A/N: Sorry this if this is a different format than I generally use. I am working on a different computer. And, I realize that this chapter may come off as somewhat conclusive, but I assure you, it is not the end of the story! As always, thank you for reading, and for your continued support of my writings! I hope you enjoy reading my story as much as I enjoy writing it! :)

Chapter Twenty-Two: So Much To Offer

William took my hand and the two of us walked back into the shelter of the mansion. I was still shaking after leaving my brother, but I knew in my heart that i had done the right thing at last. We walked through the hall and William led me up the stairs to my room. Once we were inside and the door was safely closed, we were able to speak.

"You would sacrifice your freedom to be with me?" he asked. He was giving my a nervous look, and wringing his hands furiously.

"William, I am not sacrificing anything. I am free when I'm with you. That's all the freedom that I could ever need." I felt as though I were finally saying all the things that I had been thinking for so long.

I looked around the small square room that had become my home. When I had first arrived at the mansion, the room had been plain, and reflected nothing about the person who resided in it. Now there were dresses strewn about, and a hairbrush on the nightstand, alongside the book that William had given me when I was ill. I walked to it and brushed my fingers lovingly over the cover.

William walked to where I was standing and stood behind me, peering over my head. We differed greatly in height, so it was easy for him to look over me. Look over, but never overlook, I thought, and laughed quietly to myself. William locked his arms around my waist and turned me slowly so that I was facing him.

"You know I have little to offer you," he said, as though warning me. "In England, I was an aristocrat. Unfortunately, my incompetent father squandered away all of my inheritance with gambling and bad business deals. I have nothing outside of this mansion to offer you."

"William, I don't need anything," I reassured him. "You have to believe me when I say that just being with you, just loving you is enough. When I came here I was frightened and scared and sick, and even though you were my captor, you reached out to me and helped me when you didn't have to. You made sure I was well taken care of, and it was you who granted me permission to wander the grounds alone. You have given me my freedom, in so many ways. And that is more than I could ever have expected."

I stared up into the harsh blue eyes that had frightened me so long ago. It seemed, in that time, that something had changed in them. Though they were still hard and serious, there was something warmer to them now, something human. I had not noticed until that very moment that it was there.

William backed away from me. To my pure amazement and shock, he knelt on one knee and took my hand. Looking up at me, he said, "I don't have a ring for you. I have little to offer financially. And yet, still, you love me. And I return your feelings wholeheartedly. Charlotte Peterson, I want to marry you. Will you have me?"

I looked down at the man I loved, on bended knee before me. I had not seen this coming, and was quite taken aback by it, but my heart told me the answer.

Tears of joy slipping down my cheeks I grinned and exclaimed, "Yes, William Tavington! I will have you with all of my heart."

He rose and took me in his arms, kissing my passionately. And I knew, without a second thought, that the man who was kissing me was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.