Page 66 of Eight for Losing, One for Loving

Chapter 18

Dearest Leo,

I had a letter from Mama this morning. Congratulations, brother dear! I am in alt and so happy you finally won your lady. Bainbridge is crowing, naturally, for he puts it all down to his advice. I warn you if you have a son, he fully expects it to be named in his honour.

I beg you will come and see us as soon as you may. I promise we shall give you a private wing and keep our brats from your hair for at least half the time you are here. I so long to spend some time with my new sister. I know Vi, of course, but not as well as I should like, and I would love to get to know her better. Much love to you both, Leo, if you are half as happy as I am with my darling Bainbridge, you will have a wonderful life indeed.

―Excerpt of a letter from The Most Hon’ble Arabella Grenville, The Marchioness of Bainbridge, to her brother, Mr Leo Hunt. (children of Alice and Nathaniel Hunt).

28th June 1850, Fairhaven, Tadlow, Cambridgeshire.

“Mind, darling,” Leo said, lifting a branch from the overgrown path so Vi could duck under it. Thankfully, the warm weather had dried the ground since the downpour, or the long grass would have soaked them. As it was, it made the going somewhat tricky with Vi’s voluminous skirts. Still, she was determined to see the house, so see it they would.

Eventually, the path ended at a gate and Leo forced it open, wincing as the hinges shrieked in complaint.

“Oh, Leo!”

Leo looked up at Vi’s exclamation, following her gaze towards the building in the middle distance.

The house glowed in the sunlight, the mellow golden stone warm and the many windows glinting. It was a Jacobean style manor house and Leo only had to glance at Vi to know she had fallen irrevocably in love. He could not blame her, for whilst he saw the roof was in a state of disrepair and there was ivy scrambling up the walls in all directions, the setting was idyllic and the house so romantically beautiful it would have been a crime to turn his back on it.

He turned to stare at Vi, who was standing with her hands pressed to her heart, her eyes alight with a look of such excitement that his own heart gave a hard thud in sympathy.

“Well, love, what do you think?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

She turned to him, her lovely face full of hope. “I never saw anything so lovely in all my days,” she breathed.

“It’s a good deal smaller than Trevick Castle,” he pointed out in amusement.

“Oh, fiddle. As if I care for that. Trevick is splendid but I don’t have the slightest desire for such an enormous property.”

“I am relieved to hear it,” Leo said amiably, earning himself a look of exasperation from Vi.

“Don’t tease, Leo. You know I do not care a button for such grand properties, only… only I do love this house. I—” Vi bit her lip, her expression becoming serious. “I suppose it would take a vast sum of money to restore it, though.”

“Oh, vast indeed,” Leo said, trying his best not to smile.

Vi nodded sadly. “It would be a great investment, not only of money but of time.”

“It would,” he agreed.

She sighed, and then gave a squeal as Leo swept her up into his arms. “Darling idiot,” he said fondly. “Did you never think to enquire as to your husband’s finances?”

“Of course not,” she said indignantly. “My dowry is a generous one, I know, so I did not fear for our future, but I married you because… because I love you, Leo. Not for any other reason.”

Leo’s face softened, and he set her carefully down before pulling her into his embrace. “I love you too, Vi, and if this house is what you want, then you shall have it.” He put a finger to her mouth to silence any protests. “For your information, love, I’m the major shareholder in the Sons of Hades, which is actually becoming a profitable club at last. Surprising as we only began it as a lark. More importantly, I also have a hand in Hunters,” he added, naming the famously exclusive club his father had run for decades.

“Oh,” Vi said, her eyes widening. “I knew about your club, naturally, but I suppose I never stopped to consider you had a hand in Hunters. It’s profitable then, your share?”

Leo laughed and kissed her nose. “Obscenely,” he said, with no little pride. “And I shall throw a good deal of it at this house and make it the home of your dreams, if that would please you, Vi?”

“It would please me greatly to live in this beautiful place with you, Leo, so long as it pleases you too.”

“It does,” he said solemnly. “And so do you. Come along, wife. Let us explore a little closer.”

They spent a good hour investigating the grounds and peering in through dirty windows. To Leo’s relief, the house seemed solid and in much better repair than he’d feared at first glance. No doubt there were disasters enough waiting to be unearthed, but he did not think it would take too long to bring it back to its former glory.

“Oh, Leo, look! Come here!”