Lady Olivia's Undoing by Anne Gallagher

his glass
and drank.
    Olivia sipped her drink and looked at Henry.
She had loved him for so long in her dreams that standing there,
alone with him, she had no idea what to do. This reality was much
harder than anything she could ever have imagined.
    Henry led her to the fireplace. “I need to
speak to you. Before we go one step further.”
    Olivia sank slowly onto the seat of a chair.
“Very well.”
    Henry leaned against the mantel. “I must
confess. I have done nothing but think about you, about us, since I
received your note. I’ve wanted to call on you since Catherine
departed, but I could not. I thought I might have seen you during
the Little Season and we could talk. But I never did.” Henry took a
sip of his drink.
    “I cannot explain to you how it feels to be
returning to a place that tried to kill me so many times. However,
what I can explain is how it feels to be leaving. Olivia, I have
loved you since I was twenty. I have dreamed about you every night
for the last three and a half decades. Being with you last night
was something I’d only ever imagined doing. I never thought
I would be able to hold you in my arms.” He shook his head and
looked at her. “I cannot lose you again, Olivia. I cannot.”
    Olivia’s eyes never left his.
    “Even without your devotion toward Quiggins,
I knew there was someone in your life. I’m sure there have been
several someone’s over the course of the years.” He took another
drink. “But quite honestly, I do not give a damn. This is about us , Olivia.” Henry paused. “I cannot live my life without
you anymore.” Henry put his glass on the mantel, then reached for
Olivia’s hands and pulled her from the chair. “I have waited almost
forty years to ask this again.” He slipped a ruby ring over her
finger. “Will you be my wife?”
    Olivia sucked in a deep breath. “Oh, Henry.”
She looked at the ring, and then at his face. How many times had
she fantasized about this moment? But it had never happened. Until
now.
    Henry quirked his brow. “Well?”
    She did not think. “Yes, yes, I will marry
you,” Olivia said breathlessly.
    Henry reached for her and they shared a
lengthy kiss before Henry stepped back.
    Olivia smiled at him. “And now are you going
to take me upstairs and ravage me?”
    “No. No, I am not.”
    Olivia was stunned. “Why not, may I ask?”
    Henry laughed. “Because I am a
gentleman.”
    Olivia looked at him. “You are serious.”
    “Yes, Your Grace, I am.” He drained his
glass, walked back to the decanter, and poured himself another.
“Olivia, I love you. I have always loved you. As much as I would
love to make love to you, it would not be proper. Therefore, I
propose we wait until I return from Spain.”
    “ What? Hen-ry!.” Olivia strode across
the room and held out her glass. “What do you mean, you wish to
wait? Have we not waited long enough?”
    Henry poured her a small tot. “Yes, my
dearest one, but that is the point, is it not? What is another half
a year between us?”
    “Six months! That is interminable.”
    Henry laughed. “I thought while I was in
Spain you could plan our wedding I cannot imagine you would enjoy
anything more, and you will not miss me as much if you have
something to do.”
    Olivia smiled at him. “I will miss you more
now, you foolish man. Mayhap for your punishment, I shall leave the
whole affair to the girls. If we end up with yards and yards of
organdy cascading from the walls of the Manor, it will not be my
fault.”
    Henry gazed at her tenderly. “As long as you
are my bride, I will gladly endure organdy, whatever it is.”
    Olivia put up her hand and looked at her
ring. “Is this a family heirloom?”
    “Why do you ask?” Henry regarded her with a
curious expression.
    “It is simple in its design. Nothing so
ornate as these.” Olivia waggled her fingers on her right hand
exposing her other rings.
    “This ring,” he said, and picked up her hand,
“is the one I bought for you