be it. What good is any of it if I’m half a world away from you?”

She stared at him, a stuttered breath escaping her. “You are not returning to India, then?”

“No. Though I suppose that should depend upon if you will marry me, because otherwise⁠—”

“I will.” Without another moment’s delay, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. It took him but an instant to compensate for his surprise before his lips softened beneath hers, and when Nash’s arms settled around her, enveloping her fully, it stole her breath. There was no hesitancy in the kiss. No questions as to what it meant or where it might lead. It was sure. It was certain. And after years of resisting the undeniable pull between them, of pretending it did not exist, Cecily knew without a doubt this irrational connection to another—to Nash—truly was the most incredible thing. Nothing made more sense to her than this.

“I love you,” she whispered against his lips, her breath mingling with his.

“And I you.” He rested his forehead against hers, his chest rising and falling. “Perhaps we should share the happy news with the others?”

“Considering most of the others know us to already be betrothed, how do you intend to go about it?”

Nash chuckled. “That’s a fair point. Perhaps we could share with them that we have decided upon a wedding date?”

“And when is it to be?”

“I feel as though I’ve been waiting six years, so I prefer as soon as possible.”

Cecily smiled. “I wholeheartedly agree. Papa will be here next week, so—” Nash’s smile widened, and the familiar glint in his eye paused Cecily’s words. “What is it?”

“Come with me.” Nash took hold of Cecily’s hand and all but dragged her in his excitement.

The two of them stepped through the drawing room door, and Cecily’s gaze shifted through the familiar faces—Mr. and Mrs. Markham, Lord Rothsburg, Bridget, Fredrick, Adelaide, and Papa. She halted. Papa?