“Instead, he’d been so desperate to prove to her that he did indeed fulfill that final requirement of hers – that of being a heroic officer – that he’d been thoughtless. He’d been so eager to show her that he was indeed no deserter, no pirate, but an actual knight, indeed, that he’d sat here sweating in his finest dress uniform waiting for her to regain her senses. He had wanted to impress her. Surprise her. Instead, he had shocked her into oblivion.”
