Her Reluctant Groom (39 page)
The sun was shining bright that morning, and she brought her hand up to shade her eyes as she walked in the direction of the stream. “Hello Marcus,” she greeted when she saw him leaning up against a tree.
“
Emma,” he said with an easy smile. “It’s nice of you to join me.”
She shook her head. As if she’d have denied his request. Even after all these years, she loved being near him. Her eyes caught on a little corner of yellow vellum poking up from the top of his suit coat. Smiling up at him, she leaned forward and plucked the missive from his pocket. He didn’t even try to stop her. Curious. Normally he grabbed her wrist to stop her, or would hold the paper out of her reach. When they were younger, he’d hide it somewhere in his clothes and make her search for it. That
always
led to some naughty game. A small smile took her lips. She may be an older woman now, but nothing could erase those steamy memories from her mind. Nor would she want to forget a single second they’d shared together in the past fifty years.
“
Are you going to open that sometime today?” Marcus asked.
His gruff voice startled her a bit and she jumped. Something was off today. Something about this letter was different than the others. With a slight swallow, she broke the seal. Wait. Her eyes narrowed. None of the others had had a seal. Some hadn’t even been folded. Some hadn’t even been signed. They’d all been incomplete in one way or another. But not this one. This one had been sealed with wax, and looked as if it’d actually spent some time in a mail coach. Her heart picked up pace. When Marcus had interrupted her wedding to Wallace, he’d said he’d sent a missive that didn’t reach her in time. Caroline was supposed to forward it to her when it arrived. But it never came. Weeks and weeks, then months and months, she’d waited to read that letter. After two years, she’d given up hope.
“
Is this—” Her voice broke.
Marcus nodded. “In my hurry, I marked the direction wrong. It seems I sent it to America in place of one meant for Olivia. Mr. Saxon intercepted it and kept it. Why he never sent it back, I don’t know, but his grandson found it a few months ago and sent it.”
“
Oh,” she said, her fingers trembling as she unfolded the letter. It wasn’t important how it came back to her. The important part was it was here now. She’d finally be able to hold the paper in her hands and read his words with her own eyes.
Dear Emma,
As I write this, the sun is rising on the fourth day of May, the year 1815, and I have finally come to terms with what I am: a fool. No. Not a fool. A besotted fool. No. Not even a besotted fool. A broken, besotted fool. The biggest, most broken and besotted fool to have ever walked the face of the earth, to be exact. I know that now.
During the day, I yearn for you. At night I cannot sleep for fear I will dream of you. You are always in my thoughts, and it hurts. It hurts more than anything I’ve ever experienced. It hurts that you’re not here with me, and it hurts to know you’re going to walk down the aisle to a man who’s not me. But most of all, it hurts to know the reason you are not here with me as my wife is my own doing and nobody else’s.
It may be too late for me to make this right, but I want the chance to try. Please give me that much. I love you, Emma. I always have and always will. I was too blind and stubborn to see just how much you loved me in return, but I see it now. I just pray it’s not too late...
I understand you are to marry Sir Wallace soon and I may very well lose you forever, but I’m asking one final thing of you. Grant me an audience in Alex’s drawing room on Friday. That’s all I ask. Give me the chance to show you how much I love you now and always will.
I realize no amount of fancy words, endless groveling, or tearful apologies will undo what I’ve done. It’s too late for those things now, I know that. Emma, I’ve made many mistakes where you’re concerned, and if you refuse me, I will live with my regrets.
All I can do now is ask that you’ll wait for me. I’ll be there soon.
Humbly yours,
Marcus
Emma used her frantically shaking fingers to swipe at the tears streaming down her wrinkled cheeks as her heart nearly exploded with love.
She looked up and met Marcus’ grey eyes.
“
I meant it,” he said hoarsely. “I remember writing that letter like it was yesterday. Every single word of it has been imprinted on my brain for fifty years now. And I meant every one of them, Emma. I was a broken man during those weeks. As the time got closer—”
Emma put her finger to his lips. They’d never spoken of any of this since the day they’d married, and she didn’t wish to now. She was glad to have his final letter, but there was no need to go over the past. “Just tell me this,” she said with a slim smile. “You said you remember writing this letter as if it was yesterday. You didn’t just write it yesterday, did you?”
Marcus blinked, and his body tensed. “No. Why would you even think that?”
Emma grinned up at him, trying her best to ignore the hurt she’d heard in his voice. “I just wanted to make sure. You did forge Caroline’s science experiments for years.”
He chuckled and his body relaxed. “Did you have to remind me of that?” he asked, shaking his head. “It took me nearly ten years to push those painful memories from my mind.” He shuddered. “How was it you found out about that, anyway?”
“
Marcus, you do know even Caroline knew before you told Alex, don’t you?”
He nodded. “I know. I didn’t know then, but I knew after Alex had his fun saying he’d passed on the title of ‘Most Obtuse Man Who Ever Lived’ to me. Apparently you and Caroline knew all along.”
“
Not all along,” Emma assured him. “Just most of it.”
Marcus moved closer to her and cupped her face with his hands. “Then you should have known all that time just how much I loved you.”
Her eyebrows snapped together. “Pardon?”
“
E. S. Wilson,” he said simply.
She stared unblinkingly at him.
“
Think about it for a minute.” He brushed a silver curl from her forehead. “Does the name Wilson mean anything to you?”
She blinked then nodded. “It was my mother’s maiden name.”
He smiled at her. “I know. Now, think about your initials. Specifically your first and last.”
A slow smile took her lips then disappeared, and her brows drew together again. “My initials are E. S. now, but they weren’t then. Back then I was still Emma Green.”
“
I know,” he conceded, bringing his index finger up to smooth out the wrinkle in between her eyes. “But a man can still dream, can’t he?” He grinned at her and used his right thumb to trace her left cheekbone. “When I created her pseudonym I never dreamed I’d ever be able to make you my wife. So I did the next best thing, I changed your initials to reflect my name. Knowing what the E, and specifically the S, stood for, was the brightest part of doing that.”
Emma shook her head. He was an odd man, indeed, but he was
her
odd man. “Why haven’t you ever told me this before?”
He shrugged. “Why would I have? It really isn’t that important, is it?”
“
No. But isn’t it a little odd to think, in an unusual way, you and Alex both fell in love with and married the same person?”
Marcus chuckled. “No, we did not. We fell in love with two entirely different people. He may have married the woman behind the articles. But I got to grow old with and experience all of life’s joys—including the one I never thought possible—with the real E. S.”
“
Yes, you did!”
Coming Late 2011 and Early 2012--GROOMS SERIES
Four men are about to have their bachelor freedom snatched away as they become grooms...but finding the perfect woman may prove a bit more difficult than they originally thought.
Her Sudden Groom
—The overly scientific, always respectable and socially awkward Alexander Banks has just been informed his name resides on a betrothal agreement right above the name of the worst chit in all of England. With a loophole that allows him to marry another without consequence before the thirtieth anniversary of his birth, he has only four weeks to find another woman and make her his wife.
Her Reluctant Groom
—For the past thirteen years Marcus Sinclair, Earl Sinclair, has lived his life as a heavily scarred recluse, never dreaming the only woman he’s ever wanted would love him back. But when it slips out that she does, he doubts her love for his scarred body and past can be real. For truly, how can a woman love a man whose injuries were caused when he once tried to declare himself to her sister?
Her Secondhand Groom
—Widower Patrick Ramsey, Viscount Drakely, fell in love and married at eighteen only to be devastated by losing her as she bore his third daughter. Now, as his girls are getting older he realizes they need a mother—and a governess. Not able to decide between the two which they need more, he marries an ordinary young lady from the local village in hopes she can suit both roles. But this ordinary young lady isn’t so ordinary after all, and he’ll either have to take a chance and risk his heart once more or wind up alone forever.
Her Imperfect Groom
—
Sir Wallace Benedict has never been good with women and in the bottom drawer of his bureau he has the scandal sheet clippings to prove it. But this thrice-jilted baronet is about to find there are things worth waiting for. The only trouble is, just which of the multiple women plaguing his dreams—and social calendar—is the one perfect match for him and his imperfections?
Already Available--SCANDALOUS SISTERS SERIES
Intentions of the Earl
—
A penniless earl makes a pact to ruin an American hoyden, never suspecting for a moment he’ll lose his heart along the way.
Liberty for Paul
—
A vicar’s daughter who loves propriety almost as much as she hates the man her father is mentoring will go to any length she sees fit to see that improper man out the door and out of her life. But when she’s forced to marry him, she’ll learn there’s a lot more to life, love and this man than she originally thought.
To Win His Wayward Wife
—
A gentleman who’s spent the last five years pining for the love of his life will get his second chance. The only problem? She has no interest in him.
About the Author
Rose Gordon lives as queen of her castle, surrounded by only boys, in the mid-west United States. With an accounting degree hanging on the wall, and two wild little boys running around, she started writing her first book and has been at it ever since.
She can be found on somewhere in cyberspace at:
or
http://rosesromanceramblings.wordpress.com
Rose would love to hear from her readers and you can reach her at
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