The Best of Daughters (44 page)

He rubbed his cheek against her hair. ‘Thank you, Daisy Bell, but you needn't worry. They turned me down.'

She drew away from him. ‘That was cruel and unkind. Why did you let me think that you were going back to France?'

‘I had to find out if your feelings for me were as deep as the ones I have for you.' He put his hand in his breast pocket and took out her engagement ring, holding it so that the diamond twinkled in the light of the huge harvest moon that hung suspended in the darkening sky. ‘I'm not much of a catch, I'm afraid,
but I love you more than life itself. Will you marry me, my dearest Daisy Bell?'

She held out her hand so that he could slide the ring onto her finger. ‘Yes, with all my heart.' She stared at it, hardly daring to believe that she was not in the middle of a dream. ‘But there's one thing we must get straight, Rupert.'

His smile enveloped her in its warmth. ‘Anything. I'd give you the moon and stars if I had it in my power.'

She laid her hand on his chest, marvelling at the fire in the diamond which matched the flame in her heart. ‘I can't just be a good little woman who sits at home doing nothing.'

‘I realise that, my darling girl. I wouldn't have you any other way.'

‘I would want to keep the convalescent home going, even after the war is ended, which according to the papers might come quite soon. I want to found a charity for the returning heroes. There's so much I have to do, Rupert.'

His lips twitched and his eyes shone with amusement. ‘You drive a hard bargain, Miss Lennox. But I'm with you all the way.'

‘But do you accept?'

He threw back his head and laughed. ‘I thought that was my line. Yes, darling, with all my heart, I do.'

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Epub ISBN: 9781446456194

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Published by Arrow Books 2012

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Copyright © Dilly Court 2012

Dilly Court has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work

This novel is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author's imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental

First published in Great Britain in 2012 by

Arrow Books

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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 9780099562573