Always Proper, Suddenly Scandalous (34 page)

Epilogue

Arms clasped behind his back, Geoffrey stared out his office window, down into the bustling street below.

Abigail touched her hands to his shoulder, and turned her cheek against his back. “Are you all right, husband?”

Husband
. They’d been wed now these two months, and this had served as the happiest, most uncomplicated aspect of his thirty years. Abigail filled him with joy and hope…and made him forget for an infinitesimal moment the purpose of his mother and sister’s impending visit.

Geoffrey turned around and began to pace. “I’ve matters of business to attend, Abby. I have the ledgers…and then there is also the shipping venture your brother would like to speak with me on…and…” His gaze moved away from the gentle understanding he saw reflected in the deep gray-blue irises of her eyes.

And…

He remained the same bloody coward he’d always been.

“You are strong and courageous,” Abigail said softly. She took his hands in hers, and held up their interlocked digits. “I admire your strength, Geoffrey.”

He didn’t deserve her high-praise, not when he wanted to turn and flee.

A knock sounded.

Geoffrey swallowed.

Abigail gave his hands a squeeze.

The door opened.

Abigail turned and greeted Mother and Sophie with a generous smile. She extended her arms and reached for his mother’s hands. His mother blinked. She still seemed shocked by Abigail’s outward displays of affection; affection that hadn’t erased Mother’s displeasure, but had seemed to lessen it.

Sophie, on the other hand…

She threw her arms around Abigail. “Oh, Abby! It is so very good to see you.”

Geoffrey nearly choked on the ball of guilt that clogged his throat. His sister would not feel such unabashed kindness when she learned the reason she’d been summoned here.

With the grace and poise of the most accomplished matrons, Abigail gestured to the seats. Abigail proceeded to pour tea as Mother and Sophie sat.

Sophie reached for a pastry on the tray of refreshments Cook had provided. Her hand hovered over Cook’s confectionaries, before she settled on a cherry tart. She took a bite. “Will you not sit, Geoffrey?” she asked after she’d swallowed.

“I…” He looked toward the door. He’d rather flee through the streets of London like a madman loose from Bedlam than have this discussion.

Abigail reached for his hand. Her delicate grip infused strength into his trembling frame and fueled his resolve.

“I need to speak to you,” he said quietly.

His mother sipped from her teacup, and from over the rim of the glass, looked at him curiously. “What is it, Geoffrey?”

“You are very serious,” his sister said, and set her pastry down upon a porcelain china plate. “Is everything all right, Geoffrey?”

“It is about Father.” He took a deep breath, and before his courage deserted him, told his mother and sister of the great shame he carried. He spoke of the sordid, ugliness of Emma’s betrayal, his father’s desperate pleading, and ultimately…Father’s death on that dark, lonely road.

When Geoffrey finished, he realized he gripped Abigail’s hand so tightly, her skin had turned white. He lightened his hold, and braced for the disgust, the hatred, the loathing upon his mother and sister’s face as they came to terms with the great crime Geoffrey had committed.

The tick-tock, tick-tock of the clock punctuated the silence, somehow more deafening than the blare of a pistol.

Sophie and his mother sat, unmoving, expressionless. His mother folded her hands upon her lap, and studied the interlocked digits for a long while.

What he expected? That they should so readily forgive him for the selfish act that had robbed Father of his life?

Sophie spoke first. “It is not your fault, Geoffrey,” she said quietly.

He closed his eyes. “It is.” Pained regret made his voice hoarse.

Mother drew in a jerky breath, and released it on a slow exhale. The teacup in her fingers rattled, and sloshed bits of tea over the side. She set it down quickly. “There never lived a more deceitful, horrid woman than Miss Marsh. And if you’d not defied your father’s wishes, then yes, he would surely be alive.” Her voice broke.

Guilt twisted inside him at the raw pain in his usual stoic mother’s eyes. He opened his mouth, but there were no words. He could never find any sufficient words to absolve him of his complicity or ease her suffering.

“Mother,” Sophie said sharply. She glowered at their mother and then turned her attention to Geoffrey. “It is certainly not your fault. You did not make that viper deceive you, and I know you believe yourself powerful but you cannot control the rain. Nor did you make Father ride out in that storm.” She offered him a sad, little smile. “I am so very sorry that…that woman broke your heart.” Sophie glanced over at Abigail. Her smile widened. “But if she hadn’t broken your heart then there would certainly be no Abigail, and that, well that would be sad, indeed.”

His mother continued to sit there, motionless. After a long while, she smoothed her palms along the front of her burgundy silk skirts. “I am incapable of lying to you, Geoffrey. I have missed your father every day since the moment h-he…” Her voice broke, and she coughed into her hand, in an apparent attempt to conceal any display of emotion. “Since the moment I learned of his accident,” she amended. “And I do wish you had made far different decisions so he’d not been on that road that miserable night.” Her gaze slid momentarily over to Abigail, then back to Geoffrey. “And loving Abigail as you do, I imagine if you lost her, then you would give anything to alter the events that led to her death. Do you understand what I am saying?”

Abigail gave his hand a firm squeeze, and he swallowed hard, borrowing strength from his wife. He well understood. His had been an empty, meaningless existence until Abigail. If someone’s carelessness caused Abigail her life, Geoffrey would never be able to find any hint of forgiveness within his heart—not even if it was an, as of yet, unborn child, responsible for taking her from him.

“I am not fool enough to believe I can be forgiven this irrevocable wrong, but you and Sophie were…are deserving of the truth.”

Mother shook her head. An uncharacteristic gentleness settled around the lines of her mouth. “Oh Geoffrey, I can and will always regret all that came to pass, but I cannot hold you solely to blame for your father’s death.”

He drew in a shaky breath. “But…”

“I begged your father to set out after you, Geoffrey,” she said, her words so quiet he had to strain to hear them. “He disapproved of Emma Marsh, but I demanded he put a stop to your elopement.” She looked to a point just beyond his shoulder. “And for
that
, well, I can never forgive myself.” For a moment, a sheen of tears glazed her eyes, but then, she blinked several times, and they were gone, so Geoffrey wondered if he’d imagined them.

Mother reached for her teacup, raised it to her lips, and took a slow sip.

In a silent show of comfort, Sophie touched Mother’s knee, giving it a faint squeeze. The satin fabric rustled beneath Sophie’s subtle gesture.

Abigail looked at Geoffrey.

Geoffrey cleared his throat. “Mother, Sophie, there was,
is
, an additional reason I’ve asked you to visit this morning.”

His mother paused, glass mid-way to her mouth.

“I wanted to,
we
wanted to inform you, that Abigail is recently with child.”

Sophie’s eyes went wide; a smile wreathed her cheeks. “Oh, Geoffrey, how very exciting!” She clasped her hands together in front of her.

Geoffrey looked to his mother. She said nothing for a long, long moment. And then, a slow, wide smile turned her lips upward. “Well, this is wonderful news, Geoffrey.” She reached for a pastry and took a bite of the flaky confectionary.

Geoffrey’s gaze fell to his wife. She looked up at him and smiled.

He imagined a little girl with sparkling gray-blue eyes and dark black tresses, and grinned.

Yes. It most certainly is, wonderful.

~The End~

Biography

Christi Caldwell is the best-selling author of historical romance novels set in the Regency era. Christi blames Judith McNaught's "Whitney, My Love," for luring her into the world of historical romance. While sitting in her graduate school apartment at the University of Connecticut, Christi decided to set aside her notes and try her hand at writing romance. She believes the most perfect heroes and heroines have imperfections and rather enjoys tormenting them before crafting a well-deserved happily ever after! 

When Christi isn’t writing the stories of flawed heroes and heroines, she can be found in her Southern Connecticut home chasing around her feisty five-year-old son, and caring for twin princesses-in-training!
 

Visit
www.christicaldwellauthor.com
to learn more about what Christi is working on, or join her on Facebook at Christi Caldwell Author.

Other Books by Christi Caldwell

Winning a Lady’s Heart (A Danby novella)

Author's Note: This is a novella that was originally available in A Summons From The Castle (The Regency Christmas Summons Collection). It is being published as an individual novella.

For Lady Alexandra, being the source of a cold, calculated wager is bad enough...but when it is waged by Nathaniel Michael Winters, 5th Earl of Pembroke, the man she's in love with, it results in a broken heart, the scandal of the season, and a summons from her grandfather--the Duke of Danby.

To escape Society's gossip, she hurries to her meeting with the duke, determined to put memories of the earl far behind. Except the duke has other plans for Alexandra...plans which include the 5th Earl of Pembroke!

A Season of Hope (A Danby novella)

Five years ago when her love, Marcus Wheatley, failed to return from fighting Napoleon’s forces, Lady Olivia Foster buried her heart. Unable to betray Marcus’s memory, Olivia has gone out of her way to run off prospective suitors. At three and twenty she considers herself firmly on the shelf. Her father, however, disagrees and accepts an offer for Olivia’s hand in marriage. Yet it’s Christmas, when anything can happen…

Olivia receives a well-timed summons from her grandfather, the Duke of Danby, and eagerly embraces the reprieve from her betrothal.

Only, when Olivia arrives at Danby Castle she realizes the Christmas season represents hope, second chances, and even miracles.

Forever Betrothed, Never the Bride

Hopeless romantic Lady Emmaline Fitzhugh is tired of sitting with the wallflowers, waiting for her betrothed to come to his senses and marry her. When Emmaline reads one too many reports of his scandalous liaisons in the gossip rags, she takes matters into her own hands.

War-torn veteran Lord Drake devotes himself to forgetting his days on the Peninsula through an endless round of meaningless associations. He no longer wants to feel anything, but Lady Emmaline is making it hard to maintain a state of numbness. With her zest for life, she awakens his passion and desire for love.

The one woman Drake has spent the better part of his life avoiding is now the only woman he needs, but he is no longer a man worthy of his Emmaline. It is up to her to show him the healing power of love.

Never Courted, Suddenly Wed (Book 2-Scandalous Seasons Series)

Christopher Ansley, Earl of Waxham, has constructed a perfect image for the
ton
--the ladies love him and his company is desired by all. Only two people know the truth about Waxham’s secret. Unfortunately, one of them is Miss Sophie Winters.

Sophie Winters has known Christopher since she was in leading strings. As children, they delighted in tormenting each other. Now at two and twenty, she still has a tendency to find herself in scrapes, and her marital prospects are slim.

When his father threatens to expose his shame to the
ton
, unless he weds Sophie for her dowry, Christopher concocts a plan to remain a bachelor. What he didn't plan on was falling in love with the lively, impetuous Sophie. As secrets are exposed, will Christopher’s love be enough when she discovers his role in his father’s scheme?

Always Proper, Suddenly Scandalous(Book 3-Scandalous Seasons Series)

Geoffrey Winters, Viscount Redbrooke was not always the hard, unrelenting lord driven by propriety. After a tragic mistake, he resolved to honor his responsibility to the Redbrooke line and live a life, free of scandal. Knowing his duty is to wed a proper, respectable English miss, he selects Lady Beatrice Dennington, daughter of the Duke of Somerset, the perfect woman for him. Until he meets Miss Abigail Stone...

To distance herself from a personal scandal, Abigail Stone flees America to visit her uncle, the Duke of Somerset. Determined to never trust a man again, she is helplessly intrigued by the hard, too-proper Geoffrey. With his strict appreciation for decorum and order, he is nothing like the man' she's always dreamed of.

Abigail is everything Geoffrey does not need. She upends his carefully ordered world at every encounter. As they begin to care for one another, Abigail carefully guards the secret that resulted in her journey to England. 

Only, if Geoffrey learns the truth about Abigail, he must decide which he holds most dear: his place in Society or Abigail's place in his heart.

Uninterrupted Joy: Memoir: My Journey through Infertility, Pregnancy, and Special Needs

The following journey was never intended for publication. It was written from a mother, to her unborn child. The words detailed her struggle through infertility and the joy of finally being pregnant. A stunning revelation at her son's birth opened a world of both fear and discovery. This is the story of one mother's love and hope and... her quest for uninterrupted joy.