The knowledge burned inside him with searing power. After the many numb years, he had opened his heart again. Because of Eleanor he felt whole again.
“You fill the emptiness in my heart,” he said softly. “I know that now. Without you, Elle, I was simply existing. I don't want to live like that, merely surviving day to day.”
“Oh, Damon…” she breathed.
He cupped her cheek. “I am sorry it took me so long to recognize my feelings for you. I'm sorry to have let you think I betrayed you. I lost something precious when I lost your trust, but I hope to earn it back someday.”
Her lower lip quivered. “I feared you wanted Lydia for your mistress again,” she repeated.
“I don't want Lydia, Elle-not in the slightest. She doesn't make my heart pound as you do. She doesn't make me look forward to each new day. She doesn't provoke and challenge me and kindle a jealous rage in me when she merely looks at another man. She doesn't intrigue me or constantly make me guess what unconventional thing she will say or do next. She doesn't own my heart the way you do, my lovely Eleanor.”
The sheer relief in her beautiful face humbled him.
“You are every man's dream,” Damon murmured. “You are my dream. You have been since the moment you shoved me in this fountain. How could I not want you?”
She smiled, truly smiled, the kind of smile that made his heart turn over. And some of her lively spirit reappeared in her tone when she quizzed him. “Did you honestly think I would allow you to return to Lydia without a fight, Damon? I am warning you, you will keep a mistress over my dead body-and yours, too.”
“You needn't worry on that score. I will never look at another woman again. I am too afraid of losing you.”
Eleanor gazed back at him solemnly. “You will never lose me, Damon. I love you too much. I have since the moment I met you. Even my aunt noticed. Do you know what she just told me? That I glow when I am with you.”
It was true that she was glowing, Damon thought, gazing at her beautiful face. What he saw there tightened his chest with emotion.
When he started to speak, however, Eleanor pressed a hand against his lips. “But, Damon… if we are to have a true marriage, you cannot keep secrets from me and hide your feelings. You have to trust me and tell me what is troubling you.”
“I will.”
“I will always be there with you when you have nightmares.”
“I am glad.”
Her expression turned somber. “No one can ever replace your brother in your heart, but I would love to be your dearest friend as well as your wife.”
“You already are, Elle.”
“Good.”
“Then you will forgive me?” Damon asked quietly.
Another moment passed before her mouth took on a teasing tilt. “I first have to decide if you have groveled properly enough.”
His own mouth curved. “You won't make this easy, will you?”
“Certainly not. I have endured two years of pent-up fury and frustration. You have a great deal to atone for, my lord husband.”
“Amazingly enough, I am looking forward to the prospect. I will even throw myself into the water behind us if it will help get me back into your good graces.”
The laughter that tumbled from her lips made him crave to kiss her. He wanted to hear that sparkling laugh every day of his life. He ached to see Eleanor smile, to touch her, to hold her in his arms. To wake with her beside him. To love her for the rest of their days. She was warmth and laughter, and she was his. Damon could scarcely believe his good fortune.
His features gentling with tenderness, he rose and held out his hand to her. “Come with me, Elle.”
She didn't hesitate to oblige, yet she was curious what he intended.
“Where are we going?” she asked as he led her along the graveled path toward the south end of Rosemont's beautifully landscaped gardens.
“I want to show you my wedding gift to you.”
“What is it?”
“You will have to wait and see, love.”
Eleanor fell silent when Damon refused to reveal anything more. After a while, she realized they were nearing her own special rose garden, the one her brother had created for her when she was ten in order to ease her loneliness. Marcus had given her a rosebush each year afterward on her birthday, as a remembrance of his love.
She wondered why Damon had chosen to bring her here… until they reached her special place. There, adjacent to her own garden, was a patch of newly tilled ground adorned with a similar spiral path. At the very heart of the new spiral, a single rosebush, lush with rich red blooms, had been planted.
Eleanor came to halt, a little stunned. “You are giving me a rosebush as a wedding gift?” she asked Damon.
“Yes. This one is to mark the start of our years together. I thought we would plant another on each anniversary, to mark the passage of time.”
Eleanor's eyes filled with tears. Damon had remembered how precious her garden was to her, and he had duplicated it for her. The knowledge melted her heart.
“You do love me,” she said, turning to gaze up at him reverently.
“Certainly, I do. I told you so, Elle.”
She bent to pluck one perfect rose and brought it to her lips, breathing in its delicious scent. “This is worth more to me than rubies and diamonds, Damon.”
He reached up to wipe away a tear with a gentle forefinger. “I will be giving you rubies and diamonds, as well, love. The Wrexham jewels are safely stored in a bank vault in London. But meanwhile, I wanted you to know that I consider our union much more than a mere marriage of convenience.”
“Thank you, Damon,” she whispered, smiling with joy.
He took the rose from her and tucked it behind her ear. “I'll make you another vow, Elle. There will never be a day you won't know how much I love you.”
“I mean to hold you to that vow,” Eleanor said softly.
She had longed for love, for a cherished husband to grow old with, for children. And she knew Damon would fulfill her yearning. She saw a thousand sensual promises in his dark eyes as he gazed back at her.
Turning to gaze down at her new rose garden, she gave a dreamy sigh and rested her head against Damon's shoulder. “Aunt Beatrix will be relieved that we have made up,” Eleanor murmured. “She thinks you are the key to my happiness. I only regret that her own hopes for happiness have been crushed. She was greatly hurt to learn that Signor Vecchi was behind the threats against Prince Lazzara. But I suppose it is better for her to learn his true nature now, before her affections became even more deeply engaged.”
“No doubt. I was surprised that Vecchi would go to such lengths to keep you from wedding Lazzara, but I have no regrets that he succeeded.”
“You were clever to have divined the signor as the perpetrator.”
“I had help-from the Runners and from Havi-land. There is a great deal more to Haviland than meets the eye.”
Eleanor laughed to herself. “I would imagine so. A woman can sense these things, you know.”