Marcie felt dazed. “IâI don’t know what to say,” she replied.
“Say you forgive me,” he suggested softly. “Say you forgive Cole Coachman for his brusque ways.”
Marcie felt her spirits soar. Cole was here, he was real… and he had returned to her. “I do forgive you,” she whispered.
“And say, I pray you, that you love me as much as I love you.” He lifted one gloved hand, showing that he held the lopsided heart she’d made for him. “I found this in the window seat,” he said. “Penelope led me into the drawingroom, told me there was a special something to be found, then left me alone, adding that once I found my gift I should head out here.” He paused a moment and then, his voice husky and soft, said, “The heart is lovely, Marcie. And so are you.”
Tears suddenly stung Marcie’s eyes. Surprise, happiness, and then supreme joy pumped through her as the meaning of his words penetrated deep into her soul, her heart.
“Oh, Cole,” she whispered.
“Say it, Marcie. Say the words I’ve been longing to hear from you.”
Marcie trembled. “I love you.”
He flashed a broad grin that near lit the night. In two long strides he was beside her, sweeping her into a tight embrace.
“I thank God you said the words,” he exclaimed, pressing his cheek against hers and breathing in the scent of her. “Oh, Marcie, my dear mischievous, wonderful Marcie, how I have longed to hold you like this.” He tenderly kissed her cheek, her nose, her brow. “Until I met you, I never truly enjoyed life. I was only going through the motions of living. And then, suddenly, you sprinted into my path, challenged me, made me laugh and curse all at once. You taught me to find joy in children’s laughter, to see hope in the eyes of a bedraggled highwayman, and to view the world in a new and exciting light.”
“I did all of that?” Marcie asked, peering up at his handsome face.
“That… and more,” he assured her.
Marcie snuggled against him, feeling safe, secure. “I feared you thought me too mischievous for your taste,” she said.
“Ah, but that is what I find most endearing. I adore your wild, willful ways, my Mischievous Miss Marcie.”
Marcie melted into his heated embrace, knowing that he loved her for who and what she was. She could think of no greater Valentine’s gift.
“I know that all of this is happening very fast,” Cole said, tipping her face up to his, “but I want to keep you close to me forever. I want to build a home with you, a life, a family, and I want, blast it all, to be the one to teach you how to danceâand not just a jig, either.”
“I already know how to dance a jig,” she teased.
“Then I shall teach you how to waltz,” he said heatedly, his gaze heady as he smiled down at her. He lifted the lopsided heart she’d made for him. “I have your heart in my hand, Marcie. You must dance the final waltz with me and become my Valentine.”
Marcie beamed up at him. “I already am your Valentine, Cole. And anything else you wish me to be.”
His gaze darkened with passion. “My marchioness,” he whispered.
Marcie didn’t dare to breathe. She dared not do anything lest she shatter this magical moment.
“Well?” he asked, kissing her again. “Will you marry me, Marcie? Will you be my marchioness?”
Satisfied that it wasn’t all a dream, she nodded. “Tomorrow, if you wish, my love,” she answered breathlessly. Imagine, the first man she had spied on Saint Valentine’s Day would become her groom before a year had passed.
Cole gave a low growl of pleasure. “Ah, I do wish it, but there are the banns to be read, and I want to squire you about Town first. And, of course, you must meet my family.”
“I have met Patricia and Georgiana this night, and little Charlotte as well. Charlotte adores you, you know. How very sweet of you, Cole, to purchase a bonnet for Doll.”
“Charlotte told you about that, did she?”
“She did,” Marcie said and was both pleased and surprised to see Cole actually blush at mention of his gift. “Why, my lord, you are not as coldhearted when it comes to matters of your sisters-in-law and their daughters as you would like all the world to believe! Admit it, you love them as much as they love you.”
“Shh,” Cole said, placing one gloved finger atop her lips. “I wouldn’t want word of it getting around. They are a frightfully demanding lot.”
“Yes, and you have a wealth of love to give to them, my lord.”
“I do now,” he assured her. “Now that I’ve met you.” He gave her a gentle squeeze. “I shall have the banns read the first Sunday in spring, would that suit you, my sweet?”
Marcie nodded.
“But first,” Cole said, “we must return to a certain vicarage and search for a broken-winged owl. Too, I have grown rather fond of Mistress Freddie and Masters Neville and Theodore. Would you be adverse to creating our family even before we are married?”
Marcie’s tears came fast and unchecked once again. “I think that is the sweetest, most wonderful idea I have ever heardâsave becoming your wife.”
He kissed her again, and soon the two were lost to their passion. Their lips did not part until the sounds of the final waltz, now in full play, could be heard from the ballroom.
Cole, reluctantly, pulled his mouth a mere hair’s breadth from Marcie’s. “Though I would rather spend the night here, with you in my arms, I think we should go inside and partake in the waltz.”
“Cole, you have been awake and at the reins for hours! You must be exhausted. We can dance another time. For now, we should go inside so you can rest.”
“Rest? Not yet, not now, when I’ve finally found the love of my life.” He gazed deep and lovingly into her eyes. “I will dance this Valentine’s Day night with the woman I love and choose above all others. I will waltz in candlelight with you, Marcie. And I will have all of your godmama’s guests know that you, my sweet, are my own special Valentine.”
“IâI’ve never waltzed before, Cole.”
“I’ll teach you.”
Marcie thrilled at the thought of being swept around the ballroom in his warm embrace. “I fear I can deny you nothing, my lord,” she said, her eyes shining with love.
“And I, my lovely Marcie, can deny you nothing. That is how it should be for two people in love.”
He kissed her again, long and lovingly, and the feel of him, the mere presence of him, blotted out all her worries of making a spectacle of herself on the dance floor.
“Are you ready?” he asked, his gray eyes soft as twilight.
Marcie nodded. “I am,” she murmured. “I love you, Cole.”
“And I you.”
Together, hand in hand, they headed out of the night, into the ballroom, and into a wonderful future to come.
The End
Want more from Lindsay Randall?
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A DANGEROUS COURTSHIP
To Woo an Heiress
Book Three
Excerpt from
A Dangerous Courtship
To Woo an Heiress
Book Three
by
Lindsay Randall
A DANGEROUS COURTSHIP
Reviews & Accolades
“Ms. Randall captures the Gothic ambiance and sends eerie shivers up and down your spine.”
~Romantic Times Book Reviews
Julian moved toward her, depositing his hat on a side table near one of the chairs before the cold hearth as he went. He opened his hand and turned it palm up as he drew nearer to her. “Veronica,” he said softly.
“What?” she demanded, furious, pausing only momentarily in her tirade as she whirled to face him. When she saw how close he was, she clamped her mouth shut tight and took a wary step back.
He smiled, loving the spark in her beautiful eyes, the daring in her brave but injured soul, and the lengths she would go for a friend.
“I am sorryâthat is what,” he said simply. And
then, reaching for her hand, he gently unclasped her fist and laid the package atop her palm. “Does this help lessen your anger in any way?”
She blew out a small, ragged breath, seemingly struggling against a sudden urge to cry. “Drat you, Julian. You… you can be so unexpectedly tender at times. Iâ” She let forth another small breath, then said, “You continually surprise me.”
“Do I? Pity that. What I want to do is please you, Veronica.”
She blinked, amazed at his confession, confused by it, too. “Julian… youâyou must cease speaking to me in such a-a familiar way, especially now that we are at Wrothram House. Youâyou are here as my guard. Do try to remember that.”
“Aye,” he whispered, tamping down the urge to gather her in his arms and hold her tight. “I shall try, my lady. But there may come a time, I hope, when you see me in a different light.”
A Dangerous Courtship
To Woo an Heiress
Book Three
by
Lindsay Randall
~
To purchase
A Dangerous Courtship
from your favorite eBook Retailer,
visit Lindsay Randall’s eBook Discovery Author Page
www.ebookdiscovery.com/LindsayRandall
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Page forward and complete your journey
with an excerpt from
LADY LISSA’S LIASION
To Woo an Heiress
Book One
Excerpt from
Lady Lissa’s Liaison
To Woo an Heiress
Book One
by
Lindsay Randall
LADY LISSA’S LIAISON
Reviews & Accolades
“Ms. Randall has taken a unique approach in this Regency, and she leads us on a merry chase. The hero and heroine are special. Throw in Gabriel’s delightful son, and you have a winner!”
~Rendezvous
“I’ve a great interest in angling,” Wylde explained. “In fact, that interest is what prompted me to settle along the Dove Riverâthat and my penchant to be alone.”
Lissa glanced at him. “You prefer solitude, my lord?”
His dark gaze flickered. “Something akin to that.”
Lissa moved forward, rounding the huge table spread with a veritable treasure of angling supplies. “‘Tis quite a collection.”
“Is it?”
She nodded, letting out her breath over the sight of it all. “Indeed. There are feathers here that cannot be found along the Dove. And these hooks?” She reached for a particularly shiny silver one that was small and very fine. “They have been fashioned by a master craftsman.”
“Continue,” Wylde said, rounding the table to stand beside her.
Lissa looked up, taken aback by the sheer nearness of him, and by his deep, husky tone. His penetrating gaze, his voice, his closeness, and especially the masculine, clean scent of him were wreaking havoc with her insides. In fact, she didn’t know how long she could manage to stand so near to him and act as though nothing was amiss with her heartbeat. Truth of the matter was, her heart was pounding a thrilling beat. The path her thoughts were taking was most unladylike, Lissa knew, but she couldn’t help herself. Nor could she stop. She was very much affected by Lord Wylde…
Lady Lissa’s Liaison
To Woo an Heiress
Book One
by
Lindsay Randall
~
To purchase
Lady Lissa’s Liaison
from your favorite eBook Retailer,
visit Lindsay Randall’s eBook Discovery Author Page
www.ebookdiscovery.com/LindsayRandall
~
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Lindsay Randall officially began writing in the third grade. “I remember the moment vividly,” Lindsay says. “Every year my family would head to the New England states for two weeks of vacation. It was in Brattleboro, Vermont, that my mother bought me my first diary. By the end of those two weeks, I’d nearly filled the pages. I was hooked. Writing became my passion.”
It was during her second year in college that Lindsay turned from journal writing to novel writing. “I was supposed to write a paper about eminent Victorians, but what I actually wrote was the beginning chapter of a romance novel.” She sold thisâher very first manuscriptâto Kensington Publishing at the age of 25.
Since then, 12 other romance novels have followed, as well as dozens of magazine articles. In 2009, she received a Reviewers Choice Award from RT BookReviews.
Lindsay is a member of the Authors Guild of America, the nation’s oldest and largest society of published authors, and is a founding member and first president of Pennwriters, a multi-genre writers’ organization based in Pennsylvania and beyond.
By day she is a development writer for a private university, while her late nights and weekends are reserved for pursuing her passionâwriting romances.
Miss Marcie's Mischief (To Woo an Heiress, Book 2) Page 18