Page 88 of Sir Hugo Seeks a Wife
“So you may as well give in.”Hugo folded his arms and regarded her steadily.“I’ll win in the end.”
Athene licked her lips again.She already regretted her lack of courage and the damage it had done.But what she was about to say called for every ounce of fortitude that she could muster.Even so, her voice emerged as a croak.“Hugo, do you love me?”
He looked startled.For a nauseating instant, she wondered if she had everything wrong after all, if she’d imagined those tortured entreaties while she drifted between life and death.After all, it was what she’d longed for.Wishing so hard to hear the words could easily translate to dreaming that she had.
“Athene…”
She made a helpless gesture with her good hand.“We’ve never talked about love, I know.”
He reached for her hand and gripped it as if he never meant to let her go again.“I loved you from the first moment I saw you.It’s as absurd and as profound as that.”He paused, his gaze glued to her face.“That’s never been in doubt.What I’ve never been sure of is whether you love me.”
“Of course I love you.”A rueful smile twisted her lips, even as joy flourished inside her.“How could I not?You’re irresistible.”
She watched the tension drain from his expression.A tension that she only recognized now because of its absence.Elation took its place.He made an incoherent sound deep in his throat and brought her hand to his lips.“My darling, I’m so happy.I hoped.I hoped like hell.”
His lingering kiss sent her heart crashing against her aching ribs.“I told you I loved you when you had me scared out of my skin that you might die.”
“So I didn’t imagine it.”She remained misty-eyed.She blinked to sharpen her vision, but it didn’t help.“I heard you.You brought me back.”
“Thank God.”He kissed her hand again.“I’ll tell you I love you every day for the rest of our lives, if it means you’ll have me.”
She swallowed to ease her tight throat.That didn’t help either.So her voice was husky when she replied.“I’ll have you, Hugo.Heaven help us both.”
His gaze turned brilliant.“Do you mean it?”
“Yes.”Despite her injuries and her emotional turmoil, she felt like a storm-tossed ship that had found safe harbor.She’d struggled against this outcome from the first.Now she gave in to the inevitable.Her heart would have its wish.She was going to be happy, and she was going to do her damnedest to make Hugo happy.“I can’t live without you, so let’s get married and dare the world to do its worst.”
“Athene, I love you.I love you so much.”He rose to give her a gentle kiss.Even that had her wincing.Which prompted a cracked giggle, as she stroked his hair with her good hand.“I wish I could give you a suitably passionate response.”
“We’ll make up for it, beloved.We’ve got a whole lifetime to look forward to.”
Athene should be worried about what lay ahead.She wasn’t fool enough to believe that everything would become simple, once she and Hugo wed.But she couldn’t focus on dire predictions when he loved her and she loved him, and she’d survived her accident to become his wife.
“I’m failing as a chaperone,” Miles said from the doorway.He was smiling and didn’t sound too outraged.
Hugo kept hold of Athene’s hand and turned to face her brother.“You’re just in time to congratulate us.Athene has consented to marry me at last.”
Miles frowned in puzzlement.“You told me you were engaged.”
“I said that more in hope than in truth,” Hugo admitted.“But now it’s true, and I’m the happiest man in England.”
“And I’m the happiest woman in the world,” Athene said, although her moment of unalloyed jubilation had been brief.Too many questions remained to be answered.
She hadn’t seen her brother since she’d run away with George.In her fleeting intervals of consciousness since her accident, Miles had told her that he didn’t hate her.She hoped to goodness that he meant it.Aside from her desire to re-establish contact with her family, Miles’s approval of her match with Hugo might help smooth her social rehabilitation.
Miles came further into the room.“I can see that.”To her astonishment, he leaned in to kiss her cheek.“I can’t tell you what a relief it is to know you’re alive and well, Athene.”His lips twitched.“Apart from a few bruises and broken bones.”
She gaped at him.“I don’t understand.”
Miles looked thoughtful, as he pulled another chair up to her bedside.“After you left, I always feared the worst.Once Papa died, I discovered you’d gone to Vienna and—”
She felt like she’d thrown herself in front of another carriage.“Papa is…dead?”
Miles looked devastated.“You didn’t know?”
“No.”How could she know?Her life had been so isolated from her family’s.“When?”
“About five years ago.He lost his temper with the vicar and suffered an apoplexy.He lingered for a month or so, but he never spoke again.”
