Country air. Space. And roses.
Peter didn’t seem to mind having to hold her up. He put his arm around her waist and pulled her up against him and stroked her temple. “I love you, Anna. If I had my way, I would marry you tomorrow. Now. Yesterday. Two years ago, even, but I was still a complete fool then, and couldn’t see it. Now, I see it so clearly. You are my life…but you are an irremovable part of Tobias’ life, too. So Tobias must stay with you.” He squeezed her shoulder. “That is what I learned, last night…that I love you enough that I don’t care what the terms are. Tobias taught me that. He has you in his life because he accepted you in whatever way you wanted. That is what I will do…if you will have me.”
Annalies drew in a shaking breath. All of her trembled. “Oh, Peter…!”
“Damn it, man, if you do not kiss her,” Tobias said in a croaking voice, “then you will force me to get out of bed and do it for you.”
Annalies caught her breath.
Peter did not release her. He glanced at Tobias. “How much did you hear?”
“Enough to know I must pack my trunks, and I detest moving.”
“Then you will come to Farleigh?” Peter asked.
“It will make Annalies happy, so of course I will,” Tobias said. He paused to breathe in quick, shallow breaths. “Annalies…Anna…he has a big empty house, you said.” He closed his eyes, his energy gone.
Annalies’ breath caught. “The house! Oh, the conservatory, Peter!”
He frowned, clearly baffled.
“Oh, never mind that for now,” Annalies said quickly. She wound her arms around his neck. “You are supposed to kiss me, now.”
“And forever more,” Peter breathed and kissed her, as requested.
Chapter Eighteen
Farleigh Hall, Farleigh, Hertfordshire, England. May 1875.
The last nearly empty glass of champagne had been picked up. The last plate holding the remains of celebration gateau had been swept off to the kitchen by the dozen footmen circling through all the big public rooms of the house. The kitchen rattled with the sound of dishes being washed and put away, while most of the lamps were extinguished.
The last carriage pulled around the front drive, its passengers yawning sleepily, as the sky to the east painted itself a deep indigo, then a delicious purple, a rich azure, then a lovely clear rosy pink, just above the horizon.
On the floors above, the dozen new graduates of the Farleigh Institute of Art were preparing for bed. In the other guest rooms, the members of the great family who had attended the first graduation ceremony of the new school were also retiring.
Annalies spoke to the butler, Carsdale, a last word suggesting that he let the staff retire, as well. Not every dish needed to be washed and put away immediately.
Carsdale nodded graciously with the air that told Annalies he would consider and then immediately dismiss her suggestion as counter to the tight ship he preferred to run.
Peter came up alongside her.
Carsdale bowed and headed back to the staff wing, and Peter slid his arm around her waist. “Time for you to sleep, too, La Grande Dame Artistique.”
Annalies gave a small laugh. One of the daily newspapers had described her that way a few months ago, in a slightly hysterical article claiming she was the most underestimated artist of the era and that her legacy would last well into the next. Peter liked to use the name whenever he could, just to see her nose wrinkle.
They walked companionably toward the hall, through the quiet house.
“Tobias…?” Annalies asked, alarmed. She had been so busy this evening, managing the formalities and then circulating through the guests to ensure they were comfortable, and to encourage them to visit the conservatory to examine the work of the students.
“Sergeant Jones took Tobias back to the house hours ago,” Peter said. “I looked in on him just after midnight. He was fast asleep.” Sergeant Jones had served in a military hospital his entire career, and was a stalwart nurse and helpmeet, who made Tobias’ life tolerable on the bad days. On the good days, Tobias taught him how to play chess.
“Oh, good,” Annalies breathed, relief touching her. “I saw Tobias talking to Uncle Rhys earlier in the night.” She glanced at Peter. “Do you think…?”
Peter opened the back door and let her through. They moved through the still and dark conservatory toward the far outer door. In the shadows, the silhouettes of easels holding paintings were straight lines among the ferns and palms which edged the room. This was the student painting studio and gallery, both.
Peter opened the back door and held it aside for her.
The air outside was cool, but not cold. The dawn chorus was in full throat, as the daylight broadened.
Peter tucked Annalies against him once more. “I have a strong feeling that most of the family have guessed the exact living arrangements in our house, my love. You know the family creed.”
“Inside the family, we do as we please.” She rested her head against his shoulder briefly. “The garden is looking wonderful, Peter.”
This was the second summer, and Annalies could tell from the maturing trees and bushes that the garden would soon become a stately park. Already, thousands of annuals were blooming, bringing color to every formal bed.
Her private delight, though, was the garden around their house. There was always a different view to take in, a different flower to admire, or a new color to try to replicate on canvas. Peter constantly tinkered with the small garden, so one didn’t know what color might bloom next.
Although he protested that he did not possess a single creative bone in his body, Annalies thought that in this, Peter was an artist.
“Father wants to bring Mother back in mid-summer,” Peter said. “To stay awhile.” His gaze met hers. “They have memories of this place. I think it would do her good.”
“So do I,” Annalies said stoutly. It brought her back to the discomforting thought once more. “Do you really think everyone knows?”
“I do,” Peter said. “There was a complete absence of direct questions tonight. And everyone in the family went out of their way to speak to Tobias.”
“This family of ours…” Annalies said with a sigh.
Peter opened the front door. “We are blessed to be part of this family of ours,” he pointed out. “Any other family—”
“Including Tobias’,” Annalies interjected.
“—would have turned a cold shoulder at the very least. We have escaped social ruin because our family supports everyone, no matter what.”
Annalies didn’t respond to that. The matter which had been weighing on her heart lately stirred once more.
Peter shut the door of the old house as Annalies stripped off her gloves and moved into the front room.
Tobias was sitting in the wing chair by the window, where he spent a great many hours. He wore pajamas and a dressing gown and warm slippers.
“Tobias, you should be asleep,” Annalies scolded him. She moved over to his side and kissed his cheek.
“I did sleep,” Tobias said, taking her hand. “Then I was awake again. It seems a waste to not enjoy the day while I can. And the sunrise is rather spectacular this morning.”
“It is,” Peter said. “Have a seat, Annalies. I have something for you.” He moved out of the room.
“Oh, dear…” Annalies said. “Do you know what this is about, Tobias?” She settled on the window seat beside his chair, their hands still linked.
He shook his head. “Contrary to what you seem to think, we do not share absolutely everything.”
“Sometimes it feels as though you do, but it does make life easier that way,” Annalies admitted.
Peter returned. In his arms he carried an enormous bouquet of cabbage roses, which he laid in her arms. They were a deep purple color, which turned to indigo on the edges of the petals, giving them depth and breath-catching beauty.
“Oh, they are glorious!” Annalies breathed. “Such a beautiful color!”
“They are the color you wear all the time, Annalies,” Tobias said. “They are you,” he added.
Peter rested his hand on Tobias’ shoulder. “I crossed two different varieties, last summer. I had to wait until now to see which crossbreed gave me the right color, or if I would have to start again this year.” He ran the tip of his finger over the petals. “This is my gift to celebrate your school’s first successful year.”
Annalies examined them. “They are such a glorious color,” she breathed. Already, she could see a picture forming, of a lady holding the flowers in her arms, turned side-on to the painter’s view point, looking over the top of the wonderful flowers, a small, and happy smile on her face.
Who could be around her? How could Annalies tell that story?
“Anna, stop painting,” Tobias chided her.
Annalies jumped. Both men watched her, their expression warm. “I’m so sorry.” She thrust the cabbage roses at Tobias. “Would you mind holding these for me for a moment, Tobias? There is something I must do.”
Tobias took the blooms.
Annalies patted the window seat beside her. “Please sit for a moment, Peter.”
He glanced at Tobias.
“The lady requested you sit,” Tobias told him.
Peter separated the tails of his evening jacket and settled beside her.
Annalies took a deep breath. “You have been so very patient with me. Both of you. For a year I have worked to establish the Institute, and tonight, that work ended. Now I am free to consider the next project.”
Tobias groaned. “Another great work?”
Annalies slapped his knees. “You have loved every minute of this one.”
“He had an art style named after him. Of course he loved it,” Peter said, his deep voice reverberating the way it did when he was very tired…or very happy.
“So what is it to be now, Anna?” Tobias asked.
She took another deep breath. “A long time ago, Peter, you pointed out to me that I have lived my life on my own terms, always, and that if I wanted to change that life, I could.”
“I remember that conversation,” Peter said. He glanced toward the conservatory.
“It sounds like something you would say,” Tobias added, his tone judicious.
Anna nodded. “For the longest time, I believed that to have this…this happiness, this perfect world I now have, that I must give up other things. That no one can possibly expect to have everything they want.”
“You thought,” Peter said, his voice even lower, “that you must give up something in order to have something else.”
“Yes, exactly. I thought that I must give up Tobias, to have you.” She reached for Tobias’ hand once more. His fingers squeezed hers weakly. “Now I know that isn’t true. Yet I didn’t have the courage to reach out for the one other thing I wanted, that I have wanted for a very long while.”
Neither man spoke. Had they guessed what she was about to say?
Annalies rose to her feet enough to turn and lower herself to her knees in front of Peter. “I want to marry you, Peter, and have your children. Will you do me the honor of wedding me and giving me the last thing I most want in this life?”
Peter’s chest lifted. His jaw worked.
“Say yes, you fool!” Tobias whispered, his voice weak.
Peter eyes glistened. “I had given up on ever…” He slid from the window seat and settled on his knees in front of her. He took her face in his hands. His black eyes glittered. “I will,” he whispered, his voice rough.
His kiss was deep and rousing, with everything in his heart driving it. Annalies could feel his joy and his love radiating from him, and found she was weeping at the perfection of this moment. It was scandalous and it was unconventional, and all of society would be shocked out of its britches if they were ever to learn of the exact circumstances. Yet to Annalies this was the most beautiful moment in a gallery of such glorious moments, and it was because of this man that she had collected them.
“I love you, Peter,” she whispered against his lips. “Just as you have always been here for me, I will spend the rest of my life being here for you.”
He pulled her against him and held her tightly. “Whatever your terms, love of my heart, I accept willingly, for the privilege of having you in my life always.”
___________________________________
The next book in the
Scandalous Scions series.
The next book in the Scandalous Scions series, Year of Folly, will be released in September 2019.
All Emma wants is to belong…
Emma, the youngest daughter of the great family, cannot find acceptance among the peers of society despite four Seasons of pleasing everyone. She is banished to Inverness to avoid any scandal her anger might cause. Even in Inverness, she is an outsider, for her cousins, including staid and boring Morgan Davies, spend all their days working and thinking, for heaven’s sake!
Having survived years of the family’s disasters, Morgan likes his quiet life and routine. Emma’s excesses and plain speaking disrupt his days. When Emma discovers politics and adopts as her cause women’s suffrage, the most outrageous scandal the family has yet to produce threatens to turn Morgan’s world inside out…
___
This entire series is filled with so much love for each other and family, that there is no way you cannot be emotionally drawn into each story.
Get your copy of Year of Folly now:
https://tracycooperposey.com/year-of-folly/
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Acknowledgements
Dina Bushrod, Audrey Cienki -- thanks so much, guys!
About the Author
Tracy Cooper-Posey is a #1 Best Selling Author. She writes romantic suspense, historical, paranormal and science fiction romance. She has published over 100 novels since 1999, been nominated for five CAPAs including Favourite Author, and won the Emma Darcy Award.
She turned to indie publishing in 2011. Her indie titles have been nominated four times for Book Of The Year. Tracy won the award in 2012, and a SFR Galaxy Award in 2016 for “Most Intriguing Philosophical/Social Science Questions in Galaxybuilding” She has been a national magazine editor and for a decade she taught romance writing at MacEwan University.
She is addicted to Irish Breakfast tea and chocolate, sometimes taken together. In her spare time she enjoys history, Sherlock Holmes, science fiction and ignoring her treadmill. An Australian Canadian, she lives in Edmonton, Canada with her husband, a former professional wrestler, where she moved in 1996 after meeting him on-line.
Other books by Tracy Cooper-Posey
For reviews, excerpts, and more about each title, visit Tracy’s site and click on the cover you are interested in: http://tracycooperposey.com/books-by-thumbnail/
Scandalous Scions
(Historical Romance Series – Spin off)
Rose of Ebony
Soul of Sin
Valor of Love
Marriage of Lies
Scandalous Scions One (Boxed Set)
Mask of Nobility
Law of Attraction
Veil of Honor
Scandalous Scions Two (Boxed Set)
Season of Denial
Rules of
Engagement
Degree of Solitude
Ashes of Pride
Risk of Ruin
Year of Folly
Queen of Hearts
Once and Future Hearts
(Ancient Historical Romance—Arthurian)
Born of No Man
Dragon Kin
Pendragon Rises
War Duke of Britain
High King of Britain
Battle of Mount Badon
Abduction of Guenivere
Downfall of Cornwall
Vengeance of Arthur
Grace of Lancelot
The Grail and Glory
Camlann
Kiss Across Time Series
(Paranormal Time Travel)
Kiss Across Time
Kiss Across Swords
Time Kissed Moments
Kiss Across Chains
Kiss Across Time Box One (Boxed Set)
Kiss Across Deserts
Kiss Across Kingdoms
Time and Tyra Again
Kiss Across Seas
Kiss Across Time Box Two (Boxed Set)
Kiss Across Worlds
Time and Remembrance
Kiss Across Tomorrow
More Time Kissed Moments
Kiss Across Blades
Kiss Across Chaos
Kiss Across The Universe
Even More Time Kissed Moments
Kiss Across Forever
Project Kobra
(Romantic Spy Thrillers)
Hunting The Kobra
Inside Man
Vistaria Has Fallen
Vistaria Has Fallen
Prisoner of War
Hostage Crisis
Freedom Fighters
Casualties of War
V-Day
Risk of Ruin Page 18
