“You are trying to bully me.” But there was a smile lurking in her eyes as if she wasn’t too upset with him.
“I promise not another word about it, so long as you promise not to mention Denwick.”
After that they ate their breakfast in companionable silence.
16
The walk was bracing and the climb not as steep as she had feared, and luckily Margaret had been wearing her sturdy boots when Dominic kidnapped her. It was good to do something physical. Margaret found it clarified her thoughts. Even when Dominic took her hand in his, to help her over some of the more difficult patches, she let herself enjoy his warm, strong grasp.
There had been a time not so long ago when she would have pulled away, or tried to. When she would have told herself she must not allow herself any sort of intimacy with this man.
But she could see now what her life could be like if she was with a man she loved and who loved her in return, so how could she go back to her life before? And yet at the same time she wondered how she could go forward.
Despite what Dominic had promised, she knew her father would wash his hands of her once he learned of this. She would be poison to him and his aspirations. And, if he had anything to say about it, she would never see her mother again. Olivia would not turn away from her—at least she didn’t think so—but she would not be able to be seen in public with her without raising the hackles of those who thought it their duty to police scandalous behaviour. And few things were more scandalous than running off with a married man.
Was she strong enough to bear such a weight? Did she want to? Lavinia Richmond had been faced with a dilemma, and although it was different, she had decided to stake everything on her happiness. But it was not without a price. Lavinia and her new husband were leaving for America, to make a new life far away from the gossip and disapproval they would face here in England.
Dominic could not go to America. His life, his wealth and estates, were here in England. They would have to stay.
She had told him she would consider his proposal, but the truth was she wasn’t sure how close she was to an answer.
“There!”
His voice startled her into looking up. She had been staring at the ground, deep in thought as she trudged ever upwards through the thin coating of snow. She blinked, because they were at the top now and there before her was an endless view of green hills and valleys.
“Oh.” She drew in a deep breath. “How wonderful.”
She felt his warm body at her back. His arms slipped about her waist and drew her against him. His breath stirred the curls at her cheek. “That is the world, Margaret. You said you wanted to see the world, and now I lay it out before you.”
“This is all your doing, then?” she asked, trying to sound matter of fact when in her heart she wanted to lean back and snuggle against him.
He turned her ninety degrees. “And there is Monkstead Abbey, where you and I will live.”
A myriad concerns filled her head. She opened her mouth to voice them, but he was already speaking again.
“But most of the time we will be travelling. Where would you like to go first?”
“I—I don’t know. Dominic—”
“Sorry. Too soon?”
She nodded.
He rested his chin on top of her head and held her close, and she felt him sigh. “I won’t kiss you again,” he said, “although I am sorely tempted. I want to convince you of the honesty of my intentions.”
Margaret swallowed her disappointment, knowing he was right. If he kissed her she would not be able to think clearly, and she needed to. She needed to know her decision was made without any coercion, not matter how pleasurable, from him.
“How can you travel?” she asked him breathlessly, when he let her go. “Everything you own, your whole life, is here in England.”
He smiled, taking her hands in his. “That doesn’t mean I need to stay here. I have the means to do whatever I like, and if you will come with me, then I shall.”
He’d answered the very question she’d been asking herself on the way up here. As if understanding that he had pushed her enough for now, Dominic let her go, and after a moment more at the top of the
hill, they set off down again in silence.
Dominic realised the two of them had never spent a full day together before. It surprised him because he was beginning to feel as if they had always been together. They held many of the same interests, and her personality was the perfect balance to his.
After luncheon they found the small library, and he sat and read an old copy of The Times while she perused the shelves for a book she said she had hoped to reread. When he asked her what it was she smiled over her shoulder at him, and he was fairly sure she was teasing him. He thought about walking over to her, perhaps tasting the smile on her lips, but he had said he wouldn’t kiss her and he would not break his word. Dominic was being remarkably patient for an impatient man, and he knew he couldn’t wait much longer. One way or the other, she would have to give him her answer soon.