Page 87 of The Hidden Heart

“Yes, of course.” Gabriela brightened.

It was Richard who answered. “Miss Maitland is no longer going to be your governess.”

“What?” Gabriela looked horrified. “But that is not good news at all!”

“The good news is that she will be your guardian’s wife.”

Gabriela’s jaw dropped, and she swung toward Jessica. “Truly? Oh, Miss Jessie, I am so happy for you!” She threw her arms around Jessica and hugged her enthusiastically. Suddenly she stepped back and looked at Richard. “Does that mean you are not giving me away to Lady Westhampton?”

“That is right. Rachel will be most unhappy about it, but I shall tell her that she must content herself with being your aunt.”

“Oh, thank you!” Gabriela said, her eyes beaming. “I promise you, you won’t regret it.”

“I am sure I will not.”

“May I tell Lady Westhampton?” she asked, fairly quivering in her excitement.

“That I am going to be your guardian? Yes. As to the other, no, it is still a secret. You are the first to know.”

“And you want to tell her yourself. I understand. I won’t breathe a word, I promise.”

With another impulsive hug for Jessica and then, as though she could not resist, for Richard, as well, she ran out of the room.

“I wonder how long that secret will last,” Richard mused, smiling.

“I think she will not tell Rachel. Gabriela will consider it a point of honor. However, I would not be surprised if Rachel guesses from her manner that something more than your being her guardian is afoot.”

“We shall tell her and Michael the news as soon as we can get them alone. And we can tell them what we discovered. We will need to clear your father’s name, and I imagine Michael will have an idea how best to go about it. He’s a brainy sort.”

“Richard…I am not so sure about clearing my father’s name.”

“What?”

“What about Gabriela? The General’s name will be even more tarnished by this than my father’s ever was. I mean, yes, I would love to have his name restored, but it has been ten years, and many people have forgotten. But Gabriela’s name will be hurt by it, and she will be making her coming-out in a few years. It will hurt her chances terribly…whereas I have dealt with it long ago. Of course, it would be better for your family,” she added, realizing that it would mean his marriage to her would be less of a shock to the polite world.

“The devil with my family,” said Richard. “I have very little family, except for a few cousins who will doubtless be most disappointed to see that I am remarrying at all. I have told you, I am free to do as I please, and I please to marry you, scandal or not. I want to restore your father’s good name for you. You do not deserve to live, and he did not deserve to die, under the cloud of suspicion. He was an honorable man, and he did a very good thing. He probably died in the service of his country. For while the General may have preferred to believe that he died in a common tavern fight, I find it difficult to believe, given the circumstances. We know that Kestwick is a killer. I see no reason to think that he was not one back then, too. You may forgive the General for what he did for Lady Kestwick, but I do not. He allowed you to live in poverty, to suffer the rejection of society, to have to work to live. And if Gabriela is harmed by this, that, too, will lie at his door.”

He looked at her and smiled. “I know. You are too tenderhearted to think of her being hurt. Well, do not worry. In four years’ time, when she comes out, with a duke for a guardian and you and Rachel guiding her through her season—as well as the very substantial fortune she was left by Streathern and her father—I will probably have to beat the suitors off with a stick. She will be fine.”

Jessica smiled and reached up to place a light kiss on his lips. “I love you.”

“And I love you. Now, I suggest we find Rachel and Michael and tell them our news.” He kissed her brow, then nuzzled into her hair. “Although, now that I think of it…there is a little bit of time before supper, and Gabriela will doubtless keep Rachel occupied for the next few minutes.”

“That is true,” Jessica agreed, bending her neck to the side to allow him access. “Can you think of a way we could spend that time, Your Grace?”

His chuckle was muffled against her neck. “Indeed, I can, Miss Maitland.”

Turning, he strode to the door and closed it, turning the key firmly in the lock. Then he walked back to her, a slow smile spreading across his face. Sweeping her up in his arms, he carried her across the floor to the bed. This time their lovemaking was slow and gentle, an easy exploration with hands and tongues and lips that built gradually, until at last they exploded into a white-hot burst of passion. And as she eased back into reality, her heart still hammering, her body slick with sweat, Jessica knew, with a happiness that had no measure, that she had at last found love.

* * *

The roads were passable in two days’ time, and, to everyone’s great relief, their visitors were able to leave, Lord and Lady Vesey taking Darius with them in the carriage to London, and the coach passengers continuing, much diminished, to York. Mr. Cobb escorted Radfield Addison to gaol and set off with the jewels for Mr. Gilpin.

The house was then in a stir for Christmas, only two days away. Christmas Day dawned bright and clear, with enough snow remaining to provide a picture-pretty scene.

The Yule log was dragged in in the middle of the afternoon and placed in the cavernous fireplace in the Great Hall. Richard lit it with a splinter saved for that purpose from the last year’s log, something which his servants never failed to do, always wishing good fortune on him and his house even when he was not in attendance.

Afterward they sat down to a groaning table covered with a Christmas feast far larger than they could eat. There was roast beef and venison, as well as stuffed goose and pheasant, and a variety of vegetables. There was mince pie, a Christmas staple, one of which would be eaten every night for the Twelve Days of Christmas, thus insuring twelve months of good luck for the inhabitants of the house. The meal was finished off, of course, with a huge round plum pudding, made on the first Sunday of Advent, with everyone taking a turn at stirring it for luck. There was gingerbread, as well, and sugar plums and ginger nuts, so that by the end of the meal, no one could eat a bite more.