Stirring early the next morning, Blakes' eyes fluttered open and landed upon a sleeping Christopher. Tentitively, he reached out and brushed a finger lightly over Christophers' soft cheek.

Stirring, Christopher turned his head and smiled when his eyes rested on his love. "Good morning, Blake," Christopher whispered as he leaned over and tenderly kissed Blake's quivering lips. A soft moan escaped Blake's lips as he wrapped his arms around Christopher.

Tenderly returning the kiss, Blake rested his hands on Christophers' side. They remained there until he pulled away and lowered his eyes. "G...good morn...morning M'lord," he whispered quietly.

Putting his hands on his hips, Christopher looked at Blake, his eyes teasing. "M'lord?" he asked, laughing.

Not looking up at him, Blake nodded his head. "Ye...yes...M'lord. I...I cannot address you by your name."

"And why is that?" Christoper inquired.

"Be...because of...of last night," Blake whispered. "I...I cannot address you by your first name, as I am not joining your family." Even with his eyes lowered, his voice still cracked with the hidden emotions that were building up within him. "I...I am sorry M'lord."

"Blake, please," Christopher whispered, on the verge of tears. "I love you with all my heart and want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life making you happy."

"I...I am sorry M'lord," Blake again whispered. "I would give anything to except your offer, but...I...I cannot."

Getting down on one knee, Christopher took Blake's hand. "Blake, ever since I first laid eyes on you, I knew you were destined to be my husband. You are a gentle and kind person, and I have grown to love you very much. You never have to be afraid to be with me or to come to me with anything. I will always be here for you. I would never do anything to hurt you in any way and your needs will always come first. I will spend the rest of my life assuring you of how much you are loved." Reaching in his pocket, Christopher pulled out a small black box and opened it to reveal a simple gold band. Slipping the ring on Blake's finger, Christopher looked up at him, his eyes full of love. "Blake please...please do me the honor of becoming my husband."

Looking first at Christopher, then at the ring on his finger, then back to Christopher, Blake shook his head and slipped the ring off. Placing it in Christophers' palm, Blake closed his fingers around the ring. "I...I...M'lord, please. I cannot do you the honor. I would be taking up too much of your time, teaching me how to act, speak, and such. I was not raised to be a nobles' husband. I was raised to serve within the family. That is my place in this world."

Taking the ring and placing it back on Blake's finger, Christopher closed his hands around his young love's. "Would you like me to tell you a secret?" Christopher whispered.

"If...if you wish M'lord," Blake whispered, his eyes once again lowering to examine the thin cloth that made up his pajama pants.

"Before I married my husband, I was a commoner like Lance."

Looking up again, Blake tried to read Christophers' expression to see if he was joking. Being unable to determine if he was or not, Blake shook his head. "I...I...do not believe you M'lord," he whispered. "You are so refined, so proper. You must have been born a noble."

"It is true," Christopher replied simply. "The way you see me now? I learned all this from my husband. He was a wonderful man who had a very large heart. He was everything to me. When he died, I did not ever think I could love someone else like that...until you came along." Cupping Blake's cheeks in his hands, Christopher looked at him, tears beginning to fall. "Blake, I love you...and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you do me the honor of becoming my husband...will you marry me?"

Knowing they had been over all aspects the night before, Blake gulped and whispered, "I...I do not know how to be a noble...I've only known the role of being a servant. What if...what if I cannot adjust?"

"You will do fine," Christopher assured him. "Look at Lance. Even with his years of training, there was still much he did not know until Joseph taught him."

"May...may I have some time? This is overwelming to me. I...I think I need to discuss this with...with someone else."

"You may have all the time in the world, Blake," Christopher whispered. "Just know that I will not rest until I make you mine."

"Yes M'lord," Blake replied. Forgetting the doctors' orders, he slowly stood and started to make his way towards the door. "I...I would like to talk about this with...with Jason, or Edward. They...they have been here longer, and hopefully will be able to advise me on what I should do."

"Blake, you must rest...doctor's orders," Christopher whispered gently taking his arm and leading him back to bed. "I will go and get Edward for you." Opening the door, Christopher started to walk down the hall when he saw Edward walking toward him from the opposite direction.

"Good morning M'lord," Edward smiled. "I was on my way to see if you and Blake were awake and ready for breakfast."

"Yes, Edward," Christopher replied cheerfully. "I would like breakfast to be brought to my chambers, please."

Bowing low, the head servant nodded and answered, "Of course M'lord. Is Blake to dine with you as well or is going to be with the other servants today?"

"Blake is dining with me, today...I hope every day from now on."

"M'lord?" Edward asked curiously.

Christopher looked at Blake, his eyes shining with tears. "Edward, I've asked Blake to become my husband," the brown-eyed lord replied. "He says he needs time to think about it...that he would like to talk to you for you to advise him."

"Of course M'lord," Edward answered. "I will talk to him after breakfast is served, if that is alright with you? Or would you like me to talk to him sooner?"

"You may speak with him now, Edward," Christopher replied.

Hearing voices outside the room, Blake called quietly, "M...M'lo...Christopher?"

Edward quietly opened the door and peered in, smiling at the young servant. "Here is Edward, Blake," Christopher stated. "I will leave you two alone while you talk."

Nodding and sitting up slightly, Blake pulled the covers closer to him. "Thank you Christopher," he whispered, his voice shaking slightly.

Once Christopher left, Blake sat up a little, wincing in pain as he did. Edward helped him to sit up, concer written on his face.

Lowering his eyes, Blake explained what the doctor had told both him and Christopher the day before. "But that is the least of my concerns now," the younger servant confided. "Christo...I mean...M'lord has told you of his proposal?"

"Yes, he has spoken of it with me," Edward admitted. "I think it's wonderful. Lord Christopher is a very kind man. You will be well-loved and cared for by him."

"If I accept his offer," Blake pointed out. "I am not so sure about what to tell him. I am by no means prepaired to be a noble. I have nothing ot offer him."

"Blake, you are a very sweet and gentle person," Edward began. "You only seek to make others happy. You have already given something to Lord Christopher. You have made him happy when he did not think it possible to find someone he could love so completely as he did his husband."

"But I have not been trained in any aspect of what it is to be a noble, I have nothing suitable for a dowlry, and...and..." Tears starting to form in his eyes, Blake looked away in shame.

Tenderly taking Blake's hand, he looked up at the young servant. "Blake, when Lord Christopher's husband passed away, he was devastated. He spent a few weeks with us here and it was obvious how distraught he was. He and Lord Joseph talked for hours about it. He had begun to think he could never love again...that he would never find someone he could love so completely again...until he met you."

"I...I...I don't know if I can return his love. Not after what I told him last night," Blake replied, wipping away a tear and sniffling. "I told him that I had feelings for another person."

"Blake, I've served Lord Joseph and his family for many years," Edward continued. "I have gotten to know Lord Christopher very well. I have seen the way he looks at you, the way his face lights up whenever you walk into the room. He feels toward you the way Lord Joseph feels about Lord Lance." Looking at Edward, Blake was shocked to hear just how deep Christopher's feelings for him went.

"But...I do not know how to return his feelings. I...I..." Shaking his head, Blake scooted down under the covers and pulled them over his head. "I do not know what to do. This is all new to me."

Pulling back the covers gently, Edward again took his hand. "Blake, Lord Christopher loves you with all his heart. I can see it. I see the way his face lights up whenever you're in the room, and I know you feel the same for him? Is this in any way not true?"

"I...I do not know," Blake answered. "I never knew what it was like to 'love' someone. I do not even know what the feeling feels likes. I just know that I perfer serving Lord Christopher over Lord Justin and Lord Joshua. I...I want to see to his every need."

"Just love him, Blake. That's all. Just be yourself and love him.'

"But I have nothing of value to offer him," Blake whispered, shame filling his voice.

"You are a kind and gentle person, Blake," Edward replied. "You have given Christopher so much already...you given him the chance to open his heart to love again and that's the greatest gift you could have given him."

"But there are so many other people out there that could give him all he wanted and more then I ever could," Blake replied, trying to pull the covers back over himself. "What good would it be to have a servant as a husband? And I have already told him I do not have feelings for him..."

Edward yanked the covers off of Blake and pulled him into a sitting position. Taking his hands, he looked at him directly in the eye. "Blake, what has Lord Christopher asked of you?" the elderly man asked gently.

Grimicing in a mix of pain and fear, Blake tried looking away, but Edward held his chin so that his eyes remained on him. Stuttering, the younger servant replied, his voice a soft whisper, "Th...that I...I beco...become his husband..."

"Did he ask you for anything else?"

"That...that I...I...I do not remember," he answered honestly. "I was to frightened to think, or hear, anything else he had said after asking that I become his husband."

"Blake," Edward began gently. "It has taken a long time for Lord Christopher to open his heart up to love again. I have observed him around you. He loves you with all his heart...I can see it. And," he continued. "I believe that you love him, too. Am I not right?"

Closing his eyes, trying to will away the tears that had formed, Blake found that dispite his efforts, he began sobbing. Wrapping his arms around Edward, he cried as he asked for forgiveness. "I...I do feel for Lord Chr...Christopher," Blake revealed between sobs. "I...I...I do love him."

Holding the young servant in his arms, Edward rubbed his back slightly. "Then you must tell him how you feel, Blake," he replied gently. "He wants nothing more than to make you happy."

Sniffling, the young man whispered that he did want to be with Lord Christopher, to live with him, to make him happy. Yet at the same time, he did not want to leave Herfordshire. "This is my home Edward. I...I would not feel right in calling Lord Christophers' estate my home as well."

"And you will be here to visit, just as Lord Christopher is doing now. You will have two homes, Blake...the best of both worlds." Looking up into the young man's eyes, Edward smiled. "You wanted to talk to me about this, did you not?"

Nodding, Blake took a moment to collect his thoughts. Everything was just too overwhelming for him to handle. "I...I do not know what to tell him. I...I was hoping you could tell me what I should do?"

"You love him, Blake," Edward replied quietly. "That is obvious. And he loves you. Accept his propsoal. That is my advice."

Growing silent for a moment, deep in thought, Blake weighed both sides before looking back up at Edward. "In...in my room, in the top drawer of the dresser; there is a small cloth pouch. Could you...please bring it? And have Lord Christopher return?" It was obvious by his shaky voice that he was still having doubts about what he was doing, but he had asked. There was no turning back now.

"Of course," Edward replied as he walked to the door, assured that Blake would say yes to Christopher. Presently, Edward returned with Lord Christopher and the pouch Blake had asked for.

Holding a shaky hand out for the pouch, Blake did not make eye contact with Christopher, even when he sat down beside him on the bed. "Th...thank you Edward," he whispered instead, clutching the pouch tightly to his chest.

"I will leave you two alone," Edward replied, bowing to Christopher as he left the room. Christopher turned to Blake, his eyes on the pouch.

Continuing to clutch the pouch close to him, Blake began to explain his decission. "I...I do not have anything that is of value. I have not been trained in the facets of what it is like to be a noble, and I no longer have the purity a groom should have...before he weds..."

"Blake, that does not matter to me," Christopher replied. "All that matters is that I love you and I want to make you mine."

Keeping his eyes lowered, Blakes' arm extended slightly, offering the small pouch to Christopher.

"Wha...what is this?" Christopher whispered, looking at the pouch.

"My...my dowlry," Blake whispered. "A few coins I managed to save, a few piece of jewerly that my mother had given to me. They are the only things I have to my name." Looking up at Christopher finally, he added, "I know that this is no where near what a dowlry should be worth, but...it is all I have."

Tears cascading down Christopher's face, he took the small pouch and placed it in Blake's hand, closing his fingers around it. "Blake, my love," the elder lord whispered. "I do not need or want your money or your jewelry. All I want is you...to make you my husband and to love you for the rest of my life. I want only to be with you and to make you happy."

As tears again started to fall, Blake nodded and cupped Christophers' cheek in his hand. "If...if you will have me," he whispered. "Then...then I am honored to accept your...your offer."

"You...you...oh Blake," Christopher sobbed, holding his young husband-to-be in his arms. Overwhelmed, Blake began to sob, too.

"I...I take it then M'lord," Blake whispered a few minutes later, after they had bothed calmed down from their sobbing. "That...that your offer still...still stands?"

"Yes...yes...a thousand times yes," Christopher replied, hugging him again. Jumping up and running to he door, he called for Edward.

Running down the hallways, thinking something was wrong, Edward nearly fell over himself as he skidded to a hault. "Ye...yes M...M'lord?" he asked out of breath.

"I have news, Edward," Christopher replied, looking at Blake and smiling.

"M...M'lord?"

"Blake has agreed to become my husband," Christopher replied proudly, reaching for Blake's hand, and showing Edward the ring.

Smiling broadly, Edward nodded his head to the side. "Congradulations M'lord, Blake."

"Thank you, Edward," Christopher answered.

"Congratulations for what?" asked Joshua and Justin, who peered their heads in the door.

Instantly frighened by their presence, Blake gulped and lowered his head, pulling back his hand as well. Even though Christopher was there in the room with him, he still was Joshuas' servant, for the time being. "N...nothing M'lord," he whispered quietly, reverting completely back to his servant role.

"My husband-to-be seems shy at the moment," Christopher commented. "But I will say it; Blake and I are to be wed when Joseph returns.

Realizing one of his 'toys' was about to be taken away from him permenently, Joshua entered the room and glared at Blake, but addressed Christopher. "I did not give my concent. He is my servant and I will not let him out of his servitute."

Glaring at Joshua, his eyes narrowed into slits, Christopher's calm, but deadly voice startled Joshua somewhat. "And just who needs to ask for your permission?" he hissed. "As I recall, it was I Joseph put over the household in his absence. I have asked Blake to be my husband and he has accepted. The only person I need mention anything else to about the matter is Joseph. You are overstepping your bounds, Joshua."

"I hardly think I am," Joshua bit back once he regained his composure. "Joseph gave Blake to me as a servant, therefore I am the one you should have asked. I own him and I decide what his best for him. Not you, not Joseph, not even himself."

"Let me make this perfectly clear, Joshua," Christopher retorted. "I am in charge of the household while Joseph is away; I make the decisions. I decided that Blake will be my husband and he will become my husband...make no mistake about that. "

Shooting a menacing glare in the servants' direction, Joshua took a step back. "Do not be so sure about that Christopher. He is still my servant until you sign the papers, deeming him a noble." Looking towards Blake again, he added, "I will see you in my chambers in one hour Blake. Understand?"

Looking at Blake, Christopher motioned for Edward to come forward. "Edward, take Blake to the stables and tell Jason to prepare Seti and Midnight at once. My husband-to-be and I are going to take an afternoon ride."

Unsure as to who to listen to, Edward stood still, his eyes going between Joshua and Christopher.

"Christopher," came a quiet voice. "What about the doctors' orders? That I should rest for a day or two?"

"You are right, my love," Christopher whispered, wrapping his arms around Blake. "You do need to rest.' Pulling back the covers, Christopher helped Blake into bed and sat down beside him. Leaning over he kissed him gently on the lips, shocking Justin and angering Joshua further.

His hands forming tight fists at his sides, Joshua shouted, "Joseph will hear about this!" before turning and storming from the room. Marching down to the stables, he barked out orders left and right. "Get Ares ready to ride NOW Jason!!"

"Y...yes, M'lord," Jason replied hurrying to his task.

"Hurry up with it!" Joshua barked, startling the horses in their stalls. He didn't care that all but Ares frightened; he just wanted; needed; to get out of there. Finishing his task, Jason led Ares out of the stall, handing the reins to Joshua, who snatched them out of his hand.

Mounting Ares, Joshua kicked the horses' side and galloped off, shouting over his shoulder that Justin would know where he would be should anyone need him.

"Y...yes, M'lord," Jason replied as Joshua tore off into the woods.