Page 255 of Historical Hotties
Nicola went to him, putting her hands on his arm. “Are you angry?”
Gage shook his head. “Angry? Nay,” he said. “But I would have been angry if either one of you had spoken to me about this before you came of age. Darius, the time has come to be plain. Am I to assume you have intentions toward my daughter?”
Darius wasn’t prepared for this conversation. Not really. He’d been planning it in his mind for nearly two years, ever since he became aware that the flame-haired de Reyne sister couldn’t take her eyes off him, but she had been adamant that they must wait until her older sister was married. Now that the sister was planning her nuptials, Darius was more prepared to move forward, but he hadn’t expected it at this very moment. He’d been caught off guard. Yet the moment was here and he stood straight, focused on the mighty Earl of Ashington.
His future father-in-law.
He hoped.
“I do, my lord,” he said with as much bravery as he could summon on such short notice. “Lady Nicola has forbidden me to speak to you until she came of age, and—”
“That was wise.”
Darius nodded even though Gage had cut him off. “Indeed, my lord,” he said. “When Lady Nicola told me the time was right, I planned to approach you and ask for her hand.”
“And?”
Darius took his eyes of Gage long enough to look at Nicola, who was gazing back at him with a hopeful expression. But not just any hope.
Hope for a future for them both.
Darius smiled faintly at her.
“I am not asking for just any hand,” he said quietly, returning his attention to Gage. “I am asking for the hand of a woman who is as kind as she is wise. Who is as beautiful outside as she is incharacter. The hand of a woman I would die for a thousand times over and cherish forever as my wife. The hand of a woman I will love with all my heart until the end of all things. That is what I wanted to say to you. Should you grant me permission to marry her, know that there is no moment in my life, now or evermore, that will be as important to me as this moment. The moment that the woman I love becomes mine.”
By the time he was finished, Nicola was teary-eyed and Gage had a smile on his face. It had been a powerful and touching speech, articulated by a man who had spoken from his heart. In fact, Gage chuckled softly.
“Good God, Darius,” he finally muttered. “Isthatwhat you were going to say?”
“It is, my lord. Every word of it.”
Still smiling, Gage looked at Nicola, who beamed up at him with the anticipation that all young women in love had. He could read it in her eyes.
It would be difficult to refuse, in any case.
“And this is what you wish, sweetheart?” he asked. “This would make you happy?”
Nicola nodded, flicking a tear from her eye. “Look at him, Papa,” she said. “Is he not the most handsome, most wonderful man in all of England?”
Gage laughed softly, kissing her on the cheek. “He is fairly wonderful, aye,” he said. “If you are terribly sure, then I see no reason to deny him. Darius, you have my permission to marry Nicola. But let us wait until after her sister is married, please. Let this be Diara’s year. You two can marry next spring.”
With a shriek of delight, Nicola threw her arms around her father’s neck, knocking him sideways. He barely had time to recover his balance before she let him go and rushed at Darius, hitting the man so hard with a flying hug that he grunted at the impact. All the while, she was squealing with happiness.Rubbing his neck where she’d hit his throat, Gage chuckled at the unbridled display of joy.
“Nicola, show some decorum,” he admonished her, but he knew it was futile. “You nearly smashed your betrothed into the ground with that display. Did she break any ribs, Darius?”
Darius had one arm around Nicola as she danced around, trying to calm down as her father requested but being unable to do so. “If she did, they will heal,” he said, rubbing his sternum. “Thank you, my lord. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”
Gage nodded, watching the two of them beam at each other. “Be happy together,” he said. “That is all the thanks I require.”
“I will do my best, my lord,” Darius said. “You have my word.”
“That is good enough for me,” Gage said. “But I am afraid I did not come here to only discuss a betrothal. I have come with some news that will see you two separated for a time.”
Both Darius and Nicola looked at him with concern as she stopped dancing about. “What is it, Papa?” she asked.
“My lord?” Darius said, overlapping her.
Gage could see how upset they were, right on the heels of having been so deliriously happy. He felt rather sorry for them.
