And George loved him.
EPILOGUE
THEO
Three years later
“Are you sure you’ll be all right while we’re away?” Theo asked again.
Robert Martin rolled his eyes. “For God’s sake, man. Yes. Everything will be fine. Why would it not be?”
Theo nodded, but it was difficult to settle the faint anxiety that churned inside him. It was the first time they’d left Blackfriars for any length of time, and he and George were going to be gone for several months. He glanced over at the hired carriage currently being strapped up with their trunks. George stood beside it, chatting to the coachman, looking far calmer and more at ease than Theo felt.
“You don’t need to worry, you know,” Robert said, his voice soft and amused. He’d regained most of his old strength and only had a faint limp on one leg that became noticeable when he was tired.
“I know,” Theo said. And he did, but leaving Blackfriars—even in Robert’s tender care—was proving to be surprisingly anxiety-inducing. It felt like something of a dereliction of duty to go swanning off to the Lake District for the summer, when everything was at its most bustling and busiest.
On the other hand, he couldn’t wait to take George to all his favourite places. To share all that astonishing beauty with him and see it through his eyes. So, yes, as anxious as he was, he was very much looking forward to this trip. He was going to enjoy every minute of it. He was going to be a feckless grasshopper for a whole summer, sawing on his fiddle while the sun shone. And then he was going to come home, and return to being an ant. With his love. With George.
Theo had revealed his desire to take George away on a trip to Robert the year before. They’d just finished bringing in the harvest, and Theo had been in his cups after too much strong cider. He’d been waxing lyrical about George’s perfection—a rather embarrassing tendency he had developed that emerged when he’d had too much to drink—and about how he wanted to show George the world. After that night, Robert had encouraged Theo to follow up on his plan, pointing out that life was an uncertain thing and opportunities not seized might be lost. Initially, Theo had been reluctant. Robert’s recovery, though steady, had been slow. But then one day, a few months later, after a bad snowstorm, he’d watched as the man had waded into a deep snow drift and pulled out a trapped ewe, lifting the freezing animal out and carrying it over to the rest of the herd in his arms. When he’d returned to Theo’s side, he hadn’t even been breathing very hard, and Theo had found himself saying, “Would you mind if George and I went away next summer?”
He wasn’t quite ready to embark on anything as adventurous as heading for the Continent again. It was a comfort to know that, if he was needed at short notice, he could be back in Wales within a few days. Perhaps they could consider a longer trip in a few years’ time. He’d love to walk through the Aare Gorge with George. But there was plenty of time for that. And on this trip there would be Scafell Pike and Skiddaw, Hawkshead and Grasmere and Ambleside.
Theo watched as George clapped the coachman on the shoulder, then turned and walked towards Theo and Robert.
“Are you ready to go?” George asked Theo when he reached them. “The coachman was saying we should get on our way. He thinks there’s rain coming, and the sooner we make it to the first inn, the better.”
“Yes,” Theo said, his heart skipping in his chest with excitement.
They said their farewells, George beaming when Mrs. Ford pressed a basket brimming with provisions into his arms.
“I know how hungry you get,” she said. “I’ve baked your favourite treacle scones, and there’s ham-and-egg pie and a good wedge of Mrs. Morgan’s new cheese. It’s lovely, but mind and have it with an apple for your digestion.”
“I will,” George said, pressing a quick kiss to her pink cheek. He climbed into the carriage and set the basket carefully in one corner while Theo clambered in after him. And then Tom was closing the carriage door behind them and the coachman was clicking at the horses. A moment later, the wheels began to slowly turn, and they were off.
They each leaned out of one window, waving at their small household—Robert, who now lived at the main house with them, and Mrs. Ford, tirelessly cheerful. Tom who had spent a year and half as a stable lad and was now their groom, and the two maids, Annie and Bess, who had made Mrs. Ford’s life so much easier.
When the coach went round the bend, they retreated back inside, settling themselves on the padded bench seat, side by side, turning their heads to look at one another.
Theo suspected his expression was a mirror of George’s which was bright with happy excitement, his eyes shining.
“We’re on our way!”
“We are,” Theo agreed. “I can't wait to show you all my favourite places.”
George's smile grew tender, his dark gaze soft with affection. He brushed their lips together. “Perhaps you won’t want to come back,” he teased.
Theo shook his head. “I intend to enjoy every moment of this trip to the full,” he said, “and then I want to come home, with you.”
George stilled. “All right,” he whispered. “Then that’s what we’ll do.”
“Besides,” Theo murmured, “you’ll be an uncle again soon, and Freddy was very keen that you get back in time for the baby’s christening.”
George laughed softly. “The baby’s not due till October. We’ll get to Wiltshire in plenty of time.”
Freddy’s recent and rather unconventional marriage to Aurelie, a teacher at the village school, had taken everyone rather by surprise. But when Theo and George had met her, they’d agreed they couldn’t imagine anyone more suited to Freddy’s temperament. Kit, who had been the one to hire Aurelie, could not have been more pleased at this outcome. In fact, he was so pleased, George couldn’t help but wonder if he’d been matchmaking. And if Kit was happy, Henry was happy. The ton could gossip and feign shock to its heart’s content. Freddy and his family didn’t give a hoot.
“That babe may one day be the Duke of Avesbury,” Theo said, brushing his nose against George’s.
