Chapter Thirty-Eight

Kit was milking the goats when she heard it. Horses coming down the lane, the jangle of their harnesses, and the rattle of large wheels, but without the telltale creak of an old wooden wagon. A carriage had come to Haven Manor.

Was it Lord Eversly bringing Blake back after having had full care of him for a mere two days? Would Blake really have told him how to get to the house?

Or was it the new owner?

Kit cast a look back at the caretaker’s cottage. Some of the boys had chosen to take their pallets out next to the house since the nights were so mild right now. It had helped ease the crowding in the cottage, but spirits were certainly low. They had to find somewhere to go soon. She hoped Margaretta was having some luck making discreet inquiries in London. It was the only chance they had.

With a whistle, Kit caught the attention of the children and waved her arm in the air, indicating they needed to set the pallets inside.

The carriage that rolled out of the woods was indeed fine. Even from this distance, Kit saw the golden trim gleaming in the light, despite the road dust that covered the underside of the carriage. A liveried driver drove the horses down the lane, coming to a stop where the drive met the corner of the house instead of continuing on to the front steps.

It was almost as if he knew no one would actually be in the house.

Kit frowned as a very tall, broad gentleman she’d never seen before climbed out of the carriage. She sucked in a sharp breath and smoothed her dress. The new owner was a bit younger than she’d expected.

But then Graham climbed out next, and Kit’s mind whirled with confusion. Did Graham know the owner of the house?

She walked quickly from the barnyard toward the house.

As she got closer, she saw that Graham was smiling. A wide smile without any trace of the sad resignation he’d left here with before.

When she was in arm’s reach, he wrapped his arms around her, drawing a squeak from her lips as she was hauled close in an embrace she’d thought never to feel again. And then he was kissing her.

It wasn’t a long kiss, but it was enough to addle her brain.

“Wha . . .” The partial question was all she could get out because she couldn’t think of anything else, couldn’t even mentally form the rest of the sentence.

His smile faltered a bit and uncertainty filled his eyes. “Kit,” he said softly. “I love you. And I’m sorry.”

What was he doing to her? Why was he doing this? “Graham—”

“No,” he said, putting one finger across her lips. “Just listen for a moment. I’m sorry for the way I yelled at you and shut you out. I’ve never been desperate until I didn’t know how to keep you in my life. There’s more, but for right now, please, don’t tell me all the reasons you’re afraid, don’t give me logistics. Just tell me how you feel.”

She should lie. She could lie right now and save him from a mistake he seemed determined to make. But she’d promised herself and him there’d be no more lies, that she wouldn’t control the situation but trust God to work it out. The pain of saying the words almost choked her, but she said them anyway because he’d asked for them. “I love you, too.”

The questions left his eyes and his smile relaxed, though it remained large. “Excellent. That’s going to make my announcement a great deal more enjoyable.”

“Announcement?” Kit asked, blinking up at him.

He nodded. “Gather everyone together, because I’ve done something.”

The tall man behind Graham barked out a short laugh. “You’ve done something, all right.”

Alarm ran through Kit. What had Graham done?

Graham waved a hand in the other man’s direction. “Pay Mr. Whitworth no mind. He’s still smarting over the fact that I’ve embarrassed him quite continually for the past week in my efforts to solve our problem.”

Our problem? Haven Manor wasn’t Graham’s problem. He could walk away without any repercussions.

Did he really love her enough to fully claim it? Did he not just want to marry her and let her keep running it in secret on the side? Or did he expect her to move it to his estate?

“Embarrass him?” Kit looked the man over. He looked strong and confident, despite the wry, resigned smirk he wore.

“My name is Aaron Whitworth, and I’m illegitimate.”

Her eyes widened. “Graham, what did you do?”

“Ignore his bluster. He was a willing participant.” Graham winced as Mr. Whitworth gave him a pointed look. “Well, most of the time.”

“Graham,” Kit said, finally pulling herself out of his arms. “What did you do?”

“Let’s get everyone together, and I’ll tell you all at once. I’ve already visited Nash and gotten him in contact with my solicitor in Staffordshire. We’re going to need a trusted fellow in Derbyshire, too, which might take a bit more time, but I’ve only been at this a week, so I’m not too worried about it.”

Graham grabbed her hand and started off down the side lawn toward the outbuildings. He’d been recognized, and the children were spilling out of the cottage.

Kit glanced at Mr. Whitworth, unsurprised to see a look of shock on his face.

“You’ve saved all those children?” he asked quietly. “You’ve saved their mothers?”

The awe in his voice was enough to make Kit wonder what Mr. Whitworth’s life had been. What had happened to his own mother? It was a story that would have to wait for later because her entire family, with the exception of Blake and Benedict, was swarming around them.

Graham looked a bit uncertain suddenly as he pulled a sheaf of papers from his jacket. He looked around at the smiling young faces, at Daphne and Jess, at Kit, and then back at the papers, his brow furrowed.

Mr. Whitworth stepped forward and clapped a hand on Graham’s shoulder. “This is a good thing, Graham.”

Kit’s worry increased.

Graham took a deep breath and then sent his words out in a slurred rush. “I found families.”

Families? Kit looked around to see if Graham’s sentence made sense to anyone else. Even Jess blinked in confusion. “Families for what?”

Graham swallowed. “For the children. Well, not all of them, not yet.” He winced and looked at his toes. “There’s more concerns when it comes to the older children, but”—he looked back up with a small grin in place—“I’ve got seven families ready and waiting to grow their family by one. They find the idea of having another child without the pain of childbirth rather appealing.”

Kit’s eyes widened. Was such a thing possible? She’d never heard of it. “Can they do that?”

“They’re not aristocratic. Not a title in sight.” He rolled up the papers and knocked them against his leg. “Working families, mostly. With farms and such. I thought that would be best since the children are used to animals and gardening and the work involved. Most of them are from the villages around my family’s estate, but we also went to where Whitworth grew up.”

Graham looked around, twitching and fidgeting.

Kit wanted to reassure him, wanted to help him feel better, but she was frozen. She didn’t know what to do or what to say.

“A real family?” came a lone little voice. It trembled so much that it was hard to identify as Arthur, but then the little boy stepped up and gave Graham a wide-eyed look. “You found me a real family? I’m going to have a father?”

Kit fell to her knees and wrapped an arm around Arthur, both of them looking up to Graham for his answer. She and Daphne had done everything they could, and Kit still believed, would always believe, that they’d done right by these children.

Kit’s methods of support might have been suspect, but the life the children had was a good one and they’d been raised well. But that didn’t mean the children hadn’t missed having a father, having a real family.

Graham knelt beside them, his own gaze looking a little wet as he swallowed hard. “Yes, Arthur, a father. He’s choosing you to be his son.”

And then Arthur was throwing himself at Graham. The rest of the children followed. Even the oldest ones, who had done the math and realized they weren’t among the lucky seven, joined the massive hug.

When the crying eventually subsided, Graham turned back to Kit. “I haven’t given up on families for the rest of them, and there’s two that are ready to take in babies as soon as they’re weaned. If the timing is right, they’ll even take them as babies.”

He took her hand and pulled her out of the crush of children. “I want to keep doing this, Kit, but I’d like to do it with you at my side. We could marry and then travel around the country finding more families. I won’t lie—they aren’t as plentiful as I’d hoped, and it might take us longer because I’m not going to drag Whitworth around with us everywhere.”

“I appreciate that,” the other man said flatly.

Graham took a deep breath and took Kit’s hand. “I’ve been wondering for so long what I was supposed to do with my life, thinking there had to be more to it than sitting around waiting for my father to die and make me an earl. That’s a rather depressing life. No wonder so many of my friends turn to drinking and gambling. But I wanted something else, and you’ve shown it to me.

“I love you, Kit, and together we can do this. We can keep helping women, but we can help the children, too. We can find them families that will raise them and love them even if they were born to other people.” He took a deep breath and cast a nervous glance at the smiling faces surrounding them. “Marry me, Kit. Together I’ll help you save them all.”

She reached out a hand and cupped his cheek. “We can’t save them all. We can only save one at a time.”

“Then start with me,” he said. “Save me. Because without you, my life is going to be dark and sad. I can’t do this without you.”

Kit nodded. “Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you.”

The idea terrified her. She’d be going back to London, back into her father’s world. Someone would revive the rumors, but she’d be married. To a man who would one day be an earl. And she’d be able to help more people than she and Daphne had ever dreamed of.

Another mass hug ensued, and Daphne declared they were having a celebratory picnic, right on the house lawn.

There was a great deal of laughter as the food was prepared, as Graham was told everything that had happened in the week he’d been gone, as Mr. Whitworth was introduced to the goats and chickens.

After the meal, Kit and Graham reclined on a blanket while the children played. They talked quietly, mostly of all her concerns about her father and the rumors, and Graham telling her that he didn’t care, that his life was due a little scandal.

Sarah came over and sat by them, smiling but serious. “I don’t want you to find me a family,” she said softly.

Graham sat up, but Sarah rushed on before he could say anything.

“Hear me out. My life, well, it’s about to start. I’ve never planned on doing anything but working. I hope to find a position that lets me play a bit of music, but I’ve never expected anything else. I don’t blame those families for wanting the younger ones, the ones who will grow up with them. I’ve got a life waiting for me, Lord Wharton, and I want you to keep finding families for those who don’t have that.”

Kit reached out and wrapped her fingers around Sarah’s. “That’s brave of you.”

“This house, this life, it’s all I’ve known.” Her grin turned a bit impish. “And besides, with all the younger ones out of the cottage, I’ll actually have room to sleep in a bedchamber.”

Kit laughed along with Sarah, but her heart hurt a bit, too. There were going to be a considerable number of luxuries available to Kit once she married Graham. And here Sarah was just excited to not sleep in the drawing room. Life wasn’t fair.

But Sarah, for all her young, tender years, was content. And that was really all Kit could hope for. Life hadn’t been fair to these children. But Sarah looked at her life and knew she could make it good.

To think that Kit had even a small part of building that contentment made her want to throw herself facedown before God in gratitude. Because the truth was, Kit had complained, even if only in her mind, about the lot in life she’d been given as well. But now, she was thankful. So thankful. Because without it, she wouldn’t have learned what it meant to love someone, wouldn’t have learned how to give like she could now.

She glanced at the man beside her. She wouldn’t have been the woman he needed in his life. If she’d met Graham in a London ballroom, well, if she’d met him under more traditional ballroom circumstances, she wouldn’t have been ready and able to help him find purpose in his life, to do something that fulfilled the great desire God had given him to make a difference.

Now, with her own life stretching before her in ways she’d never expected, she was glad for the bumpy road she’d taken. Because it had led her here.

And here was a wonderful place to be.