“Thank God,” he said gratefully to his wife that night as they undressed.

“She’s a very lucky girl,” Victoria agreed, but she felt lucky, too, and she kissed her husband tenderly, thinking of their own wedding, and their honeymoon, and how happy they had always been. She was happy knowing that Sarah would know some of that joy too. She had had such a dreadful time with Freddie, and the poor child really didn’t deserve it But the Fates had more than made it up to her now. William was larger than life, and a blessing for a lifetime.

On their last day in London, Sarah was a nervous wreck. She had a thousand things to do, and William wanted her to take a serious look at his house in London. He had bought it when he was eighteen, and it was a delightful accommodation for a bachelor, but he couldn’t imagine her being happy in it for very long. And he wanted to know now if she wanted him to look for something larger, or wait until they got back from their honeymoon in France, after Christmas.

“Darling, I love it!” she exclaimed as she examined the well designed and extremely tidy quarters. It wasn’t large, but it was, in all, no smaller than the apartment she had shared with Freddie. “I think it’s perfect. For now anyway.” She couldn’t imagine their needing more room until they had a baby. There was a large, sunny living room downstairs, a small library filled to the brim with beautifully bound old books William had brought from Whitfield years before, there was a cozy kitchen, a tidy dining room large enough for any dinner party she could manage, and upstairs there was one large, very handsome, and somewhat masculine bedroom. There were two baths, one which he used, and another for guests downstairs. As far as Sarah was concerned, it was perfect.

“What about closets?” He was trying to think of everything and this was all new to him, but more than anything he wanted her to be happy. “I’ll give you half of mine. I can move most of what I have down to Whitfield.” He was amazingly accommodating for a man who had always lived alone, and never been married.

“I just won’t bring any clothes.”

“I have a better idea. We’ll stay naked.” He was getting friskier knowing that soon she would be his wife.

But in any case, she loved his house, and she assured him that he didn’t need to find her another. “You’re very easy to please.”

“Wait,” she said mischievously at him. “Maybe I’ll turn into a shrew once we’re married.”

“If you do, I shall beat you, and it won’t be a problem.”

“That sounds exotic.” She raised an eyebrow and he laughed He could hardly wait to take off her clothes and make love to her for days on end. It was a good thing she was sailing the following morning.

They had dinner alone that night, and William brought her back to the hotel reluctantly. He would much rather have taken her home with him for their last night, but he was determined to behave like a man of honor, no matter what it cost him. And it was costing him dearly as they stood outside her hotel.

“This isn’t easy, you know,” he complained, “this respectable nonsense. I may appear in New York next week, and have to kidnap you somewhere. Waiting until December is beginning to seem inhuman.”

“It is, isn’t it,” she mused, but they both thought they should wait, although she was no longer quite sure why it had once seemed so important to both of them. And it was odd, as sad as it still made her to think about it, she was more philosophical about her miscarriage. If she hadn’t had that, she would have Freddie’s child, or maybe even still be married to Freddie. And now she was free to start a new life, with a clean slate, and she fervently hoped that she and William would have many, many children. They talked about five or six, or at least four, and the prospect obviously pleased him. Everything about his life with her excited him, and they could hardly wait, as he took her upstairs and stood outside her suite.

“Do you want to come in for a minute?” she suggested, and he nodded. Her parents had long since gone to bed, and he wanted to be with her for every possible moment they could share before she sailed in the morning.

He followed her in, and she dropped her wrap and her evening bag on a chair and offered him a brandy, but he declined it. There was something he had been waiting all evening to give her.

“Come and sit down with me, Miss Sarah.”

“Will you behave?” She looked at him teasingly and he laughed.

“Not if you look like that, and probably not anyway, but come and sit down for a minute. I can be trusted for that long, if not longer.”

He sat down on the chintz settee, and she sat down beside him, as he reached for something in his coat pocket. “Close your eyes,” he told her with a smile.

“What are you going to do to me?” She was laughing, but she closed her eyes anyway.

“Paint a mustache on you, you goose…. What do you think I’m going to do?” But before she could answer, he kissed her. And as he did, he took her left hand in his, and slipped a ring on her finger. She felt the chill of cool metal as it went on, and after he kissed her, she looked down at her hand nervously, and gasped at what she saw there. Even in the dimly lit room, she could see that it was an exquisite stone, and an old cut, which she greatly preferred to modern. There was a perfectly round, twenty carat, absolutely flawless diamond on her left hand.

“My father had it made for my mother at Garrard’s when they got engaged. It’s a very, very fine stone, and an old one. And she wanted you to have it.”

“This is your mother’s engagement ring?” She looked at him with tear-filled eyes.

“It is. She wants you to have it. We talked about it for a long time, and I was going to buy you a new one, but she wanted you to have this one. She can’t wear it anymore anyway, since she’s had arthritis.”

“Oh, William …” It was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen, and she held out her hand and flashed it in the dim light. It was an absolutely fabulous engagement ring, and Sarah had never been so happy in her entire life.

“That’s just to remind you who you belong to, when you get on that bloody ship tomorrow, and go so damn far away I can’t bear to think about it at all. I’m going to be calling you every hour in New York until I get there.”

“Why don’t you come over early?” She was looking at the ring as she said it, and he smiled. He was pleased that she obviously loved it, and he knew his mother would be pleased too. It had been an incredibly generous gesture on her part.

“Actually, I might. I was thinking about October, but I’ve got so damn much to do here. I’ll have to see what’s happening with the farm by then.” There had been some problems he still had to work out, and he had to make an appearance at the House of Lords before he left London. “In any case, I’ll be there by die first of November without fail. I’m sure you’ll be half mad by then with plans for the wedding. And I’ll get in everyone’s hair, but I don’t give a damn. I can’t wait to see you any longer than that.” He kissed her longingly then, and the two of them almost forgot themselves as they lay on the couch, and he ran long, hungry fingers along her exquisite body. “Oh, Sarah … God …” She could feel him throbbing for her, but she wanted to wait until their wedding. She wanted this to be like the first time, as though there had been no other wedding, and no Freddie. If William had been the first man in her life, they would have waited, and so she wanted to now, except that there were moments like this one when she almost forgot that. Her legs moved aside, gently welcoming him, and he moved toward her powerfully, and then he forced himself to pull away from her and stood up with a groan of regret, but he wanted to wait, too, out of respect for her and their marriage. “Maybe it’s a good thing you’re leaving,” he said huskily as he walked around the room trying to calm his senses, and she stood up looking dishevelled and passionate as she nodded at him. And then suddenly, she laughed at him. They both looked like overheated children.

“Aren’t we awful?”

“Not really.” He laughed. “I can hardly wait.”

“Neither can I,” she confessed.

And then he asked her something he knew he shouldn’t. “Was it … was it ever like this … with him?” His voice was deep and sexual as he asked her, but he had wanted to know that for a long time. She had said she hadn’t loved him, but he always wondered a little about the rest.

Sarah shook her head slowly and sadly. “No, it wasn’t. It was empty … and without feeling…. Darling, he never loved me, and I know now that I never loved him. There has never been a love in my life like ours. … I have never loved, or lived, or even existed until you found me. And from now until I die, you will be my only love.” There were tears in his eyes this time when he kissed her. But this time, he didn’t let it go too far, and feeling happier than he had in his entire life, he left her until the next morning.

She lay awake for most of that night, thinking of him, and admiring her engagement ring in the dark. And the next morning, she called the Duchess of Whitfield to tell her how much the ring meant to her, how grateful she was to have it, and how much she loved William.

“That’s all that matters, dear. But jewels are always such fun, aren’t they? Have a safe trip … and a beautiful wedding.”

Sarah thanked her and finished her packing, and William met them an hour later in the lobby. She was wearing a white wool Chanel suit, made especially for her in Paris by Coco Chanel, and her smashing new engagement ring, and William almost devoured her when he kissed her. He hadn’t forgotten the desire she had aroused in him as they lay on the couch in her suite the night before, and he wished he were going with them on the Queen Mary. “I imagine your father is glad I’m not.”