The Convenient Arrangement (28 page)

“My lord—”

“Francis, my dear.”

She smiled as the tears fell from her eyes. “I wish to thank you for arranging that marriage, Francis. Albert was a good husband to me. He gave me the life I wanted then.”

“Then?” Lorenzo asked as he turned her to face him. “Do you mean that you have changed your mind about your life in Town, Valeria?”

His uncle spoke before she could. “Lorenzo, I am glad I have had this chance to know you, brief though our time together has been. I am sorry that I was not able to help you understand much about women. As you can see, I still am learning myself. You will be an excellent successor to me, but take two bits of advice from your old uncle.”

“Yes?”

“First of all, don't worry that I would be upset if you sell Mr. Pettit all of my collection. It will make him happy, and I suspect that you and Valeria will be starting a growing collection of your own soon that will be much more important to you than the dusty shards I gathered in the fields.”

“I understand,” he said, although his tone warned that he was as confused as Valeria was. “And the second bit of advice?”

“I think I will let you find out the rest on your own.” He chuckled. “Ready, Nina?”

“I think so.”

Valeria watched them walk around the bookshelves. She hurried after them, but when she reached the edge and peered around, no one was there. Looking back at the bed, she saw it was empty. She grasped a bookshelf and whispered, “What just happened here?”

“I'm not sure,” Lorenzo said quietly.

“How are we going to explain about Miss Urquhart to everyone?”

“I'm not sure about that either.” He took her hands and brought her back to him. “But one thing I am sure of. I have been waiting for you, too,” he said, tipping her face back and brushing away her tears with his kisses. “The difference is that I never realized it until the moment when I thought I had lost you.”

“And I thought I was lost to you forever, but I thought you wanted me out of your life.”

“I thought I did, too. I was wrong, and I want to make certain that we don't make the mistakes our elders made. We need to gather our love about us and savor every moment we have together.”

She leaned her head against his shoulder. “Believe it or not, I agree completely with you for once.”

“Shall we try for twice?”

Again she looked up at him. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that I have been seeking a convenient arrangement for you from the first night we met.”

“And?”

His thumb grazed her cheek as he smiled. “What can be more convenient for me than to have the woman I love here with me as my wife?”

“Your wife?” She wondered if her heart could contain all this joy or if it would explode into a glorious display like fireworks splashed across the sky.

“Will you stay with me, Valeria? Will you share my quiet days with the growing collection my uncle spoke of?”

“Collection? Of what?”

“Stay with me and make my nights worthy of great poetry, and you shall see that David is only the first child to fill these halls with pranks.” He brushed her lips with sweet, swift fire. “Will you stay here with me as my wife?”

“And plan just a few gatherings?” she asked with a smile.

“Maybe just a few.” His arm swept around her, pulling her even closer, as he asked, “Why don't you start with our wedding?”

“That sounds like the most convenient arrangement of all.”

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 1999 by Jo Ann Ferguson

Cover design by Neil Alexander Heacox

ISBN: 978-1-5040-0906-5

Distributed in 2015 by Open Road Distribution

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