Late that evening they were back in London. Sir Jonathan felt that it was upon time to propose to Lady Elizabeth. He counted the days he had known her, and found out they were only nine in all. But they had been together almost all of that time, except the nights of course, and he felt he had given her the chance to get to know him and also to know what she could expect from a life married to him.

Well, at least what she could expect from the aspects of marriage that were considered proper to try out before they were actually married. And those aspects that weren't considered so were - of course - the main reasons that he wanted to marry her as soon as possible. But he also longed to have her live with him, to wake up with her in the morning, have breakfast with her. It had been so nice to have her living and breakfasting with him at Locksley, though it wasn't really the same as if they had been married. And he did look forward to be able to see her without having to call on Henrik Kempell's house every day, like a besotted schoolboy. He wouldn't be surprised if Henrik's staff laughed at him behind his back, but he didn't really mind that either. As long as she loved him and wanted him, nothing else really mattered. And mostly he was quite sure that she did.

He had to decide where he was going to propose to her. It had to be somewhere where they wouldn't be disturbed. And that was not so easy to find in a big city like London. The best place to do it was probably in his own house, in the library or perhaps in the little saloon.

...

The next day he invited her to drink tea in the little saloon. He had told the maids to put in some extra flowers. He had butterflies in his belly, what if she said no? Suddenly he didn't feel at all confident.

They had their tea in an unusual silence. There was none of their usual happy bantering and none of the more serious talks and discussions that they also had. It seemed that she was also affected by his nervous mode.

At last he decided that he had to have this over with. He was only getting more and more nervous.

"Do you know if there are rules about how long a man has to know a woman before he is allowed to ask her to marry him?" he asked her then.

"No, I don't", she answered, feeling rather embarrassed. "But I'm no expert. No one ever proposed to me."

Now it comes, she thought. She had waited for this, longed for it even. But the only feeling it gave her right now was a slight panic.

"Well, I have known you for almost two weeks now, which I hope is enough. And from the first time I looked into your eyes I knew that I wanted to marry you, so I have really waited for quite a long time. So if you don't mind, I am going to propose to you now."

She gave no other answer to that than a very nervous smile, so he bent down on one knee beside the sofa, in the usual position for a proposal. He took one of her hands in his.

"My darling Elizabeth, please marry me!" he said. "I love you so very much! Please be my wife, you will make me so happy! I will try my very best to make you happy too."

And he smiled up at her expectantly, his wonderful blue eyes full of love.

She had expected this, but she still wasn't ready. She was almost as lost for words as she had been the first time he had kissed her. But she had to answer this. She cleared her throat and with a lot of stammering and stuttering she at last managed to get some kind of answer out.

"Of course...I...I want to...oh...I...I love you!"

"I think that means yes", he said, smiling up at her again, a little hesitantly. She gave him a reassuring smile and a quick series of nods, so he got up again and sat down beside her, searching his pockets for something. "I thought I had a ring somewhere, but I can't find it."

He was getting through all his many pockets, but he couldn't find it.

"Oh, damn it! Sorry about that...I could have proposed to you at Locksley if I hadn't needed a ring, and now I can't find the blo...I mean the thing. Made you wait for nothing!"

She just kept smiling at him. He was so adorable. So funny and so sweet and so handsome and so adorable. The panic and uneasiness she had felt was gone, now that it was all settled. All she felt was a complete happiness.

At long last he found the ring on the floor, it had obviously fallen out when he bent down to propose. He put it on her finger and it fitted a lot better than could be expected, since he hadn't known her size, only guessed.

"We can have it fixed at the jewelers if you want to", he said. "And now I must kiss you! A kiss is a very important part of a proposal."

So he took her face between his hands and pressed his lips to hers. By now there was no hesitancy on her part when the kiss deepened a little later and they started playing with their tongues in each other's mouths. That was the way they usually kissed each other by now, and she didn't find it strange at all. Only wonderful.

"It is the first time I have ever proposed to anyone", he said when they came up for air again. "I hope it wasn't too awful. Anyway, I will never improve, because I will never do it again. It really is you or no one for me, I think you know that."

"I think it was wonderful, you were wonderful", she said with a happy smile. "The best proposal ever in human history. Nothing could be improved. I am so very lucky that you want me. I love you so much."

And after that they both thought it was high time for another kiss.

...

Later, when she was back in her bed, after they had told all her relatives that they were engaged to be married, and also sent a telegram to her parents in India, she counted the days they had known each other. They were only ten. Quite a long time, he had called it. Well, maybe, if you are longing very much to spend all of your life with someone. And how he could call ten days almost two weeks when it was closer to one week she didn't know. But she suspected it was more due to wishful thinking than to lousy mathematics.

She had really had no hopes - no thoughts even - of getting married when it was decided that she and her sisters were going to London. The visit to the London season was intended to give her sisters a chance to find husbands in England. She herself had wanted to come with them to be able to revisit places she had liked in her childhood. And to follow her sisters around. She had known London, her sisters hadn't. Celia had only been a baby when the family moved to India, Christin was born in India.

And now, less than two weeks after they had arrived in London, she was engaged to be married. To a man who had picked her out - without a doubt it seemed - in a room full of young beauties. To a man who was the sweetest and loveliest and most adorable man she had ever met.

Life was really strange. And life was truly wonderful.

...

AN: Guess I'm sticking my neck out calling this chapter The Best Proposal Ever. But it is Elizabeth's opinion of Jonathan's proposal, not mine of my chapter, although I had fun writing it.

Thank you for reading! Thank you very, very much for reviewing!

The last chapter, chapter 20, was one of the first chapters I wrote of this story, although the bit about Lady Violet's unkind opinions of Sir Anthony's parents was added after I finished chapter 19. I know what happened during the wedding in my story, and I promise I will tell you eventually.

Baron, I wouldn't be able to throw a googly if my life depended on it! I'm hopeless with balls.