by Sahara Kelly
“It’s you,” she breathed.
“Yes, it’s me.” He slid from his saddle and went to her side, holding up his arms and smiling at her. “Grace. Come to me, love.”
She kicked free of the stirrup and dropped into his arms. “I’ve been looking for you,” she said. “But I couldn’t find you. I thought…” Her face crumpled and he felt the massive sob rise within her. “I thought you’d gone. That we really were finished. Done. Over.”
“Wrong, Grace. So wrong.”
He lowered his face to hers and kissed her there and then, ignoring the hoots and cheers from a passing carriage, and the somewhat angry yells of two young bloods who had been racing each other but were forced to slow their pace thanks to the couple obstructing their way.
“Perry. Oh Perry…” She clung to him. “God, we’re in the middle of the road. Put me down…”
“Only if you promise to kiss me again,” he grinned.
“Yes. I promise. Whenever you want.”
“That’s more like it.” He lowered her to the ground and grabbed the reins of the horses. “Look. Over there. Let’s get to the side of the road.”
A patch of grass with a rough log bench lay nearby, so they made their way there, tethering their mounts to a convenient branch and brushing the snow off the log.
The sun was now setting in a blaze of glory, and both were dazzled by the wonder of it.
“I love you, Grace,” said Perry, removing her glove to take her hand. “You have brought something special into my humdrum life and I don’t want to let it go. I won’t. I won’t let you go.”
She leaned against his shoulder. “I found out something when I got home. I discovered that there was nothing there for me. No joy. Just a comfortable routine that I always thought was enough.” She turned to him. “After these past few days I learned that it wasn’t. You showed me that.” She sighed. “We’ve known each other for some time and I always found myself looking forward to the times I knew I’d see you. Perhaps I was in love with you even then and didn’t recognise it. But I do recognise it now for what it is, because there’s a brilliant light shining around it that illuminates everything it touches.” She looked at their intertwined hands, then up at his face. “I love you, Perry. I’m not sure when it happened, but it did. You brought me joy. The best Christmas gift I’ve ever received.”
He slid an arm across her shoulders and turned her, positioning her so that he could kiss her with every ounce of the desire he felt burgeoning within.
“You drive me mad, woman. I’ve been riding for what feels like hours trying to find you.” He touched his forehead to hers.
She chuckled. “As have I. Morris told me you left in a vivacious mood.”
“Deery. Poor Deery.” Perry laughed. “I believe there are more than a few servants who will have much to talk about after today, love.”
They turned to watch the last of the sunset, leaning against each other.
“You’ll marry me, of course.”
Perry’s quiet words made Grace blink. “What?”
“Marriage. We’ll get married.”
“Oh. We will? I don’t recall being asked, Sir Peregrine.”
“That’s correct. I didn’t ask. I’m telling you. There will be no refusals, no hiding behind that glacial façade of yours. Although I respect you, I have a feeling you managed to come up with a number of reasons why we shouldn’t marry. Well, let me tell you right now, that none of those reasons are valid. There is only one matter between us. We love each other.” He nodded his head at her for emphasis. “And we will wed.”
“Oh really?” Grace’s voice slid over the word like nails on a blackboard.
“You love me. I love you. So yes. We will wed, and then I will whisk you off to somewhere exotic for a month or so. We’ll dispense with clothing and make love on the shores of warm seas. Or in a gondola. Or on top of an Alp. Wherever you wish, my darling.”
Somewhat appeased by this admittedly delightful programme, Grace shrugged. “Well in that case, yes, I suppose I’d better marry you. Can’t have you doing all that with anyone else, now, can I?”
“Absolutely not,” he answered. “Kiss me once more and then we’ll go home. Together.”
Grace enthusiastically responded, a smile on her lips and in her heart.
“Whose home?” she asked when she got her breath back.
He looked around, thought for a moment, then hugged her. “The closest. Yours. For Christmas anyway.”
“Perry?” She whispered against him.
“Yes, love?”
“Happy Christmas.”
“And happy Christmas to you,” he smiled back.
He helped her mount Snowball and then jumped into his own saddle. “Oh, I have one question.”
“What’s that?” Grace settled her skirts.
“You do have a piano at Seton Hall, don’t you?”
His raised eyebrow was wickedness personified and Grace, who knew exactly what he was referring to, nodded. “I do indeed. And I look forward to playing much more often now.”
“As do I, sweetheart” he chuckled as they turned their horses toward home. “As do I.”
Epilogue
January, Ridlington Chase, England 1817
“Is everything ready?”
Kitty Seton-Mowbray peered around a door into the corridor at Ridlington Chase.
Her sister-in-law, Rosaline, Baroness Ridlington, nodded from the other end. “Yes, all is in place. She can come down whenever she’s ready. Max is here at the bottom of the stairs.”
“All right.” Kitty closed the door and turned to the woman standing immobile at the foot of the bed. “It’s time, Grace. And oh my goodness, you look wonderful.”
Grace’s breaths were uneven and her skin flushed. “I think I’m coming down with something,” she moaned.
“Stop. That’s nonsense. Perry is downstairs waiting in the large parlour. Edmund is ready to escort you. Everything is perfect.”
“Except me,” she answered, touching the scars on her face.
“You can barely see them. Why you never used a touch of powder before, I’ll never know,” Kitty sighed. “But enough lingering. Head up, shoulders square and let’s get to it.”
Grace couldn’t help a chuckle. “Yes, Captain.”
“That’s the spirit.” Kitty opened the door. “I’m so happy for you Grace. You and Perry…the perfectly matched pair. And now Max and I won’t have to concern ourselves if we decide to take a long holiday…you and Perry will be there for us, to take care of Margaret.”
“B-b-but…” stammered Grace.
Kitty giggled. “Don’t worry. ‘Twas a jest. We aren’t going anywhere for quite some time yet.”
“Cheeky wench,” muttered Grace.
“Mind your skirt,” admonished Kitty.
The delicate blue silk swished around Grace’s feet with all the deliciousness she could imagine. It swayed and shifted, drifting down to her toes from the high waist, and overlaid with lace of the same colour—so delicate that it was as if a tracery of glittering blue cobwebs surrounded her.
She wore long white gloves, her mother’s pearl necklace, and three lovely silk flowers in her hair. Simple, understated, but very much her.
Max approved. “You are a delight to the eyes, Grace.” He held out his arm as she reached the bottom of the stairs.
“Wait…let me go ahead and take my place.” Kitty bustled around them. “Count to ten and then you can enter. Just like we rehearsed it…walk to the front, give her hand to Perry and after that you can sit down, Max.”
He sighed. “What would I do without you, my darling? Anyone would think we’ve never done this before.”
“Oh hush.” Kitty just shook her head. “Deep breaths now. I’m off.”
Max and Grace stood quietly in the hall. “You’re good for him, you know.”
She looked up at him in surprise. “I am?’
“Yes. He’s a good man with a brilliant mind. You
bring out the best of both his sides. He can be intelligent around you and be kind to you. He wants to be both and you enjoy it all.”
“I love him, Max. It’s that simple.”
He smiled back at his sister. “If you knew the history of this house, you’d understand why all the Ridlingtons are so happy to be here, with you both, today.”
“Well I’m glad, then.” She took a deep breath. “Shall we?”
“We shall indeed.”
And so Mrs. Grace Chaney was given in marriage by her brother, Mr. Max Seton-Mowbray, to Sir Peregrine Hawkesbury, in the large parlour of Ridlington Chase.
Present at the momentous occasion were the Baron and his wife, currently awaiting their second child. Simon and Tabitha Ridlington, accompanied by Miss Helen Ridlington, who was remarkably well behaved for a babe her age, were present because Simon presided over the wedding service.
Since Perry and Grace were somewhat older than the usual bride and groom, they’d opted for a simple exchange of vows in the warmth of the Chase and everyone had approved. England was still in the grip of a winter that refused to release its bitter stranglehold, and the church—as Edmund had often remarked—was bloody cold.
Mrs. Kitty Seton-Mowbray had accompanied her husband, with little Margaret, who remained in the nursery, having reached the very dangerous toddling and chewing things stage.
Lady Letitia and Sir James FitzArden rounded out the attending family; Letitia showing signs of her first pregnancy and Sir James trying not to touch his wife’s growing belly too often. Letitia swore their babe would be born through her navel, since according to her, her ecstatic husband was going to rub a hole in it before she was expected to deliver.
Many loving messages and letters had been received from Devon, where Richard and Cressida Ridlington were still not at the point where they’d consider travelling with their twins. But all was well, they reassured their family. And they fully intended to get a complete night’s rest at least once before the children attained their majority.
Mr. and Mrs. Casey also sent their love; Hecate had begun her own journey into motherhood, and both she and Finn knew the roads would be far too tricky at this time of year. They were spending the winter months making plans for the Doireann Vale fields come the spring, and both felt very sure that with the right weather they’d have a successful harvest brought in by this time next year.
Hecate added a brief note mentioning she believed she was carrying a daughter and that Finn couldn’t wait to see if she would inherit any of her mama’s “talents”.
Even Hecate’s bodyguard and close friend Dal sent a congratulatory note. It was accompanied by one from Lady Augusta since they were travelling around America together. It seemed they’d found a country where their close relationship was treated much more casually than it would have been in England, and they were very happy with their current situation. But they did miss their Ridlington friends.
Edmund, as he was wont to do now and again, looked around him at his family. It had expanded so much since he had assumed the title of Baron and returned to the chaos that was Ridlington Chase. He felt overwhelming pride in every single member. Somehow, in spite of the odds being against them, the Ridlingtons had not only survived, but thrived.
He wondered if their mothers would be proud as well. He hoped so.
Then Rosaline took his hand, squeezed it and gave him a smile that warmed his soul.
And he had his answer.
THE END
The lovebirds in the story you have just read made their first appearance in “The Mistress Wager”, when Max Seton-Mowbray and Kitty Ridlington found themselves enmeshed in scandal and danger.
That is the fourth book in the series, which began with “The Landlocked Baron”, continued with Simon’s story in “St. Simon’s Sin”, and introduced Letitia in “Word of a Lady.”
Richard Ridlington fled Brussels with a new bride in “Blackmail and the Bride”, and the last Ridlington sibling, Hecate, found her heart during one of the worst years for weather in memory.
While each book is a stand-alone novel, reading them in order might enhance your interest and understanding of the characters and how they meet, and defeat, their challenges.
The Six Pearls of Baron Ridlington—the six offspring of the old Baron, so named as a play on the name of the points on a Baron’s coronet—have all reached their happy endings. And now Grace and Perry have joined them, which completes the series.
Wishing you all the joys of whatever holiday season you celebrate—and of course your own happy ending!
(Links to all these novels, as well as many of Sahara’s other books, can be found in the following bibliography.)
About the Author
Sahara Kelly is always happy to explain to editors that her spelling errors aren’t really errors, since she was born and raised in England, where an extra “u” is quite in order. She likes to think it adds colour to her writing. Sadly, it’s not a widely held belief, but after much consideration and arguments with more than a few folks in the literary field, she has now decided to write her historical novels using the style (and spelling) that better reflects the time period and country. She hopes that her readers non-British readers won’t find it too distracting.
Arriving in America with her almost-complete collection of Leslie Charteris’ Saint novels and a passion for Monty Python, Sahara’s new life eventually expanded to include a husband, offspring, and a certain amount of acclimation to her new surroundings. (She still likes a good cuppa, though.) Life became complete with the publication of her first novel just after the birth of her son, and a few decades later she’s still writing.
Now enjoying the greater freedom offered to authors by the rapidly expanding self-publishing scene, she’s looking forward to many more literary adventures. Being freed of restraints has opened doors—for Sahara and many other writers. There are now no impediments; no obstructions barring the path from writer to reader. Which is, in many ways, exactly as originally intended when that first storyteller sat on a rock outside her cave, tugged her bearskin around her shoulders and smiled at her kids across the open fire with the words “Once upon a time…” (or however it sounded several million years ago.)
To find out more about Sahara Kelly and her writing, please drop by her website and visit her at:
SaharaKelly.com
This is where Sahara shares none of the intimate details of her life, but will present you with a list of books she’d like you to buy so that she can go do research on a beach in Aruba and be pampered with massages accompanied by drinks with umbrellas in them. She’ll send you a postcard. Thank you.
When not dreaming of lazing on tropical beaches, Sahara has a relatively active social presence on the Internet. Take a look:
Follow Sahara on Twitter
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Also By Sahara Kelly
(*- co-written with S.L. Carpenter)
The Landlocked Baron
Book 1 in the Six Pearls of Baron Ridlington series
St. Simon’s Sin
Book 2 in the Six Pearls of Baron Ridlington series
Word of a Lady
Book 3 in the Six Pearls of Baron Ridlington series
The Mistress Wager
Book 4 in the Six Pearls of Baron Ridlington series
Blackmail and the Bride
Book 5 in the Six Pearls of Baron Ridlington series
Heart in Hiding
Book 6 in the Six Pearls of Baron Ridlington series
~
The Mistletoe Marquess
Outrageous Ladies
~
Honour and Secrets
Book 1 in the Gypsy Gentlemen Series
Control and Compassion
Book 2 in the Gypsy Gentlemen Series
Endings and Beginnings
Book 3 in the G
ypsy Gentlemen Series
~
Consent
Sword Play
~
Oh My Laird!
Book 4 in the Regency Rascals Series
Deverell’s Obsession
Book 3 in the Regency Rascals Series
The Fifth Wife
Book 2 in the Regency Rascals Series
Julia and the Devil
Book 1 in the Regency Rascals Series
~
Discreet Madness
The Viscount and the Witch
Feels So Right*
Open All Night
Only In My Dreams
~
The Hampshire Chronicles
Darkness in the Flames
Buckler’s Hard
Rogue’s Diamond
~
Whole Lotta Love Series
Love in the Cards*
Love on the Road*
Love Under the Lights*
A Whole Lotta Love* (the boxed set)
~
Happy Endings*
With a Little Help from my Friends (with Ciana Stone)
Letting Off Steam
Winding Her Up
Stripping Her Gears
My Renaissance Romance
Hired Help*
Open House
So Into You*
Faerieland needs YOU