Anna, Sarah, and I imagined you emitted an unladylike snort because I did not offer you salutations as Georgie. In our defense, Aunt Thomasina is smugly peeking over my shoulder as I pen this letter. She professes she always knew you would make a splendid match with one of the most sought-after bachelors of the season. Our aunt swears this to be true. While she bemoaned the scandal that rocked thehaut ton, after the earl was seen chasing you to profess his love, our aunt is magnanimous, and she has forgiven him for embroiling us in it, given the wonderful outcome.
We dearly miss you and were heartened to receive your letter from New York. We are very eager to discover the new dishes you learned to create, and we were even more pleased by the praises the queen lavished on your cookbook. There is even a rumor that the chef of Buckingham Palace has used some of your recipes. The special news I wanted to inform you of, Georgie, is that Mr. Hayle and I will be expecting our first child in a handful of months. Only yesterday, the physician confirmed it to us. Oh, Georgie, I cannot adequately expressmy joy. We are very happy.
Anna and Sarah are doing well, and they miss you and Lord Stannis dearly. They were very happy when I told them they would reside with you and the earl, upon your return to England, at his principal estate. Anna claimed Midge, Nellie, and Hetty would be most pleased by the copious lands they would now have to roam. In my next letter, I shall update you on all the latest gossip milling about in society. I send good wishes and tidings to you and the earl.
Your sister,
Mrs. Elizabeth Hayle.
Smiling, Georgianna folded the letter and pushed it into the deep pockets of her dress as hands slipped around her waist. A fierce rush of love clutched her heart, and she leaned back against the heated warmth of her husband.
“You are reading it again?”
“Yes,” she murmured. “I miss them so. I did not reply to Lizzie, because I knew we would arrive before my letter reached her.”
“They will be happy to see you.”
Georgianna smiled, gasping when the ship dipped and water sprayed them on the top deck. “I will be so happy to be off this ship!”
His soft laughter curled around her. “We will dock in a few hours.”
“Are you certain?”
“The captain confirmed it earlier.”
Turning into the cage of his arms, she peered up at him. “Do you think thehaut tonwill still remember our scandal?”
His eyes gleamed with good humor. “I daresay, even in ten years, no one will forget that I chased your carriage wearing one shoe.”
She laughed, burying her face against his chest. “It has been a year!”
Georgianna was not truly worried about their reception by society. While at the home Daniel had bought for them in New York, she had been shocked to receive a letter from the queen, praising her creativity and ingenuity with the dishes in her cookbook. The last year had been a wonderful experience and adventure for her.
They had scandalized everyone by officially marrying only days after Daniel proposed, then departing England’s shore for New York within the month. She had not been outrageous enough to accept Mr. Gervase’s offer now that she was a countess. However, she still visited his grand hotel and explored America, learning about their culture through food. Daniel had promised they could travel to Vienna and Italy afterward, but she missed her family dreadfully and knew that he missed his, too.
“If you are worried, Beswick wrote to me about some duel Moncrieff fought over a lady. I never knew he had it in him; nonetheless, that scandal seems to preoccupy society. I am sure they will have no thought of us.”
Georgianna lifted her head from his chest. “Aduel?”
“Yes.”
“They have been outlawed for years. How could he partake so publicly that thehaut tonknows about it?”
Daniel grinned. “It seems he has finally fallen in love, but the lady is not falling so easily under his charm. Good for her, I say.”
She blinked, for he had regaled her with tales about his friends, the Earl of Creswick, the Duke of Beswick, and the Marquess of Moncrieff. Given the tales she had heard, the marquess seemed the one most unlikely to ever be caught in his own throes of love.
Daniel cupped her face, tilting it upward. He pressed a kiss to her mouth, swallowing her soft gasp. “You are going to scandalize the other guests!” she said.
“We are the only ones mad enough to be up this early, my love.”
She giggled, for he had woken her quite early for them to catch the sunrise. Georgianna slipped her hands around his nape, holding him to her and returning his kiss with all the love she had in her heart. Pulling her mouth from his, she traced a finger over his brow. “You remember those gifts you were seeking for Nana?”
He groaned in mock horror. “Must you remind me that I have her wrath to face for being away for so long?”
Georgianna smiled. “I have the perfect gift to add to yours. I am certain she will be so happy.”
“I am afraid nothing will be able to beat the pink diamond I got for her. That woman loves her jewelry.”
