Page 144 of The Devil of Clan Sinclair
“And Ellice? What is she like?”
“Young,” she said. “Untried and unformed, like I was at her age.”
“I would have liked to have known you then,” he said.
“I’d have shown you Cliff House. All my little secrets. The place in the woods where I hid from my governess, and the attic window looking out over the Hudson.” She glanced away. “I’m sorry it was sold. It was such a lovely place. I wish Alistair could have seen it.”
He would buy it for her as a wedding present. They’d travel to America to inspect it, and while he was there, he’d make inquiries into Henderson’s whereabouts.
When he reached for her, she stepped away, shaking her head.
“Your man will have to offer Hannah marriage,” she said. “Hannah’s a good person. She’s not the type to be trifled with.”
“Jack?”
She nodded. “Jack. Nor will I stay at Drumvagen without marriage.”
He stared at her, disbelieving. “What do you think I meant? Bloody hell, Virginia, I’ve been courting you.”
She blinked at him. “Have you?”
“I gave you a book of poetry. I gave you gifts. I designed a rose garden.”
Her cheeks flushed.
He wrapped his arms around her, intent on getting this right. “I love you, Virginia Anderson. You occupy my mind. I smile, thinking of your laugh. I want you as my wife. Is it plain enough for you now?”
She glanced away. Every time she got that look on her face, he was greeted with news he didn’t like.
“I promised myself I’d always tell you the truth,” she finally said. “Even the little bits. I should have written you about Alistair. I knew what I was doing was wrong.” She stared down at the deck, then took a deep breath. “But I don’t regret those days with you. I don’t think I ever could.”
He gently turned her face up. “I would have come to you the minute I heard of your husband’s death. You came, instead.”
She smiled, a strange expression given the one solitary tear that fell down her cheek. He swiped at it with a finger, cupped her face in his palm. She held his happiness in her glance, his future in her answer.
“Will you be stay with me, Virginia Anderson Traylor? To be my wife, my love, and my friend?”
“I haven’t told you the whole of it yet,” she said. “I came to Drumvagen because I couldn’t bear staying away. A year was decades long without seeing you. A defect of my character, to be in love with one man and married to another.”
“Do you love me?” An eternity of seconds passed before she answered.
“Oh, Macrath, I love you with all my heart and parts of my soul.”
When he would have pulled her into his embrace, she shook her head, her smile fading as well as her tears. Her face was still, her lips thinned, her eyes direct.
He steeled himself for her words.
“I’ll try not to be afraid of anything, Macrath. Not people. Not tall places. Not dark places. Not spiders.” She shuddered. “Perhaps spiders.”
She took one step back from him, placing her hand on his chest.
“But I’ve decided I’m not going to be at the mercy of anyone. Not even you. Not even if I love you above all people. I’ve changed from the girl who always did what she was told, who was timid and afraid of everything.”
He didn’t say a word, but he could feel joy spread through him. He’d chosen well, this woman with the beautiful eyes and flushed cheeks.
His smile deepened, glowing from inside out.
“I’ll decide what’s right for me,” she said. “That means you and I will differ from time to time.”
