AN: Woo, I'm on a roll! Updates nearly every day! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please excuse any mistakes, as always. I tend to write late at night and then I'm too tired to proof-read! ;)

Marianne and Margaret looked at him, both wearing matching confused expressions on their faces, which were illuminated by the sunlight peering behind the hill at the back of the field. He hadn't had many options for this day, not much surrounded the cottage and this was the nicest area within riding distance for Marianne and Margaret, both women not quite used to riding long distances. But it was a beautiful sight, even better than he had hoped for, with the morning sun rising above the field and casting its light on the dew sitting on the long grass and wildflowers, making it look to them as if glitter had been sprinkled upon the earth. The Colonel looked up at Margaret whilst he walked his horse towards Marianne, taking hold of Marianne's right rein. "Margaret, if you'd like, you can go riding through the field. Daisy (the name of the mare she had been riding) would enjoy it. I'd like to talk to your sister for a moment before we continue on." Marianne then peered at him from underneath her hat, curious.

"Alright, Colonel Brandon!" Margaret agreed readily, as he had guessed she would. She had confided in him just days ago that she was growing weary of riding on the same roads every day and would like a change of scenery. He was simply happy to have a private moment with Marianne in order to give her the ring. It was something that he would've preferred to have done alone.

"What are you up to, Colonel Brandon?" She questioned, smiling at him now. She had grown concerned when he had sent Margaret off in order to talk with her in private - she wondered, albeit briefly, if he had thought about his decision the other night and was becoming unsure. She remembered him greeting her so happily earlier that morning and it eased her some, but she couldn't help but feel such...unease, knowing that he was so, so good, and she had made so many mistakes. Of course, she was not blind and knew he had many faults as well. Being human, he was fallible, and she took great comfort in knowing that he had stood by her for the last year, even throughout everything she'd gone through and done. But now that her sister was off riding and out of hearing range, focused completely on her horse and ride, she saw him lighten up visibly and she felt herself do so as well.

"I brought you-" He paused for a moment, reaching into his inside pocket in his riding coat, now smiling up at her. "A gift." And with that, he pulled out a tiny box, and her heart skipped a beat. It was the exact size of a ring box, she realized quickly. Although he had promised her a ring, and she knew he would eventually give her one, she was still surprised and over joyed. She tried not to get ahead of herself, trying to imagine the other possible scenarios. Perhaps it wasn't a ring - she didn't want to get her hopes too high. But oh, how she wanted it to be a ring! She couldn't imagine having his ring on her hand, knowing, with full assurance, that he wanted her to be his wife. It felt like a dream.

"Is that so?" She still sat in the saddle, straightening her back slightly, thankful for her quiet mare. She continued standing still with no desire to move, enjoying the sun, Marianne assumed. She spent too much time in a stall. He had let his own horse graze, trusting it not to roam far. She had wondered why he had been the only one to dismount, and now, she had to wonder...was he planning on kneeling?

"Indeed it is. And I admit, I'm quite nervous about this gift." So am I.

"You shouldn't be. You have proven to be excellent at giving - the pianoforte, books, the horses..you've been too kind to us. We-I don't need anything else."

"Ah, but I am certain you need this gift." He stepped closer, her leg nearly brushing against his chest. "May I help you dismount for a moment?" He asked, his free hand, the one not holding the mysterious box, traveled to her arm, and she reached down for him and slid off the horse gracefully, knocking her boot out of the stirrup.

Once she was on the ground, legs feeling something like jelly from riding for so long, her horse now grazing along with Colonel Brandon's, he moved his hand from her arm to the box, and prepared to open it. "In fact, I believe you would be quite mad at me if I did not give you this one." And he opened the box, revealing the beautiful antique rose gold ring. It held several beautiful diamonds, bunched together in the shape of an oval. She had never seen a more beautiful ring in her life. "Oh, Colonel Brandon." She murmured, breath taken away. "It's beautiful."

"It's been in my family for years now, my mother was the last to wear it. I'm thankful that my brother didn't take it - he wanted something newer and flashier for his wife, he said no spouse of his would have something old," He said this with a scoff, and she knew it must still be a touchy subject. She made a mental note to ask him more about it later. "But I thought you'd like the history behind it more than you would like a bigger diamond. If you would prefer something else-"

"Nothing else would even compare to this, Colonel." She cut him off, fighting back the tears that were threatening to leak out. "It's beautiful. Perfect." She nodded once, then raised her head to look at him, suddenly aware of how very close they were. If she stood up on her toes, and he bent down slightly, their lips would meet so very easily. And when he met her eyes completely, seeming to search them for any doubts or hesitance, she wanted nothing more than for that to happen.

He took her left hand in his much larger one, and slid the ring on her finger, raising it towards his mouth and laying a gentle kiss on the diamonds. She felt her cheeks warm with delight, realizing that this was the first time he had ever kissed her. It was not uncommon for men to kiss a woman's hand in greeting, of course, but Colonel Brandon had never been an overly affectionate man. When they had first met, he simply nodded her way, not rude, but quite aloof. He had started conversations, and when their friendship had grown, he had still kept to his quieter ways, never one to draw attention to himself. But, it seemed to make everything more precious to her. Knowing that she meant this much to him, knowing that she was the only one who saw such a gentle and affectionate side of him, save for Eliza and her baby.

"I love you." He said simply, loss for words. He wracked his mind, searching for something better to say, something more, but he could not find words that seemed to fit. He had prepared a speech of sorts, prepared to tell her how much he cared for her, how long he had loved her, but when she was near him, all logical thoughts seemed to disappear. She was all he could think about. "I have for a long time, although I'm sure you had known that. I wasn't quite...quite good at hiding it, apparently." Elinor and Mrs. Dashwood had found out rather quickly, as had Sir John and the Middleton's.

"I wasn't aware, actually. Not until, well, not until the other day when you told me."

"Really? Your sisters - both of them - and your mother, as well as all of our mutual friends, they had figured it out from day one, it seemed. They've all been rather impatient with me, I think Sir John had told me every day that I needed to hurry up and talk to you."

"And why didn't you before?" She asked.

"Would it have changed anything? If I remember correctly, you seemed to think that I was rather old and boring when we first met." He chuckled, remembering her comments about his rheumatism (Which he did not have. His shoulder pain was from an old injury from the military, not from old age, although he had to admit, he did have more aches and pains than he'd like to.) and her laughing at Willoughby when he would make sly comments about his age. It hadn't bothered him - he was older, yes, but he would rather be old and grey and weak than to be a scoundrel like John Willoghby! "I think that if I had've told you before, you would have wanted to run away screaming and I would have ruined our growing friendship. I have patience, I was not unhappy waiting for you."

"I suppose you're right." She admitted, suddenly feeling guilty and quite aware of how badly she had treated him. All for Willoughby. She had slandered the one true friend she had outside of her family. "I'm sorry, you know. For how I treated you. I was young and foolish."

"It's of no consequence. I have thick skin, none of it bothered me." That was a half lie, he knew. Although he did have thick skin, he couldn't say that seeing the woman he loved so much seem so...annoyed by his presence hadn't hurt him. But now, it was over. And he knew that she hadn't meant anything by it. She was following the young man's lead, driven by false love. He understood.

"It didn't bother you? Not at all? Colonel...you may have thick skin, but if you love me the way you claim to, surely my words had to of hurt." She had seen past his facade, apparently.

"Some..some of it did, I admit." And her heart broke into a thousand pieces. If she had felt guilty before, seeing his face and hearing his tone now made her previous guilt seem like nothing. She wished that she could some how go into the past and remove everything she had said about him. To him.

"I'm sorry." Was all she could seem to muster up, but it wasn't enough. "I love you, truly. Despite everything I had said before. I love you now, and I was blind and foolish a year ago."

"You're forgiven. I was never angry or upset with you, only with Willoughby for how he treated you and swayed you in such a way. My main concern has always been for your happiness."

He turned around then, searching for Margaret. He saw her not far from them, practicing her trot in a flatter part of the field. He cringed looking at her, not able to imagine trotting side-saddle. How in the world did that child manage that? Marianne laughed at her, her eyes now on her sister. "I most certainly would not want to be doing that side-saddle." She echoed his thoughts.

"Nor would I. She must have quite a high pain tolerance." He said dryly. He turned his attentions back to Marianne, hands finding her waist. He wanted to do something. He wanted to kiss her so incredibly bad, to hold her close, but Lord, all he could think about was what everyone would think. It wouldn't be proper, that much he knew, but really..they were alone, for all intents and purposes. And as she gazed up at him, Margaret forgotten for the moment, he felt his resolve crumbling quickly, and soon said to heck with it.

"Miss Marianne?" He drawled, voice low and rich. She was aware - extremely aware - of how close he was, and although she was new to this, new to being so in love, new to being engaged, and had never been kissed by anyone, she knew what he was asking for. He wouldn't come any closer, she knew, without some sort of sign that she was alright with it, so a sign she gave. She lifted her hand to the back of his neck, fingers grasping his soft hair gently and she pulled him closer, meeting him halfway until she finally felt his lips on hers. It was chaste, both of them slightly shy and unsure at first, but eventually, they grew comfortable, and he kissed her senseless. She couldn't think of a thing, not when he was kissing her. All of the poetry in the world couldn't compare to how she felt with his mouth on hers. When they broke away, they both beamed, smiling wildly at each other. "I love you." She said, and she was kissing him again, and again. "I love you." She must've said it three, four times, holding him close to her as he anchored her.

"You've made me speechless." He muttered. "And that is quite difficult to do. I can't seem to think of a single intelligent thing to say to you."

"I feel the same way." He leaned forward to kiss her again, but the second he drew closer, his hand finding a place in her hair, Margaret was yelling excitedly, riding towards them at a trot. They broke apart, and Marianne prayed that she was not blushing too obviously.

"Colonel Brandon! Did you see?!" She burst out, dimples showing as she smiled, teeth baring. "I'm afraid I didn't! What happened?" He jogged to her quickly, patting her horse on the neck as he passed. "I cantered her! Just like you do on your horse!" He cringed at the thought of cantering side saddle.

"And you didn't fall to your death? You have a much better seat than I." He announced, biting his cheek to hide a smile when she noticeably beamed at his praise.

"I stayed on! Oh, it was amazing! Now I know why you gallop everywhere!"

"He gallops everywhere because he is reckless." Marianne joined the conversation, peeking at him from the corner of her eyes. "Don't be like him. I don't want you falling and getting hurt! We've had the doctor out far too many times recently." But, she was not Elinor, and couldn't be the serious, mature sister for long. "But tell me..how fast did you go?" And Margaret began rambling on all about her canter through the field. Marianne felt Colonel Brandon's fingers stroke hers once, then grasp her hand completely, subtly guiding her closer. She tucked into his side while Margaret told her tale, glancing happily at her ring finger every few seconds and at her fiance's face as he listened to her little sister intently.

Before long, it was time for them to begin the journey home. The couple rode behind Margaret the whole way as she sped off ahead. "Colonel?" After a few minutes of a happy silence, she spoke up. He hummed in acknowledge her, and she continued. "Do you regret not marrying Eliza? Do you ever wish that you had of been able to marry her?" Her question shocked him, making him stop his horse and give her his full attention. Both sister's stopped, but Marianne signaled Margaret forward, to continue going on.

He thought for a moment, wondering how to respond to her appropriately. "Eliza...I loved her. I loved her a great deal, I won't lie to you. At the time, I would have done anything to have been able to marry her. Life for her daughter would certainly be different if..if I was her actual father, and she was not simply a ward. Eliza went through more than she should have had to. Seeing her..on her death bed, suffering so much with no one to help her. No one who really loved her, it pained me so greatly. But Marianne, if I chose her..if I married her, I doubt I would be with you now, and I wouldn't change this - us - for the world."

"I'm so happy that you've taken Eliza in. I know it must have been so difficult for you - I'm sure it still is, being responsible for her and her raising but not truly being her father."

"I love her like she is my own." He admitted, nudging his horse to walk once more. "It has been hard, I'm restricted in many things because she is not truly mine. I wish I..I wish I could do more. For her and Juliet."

"You've given her everything you possibly can. You mustn't feel guilty over what you can't give her. It's out of your control."

"I'd like for you to meet her soon, if you're still willing."

"Of course I am!"

"Tomorrow- why don't you and your mother and sisters come to Delaford? I can arrange for a carriage to come to take you all. We can meet for a late lunch, and after, I can take you to visit Eliza and the baby. Edward, if he'd like, would be more than welcome to come as well. I'm sure he and Elinor are eager to spend any time together that they can, and he'll be close to the house any how." Her face brightened at the idea. She loved Delaford, and the thought of spending three days with him in a row was extremely pleasant. "That sounds perfect."

Soon (too soon, she thought, although her legs ached from riding so long, she didn't want to see him go.) they were back at the cottage. Margaret got off of her mare with ease and took her back to the stables herself, but Marianne waited for the Colonel to assist her. She did know how to dismount safely without help, and could untack her horse without difficulty as well (they had plenty of horses at Norland and she rode often.) but she planned on soaking his attention up all she could. He tied his horse and came to help her, taking the horse from her and leading it to the stables with her walking by her side once she was safely off.

Once the horses were tucked away in their stalls, Margaret ran off to the cottage, and she and the Colonel said their goodbyes.

"Today was so wonderful, thank you. For everything." She said quietly, eager to be back in his arms, which he quickly noticed and remedied. Once she was wrapped closely to him, she felt him lean down and press a kiss to her forehead, narrowly avoiding her riding hat. "Thank you, for accepting the ring and..and me."

"I can hardly wait until tomorrow. I have to admit, I miss you already."

"You did say you wanted a short engagement?" He questioned, she could hear the grin in his tone. "Indeed. Very, very short."

And she began wondering if they could possibly prepare a wedding in a couple of weeks...how ever would she wait?.