Bella could feel her chest tighten as the word "marry" left his lips. That was a word they hadn't yet used, neither in spoken conversation nor in writing, and it brought a whole new slew of emotions. It was practically a proposal without the question mark, but she supposed it was better phrased this way—she didn't have to make any decision on the spot. "I would too," she murmured, gently stroking her thumb across his bottom lip. "... if circumstances weren't what they are." She'd wanted to marry him. How many times had she dreamed of introducing herself as "Mrs. Annabelle Gladstone" only to dismiss it as a silly dream? Too many. Way too many.

"I loved you, too. I-I do, but—" There was no good way to verbalize her fears, not without upsetting him or making a fool of herself. "If I were to marry you, I would have love and comfort... but what of freedom? Adventure? I don't want to be locked away in some country estate." And that was assuming his theoretical marriage to her didn't offend his parents so much that they wrote him out of their will.

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