Page 70 of Deception and Desire
He stood, willing his heart to slow, longing to swoop her into his arms and kiss her till she gasped for air. Now that he’d made up his mind, he was anxious to get on with the rest of their lives.
Light quick footfalls sounded on the steps. She froze halfway down, and it took all his willpower not to meet her on the stairway. Their eyes met; his breath caught. She was stunning. Her soft blue gown clung to her long slender limbs as she resumed her descent, her smile tremulous, her light eyes sparkling with emotion. Fenella loved him, and it shone in the movement of her body and the emotion that flitted across her face. Reaching the hall, she held her hands out to him. He took her fingers and tugged her close.
“I need to see ye alone, my sweet,” he said softly. “Now.”
She nodded and led him into the parlor, closing the pocket doors behind her. He caught her to him, one hand pressing her against the length of his body, the other cupping her face. His mouth covered hers in a hungry kiss.
“How I’ve missed ye,” he murmured against her ear, trailing his lips down her neck. “Have ye dreamt of me?”
Fenella nodded, clinging to him. “I have to talk to you, Lachlan. I need to tell you something.”
“No, I have something to ask ye first.” He’d made up his mind and had to get this off his chest, let his happiness envelop them both.
Shimmering gray eyes held his. “But I—”
He put a finger on her lips, silencing her. “I dinna ken what the future holds or where we may make our home. But I love ye. I need ye like a thirsty mon in the desert, like my grandfather needs to touch my grandmother every day after forty years.” He stepped back and took both her hands in his. “Fenella Franklin, will ye be my wife?”
Tears spilled down her cheeks. He smiled at her female sentiment and dried her face with the pads of his thumb. “Will ye marry me, Fenella?” He bent to kiss those full lips again but her words stopped him.
“I-I have something to tell you first.”
Stunned, his head jerked back. “Before ye say ‘yes’?” He shook his head, trying to clear the confusion muddling his brain. “Ye said ye loved me. Did ye mean it?”
“Yes! Oh, yes. I love you with all my heart. With every breath. But…” She hung her head, filled her lungs in preparation, and clutched his hands again. “I have not been completely truthful with you.”
His heart pounded. He’d expected her to agree immediately, not have a discussion first. They should be holding each other passionately, celebrating their future. “What are ye saying?”
“My mother will oppose my betrothal to a Scot.”
“Because I dinna have a title?” He wondered how he’d ever get along with such a woman. “I thought ye no longer had to worry on that account.”
“No, it’s not that. She’s ashamed of her lineage. My mother has spent all her married years trying to erase any brogue, any trace of her Scottish background to become a very English Lady Franklin.”
Lachlan dropped her hands, his nostrils flaring. “Ye’re saying she’s a Scot who looks down on her own kin?” He paced to the hearth and back, hands on his hips. “So, she’d never agree to our marriage?”
“No.” Tears filled those silver eyes again. “But I don’t care.”
“Andnowye’re telling me this?” His jaw clenched.
“At first I was ashamed and then I meant to, several times, but something always seemed to happen.”
Her words slowly penetrated the fog in his head. “LadyFranklin?”
He saw her intake of breath, her body stiffen. “My father is a baronet. He’s not a nobleman, but he’s addressed as Sir Horace and my mother is Lady Franklin.”
The breathwhooshedfrom his lungs, the words echoing against his skull.
My father is a baronet… isa baronet…
Lachlan clutched his head. “Ye’re father’s not dead?” It came out as an incredulous shout. The words burned his throat.
She shook her head, the long blonde locks flinging against her neck as she reached for him. He backed away, palms out.
“Let me explain, please,” Fenella begged, her voice strangled. “Ian misunderstood at the interview and before I could correct him, the conversation turned.” She clutched at his shirt, panic rising in her tone. “I forgot about it until that night when Colin came back, when we—”
“Professed our love?” He thrust her hands away and turned his back, his hands scrubbing his face. The intimacy they had shared. He’d never spoken to her father about his attentions, received permission to…Sweet Jesu!
“Please, listen to me,” she begged, her fingers touching his shoulders. He shrugged her off.
