Page 55 of A Gifted Earl

“I can forget Jasper, in all his vileness, when that same library was the site of our first kiss, and of our first declarations of love. I will choose to remember that, always.”

He bent forward and kissed her brow, his lips, for a moment, tracing the shape of her scar, then stepped back.

“I had best find your mother, then.”

*****

When, many hours later, Lady Hardenwell had come seeking Venetia, she had found her calmly reading – well, from the outside she looked calm, but internally, it was a different matter.

“Venetia, my darling girl, I have just had a very long conversation with Lord Templewick. Before I do anything more, I must ask you the most important question. Do you truly wish this? Do you love him?”

Venetia lifted her head and met her mother’s eyes.

“I do most definitely wish this, and yes, I love him – I think that I have from the first time I saw him, even though I did not know who he was, and he was then not an Earl at all.”

Lady Hardenwell frowned.

“Not an Earl? What do you mean?”

“He didn’t tell you? Mother, Lord Templewick was not always expected to succeed to the title. When we first met him, he was a groom, newly promoted to stablemaster. He is the one who sewed up my face on that terrible day. And I have dreamed of him ever since, even though I wasn’t, after the laudanum, even sure if he was real. But he is real, and he loves me in return.”

Lady Hardenwell dropped onto the seat beside Venetia.

“Well, that is a surprise. But so long as you are happy. We have already worked out the settlements, but I refused to sign until I spoke to you. I wanted to be sure. He is, I must say, an extremely generous man. Brightwood Chase will survive, and so will I. He has invited us to stay here through Christmastide, that we may all get to know each other better, without so many other people around us.”

“That is wonderful. Will we announce this at dinner today, as he had suggested?”

“Yes. We will.”

“Then I had best go up and prepare myself to look as beautiful as possible. This time, I will be the one being envied – and after the last six months of disdain, I will very much enjoy being treated differently.”

*****

Morgan had spent part of the afternoon, after his long discussion with Lady Hardenwell, with his own mother. She had been delighted with his news, which was a great relief, but then she had looked at him with an amused smile.

“And have you thought what to give her, as a token of your betrothal? I have your grandmother’s jewellery – my mother – and you also have all of the jewellery which was passed down through your father’s family – it was in the personal items of your uncle and his wife. When we searched through everything, we found a concealed safe – and the man of business had a key. Why don’t we look through it now, and find a ring or a necklace which you think will suit her?”

It was something he had completely failed to think of, but as soon as she said it, Morgan knew what he wanted.

“An excellent idea Mother. Is there, by chance, anything with emeralds?”

“I believe that there is.”

“Then please, show me where it is.”

An hour later, with dinner fast approaching, Morgan tapped on the door to Lady Venetia’s rooms. The maid opened it.

“Might I speak to Lady Venetia for a few moments?”

“Of course my Lord, do come in and take a seat in the sitting room and I’ll see if she’s able to come out right now.”

He went in, but could not settle to sit. Instead, he paced about the room, staring out through the window for a short while and being pleasantly surprised to see that the rain had eased.

After a few minutes, he heard the door to one of the bedchambers open, behind him. He turned away from the window, and simply stopped, struck dumb by Venetia’s beauty. She was wearing a simple and elegant dress of pale green, decorated with fine silver lace, and with tiny green gems sewn in a pattern near the hem, and around the bodice. It was as if she had known what he would give her – which was impossible, as he hadn’t known himself until an hour ago.

“Lady Venetia, I have a gift for you.”

“A gift? Why?”