‘If I didn’t love this hat so, I would eat it,’ Spencer said wryly as he joined Liam beneath the shade of the largest of five tents peppered across the hunting lodge’s lawn.
They had been erected to house the Earl and Countess of Thornhallow’s wedding breakfast. Well, more of a village fete than a breakfast, really, but Rebecca had insisted on inviting the whole village.
Liam wasn’t sure if it was the refreshments, curiosity or the fact that the lodge was well away from the ruins of the old house, but most had actually come.
‘You made her your countess.’ Spencer grinned, sipping his champagne. ‘And I have never seen one to rival her.’
Spencer raised his glass in a toast, and Liam followed suit, his eyes following his friend’s to where his bride stood smiling amidst a rather eclectic group, half local gentry, half ladies from the village, all united in their admiration of her gown, it seemed.
Not that Liam could blame them. She was glorious, shining brighter than the May sunshine, and none could resist.
Though to him, it mattered not whether she was adorned in a mint tulle and silk gown with a coronet of flowers, or the drabbest wool, really. She was all he ever saw. And though the fashionable wardrobe he’d been thrilled to lavish upon her had eased her way into people’s homes, it was her kind and determined spirit that had eased her way into their hearts.
Life had not been easy since the fire. News of Thornhallow’s destruction had spread like a blaze itself, along with that of Mellors’s arrest, and Liam and Rebecca’s engagement. The truth of the matter had been distorted in a hundred different ways, and they had faced more scrutiny and judgement than Liam could have imagined when they’d gone to London.
But together, they’d weathered the worst of the storm, Rebecca’s fortitude and determination to rise above it all, slowly gaining them more and more support.
Despite the scandal of it, Mellors’s shockingly expedient trial had been cathartic for them all, and helped quash most of the disgusting gossip.
In the end, he’d been convicted and sent to Van Diemen’s Land. Between the testimony regarding the attempt on Liam’s life, that of the five other women he’d found who agreed to speak, and the public outcry against the Viscount—the newspapers all having seized upon the affair with gusto—the House had been reluctant to drag on the proceedings, and been forced to ensure not only that Mellors was dealt with, but properly punished.
Liam still had men searching for any others who had suffered Mellors’s perfidy, and he would do right by them as best he could, just as he had with those he’d found.
On Spencer’s urging, he and Rebecca had remained in London awhile after the trial, and though they had not been welcomed into society, they had been accepted at some choice events of the Season, and they’d even made some acquaintances that in time may prove to be friends.
Liam knew Spencer and the Dowager Marchioness—much to her own dismay—had paved the way for them, just as the pair had worked their connections in the House to secure Mellors’s conviction, and he was beyond grateful.
Just as he was grateful to have his friend by his side in church today.
Without him, Liam wasn’t entirely sure he would have been able to stand there and not spout nonsense once Rebecca appeared.
‘Have I thanked you yet?’ Liam asked, turning back to Spencer.
‘A million times,’ he laughed. ‘But I shan’t begrudge you a million more.’
‘Thank you,’ Liam said, offering his hand. ‘Truly.’
‘My pleasure.’ He nodded, taking it. ‘Your life has kept mine from being ghastly dull.’
Liam was about to press his friend about the bitterness in his voice when his wife appeared before them, radiant, rendering him speechless.
‘I apologise for the interruption.’
She smiled, making his heart skip a beat. My wife...
‘Only I was hoping to steal my husband for a moment.’
‘By all means,’ Spencer said graciously, literally bowing out. ‘Freddie has initiated a game of bowls and I find myself in need of thrashing him.’
Rebecca chuckled as Spencer wandered off to do just that, and Liam couldn’t stop himself from sliding a hand into hers and tugging her close.
She didn’t even chide him for the scandalous move—not that she had much time before he lowered his lips to hers and ensured she felt every ounce of the love he felt today, and every day. It seemed to grow, and he wondered if in time, he might simply expire, his body unable to contain it any longer.
After a long moment she pulled away, a slight flush in her cheeks, her eyes twinkling with mischief and desire. ‘I have something for you,’ she said softly, smoothing the lapels of his jacket.
‘Will I like this surprise?’ he asked, grinning, his hands travelling to places suggestive of what he wished her surprise might be.
‘I hope so.’
The seriousness in her voice, the earnestness in her eyes sobered him, and he nodded, slipping his hand into hers.
‘Lead the way, my love.’
Rebecca did just that, leading her husband across the lawn, throwing smiles at those who greeted them and wished them well.
She might have waited until later to do this, but she really wanted to know sooner rather than later if he liked his gift. And, in truth, she wanted a moment alone with Liam. It seemed they’d only had snatched moments here and there, between everything that had happened in London, and then once they’d returned here.
The staff, despite being offered their own homes and allowances, had decided to stay on, and worked miracles while they were away, fixing up the old hunting lodge at the edge of the estate. But as for the estate itself, there had still been so much to be done, even though she and Liam had spent days with Leonards, planning out a shockingly modern future for the Earldom.
And, of course, there was the construction of a new Thornhallow Hall to oversee, not far from the site of the old one, much simpler and smaller, but worthy of an earl and his countess nonetheless.
Ducking through the lodge, careful to avoid being stopped by anyone, Rebecca led Liam to the sunroom. He frowned, likely a little disappointed not to be led upstairs to their bedchamber, but she smiled and tugged him onwards. He watched every move she made as she unlocked the door and led him inside, towards the windows on the far side.
There, on the sill, sat her gift.
Liam froze when he saw them and she looked over at him anxiously, unable, for the first time in a while, to read him.
‘Are those...?’
‘Yes,’ she breathed, searching his face for any clue as to his feelings. Only, he was as still and stoic as she’d ever seen him, giving nothing away. ‘Gregory helped me save them,’ she said, looking back towards the two pots of roses. Barely more than seedlings, but resilient.
Such a silly idea.
‘I thought, we could plant one when the house is completed, and perhaps the other, with your mother, and Hal,’ she rambled on. ‘Do you—?’
I think that is a yes, then, Rebecca thought, her heart lifting as she melted into Liam’s fiery kiss.
Any, every doubt she’d ever had seemed to melt away when he touched her. She wasn’t sure what would have become of her if she hadn’t had him these past months. If she hadn’t ever found him at all.
Liam finally released her from his spell, though his hands still cradled her face. That light that had ensnared her from the first was there, as magnetic and transfixing as always. He told her often how she’d helped him through the darkness, but so had he. He’d given her things she had never dared dream of. Love, a home, family. The latter of which they were hoping to grow in the coming months.
A small smile appeared on her lips then, as she imagined it all.
‘It’s perfect,’ Liam said, and she reminded herself that he spoke of the gift, not of the image in her mind.
Though it is that, too.
‘She would have loved you,’ he whispered, his fingers idly rubbing the ring beneath her glove. His mother’s. ‘And Hal, too.’
Nodding, she turned her head and kissed his palm, unable to say anything.
They stood there a long while, simply basking in each other’s presence, and in the memory of those they’d lost, but who would remain with them always. They remained there until rowdy shouts and the sounds of a fiddle and flutes brought them back to the day.
Then, rather than do as she knew he wished to, sweep her upstairs, Liam led her back outside to their celebration, where they danced and laughed and sang well into the balmy night.
Then and only then did he carry his wife upstairs, and as he did, Rebecca knew that never would she regret having become the housekeeper of Thornhallow Hall.
For she had found Liam.
And with him a life of love.
Keep reading for an excerpt from The Highlander’s Inconvenient Bride by Terri Brisbin.