Lords of Honor (78 page)

“Mr. Gabe-rell?” Alice smiled at him
.
“I knowed your voice
.”
She looked
at
Gabri
el and grinned
widely
.

“Yes, Alice, it’s me, Gabriel.”
Gabriel leaned close enough to kiss the top of her head
.
“I’m so glad we found you, moppet
.”

“
You are
Mr.
Owen?
”
Alice
pointed at Owen.
“
Mr. Gabe-rell said you would bring my dolly
.
Thank you for bringing my dolly,
Mr.
Owen
.
Where is M
ama?”

“You’ll see
your
Mama very soon,
sweeting
.”
Owen’s voice was thick
.
There wa
s a lump in his throat
.
He
f
ell
madly in love with his daughter in
a matter of seconds
.
He c
ould
never
deny her
any
thing
.
He knew at that moment he would give his life
to keep her safe
.
He hoped Grace’s temper had cooled
.
He f
elt his first pang of regret for
making certain she stayed behind
with the others in Templecombe
.
It would be hours before she knew her daughter was safe
.
He prayed she would forgive him
.
“Let’s stop by T
he Pilchard, collect our thi
ngs and get to Wychcombe House.” Owen said as he held his daughter
tightly against him
.

The party from Templecombe had n
ot yet arrived
at Wychcombe House
. H
e,
Gabriel
and Charlie
were informed
Lord Chilcompton
had already
retired
for the evening
.
Owen
and Gabriel
sat with Alice
while she ate
.
Owen
stayed nearby while she was
bathed and dressed in a
child’s
nightdress borrowed from one of the servant’s children
.
He instructed
Fiske
to make certain Lady Marston
came straight to her
chamber
upon her arrival
.
Owen took Alice and lay
atop
the bed beside his daughter
.
He talked to her until her eyelids fluttered closed and just watched his daughter
sleep
for
another hour or more
.
He
was
entranced
by h
is daughter’s
sweetness and
her beauty
.

“What, who?” Grace nearly shrieked
and almost dropped
the candlestick
she carried
into the room
.
It
was
a shock
to see someone in the bed
.
Perhaps the butler led
her to the wrong room, he was an aged fellow
.
She calmed
somewhat
when she realized it was Owen in her bed
, a
lthough
it
surprised
her
to see him there
!
She nearly shrieked with joy when she realized
he held a small bundle in his arms
.
With dark curly hair
!

“Alice
!
Owen!
Oh my God!
”
she began to cry.

Owen’s eyes fluttered open
.
He smiled when he saw Grace.

Grace came and sat on the edge of the bed
.
She set the candle on the table
.
She
gazed
at
her
daughter
sleeping in her true
father’s arms
.
Tears of joy rolled down her cheeks
.

“Do you want me to wake her, Grace?” Owen whispered.

“No, oh, she looks exhausted
.
Let her sleep
,
Owen
.”
Grace bent and kissed her daughter’s cheek
.

Owen carefully sat up
.
He l
eft his precious daughter sleeping
upon the bed
.
He
turned to
Grace
.
He wanted to pull her into his arms
.
He didn’t
.
She needed time
.
Her
eyes were focused on
their babe she raised alone for three years
.
Owen rose from the bed
.

Grace did as well
.
“Thank you, Owen
.
Thank you
.”
Grace threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly
.
“I can never repay you
.
I can never thank you enough.
”

“Grace, Alice is my daughter too
.
There is no need to repay me
.
I did it for all three of us
.
I want to be a part of her life
, Grace
.
I want to be her Papa,
”
Owen
allowed himself to
embrace the
only
woman he
had
ever
loved.

Grace drew back
and gazed into
Owen
’s eyes
.
“Of course, Owen
.
You shall be
.”
She smiled up at him
through her tears
.

Owen’s fingers caressed her cheek. He bent and kissed her tenderly
upon the lips
.
“We’ll talk tomorrow morning, Grace
.
You’re weary from a long day of traveling
, and you probably haven’t slept much since Alice was taken from you
.
Think on this tonight, Grace
.
I love you
.
I never stopped
loving you
.
I want you to marry me
.
We
three
will
be the family we were meant to be.”

“I don’t have to think about it, Owen.” Grace said.

Owen held his breath for a moment and searched her face
.
He feared what she might say
.
What if she refused him?
“And?”
he asked softly.

“I will marry you, Owen
.
I never stopped loving you
either
.”

He pulled her against him and kissed her passionately
.
Finally Owen found some control and pulled away
.
“I must go
.
You need your rest, Grace
.
I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Stay, Owen
.
For four years I’ve dreamed of being in your arms again
.
Please, stay
.”

“
Very well
.”
He nodded
.
“
Yes
, I’ll stay
, Grace
.
We shared the same dreams, you and I
.”

Gently, Owen moved his
sleeping
daughter to the far side of the bed
.
He remained on the edge of the bed and pulled Grace by her hand
.
She landed in his lap
.
They kissed for a long time, their hands roaming, touching, caressing
.
As their urgency grew, they
began to
undress one another
.

“Grace, what about Alice
?
What if she wakes?” Owen whispered as he drew her chemise over her head.
His eyes raked over her exquisite torso.
Her breasts were fuller than he remembered, and Grace now had the curves of a woman after giving birth to his daughter
.
He found her to be more beautiful today than
she was
four years ago
.

“S
he’ll know her Mama and Papa love one another
.
Alice will
get used to it Owen
.
She’ll have to
.
She sneaks in
to my bedchamber often at night,
”
she grinned.

“
Then so be it
.
I’ll have to learn to put my drawers on
before
I go to sleep
every night
.
” Owen smiled at Grace before he lay her down upon the sheet
.
He came over her
.
Touched her and
knew she was ready for him
.
He filled
her
.
“Grace,” he murmured in her ear
.

“Owen, you don’t know how many times I’ve dreamed
o
f
us
.
Of
this.”

“Probably as many times as I did
.
We’ve a
lot of lost time to make up for
,
starting now
,
my dearest Grace.
”

Their word
s ceased as together they fulfilled their desires and dreams
.
They
joined as one in an age old rhythm
and brought one another to the peak of ecstasy
.
They flew, and drifted back
down to earth
in one another’s arms as they exchanged soft kisses and whispered words of love to one another
.

Owen woke hours later to find his daughter curled against one side of him, and his love, Grace
,
on his other
.
He smiled brightly and placed a kiss to
the top of each one of their
heads
.
He
knew he must be the happiest
man upon the earth
at that moment
.

Micah led Libby into the massive dining room of Wychcombe House for breakfast
.
Since their party was so large, the commodious dining room would get a lot of use
during
the next week
.
He was eager to introduce Libby to his grandfather
.
H
e already knew from his letters that
Chilcompton was
enthusiastic
to meet the mother of the future
Wychcombe
heirs
, who would be the successors to the titles
Viscount Wincanton and the Earl of Chilcompton
.
His grandfather,
the present Earl of
Chilcompton,
retired long before their weary party arrived
after
midnight
.

The breakfast was informal
and was
being served from the sideboards
.
M
any members of their
traveling
party sat at the two long tables
already
.
Of course,
Fiske
gave
Micah the summons
last night that
he and his wife
were to
join his Grandfather at nine o’clock sharp
this morning
.

“You are late, Micajah
!
Bring your wife here so I might see her
.”