“What’s your answer, Elle?”“Yes,” she said.“Then here’s the rest of what I’ve been doing during your party,” he said.He knelt and slipped the ring onto her finger.“I’ll never be able to wear this in the pen,” she said. “It’s so heavy I won’t be able to run with it on.”“No problem,” he said. “I’ll be right there outside the gate holdin’ it for you until you come back.”

“Then let me be your mercy,” he said. “I’ll never be able to give you smart answers about why we suffer, but I can come into your world and try to be some kind of help to you.”

“Say it,” she said, and he said, “I love you. I’ll always love you. Forever. It’s a life sentence. Now put the damn ring on.”

“You’ll wear loads of face powder and rouge.”“They’ll itch.” She knew from experimenting with Cousin Augusta’s.“And you must use a false name.”“I’ll forget it. I know it.”He sighed. “You can’t afford to forget it.”“Then it must be Delilah,” she said. “It’s the only name I’ll be able to remember.”“Why Delilah?”“I don’t know. But I already know I won’t forget it.”

“I have a plan," he said."Yes," she said."Let's get married," he said."Yes," she said."Let's conquer the world," he said."Yes," she said. No one in her family had ever been accused of dreaming small."Let's bring the beau monde to its knees.""Yes.""Let's make them beg for your creations.""Yes," she said. "Yes, yes, yes.""Is tomorrow too soon?" he said."No." she said. "We've a great deal to do, you and I, conquering the world. We must start at once. We've not a minute to lose.""I love hearing you say that," he said.He kissed her. It lasted a long time. And they would last, she was sure, a lifetime. On that she'd wager anything.”

“He took the hand that wasn’t holding the bou­quet of wildflowers and stared at it, holding it so tightly that she thought he might crack her bones. Then his hold gentled. He slipped a gold ring onto her finger and lifted his gaze to hers.“I’m not a brave man; I’ll never be a hero, but I love you more than life itself, and I will until the day I die. With you by my side, I’m a better man than I’ve ever been alone. I’m scared to death that I’ll let you down, but I won’t run this time. I’ll stand firm and face the challenge and work hard to see that you never have any regrets. You told me once that you wanted to share a corner of my dream. Without you, Amelia, I have no dream. With you, I have everything I could ever dream of wanting.”Tears burned her eyes as he glanced back at the preacher. “I’m done.”-Houston to Amelia as his wedding vow.”