Jane was speaking, but all Thomas could focus on was her lovely face. How earnest she was, how he couldn’t believe he’d even thought for a moment of not seeing her every day.
If she’d have him. He hadn’t asked that yet.
Could he ask?
He had less than no prospects; he was still going to have to figure out a way to support his family, and he couldn’t do the one thing he’d thought would save everything.
“And Thaddeus would give you the money,” she was saying, making Thomas frown in confusion.
“Why would your brother-in-law give me money?” he asked.
She huffed out a breath. “You have not been listening.”
Accurate. I was too busy thinking about you.
“Because neither one of us thinks you should have to sell yourself when—when there might be something else. Someone else,” she corrected, her cheeks slowly starting to turn pink.
“What are you saying, Jane?” he asked, squeezing her hands tighter.
She lifted her chin. “I am saying, Thomas, that I have fallen in love with you, even though I promised both of us I wouldn’t. That I don’t want you to have to do what I refused to do two years ago. I know how strangling that future can seem, looming over you, and I don’t want you to have to live like that. I want—”
“What do you want, Jane?” He spoke fiercely, his heart thumping in his chest.
“The same thing I wanted last night. I want you,” she replied simply. “What do you want?”
They stared into one another’s eyes for a long moment, Thomas’s mind reeling from her words.
“Well?” she said impatiently.
“I want you, too,” he said, the relief of the admission coursing through his body like the best kind of champagne. “I come with so many responsibilities,” he continued, needing to make sure she knew his intentions. “I cannot deny them, even if the solution isn’t what I thought it was.” His throat was choked with emotion. “I didn’t think there was any other answer before, but now I think—now I believe—that if you are beside me I can solve this. All of it.” He took a deep breath. “I am a better person because of you, Jane. I like who I am when I am with you. I like who you are when you are with me,” he added, with a smile. “I want us to face the future together, but it isn’t going to be easy,” he warned.
“You foolish man,” she replied. “Of course it won’t be easy. You’ve already had an easy life, now you get to have an interesting life. I’ve been doing that for two years now. I’m certain you’ll be able to catch up.”
He grinned like an idiot, staring into her eyes, both of them still standing in the middle of the sidewalk like two besotted rocks, the stream of pedestrians flowing around them.
“Well?” she said again.
“Well—?” he said, confused.
She rolled her eyes. “Well, aren’t you going to kiss me?”
He chuckled, drawing her into his arms, heedless that anyone could see them. Kissing her with the knowledge that they would have a future. Together. A difficult one, an uncertain one, but one that would be happy because they loved each other.
They stopped kissing—eventually—and began to walk slowly back toward Jane’s house.
He wasn’t so stubborn that he refused to even contemplate accepting money from Thaddeus. She was proud of him for that—it was one thing to say you wanted to change how you lived, and what you thought, and another thing to do it. Because ladies accepted financial support all the time—from husbands, brothers, fathers, and family friends. Why should a gentleman be any different?
They were discussing potential moneymaking opportunities as they approached Jane’s house when they saw a carriage draw up in front of them, with Mr. Grosvenor hopping out.
His expression was joyful, and Jane wondered for a moment if she had hallucinated the past hour. If Thomas had actually offered for Miss Grosvenor, and she was in some sort of fever dream.
“I was hoping to find you here,” Mr. Grosvenor said. “Millie said she thought Mr. Sharpe here was sweet on Lady Jane, and it turns out she was right! She is so clever, that one.” He frowned, a confused expression on his face. “But that’s not why I am here.”
“Would you like to come in, sir?” Jane asked, gesturing down the street to her house.
“Yes, splendid,” Mr. Grosvenor replied.
She and Thomas exchanged puzzled looks as the three of them went into the house, Jane directing Mrs. Charing to serve them tea.
Fifteen minutes later, Mr. Grosvenor was sharing what he’d thought of.
“And I know Mr. Sharpe is the most charming man in London,” he continued, barely drawing breath, “and having someone like that to represent our interests would be enormously helpful. We don’t want to stay in London forever, my wife and I,” he explained. “Millie will be traveling with your sister”—at which point Jane shot a querying look toward Thomas, who indicated he’d explain later—“so with her taken care of I see no need to stay here. The thing is,” he said more slowly, “I’ve been thinking about our conversations, and I want you to decide things for yourself without having to worry too much about outside concerns.”
He finally drew breath, and Thomas opened his mouth, only to have Mr. Grosvenor start again. “Of course I’d pay you a wage, plus a percentage of profits.” He withdrew a piece of paper from his waistcoat pocket, handing it over to Thomas, who immediately spread it out so that both he and Jane could read it. “I did a few calculations on the way over here. I can afford to pay you that much.”
The amount he’d written on the paper was enough, Jane thought, to keep Thomas’s parents in relative comfort, especially if Alice was cared for. They wouldn’t be able to do much beyond live on their estate, but at least they would be able to do that without worry.
And if Thomas was as charming and persuasive as she knew him to be, he would soon amass a healthy sum of money, enough to live on. Without taking Thaddeus’s money, though she would keep that in reserve, just in case.
Thomas stared down at the paper, then back up at Mr. Grosvenor. Then at Jane. And then back at Mr. Grosvenor.
“Yes, sir, I would very much like to accept.”
“Splendid!” Mr. Grosvenor exclaimed, getting up from his chair. “I’ll expect you at the offices in a week. Plenty of time to take care of your most pressing business, wouldn’t you say?” he said, glancing between them with a knowing look.
“Indeed, sir. Thank you.”
Thomas went to draw Jane into his arms as soon as the door closed behind Mr. Grosvenor, but then it flung open again, revealing Percy, whose expression was a blend of excitement, concern, and anticipation.
“Well?” he said.
“Well,” Jane replied. “I have told him how I feel, and he has told me, and we have decided to feel our feelings together.”
Percy yelped, running forward to fold them both into a warm hug. “And you’ll live here still? With me and Daffy?”
“Daffy?” Thomas said.
“I’ll explain later,” Jane replied. “Since it seems my betrothed—we are getting married, are we not?” she clarified, realizing they hadn’t actually said the words.
“We are,” Thomas said. “If that is what you choose,” he added with a wink.
“Since it seems my betrothed will be working in London, and we need to save as much money as possible, we will stay here with you and Daffy.”
And then, at last, they were alone.
Jane tilted her face up to Thomas. “Kiss me again,” she ordered.
One eyebrow rose. “Are you going to be this bossy when we are married?”
“Yes,” she said, putting her hand around his neck and drawing him to her. “Yes,” she murmured, when their mouths were barely an inch apart. “Yes,” she said, right before their lips met and they were kissing one another with the promise that this was just the first day in their lives together.