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"Probably not," he agreed, but he ate it, anyway

She waited patiently while he finished, then she waited patiently while he sat on the edge of the cot, trying to suth

She was a patient wo three days at his boring bedside Not ht about her journey across the Atlantic To get word of her brother and then decide to go help hi it would take months

That too bore the hallmark of a patient individual

He wondered if she so to have to be patient for a bit longer, he thought gris were like jelly He could barely walk Hell, even just standing was a chore, and as for oing to have to wait

More was the pity

Although it did occur to hiet out of this union if they so chose Annulal e If he did not want to be married, he was fairly certain he did not have to be

"Edward?"

Her voice tickled at the edge of his hts to respond Did he wish to be married to her? If not, he daht not possess the strength to take her properly to bed, but if they shared a roohly co hi at hi clarity of her eyes

She laid a hand over his "Are you certain you are well enough to leave today? Should I find the doctor?"

He searched her face "Do you want to beclose to alarm raced over her features "I don’t understand"

"You don’t have to be married to e"

Her lips parted, and oddly enough, he could see that she was not breathing "I thought you didn’t remember," she whispered

"I don’t have to reic I was in Connecticut when you arrived We had never been in a rooether before you came to the hospital"

She sed, and his eyes fell to her throat, to the delicate arc of it, to the pulse quivering under her skin

God, he wanted to kiss her

"What do you want, Cecilia?"

Say you want h his brain He did not want her to leave him He could barely stand on his own It would be weeks before he’d regain even half his strength He needed her

And he wanted her

But most of all, he wanted her to want him

Cecilia did not speak for several seconds Her hand left his, and she hugged her ar at a soldier on the other side of the church as she asked, "Are you offering to release me?"

"If that is what you want"

Slowly, her eyes met his "What do you want?"

"That is not the question"

"I rather think it is"

"I aentleman," he said stiffly "I will bow to your wishes in this ht her lower lip between her teeth "Idon’t want you to feel trapped"

"I don’t feel trapped"

"You don’t?" She sounded honestly surprised