Page 20 of The Earl’s Second Chance

“No.”

“Every young man says no.”

“Then judge what I do after the saying.”

The earl’s eyes warmed. “You may court her if she wishes it.”

Elizabeth received Richard in the small morning room, with the door open and Lady Susan embroidering near the window.

“Your father has given me permission to ask whether you would allow a formal courtship.”

Her breath caught.

“You have been very kind since—”

“Do not accept from gratitude.”

She looked at him.

“Do not accept because Darcy made you feel unwanted, or because I defended you, or because our walks have become a habit. Accept only if you wish to discover whether what lies between us may become a life.”

Elizabeth’s heart turned toward him as naturally as a flower toward light.

“I do wish it.”

His smile began in his eyes. “Then may I call tomorrow?”

“You are here today.”

“I have been informed that courtship requires patience.”

“By whom?”

“My mother. She was smiling when she said it, which made the warning ominous.”

Elizabeth laughed, and the last shadow of Darcy’s proposal loosened inside her.

Their courtship unfolded in drawing rooms, galleries, gardens, and carriages. Richard brought her books with arguments written in the margins. Elizabeth read them and wrote counterarguments. He visited Herfershire’s parliamentary gallery to hear her father speak and afterward asked questions that showed he had listened. She accompanied him to a military hospital, where she saw how wounded men brightened at his name.

At supper sets, their chairs edged closer.

During a concert at Matlock House, they escaped for five minutes into the dark conservatory. Rain tapped the glass. Orange blossoms scented the air.

“We are alone,” Elizabeth whispered.

“Your footman is beyond that door.”

“Then we are almost alone.”

Richard touched her waist. “That may be more dangerous.”

She should have stepped back. Instead, she laid one hand against his coat and felt the force of his heartbeat.

“You have wanted to kiss me,” she said.

“Since the fog.”

“Only since then?”