Whitechapel Wagers 02 - Wanton Wager (9 page)

“Please.” She did not know if it was proper to plead for a marriage proposal, but Ada was well past the point of behaving in the proper way.

“Will you, Miss Adaline—“

“How—“

“Ah!” He held up a finger. “That is interrupting. Matron Marley told me your name, if you must know. Should I continue?”

Ada nodded her head so vigorously she felt a hairpin come loose.

“Will you, Miss Adaline Hamilton, be my wife?”

She said the words—“Yes, yes, yes!”—that had been waiting to burst forth and nodded again and again—so many times that the hairpin finally fell, along with a thick strand of hair, and a steady stream of tears.

Two weeks later

“Ada, do you like my dress?”

Vicky stood in the Selsby’s drawing room in front of Ada and spun around in a tight little circle, letting her new white gown with green flowers and trim fly out around her. The green satin ribbon Ada had saved for her from Will’s box looked lovely woven through her dark locks.

“I adore it.”

“Beth made the dress for me, and you gave me this ribbon. Do you remember?”

“I do, dearest.”

Vicky looked Ada up and down from head to toe, a frown puckering her forehead.

“Aren’t you going to wear something fine for Beth’s visit?”

Ada looked down at her simple grey dress and wished she had something better. It was a well-cut dress, with flattering panels and pretty stitching around the cuffs, but it was past its prime and nothing like the height of fashion.

“I do not mean to interrupt, but I believe I have a solution.” Kate stood in the doorway. A suspicious smile broadened her lips and, as usual, Ada found her soon-to-be sister-in-law difficult to decipher. “Come upstairs with me, Ada, and we’ll soon sort you out.”

Kate had a manner much like her brother’s. Though her voice was resonant and pleasant, she possessed an air of command that made it difficult to refuse her anything.

Ada followed her up the stairs and into the sitting room where Kate often sewed and hosted luncheons with her ladies’ society friends. Kate indicated a long settee covered with several boxes in various sizes.

“I forgot something. Let me just go and fetch him.”

“Him?”

Ada approached and examined the boxes. Each was tied with a ribbon, two were green satin and one pure white.

“They are all for you.”

Ada could not help the smile any more than she could the gooseflesh that pebbled her skin at the sound of his voice. She turned to look at him, but he was already behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, pressing his body into hers, and nuzzling the stray strands of hair at her nape.

“Which shall I open first?”

“The middle one first.”

Ada reached for the box between the others and slid its green ribbon aside. The lid popped off with a
whoosh
and white fabric frilled with delicate green lace slipped over the sides. It was a petticoat, the prettiest she’d ever seen.

“I promised I’d buy you another. Or twelve. I thought this would make a start.”

Ada turned her head and Will kissed her cheek before moving his mouth to ear and whispering, urging her on.

“The big one next.”

The largest box was heavy and so wide she inched one side of the lid up and then the other until it finally slid off. Emerald green satin filled the box. She saw stitches and ruchig and panels of lace, all in the same rich, vibrant shade. Ada lifted the bodice, entranced by the silky slide of the fabric against her fingertips.

She looked back at Will.

“It’s too grand.”

“Nonsense. Now the last.”

Ada reached for the smallest box, slipped aside its snowy satin ribbon, and lifted its lid to find a mystery within a mystery. Inside the main box were two smaller ones with wads of crumpled paper to cushion and keep them apart.

“That one first.” Will pointed to the square box on the left.

This lid did not lift off but bent up on a hinge. Inside, on rich blue velvet, a ring glinted up at her in a rainbow of color. Small red faceted jewels surrounded a central fiery opal, all set on a gold band.

Too stunned to speak, Ada watched as Will lifted her hand in his and slipped the ring on her finger.

“I did say you needed a ring.”

Ada was grateful for Will’s strong body behind her, holding her up. She was lightheaded with joy, as if she might float away.

“There is one more.”

“It’s already too much.”

And it was too much—too much happiness, too emotion bursting the seams of her heart, too much of the contentment she never dreamed she would find. And she did not wish it any other way.

She reached for the last box, a small rectangle, and found the rest of the broach’s opals inside. They had been transformed into earrings, two teardrops of colorful white stone surrounded by smaller opal rounds.

When Ada said nothing, Will tensed behind her.

“Do you like them, love?”

She stroked his hand at her waist and turned her head to smile at him.

“I told you to give these opals to a woman who would cherish them, and you.” Ada gazed at him, her eyes reflecting the emotions welling inside. “And you did.”

He kissed her then, tenderly, lingering at her mouth for another kiss and another.

Ada was breathless when he pulled away and spoke to her, his tone earnest, as if proclaiming a solemn vow.

“We’ll cherish each other.”

Christy Carlyle writes sensual, and sometimes downright steamy, historical romance, usually set in the Victorian era or Regency period. She loves heroes who struggle against all odds and heroines that are ahead of their time. A former teacher with a degree in history, she finds there is nothing better than being able to combine her love of the past with her die-hard belief in happy endings.

To keep up with Christy’s upcoming releases, read exclusive excerpts, and be the first to get notification of giveaways, sign up for her newsletter
here
.

Connect with Christy via Twitter @writerchristy or follow her on Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/historicalromanceauthorchristycarlyle
.

If you enjoyed this story, the kindest thing you can do for an author is to take the time to review his or her book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, or at Goodreads.

You can find Christy’s Goodreads page at
here
.

Stay tuned for
Brazen Wager
, the next Whitechapel Wagers novella, coming in August 2014!