An heiress to one of Britain's most impressive fortunes, Cordelia Gardiner has always done what her strict father expects her to, manage the estate, host dinners, mind her manners. After years of adhering to his demanding expectations, however, Cord...
"Cordelia, are you watching?" William shouted from the short cliff. Cordelia was resting below him on a wicker chaise lounge, a publication of the latest women's journal neatly arranged on her lap.
"I'm watching, William!" She shouted up towards him, tearing her gaze away from her reading. The entire day, Elizabeth's words from kept echoing throughout her head, unfortunately costing her a peaceful night's sleep. She kept feeling like she needed to apologize to her friend, but apologizing meant admitting that Elizabeth was right about her and William's relationship. Suddenly, she was torn from her thoughts by a splash from the lake in front of her.
"What did you think?" William asked, emerging from the lake soaked completely to the bone. Cordelia had a difficult time stifling her cheeks from turning pink at William's appearance. Her eyes were drawn to his now-soaking wet trousers, and she was shocked and appalled by her own lustfulness. She was about to speak when her father interrupted her from the lounge beside her.
"Wonderfully done, William. I give you a judge's ruling of nine out of ten!" Lord Alfred called from his seat. Cordelia had become so caught up in William's practical nudeness that she had forgotten her father had appointed himself chaperone to today's outing to the lake. Yes, despite her father's obvious approval of William, the couple was still stuck adhering to strict rules of decorum.
"And you, Cordelia?" He asked, grabbing a towel from a servant and slowly patting himself dry, "what rating would you give me?" He licked his lips, and Cordelia tried to look anywhere else besides his exposed chest and the outline of his strong legs from underneath his wet pants. The water made his already dark brown hair appear black, slicking it down onto his forehead. From beneath his dark brows and locks, his eyes were a piercing blue.
"A t-t-ten of ten, of course," she said, struggling to maintain her composure. She could've sworn she saw the corner of William's mouth tug up into a smirk, but she was hoping that for her sake, it was merely a trick of the light. When she looked to her father to see if he had noticed her slip up, he was gathering his things and making like he was about to leave.
"Father, where are you off too?" She asked, surprised that Lord Alfred, who perpetually preoccupies himself with decorum and the "image" of the family, would leave his daughter alone with a young man. Lord Alfred stole a glance at William and winked, earning a smile from William in return. What did these two know that she didn't?
"I must return to my office, there are some...things...that need attending too-business things," he added hastily. Her father had always been a poor liar, but she couldn't for the life of her imagine what he was up to. "I trust William will see to it that you are taken care of," he said, stifling a smile and quickly turning away to walk back towards the house.
"That's odd, I wonder what he could be up to," she said out loud, trying to clear her head and return to her reading.
"I wouldn't wonder too hard, he might come back," William said, sitting at the foot of Cordelia's lounge chair.
She arched an eyebrow up at his response. "You think so? That's so odd, I thought you and my father were the best of friends," she retorted, snappily flipping through her journal.
William tousled his hair, shaking fat drops of water off of his head and onto Cordelia's exposed toes. "We are friends because we share a common goal, you see," he said, grabbing the publication from Cordelia's lap and throwing it to the side table, quickly getting her attention.
"And what goal could that be, I wonder?" Her brown eyes focused upon William's icy blue ones.
William sighed and looked to the ground, eventually picking a piece of lint from his towel off of his exposed chest. His face became serious and focused, and when he turned his head back up to face Cordelia's, she had a feeling something very important was about to happen.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Lady Cordelia Rose Gardiner, will you make me the happiest man alive and do me the honor of becoming my wife?"
Cordelia's breath caught in her throat. Only when her lungs were begging for air as if she were underwater did she remember she was supposed to breathe. Despite knowing it was wrong, a million images of her time with Charles flashed through her mind. She saw and felt all of it, him saving her on the veranda, the first time she met him, that night at Lord Elderwood's home...
"Cordelia?" William said, interrupting her thoughts, "I believe it is your turn to speak..." he trailed off, beginning to look worried for the first time since Cordelia's known him. She was wrenched from her thoughts of the first man she'd ever loved to the man sitting in front of her with a very important question still lingering in the air between them.
She pushed all those thoughts of Charles aside and thought really hard. She thought of her father, of Loddington, and the duty she had to the Gardiner name. She thought of the happiness that William brought her, and how nice they looked as a couple. Her lips parted, and she looked to William to speak.
