Rescued by the Earl's Vows

by Ann Lethbridge

  ‘Pining,’ Hammond repeated. ‘Mims said she has to be forced to go out into company and keeps talking about retiring to Ingram Manor.’ He glowered at Jaimie. ‘She’s not happy, Sandford, and I expect you to do something about it. My life isn’t worth living in that house at the moment.’

  The thought of Tess being unhappy did not sit well in his gut.

  ‘It was she who rejected my suit, you know.’

  ‘Too proud are you, too important, to bend your knee before a woman? To apologise?’ Hammond said with a curl to his lip.

  Jaimie glared at him. ‘I have nothing to apologise for, as far as I know.’

  ‘I’ve said my piece; it’s all up to you now.’ He stomped off.

  Jaimie sighed. What was he supposed to do? The whole thing was completely illogical. Just like a woman to—

  That was the problem, wasn’t it? The past kept getting in the way of the present and messing up the future.

  He glanced over at the rose.

  * * *

  ‘Lord Sandford to see you, my lady,’ her aunt’s butler said.

  Tess’s heart gave a flutter. Jaimie? Here?

  She put aside her stitching, expecting Jaimie to be accompanied by her aunt. Gentlemen were not permitted to be alone with single young ladies. They might get up to mischief. Though she’d got up to so much mischief with Jaimie, no gentleman was ever going to be permitted anywhere near her ever again.

  When Jaimie entered, he was alone.

  ‘Lord Sandford.’ She held out a hand and he took it in his, touching his lips to the back of her bare hand, a sensation of silk and butterfly wings. His other hand he kept behind his back as he bowed. So utterly elegant. So completely cool and unreachable.

  A shiver ran down her spine. Again she looked beyond him, expecting her aunt to appear. What was the butler thinking?

  Jaimie straightened. ‘Lady Tess, I have taken the liberty of asking your aunt for a few minutes alone with you.’

  Her heart beat rapidly. Suddenly she felt as if she could not breathe. ‘I—Oh?’ She forced herself to think rationally. ‘Is something wrong? Has something happened in regard to Greydon? Please do not tell me the King has changed his mind.’

  ‘There is indeed something wrong, but I can assure you your brother was perfectly fine the last time I saw him, even if he was at war with the written report I had asked him to prepare.’

  ‘Oh, dear. Greydon was always more about doing than about studying.’

  ‘So I have learned.’

  ‘It was very kind of you to speak to King George about him and to give him a place in your agency.’

  ‘Not at all. I believe I have come out ahead of the game, despite what the King believes. He has already proved very useful to us in our investigations.’

  His kindness knew no bounds. She just wished she could find a way to thank him properly. She had missed him so much these past few days, in ways she had never expected, but it was his kindness that she missed the most and the way she could rely on him to keep his word. Something she wished she had realised earlier. And his lovely kisses, of course. And the way he looked when he fell apart in ecstasy... Oh, dear. ‘I am glad he is being of service to you. Please sit down. Let me ring for tea. Are you working on any interesting cases at the moment?’

  ‘Nothing of interest to me, Lady Tess.’

  She frowned.

  ‘Things are only interesting when you have someone to share them with. Someone you care about.’

  Her heart gave an odd little hop. ‘I see.’

  He brought his left hand around from behind his back. He was holding a single rose of the deepest shade of pink she had ever seen. It was a perfect blossom with a delicious scent. Was she mistaken, or was this his way of speaking of something in his heart? Hope unfurled, but it was too precious, too tender to be exposed if she was wrong.

  ‘Is it one of yours?’

  ‘It is,’ he said. ‘This rose is remarkable and the result of hours of experimentation. Yet with no one to share it with, it is merely a rose.’

  She swallowed. ‘It is beautiful. What did you call it?’

  ‘I called it Lady Theresa.’

  It was the first time she had ever liked the sound of her full name.

  He held it out to her.

  ‘Oh, really, no. I could not take it.’

  ‘It is yours. It would give me great pleasure were you to accept it.’

  She took it and held it under her nose. The scent was heavenly, sweet yet dark with promise. And it was a rose. The very first one she had received from him. ‘Thank you.’

  He went down on one knee and she felt heat rise in her cheeks.

  ‘Lady Tess, will you do the honour of becoming my wife?’

  She swallowed. ‘You are asking me again? Surely—’

  ‘Last time I asked you because it was the right thing to do. And because I had some foolish arrogant notion that if I married you, I could form you into the wife I wanted you to be. This time I am asking because over these past few days I have come to realise that I have fallen in love with you, exactly as you are. My life is empty without you. Incomplete. I feel as if I am only half a person.’

  Now she really couldn’t breathe or speak.

  ‘I have missed you, Tess. You drove out the shadows of my past and filled a void in my life as no other person ever could. I will certainly understand if I am not the sort of man you had in mind for a husband. I am not a particularly dashing fellow most of the time. My attempts at wooing are undeniably hopeless, but I did want you to know that I do love you with all my heart.’

  ‘Oh, Jaimie.’ Her throat filled with tears.

  ‘If this is too sudden, say you will think about it. Give me leave to hope that you might some day change your mind. With practice, I am sure I shall improve my wooing skills.’

  He sounded so confused, so undeniably hurt that she leaned forward and kissed him full on the mouth. He pulled her into his arms and held her tight, kissing her until they were both utterly breathless.

  ‘Tess?’ he finally said.

  Her eyes burned. She breathed in a little sip of air. ‘Oh, Jaimie, I was a such fool not to have trusted you, even though you never once let me down. I never gave you a chance to prove you were not like Papa. I even assumed the worst of Grey when he had done nothing wrong. I let past hurts play upon my mind instead of trusting my heart. The moment I returned your ring, I knew I had made a mistake. I thought, after that, you could never forgive me.’

  ‘Sweet, there is nothing to forgive. I was an ass.’ He rose. ‘Will you then give me leave to court you? To woo you as you deserve. Give me a second chance, as it were.’

  Joy bubbled up deep inside her. ‘No, Jaimie.’

  His expression shuttered. ‘Oh. You know I will always be your friend, do you not? If there is anything I can—’

  ‘Jaimie,’ she said softly, sinking to one knee and grasping his hand in both of hers. ‘I love you with all my heart, too. Will you do me the very great honour of becoming my husband?’

  He stared at her for a moment. His expression changed, and she basked in the glory of that wonderful smile.

  ‘You never ever cease to take me aback, Tess Ingram.’ He pulled her to her feet. ‘Marriage to you will be one long surprise.’ He kissed her.

  ‘I hope so,’ she whispered against his lips. ‘I wouldn’t want you to become complacent.’

  He laughed and kissed her again.

  Epilogue

  Joy, excitement and worry built in equal amounts in Tess’s chest, making it hard to swallow the tea the servants had brought out on to the lawn for her and her guests after their tour of Ingram Manor.

  It was a year since her marriage to Jaimie and, because of his generosity, Ingram Manor was finally ready for occupation once more. Ingrams had lived in this house since
the time of Good Queen Bess. Hopefully there would always be a descendant of the family taking care of it long into the future.

  ‘It is a beautiful old house,’ Michael said. ‘You have done a good job with it, my Lord and Lady Sandford.’

  Tess felt a surge of pleasure at his words and the sincerity in his eyes as he raised his cup towards them in the way of a toast.

  ‘Thank you,’ Jaimie said, with a fond glance at her, ‘but it is all down to my wife. She knew exactly what was needed.’

  ‘And it was your generosity that brought it about, Husband.’

  How they loved using those words. Wife. Husband. It brought a smile to her lips every time. And Michael was right, the house seemed to radiate contentment and well-being now the ivy had been cut back, the roof repaired and the lawns and gardens tended. Inside the floors gleamed and the wood shone from the care and attention they had received.

  She glanced over at Grey and worry outweighed joy and excitement. With his dark brows drawn down and his attempt to keep his distance from the rest of the party by sitting a little apart, he looked horribly uncomfortable. As if he’d sooner be anywhere else but here. Yet he bore himself as any gentleman would and his accent was also that of a well-educated man, as it had always been. She didn’t want him to feel uncomfortable in his own home, though it had taken all her powers of persuasion to convince him to join them today.

  He had refused to stay overnight, citing his work for Jaimie as being too important to be away for more than a day.

  His employment was another bit of generosity from her husband for which she would always be grateful. Grey was a proud man and he had refused any other form of help from Jaimie. He was determined to earn his keep. Her heart sank. Would he refuse her, too?

  She took a deep breath. ‘Listen, everyone. I have an announcement to make.’

  Every eye, even Grey’s, turned in her direction. Faces filled with anticipation.

  ‘Ingram Manor has been my home for most of my life. But I have a new home in the north, with Jaimie. This place needs the care of someone who loves it as much as I do. So, with Jaimie’s full agreement, on this my first wedding anniversary, I am making a gift of it to my brother, Grey.’

  Silence greeted her words.

  The confusion on Grey’s face turned into something else. Anger? He shot to his feet. His chair fell back on to the lawn. ‘What nonsense is this?’

  Beside her, Jaimie stiffened. She placed her hand over his, feeling its warmth against her palm, begging him with her touch to be silent. As usual he understood without the need for words, but still she could feel his tension.

  ‘It is not nonsense, Grey,’ she said calmly, smiling at him. ‘It is what Father would have wanted.’

  ‘If he wanted it, he would have seen to it,’ Grey said, a red flush staining his high cheekbones, even as he tried to sound as if he didn’t care, when she knew the lack of formal recognition from her father of his paternity had hurt him terribly.

  ‘Please, Grey?’ Tess implored.

  ‘Very well,’ he growled. ‘I will take over the care of Ingram Manor, but it will be returned to you or your descendants upon my death.’

  ‘A gloomy thought for such a fine summer day,’ Michael remarked with a slight curl to his lip, which indicated he was far from pleased with her brother’s response.

  Grey bowed and strode off in the direction of the servants’ quarters, no doubt off to see Mrs Leggat, who had been persuaded to return to her old post. She’d always been his good friend.

  While Jaimie walked ahead with Alice, she and Michael strolled behind. Indeed, he seemed to be slowing his pace. She lowered her voice. ‘Was there something you wished to say to me in private?’

  Michael shot her one of his unreadable looks. ‘Jaimie is correct. You are a very perceptive woman.’ He slowed his pace even more. ‘You have been good for my cousin, my dear Tess. I wasn’t sure about you at first, but it is clear you make him happy.’

  ‘Why, thank you, sir. You are very kind.’

  ‘He has been a source of worry to me for years. First the fire and his long recovery from illness, then the loss of his wife. More recently he was becoming so withdrawn, I thought we would surely lose him to his roses and his voices from the past. Honestly, I feared you were yet another mistake. But you are exactly what he needed.’

  More compliments and from a man who rarely said more than a word or two. ‘He makes me happy, too.’

  A small silence fell. Michael walked along, looking at his shoes.

  ‘There is something else, isn’t there?’

  He huffed out a breath. ‘There is. I am not sure how to broach this.’ Now he simply looked uncomfortable.

  ‘Simply say it. I prefer directness.’

  ‘Very well. Not so very long ago, Jaimie had the idea that he would leave Sandford to me and my descendants. As a sort of penance for what happened when he was little more than a baby. I assume he has told you about the fire he caused as a child.’

  ‘He has.’

  ‘Well, he had the idea that if his title came to my branch of the family it would somehow make up for what he did. I believed I had talked him out of that guilt nonsense, but...’ He tugged at his neckcloth. ‘What I mean to say is...’

  Understanding dawned. She swallowed the urge to giggle. ‘Oh, you want to know if we are planning to have children.’

  ‘Blast it, woman. Put me out of my discomfort here.’

  ‘We are. Indeed, I—’

  ‘You are?’ He stopped, his face suddenly alight with joy. ‘You are?’ His voice increased in volume. It now became the man used to making himself heard across the deck of a ship in a gale.

  Oh, dear, she had not intended to say anything to anyone until she had told Jaimie. And only today had she been sure. ‘Hush.’

  Jaimie whipped his head around. ‘You are what?’

  Clearly they had not got far enough out of earshot. ‘Blast it. I intended to tell you tonight, when we were alone.’

  ‘Tell me what?’

  ‘We are going to have a baby, Husband.’

  ‘A baby?’ Jaimie exclaimed, completely ignoring the other two and coming back to her side. He picked her up and spun around in a circle. ‘We are having a baby, Wife?’ He put her down gently and held her in the circle of his arms, looking both happy and excited.

  ‘We are,’ she managed, before he kissed her enthusiastically.

  Laughing, Alice tucked her hand in the crook of her husband’s arm. ‘Come along. It seems they need a little time to themselves.’

  * * *

  It wasn’t until Jaimie and Tess were in bed and spooned together that Jaimie got a further opportunity to be alone with his wife. He still couldn’t quite believe he was going to be a father. His family was growing by leaps and bounds. In just a year he’d added Tess and Grey, and now there was to be a child. He dropped a kiss on her shoulder.

  ‘Was it a terrible shock?’ Tess whispered, as always knowing the exact direction of his thoughts.

  He smiled against her silky skin and stroked her arm. She gave a little shiver. ‘Not at all. It is the best news I ever had, apart from the day you asked me to be your husband.’

  She laughed. ‘You always know the right thing to say.’

  She rolled over and kissed him until they were both breathless, then snuggled against his shoulder. He took her hand and guided it to where it was needed most. She caressed him.

  He groaned. ‘Wife, did I tell you I love you?’

  She gave a little moan as his hand caressed her breast. ‘This morning.’

  ‘Then clearly I have been neglectful. I love you every moment of every day.’

  ‘And I love you—’

  He cut off her words with a kiss that deepened to passion.

  Not as much as I love you.

  The words in his
head were his own.

  * * * * *

  If you enjoyed this story, you won’t want to miss these stories loosely linked to RESCUED BY THE EARL’S VOWS:

  CAPTURED FOR THE CAPTAIN’S PLEASURE

  FALLING FOR THE HIGHLAND ROGUE

  And check out these other great

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  Keep reading for an excerpt from THE WARRIOR’S VIKING BRIDE by Michelle Styles.

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