The next morning after breakfast with Georgiana, Charlotte heard a carriage pull up outside the apartments precisely on time.

"He's anxious to see you," Georgiana said, giving Charlotte a sly smile.

Charlotte gave her friend a sidelong glance. "We are going to take a turn around the grounds," she said.

"Oh, is that what you call it?" Georgiana said with a laugh.

Raising an eyebrow, Charlotte said, "Georgiana! I'm attempting to be sensible about all this. I have a difficult enough time keeping my wits about me with him kissing me at every turn, and we have some important decisions to make."

"I have a shilling wager going with Mrs. Wheatley," Georgiana said, taking a bite of her toast. "She says you will be engaged by the end of the month. I say end of the week."

"Say goodbye to that shilling then," Charlotte said, pulling on her teal coat, and giving Georgiana a stern look. Then she shook her head. "I am exceedingly glad that my activities give everyone so many opportunities for gambling."

Georgiana laughed. "Well, I believe Mrs. Wheatley won the first wager, so perhaps she thinks she will double her money."

Charlotte frowned. "I never asked her with whom she was betting on whether I would last a week as the girls' governess. Do you know?"

"Yes," Georgiana said mysteriously. "It was the love of your life. Alexander."

Charlotte gasped. "He bet against me?"

Georgiana put her hands up. "Do not be peeved with me! Talk to him. On your turn around the grounds…"

Opening the front door, Charlotte did her best to sound indignant. "You can be very sure I will!" she said, trying not to laugh.

"Do enjoy your day!" Georgiana called out.

They walked much the same path that they had done in looking for Leonora that day, although this time, there was no threat of rain. The weather was perfectly temperate with warm sun and very little wind. Alexander led her to a bench that Charlotte had never seen on the property, hidden in the trees and cheerily patterned with sunlight through the leaves.

Alexander smiled as they approached it. "This was one of my favorite places to hide as a child. It always gives me pause when I see Leonora with her little soldiers, because I had some just like them. I used to set them up here…" He pointed to a grassy piece of ground under the bench, "...I called it Fort Colbourne."

Charlotte smiled to think of him at Leonora's age, playing with soldiers.

As they sat down, Charlotte suddenly thought of something she had been meaning to ask him. "Where did Leonora get her uniform?" She saw Alexander stiffen slightly, and she put a hand on his arm and said quickly. "I ask too many questions. If ever you do not want to answer, please tell me. I simply want to know everything there is to know about you because I love you, but I never wish to cause you the distress of painful memories."

Alexander shook his head. "No, you are teaching me that airing those painful memories in the light of day disarms them somewhat." He turned to her. "It was my father's." She saw his jaw clench for a moment and then he exhaled and blinked, looking at the still water of the pond. "I'll not bore you with the beating I received when he discovered me wearing it."

Charlotte's hand went to his cheek. "I am so sorry," she said, her face a mirror of his pain. "So, again, you see Leonora wearing it and it reminds you…"

Alexander allowed himself a bitter laugh. "In truth, seeing how it has deteriorated with her play gives me some happiness. He would have despised how threadbare it has become while she has taken such joy from it." He sighed. "Leonora and I are so alike that at times it is hard for me to believe that none of my blood runs in her veins."

"You are in her," Charlotte said passionately. "Your voice, your care, and now your love. I see it so clearly, Alexander. She adores you. Looks up to you. There is a reverence in her voice when she speaks of things you have said to her. You have her whole heart."

"And she has mine. They both do. I know I said that you were not here to teach me, but now I believe that is precisely why you were here. And the greatest truth that I have learned is that it is not possible to open my heart to only one person, in the same way that a window cannot be opened to accept only the fresh air, but not the rain. It opens and everything comes rushing in at once. I fell in love with you, and could not help but allow them in as well. It is perhaps the most valuable gift you have given me, apart from your own love."

Charlotte put her head on his shoulder and pressed her lips to his neck. "It is a gift we give each other."

They sat for a time, watching the damselflies and striders hover over the still waters of the pond, moving from the water violets and irises to the floating algae and back again.

Charlotte nuzzled under Alexander's chin and said softly, "I am still waiting for my poem."

Alexander sighed. "I was in hope that you had forgotten."

"Never," she said dramatically. "No one has ever written an ode to me, and I intend to milk it for all it is worth."

He turned and looked at her. "Never? Not even those boys on neighboring farms who were smitten with your exceptional horse gentling skills?"

"If they did, they never told me…"

"...which was my grave error," he said, laughing. He let out a long sigh, and reached into his waistcoat pocket, retrieving a many-times folded piece of paper. "Please be kind. I wrote it in the throes of a love I had never encountered before and I was quite beside myself."

She snatched the piece of paper hungrily from his fingers and moved to the far end of the bench. "If it is, in fact, appalling," she said, "Which I highly doubt, I will simply nod and call it a good effort. And then I will assign you another," she added, raising her eyebrow and smiling.

"Always the taskmaster," Alexander said. He turned away from her so that he was at the other end of the bench, with his legs over the short side and his arm over the back. "I cannot watch," he said, squeezing his eyes shut.

"Then you will listen," Charlotte said, as she settled herself, unfolded the paper, and began to read aloud.

To Charlotte

We cannot know from whence our comfort comes.

From o'er the roiling sea or grassy reeds.

In pain and hunger, lies a heart without a home;

It knows not e'en what it needs!

So in our darkness, on we roam;

Remem'bring, rueing, reckless deeds.

And then, the sun, in chestnut eyes,

Does offer warmth and light and peace.

Cornflow'rs, dappled calm, implies

A healing and a sweet release.

Our comfort comes and darkness dies

As love began, lamenting ceased.

She finished, and there were tears in her eyes. "I am rendered speechless. Not only has no one ever written a poem for me, but I could never have hoped for something this beautiful."

Alexander turned and shook his head lightly. "You are far too kind, but I must admit it sounds more beautiful when read by you."

Charlotte read it two more times to herself, folded the paper carefully and tucked it safely in her jacket pocket. Then she slid all the way back down the bench and threw her arms around Alexander's neck. "Thank you. It is as far from appalling as we are from the stars." She kissed him on the cheek, saying, "How could I have the good fortune to find a man I love so dearly who is also a poet?"

Alexander laughed softly, but he was enjoying this immensely. "It is only because you love me that you think it is great art. Read this to anyone else and they will say it feels quite derivative of Byron. But we cannot all write poems like She Walks in Beauty, can we?" Alexander said sadly. "I think the most difficult reality for me, in all creative areas, whether it be painting, or writing, or even pianoforte, is that my skill can never match my inspiration."

"You and I will simply have to differ on this point, then. And I will require you to write a poem each day until I say to stop."

Now Alexander laughed out loud. "Considering the sweat and tears this one took to write, and how long I toiled at it, you will find me quivering in a corner with that assignment."

Charlotte laughed and nodded. "From all I've read of creatives, they are as dissatisfied with their arts as you are. We may be in awe at their abilities, but the final product never seems quite to meet with their approval." She turned and threaded her arm through his, holding tightly. "I find it lovely, and am exceedingly flattered that it was inspired by a simple farm girl from Willingden."

Alexander laughed. "You are hardly simple, my dear Charlotte, and you are so much more than a farm girl, although that part of you enchants me as much as the rest." He kissed the top of her head. "I know that an important portion of my love for you comes from your solidity, your sense of how the world works and your place in it, and there are so many young women who have not been fortunate enough to receive that understanding from their early life. It is what I wish to give Leonora, and that is in large part due to your influence."

Charlotte smiled. "I have only tried to help you see how extraordinary your girls are. You did the rest."

Alexander shook his head lightly. "It is so strange now to think back on our first discussions about Augusta and Leonora. I was dead-set on making them into young ladies who would be marriageable, and you would not comply with my instructions." He laughed softly. "What you wanted was to mold them into complete beings, not just as women, but as people. To give them the same opportunities that I had in my education – and I can assure you my learning did not include embroidery."

Charlotte laughed. "Perhaps it should have," she said, raising an eyebrow. "That was unfair of your teachers to omit skills that you could bring to marriage – that would make you more marriageable…"

Alexander laughed. "Still so insolent…" he said, leaning over and placing his lips on hers, as he always did when he wanted to change the subject. Charlotte not only allowed it, she pressed closer and sighed, toying with the soft curls at his neck and listening to the birdsong all around them. She was becoming more aware of the stages of their kisses, the different shadings of the emotions they brought forth in her. There were times, like this one, when they didn't cross over into the fiery need that often gripped them, but instead allowed their deep love to guide them, languidly, slowly. She still fell down and down into the lovely euphoria, but she didn't feel a need to stop these kisses to protect herself from herself, as she did with the more passionate ones.

Finally, she moved her head to his shoulder, naturally, easily, and exhaled softly. "Will I ever tire of that…" she asked in a whisper.

"I sincerely hope not," Alexander said, as they both sat with eyes closed and the dappled sun on their faces.

"Alexander," Charlotte said, slowly. "You have said that we need to talk, and I agree. I am not certain how to begin, but I need to make decisions about where my future will take me, and now I am not alone in those decisions."

Opening his eyes and turning to her, Alexander was completely focused and alert. "I am open to anything you want to discuss, Charlotte, and, in truth, it warms my heart that you see us making decisions together."

Charlotte sat up and took a breath. She found it easier to keep her thoughts clear when she wasn't looking into his eyes. Her love for him was overwhelming at times and it clouded her thinking. So she gazed out at the pond and the trees and gathered her thoughts. "I beg you hear me out before you speak," she said softly. "And understand that I am not clear myself which path to choose. These are ruminations, not decisions."

Alexander nodded and said softly, "I will listen until you ask my opinion."

She smiled and turned to him. "Thank you."

She gazed at the water and began. "Before I saw you on the cliffs the other day, I had determined that I would not marry Ralph, but that I also would not be a burden to my family. That meant that I needed to find employment, and I had considered a position as a governess, perhaps in a larger city, although my heart would break to leave Sanditon."

"Georgiana has kindly offered me a place to live for as long as I desire it, and she has even suggested she pay me a living wage to assist her in finding her mother, but that, to my thinking, reduces our friendship to a financial transaction…"

She turned to him and trained her eyes purposefully on his, "...as does you bringing me back as Leonora's governess."

Looking ahead again, she said, softly, "Both of those activities would give me great joy – helping Georgiana and teaching Leonora – but I cannot accept payment for them. Which leaves me again with the question of how I will support myself."

Alexander knew he had promised to listen only, but his heart was bursting to speak, so he placed his hand gently on her shoulder.

She looked over at him, and said with emotion, "I believe I know what you want to say," she said, placing her hand on his face tenderly and nearly pleading with him, "It has only been three days that we have been reacquainted."

He convinced himself quickly that this was Charlotte asking his opinion, and he could wait no longer to speak. "No, my love, it has been seven months." He turned and kissed her palm. "You walked into my office and my world spun off its axis. Then you left and I spent the next four months reliving every day we had spent together, over and over again. There has been no break between that first day and this."

Charlotte nodded. "I felt the same. You have never left my thoughts. Every day for four months. The pain of it was nearly unbearable," Charlotte said, and he saw tears begin to fill her eyes.

Alexander continued, "You said you wished you had let me speak that day at Trafalgar House. When I stepped forward, it was to get down on one knee and ask you to marry me." He took both of her hands in his and held them to his heart. "So, yes, it has been three days for us here, but every day for four months I have been wanting to ask you, every day I have had to renew the hope that it was even a possibility."

He kissed her hands and was silent for a long minute. "I understand if you cannot make this decision now, and believe me when I say I had a much more romantic way I hoped to ask you but I cannot let you live for one more minute in worry about how you will support yourself."

Now Alexander was overcome with what he wanted to say, and all the months of waiting and wanting poured out. "I love you so completely, Charlotte. You must know where I want this to lead. I am flawed and broken, but you have changed me and now I am unable to return to who I was, nor do I want to. I want us to be a family. You, me, Augusta and Leonora. And I want children with you, more and more of them, to transform what was once a mausoleum into a home filled with laughter and love and possibility. I want to spend my life with you, grow old with you." He paused, his voice filled with emotion.

"I know you had expressed a desire not to marry, and then, as we stood under the trees all those months ago, you said you needed to live your life, which suggested a change in your thinking. I ruined it that day, through my own fear and stupidity, but is there a chance that you could return to the feelings you expressed then? To be open to marriage and to me as your husband?" Alexander stopped and looked down. "Oh, I am making a terrible hash of this. I will simply say it." He looked into her eyes and said softly, "Charlotte, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

She could hardly breathe. How could a person want something so much and at the same time be so frightened of it?

Charlotte leaned toward him and pressed her lips to his, gently, and he felt clearly all the love she had for him. It was assurance, and eased his worry. "My heart is yours, Alexander. Completely and for always. I cannot express how much I want to simply say yes and give my life to you. But do you truly know what it is for a woman to marry? I give up my name, my rights, my ownership of myself. There is no one else on earth I would consider giving those parts of myself to but you, but I do need to consider it."

Alexander nodded and smiled. "I understand. And although I hope you know that you would stand by my side and that we would make decisions together – I am cognizant of the fact that the world would not see us that way, nor would the law. I know what women give up when they marry, and I would do whatever would ease your mind on that subject. From the moment you entered my life, I have known you were my equal in all ways, and I will always treat you as such."

She looked deeply into his eyes for a long moment, and then spoke softly. "Do you have any idea how I would love to see you holding a child that we created? I have spent nearly as much time thinking of that as I have spent missing you. It is like a hunger in me."

She saw his breath begin to come faster as the picture took hold in his mind, and she could see that he fully shared that hunger, remembering again that the girls he was raising were in his heart, but did not come from him. "My sweet Charlotte," he said, his voice low and ragged, "what a gift that would be. Something I never could allow myself to hope…"

Charlotte looked at Alexander, this man who had now become essential to her life and happiness. And in an instant, she knew that none of the rest of it mattered. The world would continue to be the world – unfair, changeable, cruel at times – but this… this would remain.

And all at once, it became clear to her. The rite of marriage was not where she gave her power to him, it was in her heart, and that had already occurred. Whether or not she married Alexander, her heart would always be his, and no longer fully her own. For a moment she remembered her father and one of his favorite sayings – it is useless to close the barn door after the horse has bolted – and a smile began. Then, to Alexander's surprise, Charlotte laughed. "The horse has left the barn…" she said, almost to herself.

His confusion was evident in the way he looked at her, but her mirth was contagious, and he smiled with her. "Explain, please…"

"I've already given you my heart and I cannot take it back. It makes no sense to bolt the door now." He still looked perplexed. "Yes," she managed to say, breathlessly, her lips pressed against his cheek, "Yes, I will marry you. My heart is yours, and I will marry you."

Alexander's face was suffused with joy when he pulled away and looked at her. "I am not very good at this, I do not even have a ring!" Then he looked down at his hand and saw his father's signet ring, the one he had inherited along with the estate – the ring that marked him as the master of Heyrick Park. It was far too large of course, but he removed it from his finger and held Charlotte's left hand while he placed it on her third finger. "This will do for now," he said.

He smiled at her, and said, "It transfers to you symbolically the ownership of everything that is mine. Including my heart. You will never be beneath me, Charlotte, for as long as we live. You will stand beside me as my partner and equal, which is the only position you deserve."

Alexander looked down at his ring on her finger. "I told you the night after the Ball, the first night that we kissed, that I had never been happier than that moment. This day has now taken its place. I have never loved you more than I do now, and tomorrow will dawn, and I will love you more still."

Charlotte brought the ring up to her lips. She looked into his eyes and said, "This must be a dream. Because does this not mean I will see you every day, wake up with you every morning, watch Leonora and Augusta grow, and talk with you, laugh with you, and we will ride horses and listen to the ocean together… all the things I have wanted for so long…?" She leaned forward and kissed him. "...and I will kiss you whenever I wish…" She threw her arms around him and spoke the rest into his ear. "I love you so dearly."

Suddenly, Charlotte began to laugh to herself. At Alexander's questioning look, she said, "Alison has always been the flighty one, and I have considered myself quite a sensible person. How is it possible that I have become UNengaged and REengaged within the space of three days? It is beyond my comprehension."

Alexander smiled at her. "I do not believe we are meant to understand love. Just to feel it."

Charlotte turned and said, "Oh, Mrs. Wheatley will not be best pleased. She has lost her wager with Georgiana."

Laughing, Alexander said, "How long did she give us?"

"Georgiana said a week, Mrs. Wheatley said a month." Narrowing her eyes slightly, Charlotte said, "And you bet against me surviving a week as your governess. How could you?" She cuffed him lightly on the shoulder.

"In my defense, you'll recall that I had the opportunity to let you go and win the bet – but I chose instead to keep you on."

"So, what you are telling me is that it was worth a shilling to keep me near you," Charlotte said softly, moving closer to him.

"Worth a fortune…" he managed to say before he pulled her to him and found her lips with his own.

Georgiana looked up from her drawing to see Rosie at the door.

"Miss Lambe, there is a gentleman here to see you."

"Did he give you a name?" Georgiana asked as she put down her pen and wiped the ink from her fingers. She had done her best to forget Charles Lockhart, but she had taken one positive thing from the association. She had found she was quite good with pen and ink drawings. She was currently sitting at the front windows of the apartment living room looking out at the ocean and trying her hand at capturing the extraordinary beauty of it.

"Edward Denham, Miss Lambe."

Turning sharply, she spoke more harshly to Rosie than she meant to. "Send him away." Remembering that the scoundrel standing on the front step was not Rosie's fault, she said more softly, "Please, Rosie. Tell him I will have no business with him."

Rosie fidgeted at the doorway to the living room. "He said you would say that, Miss Lambe, and he wants you to know that what he has to tell you is in your best interests."

Georgiana pushed back her chair and set her jaw squarely. "Oh, he did, did he?" She sailed past Rosie and made her way to the front door where Mr. Denham was standing and whistling, of all things, with one eyebrow raised and an irritatingly jaunty smirk on his face.

"You can have no business here…" she said, starting to slam the door in his face, but he put out his arm and stopped its forward motion.

"You'll want to hear what I have to say, Miss Lambe." The insolence of his tone further enraged her, but she didn't have his strength and the door remained firmly open.

"I will call the constable if you persist." She turned to Rosie who stood cowering in the hallway. "I will send Rosie down to Mr. Tom Parker's to tell him I am being harassed."

Edward stood calmly with that infuriating smile and said, "I thought you wanted to know your history, Miss Lambe?" He sneered at her. "About your mother, and your father? I am the one who can enlighten you." Then the sneer blossomed into a full grin. "And I would think that kind of information would be very valuable, would it not?"

For a moment she glared at him, her eyes never leaving his. "And what stops me from having you locked up this very minute?"

"What stops you, Miss Lambe, is that I am the only person on God's earth who has all the pieces to this puzzle. If you have me arrested, the information dies with me." He smiled again. "And I can assure you that you would never discover all the turns your story has taken. It is quite fascinating, really."

She narrowed her eyes ominously. "I assume your plan is to extort money from me in exchange for this information?"

Edward scoffed and shook his head. "Such an ugly word, is it not? I would see this as you being grateful for an opportunity that I would be presenting you."

"And precisely how grateful would you expect me to be, you viper?" Georgiana sneered.

Sensing his advantage, Edward gave her a full smile. "Well, Miss Lambe, you have just become an exceedingly wealthy woman, and one would have to ask oneself what this kind of self-knowledge would be worth. I should think that ten thousand pounds would be a pittance in light of your recent inheritance."

Georgiana tilted her head and hissed, "Ten thousand pounds? Are you mad?"

"Your decision, Miss Lambe," he said, turning to go. "I shall let you consider it, and will return in a day or so. And please keep in mind that sharing our discussion of this opportunity with anyone will negate it, so do be discreet." With that, he tipped his hat and made his way down the stairs.

Georgiana went immediately to her study and pulled out pen and paper. She scribbled a quick note and folded it into an envelope.

"Rosie!" she called out.

"Yes, ma'am," Rosie said a moment later at the door.

"I need you to deliver this note, but I want you to go out the back way and take a circuitous route. Do some shopping along the way, and please keep your eyes open for anyone who might be following you, especially Edward Denham."

Rosie looked alarmed, but Georgiana knew that she could absolutely be trusted to do exactly as she was told. She was very loyal to her mistress. Rosie turned the envelope over and saw that it had no address. "Where shall I take it, Miss Lambe?"

"To Mr. Arthur Parker. Give it to no one else, Rosie."

"Yes, ma'am." And with a quick curtsey, she was off to fetch her hat and coat.

Charlotte and Alexander had walked together through Heyrick Park before, but this time was so very different. She had never allowed herself to think that these exquisite grounds, these trees and grasses, the ponds, the stables, every bench and rock – might someday be a place she could call home. But as she walked back to the house with him on this day, she finally let it move fully into her consciousness.

She knew the old adage that 'your home is where your heart lies,' and that wherever Alexander, Augusta and Leonora were would always be her home now – but the country, the outdoors, the land, had held such a treasured place in her life and the very idea that she would be mistress of this park one day gave her great delight.

Charlotte took Alexander's hand and looked at him. "I love this land," she said softly.

He smiled at her. "I know you do. We are the same in many respects, Charlotte, and this particular similarity gives me great joy. This land is in my blood and holds my history, the good and the bad. I have seen your love for it, and it is part of the reason I began to care so deeply for you."

"I would like to have a horse of my own," she said suddenly.

He stopped and put his arms around her. "You shall have a stable-full," he said, laughing.

"One will do," she said, smiling up at him. Then she frowned slightly, "I have never asked, do the girls have horses of their own?"

Alexander kissed her forehead. "I love the way you always think of them." He began walking again, taking her hand. "Augusta has never shown interest, but that is not to say she would not if we rode as a family. And Leonora is just of the perfect age to begin, although I have been reluctant because I felt it would feed into her obsession with the military." He turned to Charlotte, "Now, due to the very good influence of a former governess, I am of a mind to let Leonora be herself, in all her shapes and forms."

"Oh!" Charlotte felt the signet ring turn and move all the way down to her knuckle and she quickly caught it with her other hand. She looked down to be certain it was safe. "I am so afraid that I will lose this, Alexander."

He gazed over at her and smiled. "Hold it tightly for just a little while longer. I am going to remedy that when we get back to the house."

She tilted her head at him in a question, but he would not say another word.

They walked back into the house through the kitchen where Mrs. Wheatley was reading the newspaper and as he and Charlotte walked through hand-in-hand, Alexander said casually, "You have lost another shilling, Eva. You might want to consider curbing your urge to gamble."

Mrs. Wheatley put down her paper and beamed at both of them. "I have never been happier to lose a wager!" In her joy, she reached out and squeezed Charlotte's hand and felt the signet ring.

Frowning deeply, she said, "Xander! You can do better than that!"

Without stopping, he called back, "I am on my way to remedy it, Eva. Give me a moment!"

All three were laughing, and Charlotte's heart was so full of joy she thought she might burst.

Charlotte had been in the East Wing of Heyrick House only once, when she had gone with Augusta to what she could only assume was Lucy's old room. She wanted not to think why Lucy would have a bedroom and sitting room so far from Alexander's in the West Wing, so she had set the thought aside. Today, they passed Lucy's rooms and went still further down the long hallway.

Finally, Alexander stopped at a door and opened it. As they stepped in, Charlotte gasped softly. She thought it the most charming room she had ever seen. What was so striking at first glance was that the silks, the curtains, bedspread, and the accents on the fine upholstery, were all exactly the same color as the teal coat that Charlotte was presently wearing. It was Charlotte's favorite color and she found the combinations of fabric and wallpaper, with its soft teal flowers in all shades against a gold and burgundy background, unspeakably beautiful.

Charlotte realized that Alexander was watching her as she looked in wonder around her.

"My mother's room," he said, almost reverently. "It has not been altered since she lived in it." He shook his head slightly, "Not out of any macabre need to pretend she is still here," he said quickly, "But simply because it is one of the most beautiful rooms in the house."

"Do you remember her?" Charlotte asked softly.

Alexander breathed deeply, "Moments, here and there. I was four years of age when she died giving birth to Samuel." He walked to the window and spread the curtains wide to let the light in fully, and turned back to look at Charlotte. "You will meet Samuel soon, I hope. And you will be astonished to find that he is even more serious than I am, if that is possible."

Charlotte laughed and came up beside him at the window. "You are not so serious anymore, Alexander," she said, putting her arm around his waist.

"Well, Samuel is. A barrister, and exceedingly grave." He looked at Charlotte and smiled. "But a good man, and we are as close as two brothers can be. I have wished he lived closer, but we saw each other a good amount while I was in London."

Alexander turned and took both of her hands in his, stepping back to look at her in full. "Your coat, the one you wore when I first saw you in my office, put me in mind immediately of this room. And every time thereafter, when you wore it. I longed to see you here, and now, here you are. I find I wish to commission a painting," he said, laughing softly.

He drew Charlotte to him and held her tightly. "You are truly the missing piece of my life in all ways. And now that you are here, a calm has come over me, a serenity that I have never known."

Nestling her face into his chest, Charlotte sighed. "It is the same with me. Strange how you cannot know what is missing until you find it, and then the space it fills is so very clear."

They stood for a moment longer, and then Alexander took her hand and led her to the dressing table. He found a small gold cloisonné box decorated with tiny teal, burgundy and purple stones and opened it. Inside was an exquisite ring with a central stone of the same color of green surrounded by small diamonds. Alexander removed it and then took Charlotte's hand and retrieved his signet ring.

Charlotte found herself slightly short of breath as he bent to one knee and looked at her with such sublime love that she could not believe she was awake and not dreaming.

Alexander smiled up at her. "I have not practiced this nearly enough, but please know that my heart is so full I have utterly lost my eloquence." He inhaled sharply and began.

"Miss Charlotte Heywood, you are all I could ever have hoped for in a true love, a companion, and a partner. You have led me back to myself, you have endeared yourself to my girls, and you have brought laughter into this house again. I want your sweet face to be the first I see every morning, and the last I see every night, until my final day. You are my dear love, my light, the one I want walking beside me, and you would make me the happiest man on this earth if you would consent to be my wife."

The tears were already falling down Charlotte's cheeks, and she extended a shaking hand to accept the ring that he placed on her finger. Neither of them were surprised that it fit perfectly.

"I will," Charlotte said, her voice breaking. "Yes!" she said as Alexander stood and took her into his arms. "You did very well," Charlotte whispered to him. "Your eloquence is quite intact."

She was crying and laughing at the same time. "What woman gets not just one, but two exquisite proposals in the same day?" she said. "And a poem? You are spoiling me shamelessly, Alexander!"

He took her face in his hands and kissed her, gently, with infinite love. "And I intend to continue to spoil you, every day, as long as we both shall live…"

Charlotte wanted a closer look at the ring, and she brought it up nearer to her eyes. As she examined it, she said softly, "It is so stunningly beautiful."

Alexander lifted her chin. "I want you to know that this ring has only been on my mother's hand and yours, my love. I never gave this to Lucy, as she would have thought it too simple and plain. I am so glad of that now. This is yours and only yours, as is my heart and soul."

Charlotte gazed up at him. "I never would have asked, but I will admit I would have wondered. I am very grateful that you told me."

"You own a piece of my heart that has never been given, Charlotte. And you always will."

They stood for a long time in the shafts of light coming through the window, holding each other tightly. Alexander had not known his mother through his adult eyes, but he suddenly felt her all around him, and he knew, deeply, that Abigail Colbourne was as blissfully and peacefully happy in this moment as he was.