"Do what?"
"Love you, above all else, Sarah. Faith, country, reason, my own life."
"Oh Alexander, I love you too. So very much." She kissed him on the lips, and he stroked her hair tenderly for a moment before pulling her head back.
He opened his eyes, and for the first time since they had met, there was a light of recognition in them.
"Let me look at you, love." He smiled broadly, boyishly. "My Lord. You're more beautiful than I ever imagined. Of course, it is still pretty dim, but I can see you vaguely, as if down a long dark tunnel."
"Oh, Alexander, I'm so glad," she wept. "It's kind of you to say about me being beautiful, but you don't-"
"You are. And especially now that you're carrying our child."
"How did you-" She blushed, and the tears began to fall even faster.
"I know every inch of your flesh. And I know why you lied. You were trying to make it easier for me to leave you."
She nodded. "I thought I was doing the right thing."
"Never," he said with a shake of his head. "It can never be right for us to be apart. And for a marriage to exist without love.
"But even if it had been true, that that woman had been my wife, I would have settled my affairs, and been back for you, Sarah. You're the most beautiful woman I've ever known, inside, and now as I can see, outside too. I want to marry you as soon as possible. Please, my love, will you make me the happiest of men?"
"Oh, yes, darling. I want to marry you more than anything."
He stroked her cheek and kissed her. "I knew you were lovely on the inside. The external beauty doesn't matter, but it's a nice bonus to have such a lovely face to look at upon the pillow every morning for the rest of my life."
He tried to sit up.
"Not so fast, Alex. You've had a nasty blow to the head," Jonathan cautioned.
"Not as nasty as the pain in my loins," he muttered.
"Oh, er, we'll just be down the hall if... you... need... us," Sarah's brother said as he scurried out of the room discreetly with his wife in tow.
Pamela gave a happy wave. "So nice to meet you. We'll, er, all talk later. And welcome to the family." She grinned, then shut the door behind her.
Once they were alone Alexander whispered against her hair, "I want to hold you close for just a little while longer, and then go home."
"Home?"
"To the vicarage for a start."
"Well, yes, I suppose. But we'll need to make other arrangements soon."
He nodded. "Since I'm now said to be the real Earl of Ferncliffe, and as such a legitimate heir to Pamela's estate, we can move in to Ashton Manor if Jonathan has no objections. I'm stunned about my brothers both being dead, but if the Duke says it's true, I'm afraid I just have to believe. And grieve."
Sarah rubbed his chest soothingly. "Such a waste, this whole war. I know you certainly never wanted to come into your wealth and title this way. But are you sure you want to live at Ashton Manor? I mean, there must be your own home in the south, your lands, Ferncliffe Castle?"
"I love Brimley, and by some miracle have fallen in love with the sister of one of my dearest friends. Where else would I want to live, and bring up our children, but in a place where I've been happy, with good company and family? The wonderful Deveril family. Thanks to you, I've been reborn."
Sarah pressed him back down onto the pillows. "You don't have to decide everything now, love."
He nodded firmly. "I do. We'll be married as soon as I can get out of this bed, and our child will be born in about seven months' time at a guess. I shall sort my affairs as best I can, with the help of your good self, of course, and we'll be blissfully happy," he said in a firm tone which allowed no room for doubt.
She smiled up at him. "It sounds wonderful."
He returned her grin, stroking her cheek as though he would never get tired of looking at her. "It will be. I've been in limbo for two years. You've brought me back to life again. I don't want to waste another minute of it. You're a woman beyond my wildest dreams, matchless, as the poem says. And another famous poet said, 'Carpe diem. Seize the day.' I aim to do just that."
She smiled. "So do I. But as long as you're in this bed, undressed, would it be too terrible of me to suggest that we seize a few other things as well?"
He dragged her on top of him and kissed her passionately, until the blood began to thrum in her veins.
At length he cursed, "Drat your breeches."
She giggled happily. "My thoughts exactly."