I think this is one of the most romantic things I have ever written…

He strode determinately up to her. Not faltering in his step, nor in his expression.

She regarded him warily, not knowing what to expect. She had avoided him as much as possible within the previous week, not knowing how he would react to her presence and not wanting to endure another tongue lashing. Her heart ached enough.

When he continued on his path towards her, she stood, facing him head on. He made no move to change his path, nor slow down till he was almost upon her. He did not stop till he was directly in front of her.

She shifted her gaze to the ground, unable to look him in the eye. Not wanting to see the contempt and hurt in them that was completely aimed at her, and her alone. She did not have long to view the ground beneath her feet, as his hand came into view, and being placed under her chin, lifted her head so that she was facing him.

The range of emotions that where swirling in his eyes, caused her mouth to open in question but no words where admitted as his mouth came down upon hers. Caught by surprise, she froze for a moment before her eyes fluttered shut and her gave herself over to him.

Responding to the relaxation he felt spreading throughout her body, he gathered his arms about her, holding her in place against him and revelling in the fact he could once again hold her as such. Had he his way, he might never let her go again.

Neither knew how long they stayed as such for no one was around to interrupt them, and for that they where glad. Much would be needed to be said, but for now they took comfort in one another's arms.

When they finally parted her gaze fell again to the ground. His present behaviour was so different from how he had been acting over the past month and she did not know what was to come next. She felt a steady stream of tears rain down her cheeks as she waited for him to do something.

He tilted her head and tenderly wiped away the tears that had fallen from her eyes.

"I am so sorry," he murmured, placing feather light kisses along her cheeks, temple and the crown of her head as he grasped her to him and she buried her head in his shoulder. He placed his cheek on the top of her head and rocked her gently as she finally succumbed to the sobs that had been threatening to overwhelm her.

He spoke to her whilst she let out some of the emotion she had been harbouring since this whole incident started. Afterwards she could not recall what he had said, more soothed by the tone of his voice rather than the words in which he said to her.

"Is it really you?" she muttered quietly. Her hand, that had been resting around his waist, slowly travelled up his body and she drew the backs of her fingers along one side of his cheek before moving to cup the other. He leaned into her touch and closed his eyes with a contented sigh.

"It's me," he told her, quickly turning his head to kiss the inside of her palm before settling back into her touch. He had missed this. He had not known for a while that it existed, but he now felt the loss that had been.

"Anne," he breathed out. Longing and want, love and adoration, apology and need all expressed in one single word. He opened his eyes and looked directly at her, "Marry me?" he asked.

"Perhaps you are not as recovered as you thought," she said with a smile as he took both her hands in his and raised them to his chest, holding them in place firmly over his heart. "I have already accepted."

He nodded. "I know," he said, before he could dipping his head for another quick kiss. "But I was thinking about tomorrow."

"Tomorrow!"

"Why not? Edward, I am sure, would be honoured to perform the ceremony and we have the special licence. Anne," he said, the strength of his voice alone calling all of her attention. "I do not want to wait. If this incident has taught me anything, it is that I should not wait to accomplish the things I most desire in my life, and you, my dearest, sweetest Anne, I desire nothing more that to make you my wife."

There where tears in her eyes again, and as he gently wiped them from her cheeks, they shared a small laugh as she did the same for him.

She swallowed thickly, "Yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes!"

Who could be in of any doubt as to what followed? When two young people, so adamantly and emphatically in love as they where with one another, set out to marry the very next day, it was certain to come to pass.

The affair was a small and intimate one, with only the family of each party and a few close friends being present in the small church at Kellynch. Being currently in Bath, the father of bride was unable to attend and do his duty but sent a very proper letter wishing the couple of the best.

The duty of giving Anne away fell to her brother in law, a charge that Charles took to heart and preformed to the greatest of his ability. He was extremely fond of his sister in law and very glad to see her finally happy. Wentworth, he thought, could have done no better than had he married one of Charles' own sisters.

Though not usually an overly emotional woman, Sophia Croft found herself with tears in her eyes throughout the whole service. She could not completely describe the feeling that seeing her youngest brother finally married and so utterly in love with the woman that he was at that moment pledging is life to, but it felt something akin to what she had experienced on her own wedding day.

She found an unlikely ally in Mary Musgrove who, after being applied to the previous day, had taken to the task of making arrangements and making sure that everyone knew their place, and now took tremendous pleasure in having both a sister married and so many people saying what a wonderful service it was. She too had tears of joy littering her face and the two woman stood side by side as their families where joined.

None could be happier, or in more bliss, than the couple themselves. It had taken them over nine years to reach this point, but as he admitted to her later on that evening, he believed that they had been destined to end up at this point.

"I did not think it possible," he said, "as for years I harboured such a deep resentment towards you, but it was always there and it took being in your company again, to seeing you and hearing you, to the events in both Lyme and Bath that finally made me see it. You where always the only one for me and one way or another, I was always going to make my way back to you."

"Do you think you could have been happy?" she asked, "With someone else?"

He pondered for a moment, "Some degree of happiness, I think I could have experienced, but nothing on this scale and there would never have been a love like this." He kissed her forehead, slowly trailing kisses down the side of her face and jaw line to her lips, "Never like this."

Phew…was that a chapter, or was that a chapter?

I have to honestly say, I think this is one of the best chapters I have ever written. Especially the first section. I just read it aloud and wow. Made me all excited.

Thank you all for staying with me through this. I know I promised it was going to be finished fairly shortly after I started posting but, as usual, my muse decided to move on, but not before finishing the last two chapters. Life sucks like that, doesn't it?