He didn't know what I was thinking. His voice softened. "Serafina, I fought on the frontier for ten years, and you waited for ten. Everyone in Aurelia knows the depth of your devotion."
"Saying you won't marry me now, that's just anger talking."
"This ring is the one you gave me before my first campaign. I'm leaving it with you. On our wedding day, you'll tie it on me yourself."
He thought that lowering his tone and producing an old keepsake would be enough to coax me down the steps he'd so graciously laid out.
Where did he get that kind of confidence?
Dominic said his piece and left.
I picked up the jade ring and tossed it into the painter's supply case.
"Miss, this looks far too valuable. I couldn't possibly keep it."
The painter fished the ring out carefully and held it back to me.
I waved him off. "It's yours."
"Do a good job on the portrait. If I'm selected, there'll be more where that came from."
The painter thanked me over and over.
"A beauty like you, Miss, is certain to be chosen."
I smiled and said nothing.
In the days that followed, while I waited for word from the Montecarlo estate, Dominic came calling constantly.
Every visit, he brought armfuls of gifts.