“I think he made sure that if he couldn’t be here to see Lully and I through, you would. Do you mind?”
He laid his hand against her back and bent his head to hers. “I will be thankful every day of my life.”
For the longest time they remained where they were, pledging a new love, honoring an old one, setting a path for the future.
“Now,” he finally said. “Shall we go secure a duchy for your daughter?”
And for the first time in years, Georgie laughed with a free heart. “Yes,” she said, reaching up to kiss him one final time before sharing their news. “Let’s.”
* * *
Anyone lookingat the tableau in the Marquess of Wyndham’s Great Parlor would at first assume that the family gathered before him was seeking a boon, not making an accusation. The Marquess, white-haired and rigidly erect, sat in his favorite chair, the one that looked suspiciously like the Regent’s throne, his beringed hands clutching the chair arms, his austere face set in a terrifying scowl. His wife the Marchioness sat alongside him, just as regal in her puce damask day dress and ropes of heirloom pearls. Her patrician face, though, betrayed a bit of bemusement, as if she had stumbled onto a conversation that had already been in progress.
Along one side of the gathered gilt-edged Louis Quinze furniture sat Georgie’s brother Jack, the Earl of Gracechurch, and his wife Olivia, both humming with tension, both carrying battle scars, even though faded with time. Side by side on an elegant straw settee, he brunette and she blonde, they held hands, much to the Marquess’s discomfort and Georgie’s delight.
On the other side of the room sat Georgie and Adam, also holding hands. For the first time in her life, Georgie faced her father without fear. Without a word Adam reminded her of how strong she was.
“Where is the child?” the marquess barked.
“Why?” Georgie asked, knowing Adam would not intervene for her. “So you can try to nab her again?”
The marquess bristled. “Don’t be absurd, girl.”
The marchioness, her own white-haired head swiveling toward her husband, suddenly scowled. “What does she mean?”
“This does not concern you, madame,” he snapped at her. “I am speaking to your daughter.”
“That daughter who has new groomsmen,” Georgie said quite as calmly as when she’d faced the kidnappers. She hoped Adam had the brandy ready for when this was over. “Jem is not coming back, father. I should probably tell you that Jem’s father will be joining his son at our home where he is assured no one will coerce his family into illegal and immoral behavior. No one will ever again try to kidnap my daughter, sir.”
The marquess looked close to a seizure. “Howdareyou…?”
The marchioness stiffened. “Kidnap?”
“Don’t be absurd,” he barked.
Georgie had had enough of this. “I am not being absurd when you try to lock my four-year-old daughter away in a home for the insane.”
That brought the marchioness to her feet. “You said you would send her to Aunt Marguerite!” she shrilled at her husband. “You said that Lilly Charlotte was in danger where she was! You said Georgianaknew!”
This seemed finally too much for the marquess. “Itwaswhere she was going! Marguerite was waiting for her. What do you think me, a monster? Who told you such a lie, Georgiana?”
“Your gamekeeper,” Georgie said.
“Mylategamekeeper, in that case,” he retorted, then took his marchioness's hand. “I am strict, Leona. I am not a beast.”
“You vow to me?” the marchioness demanded.
And for the first time in her life, Georgie saw her father turn pleading eyes on anyone. “I vow. She needed proper upbringing for her new status, and I could not trust your daughter to manage it.”
Unfortunately for her father, that did not seem to please his wife. “You mean my daughterItrained up to her station?”
“You always said she should do better,” he protested.
“Of course I did. It is the only way to make children strive for the best. The reason she so bitterly disappointed me was because she was raised for a far better life than that of asailor’swife.” Said with the same disdain she might have used forragpicker.
“A war hero,” Georgie retorted as sternly as she knew how. Even so, she felt her shoulders ease just a bit, relieved at her father’s words. Even as fraught as their relationship was, she hadn’t wanted to believe the worst.
Adam squeezed her hand and smiled for her. “See? Some good news.”
