He dipped his head. “I accept your critique. However, I pledge to remain inept in that regard, so long as you promise the same.”
“I do, my love. I do. After all, I am to become an Ashford. Hating the enemy would prove self-defeating.”
He laughed “I had not thought of that. You, an Ashford.”
With those words, the finality of the decision dawned on her. She disentangled from him. “Where do we begin? How will we survive?”
He nodded grimly. Apparently, the same question lingered for him. “You still own your mill, which we might resurrect when this string of failed crops comes to an end. We have more than two hundred pounds remaining from the gold our ancestors so thoughtfully put aside. And we have Beelzebub. Mr. Barlow insisted. Given the horse’s surly nature, I wonder if we should count him as an asset or a liability?”
“A bit of both,” she said with a grin. “There are two sides to every coin. We cannot predict how a coin may fall, but we can forge a new path, regardless of the outcome.”
He nodded. “Well said, sweet Jane. Well said. I have been told by those much wiser than I that love will always find a way. We will find a way.”
“Jane!” Aunt Hester’s call pulled her away from Adam. Her aunt approached on Mr. Barlow’s arm, treading the mud much more carefully than Jane had. Thomas had wandered near as well. She blushed, wondering how much of the kissing they had witnessed. Thomas’s rubbing of the back of his neck with discomfort and Aunt Hester’s wry smile answered that question. She approached Jane.
“Well?”
Jane nodded vigorously as a smile erupted across her face. “Mr. Ashford and I are betrothed.”
Her aunt sighed. “Thank God. And might I add, a fine and appropriate end to a ridiculous feud. Now, it seems, the spring will bring two weddings.”
Mild astonishment seized Jane. “You and Mr. Barlow.”
This time, it was Aunt Hester’s turn to blush. “Yes. He asked for my hand as we strolled the field to find you.”
Jane embraced her aunt. “My heart overflows for you, Auntie. You deserve happiness more than anyone I know.”
“Thank you, dear.”
They clutched each other for a moment before separating. Meanwhile, Adam and Thomas congratulated Mr. Barlow with hearty handshakes. Adam laughed.
“As we will soon become family, Mr. Barlow, might you set aside a room for Jane and me? It seems we are nearly as poor as church mice.”
“Perhaps not,” said Thomas.
Jane turned to the old man, wondering at the pensive quality of his voice. “Mr. Chance? Why do you say so?”
“The mine, Miss Hancock. You and your betrothed still own the mining rights for that entire section of the mountain for another twenty-nine years.”
Jane frowned. “But did you not say that all the slate had been taken from the area?”
“I did.”
“Then I fail to understand.”
Thomas grinned. “It’s like this. During the past seventy years, copper mining companies came to Coniston and brought newer mining techniques, better mining techniques, all the way from Germany. They drove the shafts deeper and collected a horde of copper from beneath the old slate mines. Twenty years ago, those mines began to run dry. However…”
Realization struck Jane. “They did not mine our section!”
“Right, miss.”
“Of course!” said Adam. “A fortune in copper may still lie beneath.”
“My thoughts exactly, sir.”
Adam began to pace, thinking aloud. “We could reopen the mine. We could employ the good people of Coniston, gray hairs and all. We could carry them through the winter. They know mining. They would know exactly what to do. If only we can find investors to seed the process.”
“Leave that to me,” said Mr. Barlow. “One of the side benefits of my title as the most effective solicitor in London is that I know everyone’s tawdry little secrets. I can think of many well-connected ladies and gentlemen who might be willing to invest a reasonable sum in a mining venture, given sufficient prodding.”
