Emilie was finishing the dress she’d promised to Georgie for her stuffed bear when the door to the drawing room opened and her sister came in followed by Lady Preston.
“Oh, is that for Georgie?” Eliza said, coming forward to examine the little dress.
Emilie ignored her sister for a moment to make her curtsy to Lady Preston. “Good afternoon, my lady.”
The lady didn’t smile beyond a brief polite lifting of the corners of her mouth as she acknowledged Emilie’s greeting. “Good afternoon. Your brother will be joining us shortly.”
“He will?” Emilie looked to Eliza who seemed to be examining the dress with even greater attention.
“He and your sister have something they need to tell you,” the lady informed her.
“I shall order some tea while we wait for Tremelling,” Eliza said, moving toward the door.
“Are there not bellpulls?” Lady Preston said, stopping her from leaving the room.
Eliza paused. “Oh, yes, but I’d like to…” Her voice petered out as the woman glared at her.
Emilie had no idea what was going on. She looked from one woman to the other. “What—”
“Have you ordered tea?” Evan asked as he came into the room.
“I was just about to,” Eliza said. With a slightly guilty expression she moved to the bellpull and gave it a yank.
“Although we might end up wanting something a little stronger,” he said, turning to look at Lady Preston. He bowed. “Good afternoon, my lady.”
“Good afternoon, my lord. I believe you know why I am here and have requested your presence?” Lady Preston asked.
“I do not,” Emilie piped in.
Evan’s gaze dropped to the floor for a moment as he nodded.
“What is going on here?” Emilie asked. Clearly, they knew something she did not, and she didn’t like it.
Unfortunately, the maid entered just then bearing a tea tray. “I beg your pardon, my lady. I just assumed this was why you rang.”
“Er, yes, it was. Thank you,” Eliza told the girl.
“Is there cake?” Evan asked, seeming to be much more interested in the tea tray than normal.
But Emilie was becoming frustrated. It seemed as if they were all deliberately keeping something from her and she wanted to know what it was—now. “Evan!”
Her brother jumped and spun around to face her. “Em? Can a man not want to have a piece of cake before he is—” he stopped.
“Before he is what?” Emilie asked.
“Yes, of course you can,” Eliza said, filling in the awkward silence that was threatening. She sat down on the sofa and began pouring out.
Emilie just wanted to grind her teeth together. Lady Preston didn’t look any happier. But just before Eliza was about to hand the lady her tea there was a scratching at the door. The footman came in.
“Lord Willington and Lord Thetford to see you, Lady Emilie.” He stepped aside to let the two men into the room.
Emilie’s heart tightened in her chest, and she found herself staring at Lord Willington. She looked at him closely, searching for some sort of injury or remains of an illness—something that would have kept him from meeting her when he said he would. She knew he’d left Town, but maybe it was for a good reason. It couldn’t have been to attend a relative on their deathbed. His parents were already gone, and his grandmother was with him here. She immediately chastised herself. There was no reason. It was purely cowardice, that was all.
But then, why was he here now? And who was this man he’d brought with him?
“Oh, thank goodness, Lord Willington, you have returned,” Lady Preston said as she sketched him a curtsy.
He bowed. “I have.” He turned to the company at large. “Lady Emilie, Lady Alford, Lord Tremelling.” His bow encompassed them all. “May I introduce to you my good friend Lord Thetford?”
The gentleman with him bowed. He was fair with dark-blond hair and blue eyes, which looked rather striking next to Lord Willington’s dark hair and eyes, but he was not nearly as handsome. He was thin whereas Lord Willington was broad, shorter, and more spare-looking next to Lord Willington’s athletic build.
“Goodness, Thetford. I haven’t seen you in ages,” Evan said, coming forward to shake his hand.
“Been in the country,” the man explained without any sort of elaboration.
Evan accepted this and said no more. Emilie got the impression they weren’t good friends, but perhaps they’d known each other at school.
It was strange, Emilie thought, watching the gentleman. He had an odd air about him. He seemed quiet and small despite his size.
“Please come in and sit down. We were just serving tea. Would you care for some?” Emilie said, gathering her wits and remembering her manners.
The gentlemen did so and soon they were all seated sipping tea.
Lord Willington started first. “I, er, actually came to apologize, Lady Emilie.”
She looked at him, raising her eyebrows. “Oh?” She was not going to make this easy for him.
“Yes. I said I would call, and I did not. I’m afraid I was so distracted I completely forgot to send you a note explaining my absence to you. I should have done so.” He looked so contrite Emilie was almost taken in. She quickly steeled herself, however.
She merely nodded. “Indeed, you should have. And are you here to explain yourself? You need not. Your prior behavior made your absence quite understandable—expected even.”
He had the grace to wince.
“It was because of me.” “It was my fault.” Somehow the words seemed to come from both Lord Thetford and… Evan?
Emilie looked from one to the other. “What was your fault, Evan? What did you have to do with him not visiting when he said he would, Lord Thetford? I am exceedingly confused,” she admitted. When neither man spoke right away, she narrowed her eyes at her brother. “Evan? Did you do something? Say something to Lord Willington?” She stopped. She would have liked to have an open and honest conversation, but in Lord Thetford’s presence, she could not.
It was Lord Thetford who started first. “Willington was coming to see me when he should have been with you, Lady Emilie. You see, I… I needed him desperately.”
Emilie could only tilt her head silently asking why. The man understood, naturally, but dropped his gaze to the teacup in his hands.
He took in a deep shuddering breath. As he did so, Lord Willington put a steadying hand on his shoulder. “It’s all right, William, you don’t have to—”
“Yes, I do!” Lord Thetford answered with more force than expected. He turned to Emilie. “My wife… she…” He took another deep breath. “She died. In childbirth. The babe as well.”
Emilie’s heart constricted. “Oh, I am so very sorry. Please accept my most sincere condolences.”
He nodded as everyone else chimed in theirs as well.
“Thank you, all. It rather… destroyed me. Gabriel was the only one I could think of who could help me get through the first few days. We grew up together, went to school together, and have been like brothers our whole lives.”
“I received Thetford’s note urging me to come as soon as I returned home from the Rossburke’s. I got on the road to him first thing the following morning,” Lord Willington explained.
“So, you honestly did mean to come?” Emilie asked. She didn’t know why her eyes were stinging.
“I did. Truly, I did,” he said softly, looking her straight in the eye.
A lump formed in her throat.
“I thought—” she began.
“You thought he was not going to show just like he didn’t six years ago after his visit during the Easter holiday,” Evan said. “You thought he wouldn’t visit and wouldn’t write.”
She turned toward her brother, now feeling very confused. Why was he reminding them all of this?
He sat up taller. “It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see you anymore,” Evan said, looking straight at her. “He did it because after I forced Gabriel out of our house at daybreak, I… I threatened to kill him if he did.”
Emilie frowned. “What?” The word whispered from her throat, which was becoming tighter by the moment. She turned toward Lord Willington.
He nodded. “It’s true. I wanted… I wanted very much to visit you. To write to you. To continue our… acquaintance,” he said lifting one side of his mouth in an adorable little smile.
“You did?” Emilie had to swallow hard to get the words out.
“Truly, I did,” he said.
She turned back to her brother. “But you stopped him.”
“Yes. I was protecting you,” Evan said, trying to defend himself.
Emilie could only close her eyes. She didn’t know what to feel. There were so many emotions roaring through her—anger, frustration, hurt, and… and love. Love for Gabriel who had wanted to be with her and couldn’t for fear her brother would harm him.
“When Lady Preston introduced us again,” Gabriel began. Emilie opened her eyes again. “I was terrified of what Tremelling might do, to be honest. But it wasn’t my fault that she thought we would suit.”
“You are soulmates,” Lady Preston put in.
“I saw how hurt you were when Willington didn’t contact you again,” Evan said, taking up the story. “And I saw the interest—along with the anger—in your eyes when he came to meet you. I realized what I’d done was wrong, so I gave him my permission to court you.”
“I didn’t know any of this,” Eliza said, joining in the story. “So, I encouraged you to get your revenge on him for breaking your heart so many years ago.” She paused and looked at Emilie. “I’m so sorry.”
Emilie shook her head. “It wasn’t entirely your fault. I agreed, ultimately.” She suddenly realized Gabriel knew nothing of her plan. Her eyes flew to his. Strangely, though, he looked as if none of this was a surprise to him. “Did you know?”
He gave her a sad little smile. “My grandmother overheard you talking with Lady Alford at the Rossburke’s. She told me after we got home.”
“But she had no idea of your history or why you wanted to get your revenge on Lord Willington,” Lady Preston put in. “When I explained it to her, she understood. She wasn’t happy, but she understood.”
Emilie found her hands were shaking. She put down her teacup with a clatter.
“The reason I came today,” Gabriel said, standing. He took the few steps over to her and lowered himself onto one knee. “Was to ask if you could look beyond all this and consider—truly consider—marrying me. I love you, Emilie,” the last words came out as a whisper, as if he were becoming overwhelmed by his own emotions.
She couldn’t hold back. Emilie threw her arms around Gabriel’s neck, finally releasing the tears that had been threatening.
His hand gently rubbed up and down her back until she could catch her breath and force the tears away. She pulled back and looked Gabriel in the eye. “I love you too. I was so upset when you didn’t call last week because I was going to throw my plan out the window and truly accept your proposal, no matter what. I was going to forgive you for what happened six years ago because you’d proved yourself to be true—and then…”
He shook his head, that smile teasing his lips again. “And then I didn’t show. Oh, Emilie, I am so sorry.”
She sniffed and nodded. He pulled out his handkerchief and handed it to her. After she’d wiped her nose and eyes, he put a finger under her chin, forcing her to look up at him. “Did you say you love me?”
She laughed. “Yes, I did.”
“Does that mean…?”
“Yes, I will marry you, Gabriel Willington. Happily.”
A sniff came from somewhere behind him. Gabriel turned to smile at whichever lady would soon be needing another handkerchief. He was surprised when he saw William surreptitiously wiping a tear from his cheek.
Tremelling must have noticed as well because he stood up suddenly. “Thetford, I think you and I need a drink. What do you say we repair to my study to partake? Of course, any ladies who would like to join us are more than welcome,” he added.
“Goodness, I know I need one,” Eliza said, standing as well.
William did so as well and the three of them made their bows and curtsies before leaving the room. That left only him, Emilie and Lady Preston. Strangely, the lady didn’t seem overly eager to leave just at the moment.
Gabriel got to his feet but kept a hold of Emilie’s hand. “My lady, I don’t know how you did it or how you knew to persist in the face of… well, everything, but may I just say how happy I am that you did?”
She gave a little snort of laughter. “I believe I told you the very first time you came to my home that I rely on horoscopes, my lord. They have never steered me wrong.”
“Oh, yes, you told me the same,” Emilie said. “What did you say we were?”
“You are a Taurus, Lady Emilie. It is known to be the most stubborn of all the signs, which is how I knew that only when you came to a conclusion on your own would you accept it. I assume you no longer believe all men are horrid, selfish creatures?” she asked with a smile twitching on her lips.
“Oh no! I still believe that most sincerely,” Emilie said. “Lord Willington, however, is an exception to the rule. I believe my brother is as well, although I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to forgive him for threatening Willington the way he did.”
Lady Preston just shook her head. “And you, my lord, were born under Cancer. They feel everything most acutely, just as you do your passions. And they are known to empathize with others so strongly that they may do harm to themselves while trying to make things better for others.”
Gabriel could feel his face heat with the veracity of her words. “I suppose that does describe me,” he admitted.
“Did you not follow Lord Tremelling’s dictates to the letter despite the fact that it hurt you and Lady Emilie?”
“But he threatened Gabriel with bodily harm!” Lady Emilie argued.
“He did, but he didn’t need to. If your brother had known of Lord Willington’s sun sign, he would have known all he needed to do was tell him he would be deeply hurt if Lord Willington persisted in courting you. And we also saw evidence of this when his lordship ran off to assist Lord Thetford despite the fact that you were waiting for him to propose. It was not at all to his advantage to do that, but he did so anyway because he knew his friend was in distress, and he put him above any feelings of his own.”
“I was also upset because I’d learned of Lady Emilie’s plan for revenge,” Gabriel put in. “But on the whole, you are right. Even if I hadn’t known, I would have run to Thetford’s aid.”
“It’s quite incredible this zodiac,” Emilie said.
“It is,” Lady Preston agreed as she stood. “And now I think I will say my adieus. I am so very happy everything worked out—not that I thought for a moment they would not. I am always right about these things.”
“Thank you for everything, my lady,” Emilie said, getting to her feet as well.
“Yes, thank you, and I’m certain my grandmother will be extolling your brilliance to everyone and anyone in society who will stop to listen—and that will not be a small number of people, I can assure you.”
The lady curtsied. “Thank you, my lord. And please send my thanks to Lady Willington as well.”
Emilie watched the door close behind her. “I should have offered to walk her out,” she said quietly.
“Perhaps,” Gabriel agreed.
She turned and looked up at him, smiling. “But then I would not have had the opportunity to spend some precious time alone with you.”
“Oh, my love, have no fear, we will have a great deal of time alone.”
“You promise?”
He chuckled. “I promise.”
He then did what he’d been wanting desperately to do for over a quarter of an hour. He leaned down and kissed his bride-to-be with all his love.