Randall shook his head. "No indeed. You're most definitely enjoying the best of both worlds. The children to play with during the day, and the ability to sleep straight through the night," Randall said with an envious laugh. "But then, I can't recall getting more than a few hours' sleep ever since I met Isolde anyway." He winked broadly.
"I know the feeling," Gabrielle admitted with a happy laugh.
Randall drummed his fingers on the desk for a moment, deep in thought. At length he said, "Well, in light of all this, I would say that we need to change some of the timetables on the lessons, then, if he is going to be my accountant as well."
"And I need to help him more with the household chores he insists on doing. Making the bed, bringing me breakfast and tea all the time, and so on."
"He loves doing those things for you. I'm sure he doesn't consider them to be chores. Besides, I would hate to drag the two of you out of bed too early in the morning. Not when you're still on your honeymoon, so to speak."
She gave a rueful smile. "Thanks, Cousin, but needs must and all that."
Randall shook his head. "The only devil driving the pair of you is you, Gabrielle. You don't have to try to pay me back out of some misguided notion that you owe me anything."
She folded her arms in front of her chest. "Don't be silly. Of course I do. The three of us owe you everything. There aren't many people who would take in the sister of the man who tried to destroy your whole family. Not to mention two insane escapees from Bedlam."
Randall slapped his hand down on the desk impatiently. "Now you are never to say that again, do you hear me? Lucinda is not insane. She was subjected to the most cruel horrors at the hands of her husband."
"I know," she sighed.
"As for Simon, he was tortured. I can't even being to guess what happened to him during the war. They are both good people wounded just as much as Michael was physically when he came back from Toulouse.
"And my brother was mentally wounded as well. Ask Bryony and Blake what he was like those first couple of years. He was lucky to have a good friend who saved him and refused to lock him away. He eventually gained the love of a decent woman. Not to mention friends like Eswara and Ash Paignton, who helped him on the road to recovery even when he didn't want to get better.
"The mental scars are the hardest sometimes because they can't be seen. But Simon is no more mad than you or I. He's a bit eccentric perhaps. But then the English are noted for their eccentricities. Not that he is English either, but you know what I mean."
Gabrielle nodded and sighed. "Yes, I know what you mean."
"He's a good man. Anyone who is a decent person will take him just as he is."
"Like the children do?"
He nodded. "Yes. I think so."
Gabrielle rubbed the back of her neck thoughtfully, easing an ache that had suddenly sprung up. "I think we'll keep him out of the world for a bit longer. Look how much trouble and enmity there was against him with those three servants, and yet he did nothing wrong."
Randall waved her concerns away airily. "People resent goodness sometimes. I can never understand why they want to defile and destroy. Like Lucinda's husband. And besides, I think there was more going on with the tutor and accountant than meets the eye," he said, recalling his past experience with certain government officials determined to make sure nothing changed in England if it meant giving up any of their own power.
"But only good has come out of it for Simon. I really think he's starting to emerge from his shell and show his true gifts. That can be no bad thing."
"Except if I want to keep him from ever being harmed," she argued. "They'll find him sooner or later. He's too unusual even in terms of his handsomeness and height to remain hidden under a bushel forever."
Randall didn't even try to tell her that her imagination was running wild. His past run-ins with the Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary were enough to make him accept her fears as valid. "So if you really think he is in such danger, isn't he lucky he's with the Rakehells, then? All of us are tall and most of us are dark. He doesn't stand out so much here. If no one knew better, they would think we really were related."
"Except that he is supposed to be Isolde's relative, Simon Drake," she reminded him with a roll of her eyes, "and she's a red-head like me. But it's true. When I first met him I wondered who he reminded me of. And he swears he knows Lucinda and I from Dorset, though for the life of me I can't recall him coming to the house. Yet I'm afraid to stir up a hornet's nest by going down there to try to find out more about his past, if anyone recalls him, that sort of thing."
Randall patted her on the shoulder. "Gabrielle, it's very good of you to try to help him get his life back. However, you might find that you're all better off not knowing. I don't want to think ill of him, believe me I don't. But what if he really does have a terrible family? Or left behind a horrible life? A wife? Children?"
She felt her heart lurch, and shook her head. "No, he said..."
He patted her shoulder and pointed out gently, "Men have been known to lie, and maybe not on purpose either, so don't jump down my throat. I'm just saying that his mind was so muddled that there might be a lot of things he just can't or doesn't wish to remember."
"No, he told me from the start he had never had a permanent relationship with any woman," she insisted. "I believe him. He hated the thought of us having to share such intimate quarters because he thought I would be repelled by him. He really is very bashful in some ways, not at all in others. I don't think he's really used to women at all. I mean, he's not a typical rake or anything."
"No, indeed. You're the only woman he sees as a woman, if you take my meaning. Oh, he's perfectly polite, correct and charming to everyone, but his eyes are never off you. I tell you, I think Isolde and Bryony are quite envious."
She smiled shyly. "It's what Ash calls being mindful, I think. Not just taking it for granted that you're in the room together, but that you really are together. Not just the peck on the cheek, but a proper kiss, and being appreciative of one another. Honestly, Simon makes me feel like an absolute goddess just listening to him speak. We may not have much money, but I feel richer than any queen."
"You soon will be rich if he keeps up your investment portfolio," he cousin said with a laugh. "He really is a marvel. Better than Matthew Dane or I could ever hope to be."
"It's the numbers. He just sees patterns and, well...." She shrugged.
"The funny thing is, he makes it all seem so easy. I heard him with the children the other day. He was creating a game out of it. They were all doing their times tables up to twelve, and some are hardly old enough to even write."
She sat back in her chair with a sigh. "Like I said, I don't know what miracle sent him to me. My terror is that he's going to be taken away. Or that he's never going to be happy because he's lost so much."
"Oh no, you must never think that!" Randall said with a shake of his head. "He's gained so much too."
She gave a small frown and twisted her fingers together. "I'm not so sure. His brothers, his family..."
"He told me his brothers were dead. He has no cause to repine, believe me. Better still, believe him yourself. If you don't want to listen to me, ask him."
She bit her upper lip and asked with serious intent, "What if he misses his old life?"
"Yes, I really can see how Bedlam night have grown on him," Randall said dryly.
Gabrielle rolled her eyes heavenward. "That's not what I mean and you know it."
He toyed with his paperknife for a moment, and sighed. "Don't invent problems where none exist. He's already accomplished more in a few weeks than many men could do in a lifetime. He's helped make this an even happier home, though before he came I never imagined that would be possible.
"I don't ever want you to think for one minute that you both aren't family. Family are people who really care about each other. There don't have to be any blood ties."
She rested one hand on his broad bicep. "Yes, I suppose.
You've proven that with the eight children you adopted. And there are you and all the Rakehells, too. You're all like family."
"Exactly." He added gently, "We all love you both. We would be delighted if he ever managed to find his family. But we would also be heart-broken if you left, no matter what the circumstances when you first came. Do you understand?"
"Lucinda too? I mean, I don't know if she will ever be truly well either."
"Of course she's welcome!" he insisted, rising from his chair to pace in front of the window. "I am shocked that you would ever doubt it. She's coming along well, and is wonderful with the children. The new baby will be a welcome addition, I'm sure. So long as our huge brood aren't too boisterous with the new arrival, I don't see any reason why they can't all be raised together."
Gabrielle put her hand to her heart, deeply touched, but also struck with a pang of concern. "Oh, Randall, it's so generous of you. But you know what Oxnard is like."
His mouth drew downwards as though he had tasted something sour. "I do. How she ever married him, I have no idea. Trust me when say I'm consulting with a professional as to the best way to secure a discreet end to that miserable relationship."
Gabrielle felt almost suffocated with fear. "But what if Oxnard finds her--"
Randall stepped over to her side and patted her on the back in an avuncular manner, though not that many years separated them in age. "Don't worry, I've told him not to say anything to anyone, not even his own wife. No one will come looking for her here unless she wants to be found. And this estate is so big and bustling that one woman more or less really makes little difference. I'm not afraid of him."
"No, but she is. She's terrified."
Randall put his hand in the air as though swearing an oath. "I promise you, we shall be the souls of discretion. I want to see you both happy. In fact, why don't you take the carriage out tomorrow and have a real day of it in Bath?"
He swivelled on one heel and stepped around to his desk chair. He sat and opened a drawer. "I'm sure the two Avenel wives will have a shopping list a mile long for you two to take care of. You shall have a sizable purse as well to spend as you like on nothing but pleasure. If you like, you can even stay the night at the Duke of Ellesmere's townhouse and--"
She shook her head. "No, really it's very kind. Just the day trip will be hard enough to talk Lucinda into."
"And Simon?"
"He likes to be with me, so whither I goest and so on."
Randall grinned, his lapis eyes alight. "He really does have the patience of a saint if he can tolerate shopping expeditions."
"So do you, Randall. You've been very patient and kind throughout all of this. I'm sorry I let the blue devils plague me."
He waved her compliment away airily. "We all have doubts and fears from time to time. We just need to make sure they don't get the better of us. Anyway, go tell Lucinda the news. This will probably be her last chance for an outing for some time until her confinement."
She nodded, and smiled. "I will, and thank you."
She was about to rush off when he reminded her, "Gabrielle, money."
She blushed and nodded.
"Do make sure you spend it all. And not too many presents for the children. I know you, you see." He took out another bag of gold coins.
"Give this to Simon. Divide it up amongst the four of you, you three, and the children. He will make the money go even further, and it will give everyone joy."
She smiled at him gratefully. "You're a good man, Randall."
He sighed and shook his head. "I wish I always had been. But I'm trying. My wife helped save me from a hollow life full of bitter recrimination and regret, and Simon makes me aspire to greater things. And now that I have a few minutes to spare thanks to the wonderful new helpers I have, it's time for me to work on my watercolors." He rose and began to stride for the door, pausing only to hand her the money.
His expression was so joyous she gave him a peck on the cheek and turned to leave.
Then she saw Simon standing in the doorway watching them, with the oddest expression on his face.
Chapter Twenty-five
Gabrielle smiled at the sight of Simon, but saw his brows knit.
"Hello, darling. We were just finishing our business.
"Is everything all right?' he asked, sounding breathless.
"Yes, lovely," she said, nodding. "Randall has set up a shopping spree for us for tomorrow."
"Oh?" he asked, sounding less than enthusiastic.
She took his hand and led him from the snug study so the Earl could have some privacy to paint his watercolors.
"Yes, the two of us and Lucinda."
"I see."
She looked at him in surprise. "Don't you want to come?"
He relaxed slightly. "Of course. But what's the occasion?"
She shrugged one shoulder. "Just to get some things we need, especially for Lucinda now that the baby will be here soon."
She raised the leather bags and clinked him into his hands. "You're in charge of the money. We're to count it, and divide it into four."
"Why four?"
"Because Randall knows you won't be able to resist buying all the children a little something because you're such a kind soul. So you need to keep to your budget. We're going to go out and spend it all exactly as we like for once."
"It's really very kind of him. Why would he-"
"He wants to thank us for helping make this a happy home."
He looked so dour that she forced herself to ask timidly, "You are happy here, aren't you, Simon?"
He stared at her in surprise and hugged her to him at once. "Yes, yes, of course I am. I just feel, well, a bit uneasy all of a sudden. If I didn't know better I would say I was jealous seeing you kiss your cousin like that."
"Oh, really? " She grinned. Then she saw his earnest expression had not changed one iota. "Simon! You can't ever possibly think--"
He shook his head. "No, not really. I just want to be enough for you."
"More than enough!" she insisted, holding him close. "How can you ever doubt it? I can't even remember what my life was like before I met you. You fill me so completely in every way, I can't even imagine breathing without you. So come, let's find Lucinda and tell her the news. I'll expect you to help me coax her."
"Whatever you want, mon coeur."
She put his hand on her left breast. "Just as you are my heart." Twining her fingers with his, she led him upstairs to find her sister.
When they arrived, they found her in the midst of a tea party with the children and Clarissa, who despite her protestations that she was needed back in the clinic in London, had stayed on for a time to make sure Lucinda was settled.
She had recently been talking about returning to London to help Anthony there again, though Gabrielle had done everything she could to encourage her to remain, at least until the baby was born.
To Gabrielle's surprise, when she broached the subject of a trip to Bath, Lucinda did not require much convincing. She gave a slow smile and said, "All right, I'll come."
Gabrielle shot Simon a look of pure relief, but Clarissa shook her head. "I've been away too long as it is, so if you're going to take her on a little excursion, this is my chance to head back to London."
"But I thought you said you'd stay until..."
"And so I will, but there's still a few weeks left yet. So I'll pop up to Town for a few days, see what needs doin', and perhaps train someone properly to take my place. See the children and, well, discuss your family's kind offer for us to find a place here."
"Well, if you are thinking of returning, can't you just write to Anthony and, well, explain?" Gabrielle asked quietly, fearful that her sister might have a terrible setback if her routine was changed and her attendant left her.
"I'll be happy to come back for the blessed event," Clarissa said with a sincere smile, "but Dr. Herriot has helped me so much, I just don't want to let him down. So give me a couple of weeks, and I'll be back. And I don't m
ind sayin', I do really consider this my new home. I just need to be sure it will be right for Molly's children. I've lived in London all me life, but who knew I'd like the country so much after all."
"So long as you've been happy here," Gabrielle said softly, with a pointed look.
"Oh yes, everyone has been far more kind than I deserve."
"Impossible," Simon said, taking her hand to kiss it in a most gallant manner, which actually elicited a blush from the worldly former prostitute. "You took risks to help me that more than make up for anything you think you might have been guilty of in your past."
Clarissa sniffed back her tears and said, "Well, I don't mind sayin' I thought she was mad at the time doin' what she did to help you, but things couldn't have turned out better. We're all happy, and you've helped the Earl weed out two spies right in his own house. Not to mention seein' the back of that wench tormenting the children. It was a good day for all of us when you and Gabrielle crossed paths."
The Rakehell Regency Romance Series Boxed Set 6 Page 25
