making me happy...far happier than any man has a right to hope to be on this earth?’
‘Yes, Henry Treverne, I will. I’ll marry you. Because I can’t imagine ever living without you and I love you much more than words could ever say. But I still won’t stop trying to find the right ones to tell you.’
His strong arms enveloped her then, and there was a magical sense of time standing still. It wasn’t just Hal who would remember these precious moments forever. Kit would hold them in her heart until the day she died.
A sudden sharp knock at the door made her gasp. Her pulse raced in shock. It raced even more when Hal’s father’s resonant voice enquired loudly, ‘Hal? Are you and Ms Blessington ready for a cooked breakfast? I thought we could all have it in the dining room this morning, and Mary tells me it’s going to be ready in about twenty minutes. Does that give you both enough time to shower and dress?’
Shaking his head in amusement, and hardly looking at all surprised, Hal answered, ‘Make it half an hour and we’ll be there on the dot. Thanks, Dad!’
‘Don’t mention it. It’s nice to have you home, son.’
Sir Henry’s receding footsteps echoed clearly round the room as he made his way back down the stone flags of the corridor.
‘Your father sounded like he knew you were in here with me.’ Kit’s blue eyes widened in disbelief. ‘How could he possibly know that?’
‘I told him last night that I was going to pay you a visit and propose to you. Turns out he didn’t have to be so patient in waiting for an answer as to when I’d marry and return home after all.’
‘You mean—you mean you discussed the fact that you love me and want to marry me? What did he say? Was he surprised? I don’t expect he was very happy. I’m sure he must believe you could do a whole lot better for yourself than me. Tell me, Hal—was he angry?’
‘Stop doubting and torturing yourself, will you? Of course he wasn’t angry. My father knows how lucky I am to have found you, and he certainly doesn’t think I could do any better. Class isn’t such an issue nowadays—and nor should it be when two people fall in love. And I’m no Prince Charming, devoid of any faults, so don’t kid yourself that I am, Kit. It’s me who’s the lucky one in this relationship. And the only thing my dad wants to be assured of is that I’m with someone I love, who loves me. He was as pleased as punch when I told him how I felt about you. He said he knew you were something special the moment he set eyes on you. Apparently my sister confirmed it for him. She talks to him on the phone at least once a day and she spoke very highly of you.’
‘All right, then. You’ve convinced me.’
‘Where are you going?’
Having thrown back the covers, Kit was hurriedly stepping into her pyjama bottoms and reaching for the top half that lay discarded on the counterpane. Her hair tumbled in a riot of burnished copper waves down over her slim pale shoulders and alluring naked breasts and Hal thought she resembled an enchanting elfin sprite from one of his and Sam’s childhood fairy stories—but a very sexy red-haired sprite. He almost wanted to pinch himself, to check he wasn’t dreaming that she’d agreed to marry him.
‘I’m going to go and take a shower and then get dressed. I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to turn down the offer of a cooked breakfast any time soon. When I’m done I’ll come and help you.’
Hal couldn’t help releasing a very audible curse and, echoing his frustration, his injured leg began to throb. ‘It’s bad enough that I have to endure the thought of you showering naked on your own when I want to join you. There’s not much I can do about that...but then to suffer the indignity of you looking at me with those big baby-blue eyes like I’m some poor helpless invalid...’ He cursed again and impatiently scraped his hair back off his forehead. ‘You have no idea what I’d give to be able to get up and carry you into that blasted shower myself!’
‘You’re wrong, Hal.’
Her voice was more tenderly compassionate than he’d ever heard it before, and Kit returned to his side of the bed and carefully sat down.
Taking his hand in between hers, she said, ‘I know how much it tears at your self-esteem and your pride that you can’t do all the things you did with ease before the accident. But, honestly, with all the progress you’re making it will be no time at all before you’re walking around again, fully fit, and chasing me round the kitchen for a kiss to boot!’
‘And joining you in the shower?’ Despite the flash of irritability and frustration that had seized him, Kit’s calm-voiced reassurance had done a lot to alleviate Hal’s concerns. With pleasure, he saw that she was blushing too.
‘I’ll look forward to it,’ she said, and smiled.
‘Well, I suppose you’d better go and get ready. We shouldn’t let that cooked breakfast go to waste, should we?’
‘Are you kidding? Something tells me I’m going to need to eat all the cooked breakfasts I can get to build up my strength if I’m to meet your insatiable demands, Hal Treverne.’
Dropping a kiss on the side of his cheek, she got to her feet and disappeared into the bathroom...
One year later
KNOWING THAT HER adventurous husband was champing at the bit to be off on the most taxing mountaineering hike he’d undertaken since his leg had fully healed—this time on Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Britain—Kit hesitated outside the stately bedroom in the private wing they’d made their home in at Falteringham House.
They’d moved in shortly after they’d married because Hal had decided it was time he came back to his ancestral home and learned the ropes of running the estate with his father. Kit had agreed. Although it wasn’t easy, getting used to living in such a grand place, she was definitely adapting to it and had been delighted when her father-in-law, Sir Henry, had asked if she’d like to take over the PR aspects of running the estate. She’d taken to the job like a fish to water.
But now Hal was busy packing his gear to head off to Ben Nevis, and she couldn’t help anxiously biting down on her lip at the thought of the adventure he had ahead of him. He would only be gone for the weekend, but any separation from him had to be endured always seemed like purgatory to Kit. Sometimes she would swear that they were literally two halves of the same soul, and even after nearly a year’s marriage their need for each other seemed to grow even greater, not lessen. However, she had promised him on their wedding day that she would never seek to curtail the sports and adventures that gave him pleasure just because she was fearful of the danger he might put himself in. Hal was a loving and devoted husband, and challenging himself was part of who he was. Kit wouldn’t want him to be any different.
But maybe today she had good reason to revise that view...
Lifting her hand and briefly sucking in a steadying breath, she rapped on the walnut door. ‘Hal? I know you’re busy, but can I come in for a minute?’
No sooner had she finished speaking than he opened the door, and just as though she’d been brought face to face with his six-foot-two, straight-legged frame for the very first time her heart skipped a beat. He was wearing faded jeans and a dark blue chambray shirt, and his tawny chameleon eyes glinted with pleasure as soon
