CHAPTER 20
L ady Augusta had been right. Gabe and her daughters were not back in time for supper. Sophie tried not to be annoyed by that, but she was annoyed just the same. Ever since they’d arrived at Fairhaven, he’d been quite successful at abandoning her, and it was a pattern she meant to put an end to when she saw him next.
“We’ll keep the turnovers warm in the oven,” Lady Augusta said, not sounding even close to being as annoyed as Sophie was.
But then a loud clatter came from the front of the cottage, followed by stampeding feet and joyous expulsions.
“What in the world?” she began and started for the threshold, but stopped in her tracks when Gabe and his nieces appeared in the open doorway.
The three of them were covered in mud, from the tips of their toes, to most of their clothing, even their faces were streaked with dirt. But you’d never know it from the enormous smiles the three of them wore. And a glint sparkled in Gabe’s eye as he made a direct path toward her.
Sophie took a step backward. “Don’t you even think about touching me, Gabriel Prideaux.”
But he was gaining on her.
“You are covered in—”
He pulled her against him and kissed her. Hard.
So in for a penny…
Sophie’s eyes fluttered closed and she wrapped her arms around his neck as his settled around her waist, holding her to him.
When he finally lifted his head, it took Sophie a second to catch her breath. “You are covered in mud,” she said softly, not making any sort of effort to extricate herself from his hold.
“We are saved, Sophie,” he replied just as softly.
“Saved?” she echoed a bit louder. What in the world was he talking about?
“You are covered in dirt, both of you,” Lady Augusta complained to her daughters. “And you haven’t had supp—”
“Don’t be cross with them,” Gabe begged, looking briefly away from Sophie to his sister. “Your daughters are quite the heroes of the day.” Then he met Sophie’s gaze once more and pressed his lips to hers for another quick kiss. “Ismérie found a silver deposit.” He grinned at her like he had when they were younger, before they were pulled apart, before the weight of the world had come crashing down upon his shoulders. “And there’s a lot of it in the ground if the number of stones we’ve found are any indication.”
“Silver?” she asked. Was he serious?
“We are saved,” he repeated. “I’ll send word to Mr. Hill in the morning about finding a mining company and—”
“We’re saved,” she echoed and her heart lifted more than a little at the news.
And then Gabe kissed her once more for good measure.
Supper was a joyous affair, even with everyone covered in mud and even with the mincemeat turnovers being less than warm. Laughter permeated the air, celebratory wine was flowing, and Sophie was right at Gabe’s side, where she should have always been.
What an incredible day, what an incredible journey! Finding a sister and nieces he didn’t know existed. Learning that he was and always had been a legal heir to Northwold. Discovering that a potentially sizable vein of silver was buried beneath Fairhaven lands.
He glanced at Sophie, opposite him at the table, and his heart expanded in his chest. She truly was his lucky charm. Everything in his life had turned around once they found each other again. Dear God, he loved her. He’d always loved her. And he’d somehow been lucky enough that she loved him – even if he’d been the penniless bastard of a dishonorable blackguard, even then she’d loved him. And now he’d be able to give her everything she deserved.
Gabe helped Aurelie and Ismérie clear the dishes from the table and then everyone cleaned themselves up to some extent before gathering once more in Fairhaven’s sitting room. Sophie snuggled beside him on the settee and they watched Ismérie count the rocks they’d brought back with them while Aurelie quietly read an old worn out tome by the lamp in the corner of the room, and Augusta darned a pair of stockings. His family. He was surrounded by his family, and he hadn’t enjoyed that feeling since well before his mother died when he was just a boy.
He brushed his fingers along Sophie’s side and when she tipped her face up toward him, he couldn’t help but smile. “I’d like for them to come with us to Hampton Hall when we leave.”
And her blue eyes twinkled just so. “How did you know I was thinking that?”
Had she been? It was a wonder. Gabe shook his head. “We’re in tune with each other.”
“Must be it,” she agreed, her eyes crinkling at the edges as she grinned. Then she said softly, “I asked your sister today if they wanted to remain at Fairhaven.”
“And?” he asked, glancing briefly toward Augusta who was paying them no attention at all.
“She enjoys the solitude and seemed a bit timid about going anywhere else—”
And she probably was. Fairhaven was all she’d known since arriving in England. A safe haven after experiencing the horrors of Frenchtown.
“—but she said it might be in the girls’ best interest for them to not be so isolated from the world.”
Edenton was tucked far away from nearly everything in the Lake District. Eventually Aurelie and Ismérie would need to venture beyond Fairhaven lands.
“They’re granddaughters of an earl,” Sophie continued. “Dissolute as he may have been. They should still be brought out in society when the time is right.”
Gabe agreed with a nod of his head. His nieces were owed that. It was their birthright as much as Northwold was Clayton’s and would someday be his. “This could be a good first introduction.” He glanced again at his sister and called to her in a louder voice, “Augusta, I’m not certain how you’d feel about this, but Sophie and I would love for you and the girls to come with us to Hampton Hall for our wedding.”
“Wedding?” His sister sat a little straighter and her un-patched eye grew wide. “I thought—”
“We eloped,” he explained.
“We are quite married, at least we think we are,” Sophie added with a grin. “There was a lot of Gaelic we didn’t understand.”
“Scottish blacksmith,” Gabe continued, though his sister didn’t appear any less convinced than she had a moment ago. “The Scots’ laws regarding weddings are more liberal than they are in England. No requirement of banns being read, no parental consent is required.”
“A blacksmith married you?” Augusta asked as Aurelie dropped her book to her lap and Ismérie abandoned her pile of rocks to look at them. “Is he a man of the cloth on Sundays?”
That Gabe had no idea about, but thought it best not to address the matter. “It’s not as strange as it sounds, and it’s perfectly legal.” Even if it was frowned upon in a number of circles.
“My cousin did the same thing a little more than a sennight before we did,” Sophie added as though to lend credence to the practice. “And a friend of mine, Lucinda Potts, earlier in the spring.”
None of that any of that seemed to mean anything to Augusta, so Gabe heaved a sigh. “Lord Beckbury, Sophie’s father doesn’t approve of me. We didn’t have any other choice.”
And then an expression of sadness settled on his sister’s face. “I am sorry.”
“He knew our father,” Gabe explained. “Served with him in The Colonies. He knew your mother too.”
Augusta sat forward in her chair. “He knew my mother?”
“I’m not sure how well, but he was at their wedding. He stood up for Father.” Gabe heaved a sigh. How much had Clayton told her of their father’s duplicity? Enough, he gathered. She had returned to England with her mother’s certificate of death. Why would Clayton have asked for that document if it hadn’t been important for some reason? “But his regard for Father diminished when he abandoned your mother and returned to England without her.” Gabe shook his head. “I’m afraid he sees Father’s sins whenever he looks at me.”
“How very English of him,” Augusta said softly.
“We are in England,” Gabe smiled at her. “But he is now my father-in-law, and he has the reputation of his younger daughters to concern himself with, so he’s asked for us to have a second, more traditional ceremony at Hampton Hall with friends and family present to witness the union for society’s sake. To the rest of the world, it will be our first and only wedding.”
“And we would like for you to come with us,” Sophie added.
“The three of you are my family, and I would be greatly honored if you’d be there with me that day.”
Augusta’s brow furrowed a bit and then she glanced at her daughters who were each looking expectantly at her. “It might be good for them, for all of us, to see more than just Fairhaven.” Then she turned her attention back to Gabe. “And we would, of course, want to be there for you.”
“Then it’s settled,” Gabe said. “You’ll come with us when we leave. I was going to tour Oakcliffe Asylum along the way. Sophie’s cousin has helped secure a spot for Clayton there at the end of the month. I wouldn’t recommend the girls join us for that excursion, but if you’d like to look the place over with me, I would appreciate any insight you might have. He is our brother.”
“Is there a problem at Rosewood?” His sister frowned.
“Mr. Hill, our solicitor, fears it is not the best place for Clayton. Having seen it with my own eyes, I’m inclined to agree with him.” Though it wasn’t so much the place as it was the other people there.
Augusta nodded, concern etched across her brow. “Then I would like to see this other place. After everything Clayton did for us, it’s the least I can do.”