With Victoria’s Blessing

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‘Richard!’ Her eyes lit up and her mouth flew open.

‘You are surprised?’

‘Surprised and delighted. Have you spoken to my papa about it?’

‘No, dearest one, I wanted to be sure that it was your wish before I did that. Have I your permission to approach him?’

‘Yes, oh, yes.’

He took her hand from his sleeve and raised it to his lips. ‘Thank you, my darling, you have made me the happiest man in the world.’

They walked on and it seemed she was floating on air, because her feet hardly touched the ground. She was hanging on to his arm with both hands in order to feel him close to her, well aware that it was a shocking way to behave. But she was also aware that her parents expected her to marry someone of her own rank and Richard could hardly be called that.

‘You know we cannot marry immediately,’ he said, almost as if echoing her thoughts. ‘Although I do not have to rely on my lieutenant’s pay. Admiral Grayson, my maternal grandfather, invested some of his own prize money on my behalf, which brings in a fair return, but even with that, I still could not give you the life you have been used to. And I have no title or noble connections which might make a difference.’

‘I do not care about titles. I would live in a garret with you.’

He laughed. ‘My darling, brought up in luxury, you can have no idea of what living in a garret is like. I promise you, you would not care for it, and as I am often away at sea you would be lonely without a companion.’

‘You ask me to marry you in one breath and then tell me we cannot in the next,’ she said, her joy slowly evaporating.

‘I know. I should not have said anything to you, but it has been eating away at me, day by day, until I could keep silent no longer. I simply had to speak.’