He laughed and glanced over at her, struck by the stunning picture she presented. Her dark hair had grown loose in its plaited hold, locks streaming free of their restraints, giving her a strikingly youthful appearance despite never having aged in his mind or his sight. She was a vision of wild beauty, rosy-cheeked and bright beyond the sun, smiling freely without care.
This was the Lily of his heart, and he’d missed her so.
“Not giving up,” he assured her with a smile. “Postponing the outcome. I thought it might suit to try for a little more decorum than a mad horserace as we neared the mine. Given I am looking to be primary shareholder.”
“Oh, I suppose,” Lily said with a sigh but smiling all the same. “But only for a moment. We don’t look the proper part, do we? Your hair would appear to be styled by the wind, so I can only imagine how mine must look.”
“You look beautiful,” Thomas insisted. He took in a breath and released it roughly. “Far too beautiful, given we are heading into a vast group of men who may have never seen anything so lovely, and I cannot imagine the disappointment they will endure when they discover you are married.”
Lily laughed merrily, tossing her head back and exposing her majestic throat to the elements in a motion that cinched Thomas’s stomach in a way no vice could have ever done. “Yes, those poor, poor souls,” she replied, laughter rampant in her tone. “So disheartened to discover that I am yours. However will they cope?”
Her words touched him as they rode side by side, rang through his head as he watched her.
I am yours.
There was something so simple and so profound about that. Something beyond words or description that sunk deep into his soul.
If she was his, then by heaven and earth, he was hers. Eternally and forever hers.
And happy to be so.
“Now,” Lily went on as they trotted toward the mine, “I know nothing of mining or mines in general, apart from the dangers inherent in them. Should I say anything or say nothing? What are we expecting out of this visit?”
Thomas smiled at that. “I’m not entirely sure myself. I think we may simply be ourselves, come to think. We’re coming to take a look at the mine because we’ve taken more of an interest in its business. I’d rather enjoy going down into the mine itself, if they’ll let me.”
“Oh, so would I, if it would not perturb anyone to have a woman in there.”
He jerked in surprise, his eyes widening. “You would?”
“Oh, yes.” Lily nodded with an eagerness that fit her present image well. “All I’ve seen of Cornwall is the moors and flowers, which are so very stirring, but when Cornwall is such a place of industry down to its core, especially within its people, it would behoove me to respect that.”
“Astonishing,” Thomas murmured, smiling without meaning to and slowing his horse. “Simply astonishing.”
Lily gave him a bemused look and matched his new pace. “What is?”
“You,” he said simply. He shook his head, his smile growing. “You, sweetheart, are astonishing.”
His wife smiled in return, eclipsing the beauty he’d seen only moments before, and nudging her horse closer to his, reached out a hand to him.
He took it, removed the glove she wore, and kissed each one of her knuckles gently.
Lily shivered in her saddle, the sensation rippling through her fingers and against his lips. “I’m simply me,” she told him by way of a scolding. “Ordinary, simple, steady little me.”
“Extraordinary,” he corrected firmly, still holding her hand, “intricate…” He paused, then laughed a little. “Unfailingly steady you. And it is because you are you that everything in this moment is perfect.”
“Flatterer,” she retorted with a faint snort, flicking his chin with one of her fingers. “It won’t do for me to appear blushing before them, so you had best stop that now.”
He shrugged and released her hand, nudging his horse to hurry a little. “Suit yourself, but I happen to adore your blushing.”
Lily made a sputtering sound behind him, laughing as her own horse moved more quickly to match his.
They reached the engine house and dismounted, Thomas belatedly coming to assist Lily, though she was already down. Thomas offered his arm, then, thinking better of it, his hand. She took it without hesitation, squeezing tightly.
A middle-aged man in common clothing came from a building to one side of the engine house, brushing at his jacket and smoothing down his hair. “Mr. Granger,” he called out in a proud Cornish accent. “Welcome to Wheal Venton.”
Belatedly recognizing the man as the mine captain he’d met days before, Thomas smiled in greeting. “Mr. Flincher, good morning. This is my wife, Lily. I hope you don’t mind that we are here.”
“Not at all, not at all,” Flincher told them with a warm smile, bowing slightly in greeting. “You are both very welcome. Come, let me show you what we have here.”
He brought them into his offices in the building first, showing them detailed charts and maps of the tunnels and the works below them. He showed them examples of a good sample of copper and a poor one, and something called fool’s copper, which Thomas, for one, struggled to find the difference in. Flincher then led them back out of the building to the small queue of miners and women surrounding a youngish man with markedly cleaner clothing than the others.
“Who’s that there?” Thomas asked with a quick gesture.
“Dr. Stephens, sir,” Flincher told them. “He’s a local doctor, and we’ve contracted with him to aid us with mine emergencies, and every now and again, he’s able to come out to the mine itself and see some of our workers.”
“And the women and girls?” Lily inquired, taking note of those in particular.
“Bal maidens, Mrs. Granger. Their tasks are to work above ground with the samples brought up, processing the ore and preparing it to be sent on for smelting.”
Lily looked at the man in bewilderment. “For what?”
Flincher chuckled. “Smelting, madam. The metal is taken from its ore by heating and melting. There’s a smelting works over on Penfarthing land near Wheal Sundry, and they do the smelting for all of the mines in the area. Many of the local women work here as bal maidens and the girls as well. We take them as young as ten and pay them a proper wage for their work. My own daughters have worked at it, and their wages came as a great delight to them.”
Lily smiled at the mention of children. “You have daughters, Mr. Flincher?”
“Two of them, madam,” he replied proudly. “And four boys. The girls have outgrown interest in the mine, but my sons all work it, the youngest only half a day, as he’s still attending the village school.”
“Your wife must have a hardy nature, sir,” Lily said with a laugh. “I can imagine you and your sons work up quite the appetite, spending all day at the mine. She’d need to work all day just to keep you fed.”
“She has help enough to manage the mess.” Flincher’s expression turned rather fond, “but that don’t mean we don’t get our ears boxed for bringing dirt inside her kitchen. I think she’d rather like you, Mrs. Granger. Should you come to Wheal Venton again, I’ll ask her to meet you here. If it would not be an imposition.”
Thomas watched his wife’s reaction, smiling when she beamed at the suggestion. “There is very little my wife considers an imposition when it comes to meeting people of interest.”
“I would love to meet her!” Lily all but gushed.
Flincher seemed surprised but pleased by the reaction. “Thank you, madam. I’ll be sure to tell her so.” He gestured toward the entrance to the mine and began walking in that direction. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you down into the mine.”
“It won’t be too much trouble?” Thomas asked as they moved. “We shouldn’t like to be in the way.”
“No trouble at all,” Flincher insisted. He glanced over at Lily with a slight smile. “You’re coming down as well, madam?”
Lily brightened at the questio
n. “If I’m permitted, Mr. Flincher! I’m so very curious, but as my husband said, I would not wish to be in the way.”
Flincher chuckled and waved them on. “Well, it might raise a brow or two, having a fair face so clean down in the tunnels, but I daresay the men could use the change in scenery.”
Lily looked at Thomas, her excitement undeniable, her smile on the verge of ecstatic.
He had to laugh at it, shaking his head in amusement. “If I had known you’d be this enthusiastic about my business ventures, I’d have brought you into the meetings long ago.”
“What else are you investing in?” she demanded without shame, taking his arm quickly. “Anything exciting?”
“Well, are you at all interested in shipping?” Thomas asked in a low voice, leaning closer. “We could meet with those associates while we’re in Cornwall as well…”
Her beaming smile was answer enough, and he plucked her hand from his arm to kiss it quickly, then laced their fingers together as they moved to the entrance of the mine.
“I think it best if I go down first,” Flincher told them as they joined him. “Then Mr. Granger, if you would follow. That way, you may see to Mrs. Granger on her way down.” He gave Lily’s skirts a quick look. “I trust you won’t mind soiling your hem, madam. You won’t come out of here without stain, I can assure you.”
Lily looked down as well, then only shrugged. “Not to worry, Mr. Flincher. I’d given some thought to my attire prior to coming out with all that in mind. Your wife and daughters have educated you well.”
Flincher snorted a laugh. “Trained me, more like. I’ve had my turn at the washboard whaling away on their fabrics more ’n once when I let them down the mine without checking with the wife.” He chuckled and took hold of the ladder, starting his descent with an agility Thomas envied.
“Will you be all right?” Thomas murmured, squeezing Lily’s hand.
She nodded at once. “I believe so. I’ve no experience climbing ladders in skirts, or indeed at all, but I trust you will not let me fall.”
“Never,” he vowed softly. “I’ll never let you fall.”
Her smile was tender and sweet, and she brushed her thumb across the back of his hand. “Then I will be perfectly fine.” She nudged her head toward the entrance. “Go on.”
Feeling a jolt of boyish energy himself, Thomas grinned at her before taking hold of the ladder and carefully making his way down into the mine. “An iron ladder, I see, Flincher. Is that standard?”
“It is now, sir,” Flincher called up. “Wood is cheaper, but it does tend to rot. Too many accidents have made the cost worth it, we find.”
“It is a foolish man who puts frugality above the safety of his workers.” Thomas shook his head, then looked up. “Steady now, Lily.”
She appeared at the top of the ladder, cautiously placing one foot after the other on the rungs and descending down to him.
Thomas bit his tongue the entire time to keep from actually guiding her down each rung, seeing that she was quite capably managing it, and he was close enough to intervene if he should need to. Treating her as though she was a child would not do, and any inference suggesting that she might need assistance when she clearly did not could sound rather patronizing. It occurred to him that bringing his wife into a dangerous environment like a mine was a dreadful idea, and one he could so easily regret, but he hadn’t been thinking clearly when he’d suggested it.
He’d only wanted to be with her, and going to the mine together had been the first thought to make itself known.
He released a slow, silent breath when she reached the bottom of the ladder unscathed and smiled at her in the dim light.
She smiled back, then looked at Mr. Flincher. “Do most of the men in Cornwall work in a mine, Mr. Flincher? I know nothing of the opportunities here.”
“I cannot say if most do, madam,” Flincher told her as he picked up a lantern and started down a large tunnel, “but certainly a great percentage do. There’s an old Cornish saying, and if I say it loud enough, we may hear the answer.” He cleared his throat. “If thar’s an ’ole in tha’ ground…”
“Ee’ll find a Cornishman a’ ta bottom!” a scattered chorus called back.
Lily laughed merrily, clapping her hands. “Is that true?”
Flincher shrugged. “True ’nough, madam, for every Cornishman to know it. Now, mind your step, the ground be a mite unsteady, but we’ll keep to the major tunnels and give ee a fair idea of our work.”
Thomas started to follow, then paused, waiting for Lily to precede him.
She ducked her chin and started to hurry past, then raised her eyes to his and grinned. “Thank you for inviting me to join you,” she whispered, the lack of volume doing nothing to disguise her energy. “I never thought I’d ever see inside a mine!”
He raised a brow. “Have you been harboring a lifelong wish to see one?”
“No,” she told him with a hushed giggle. “Not particularly. I simply love any chance to do something that makes life richer. And any chance to be with you is far better.”
Thomas considered her for a moment, wondering how his heart had suddenly burst into showers of light, raining sparks throughout his body and spreading a raw heat of joy curling up his spine. “Even in a dank, dusty mine?”
Lily bit her lip softly, drawing his attention there, then took a step closer to him, nearly brushing the buttons of his coat with the loose locks of her hair. “Even here, Thomas, my life is richer. With you.”
Helpless to her in every way, Thomas leaned down and captured her lips with his, slowly savoring the taste of her, the feel of her sweet lips melding with his own, the pressure against him as she arched up to bring them closer… He cupped her cheek, layering softer kisses against her full lips before pulling back.
She smiled dazedly, her eyes bright.
He chuckled, stroking her cheek with a thumb. “We’d best catch up with Mr. Flincher now, or he’ll begin to think we’re wasting his time.”
Lily laughed a little, her nose wrinkling up. “Alas, I believe you’re right. And we did promise not to waste any more time, did we not?” She took his hand and turned to follow the mine captain, pulling Thomas along behind her, though he needed no encouragement.
“Yes, we did, my love,” he murmured, though she would not hear him. “Yes, we certainly did.”
Chapter Fourteen
“What a marvelous day,” Lily gushed as she slid from her horse, safely back at Pendrizzick after their outing at Wheal Venton, which was followed by a picnic luncheon graciously shared with them by some of the local villagers and miners. Lily had even managed to spend a few moments learning some delightful new games with local children, none of whom viewed her with any sort of apprehension, disdain, or perception of difference in station. She was as welcome among them as though she had been raised on the same moors and worked for the same mines.
She had laughed more today than she had done in months combined, and her soul felt rejuvenated for it.
Thomas laughed as he dismounted, the sound invigorating her further still. “I can honestly say, my dear, that I would never have expected to hear you say any such thing after the day we’ve had.”
“No?” she asked with a laugh herself, coming around the horse to meet him. “You think I only find enjoyment in balls, in finery, or in gatherings of high Society guests? Or only in my music?”
“No,” he said slowly, smiling at her suggestions. “But you must admit that there is a vast difference between your standard daily activities and inspecting a mine or picnicking with local villagers.”
Lily grinned, comparing the two types of scenes in her mind. “Yes, as with any lady of breeding and fortune, but I see no reason why I should be restricted to only the standard expectations of ladies. What if I had an interest in the sea, or in farming, or the law? Should I ignore those interests simply because it is unseemly for them to become hobbies of mine? Or limit my association to only those admitted into Almack’s?”
Thomas’s smile turned playful, though it was a softer version of it. “You are full of surprises, are you not, Mrs. Granger?”
Something about the tone of his voice made her fingers tingle and her lips buzz. A ticklish warmth that rolled about within her, spreading into fingers and kneecaps, the backs of her shoulders and the tips of her hair. Her heart began an unsteady pattern, and it was all she could do to keep her smile from turning swoony or shaking entirely.
“Are you fond of surprises, Mr. Granger?”
“I could be,” he replied, shrugging almost nonchalantly, though the tempting tone of his voice had not altered a jot. He glanced toward Pendrizzick, then back at her. “Are you tired? Do you wish to retire?”
“I’m feeling rather invigorated at the moment,” Lily told him with real honesty, as her energy seemed to be growing the more time she spent in his company.
She might have been thinking about a rest when she first saw Pendrizzick on their approach, but seeing the light in Thomas, seeing how the day’s activities had energized rather than depleted him, and, perhaps most of all, seeing how changed he appeared in the more relaxed and now dirty clothing he presently wore, she could honestly say she was not tired in the least.
Her husband was impossibly handsome when attired thus.
His hair a mess, his cravat gone, his linen shirt open at the throat, his coat dust-covered… Even the stubble at his chin suited him perfectly, and this wild look set her heart aflame. The less he looked like the perfect gentleman, the more she felt herself drawn to him. He seemed so approachable, so easy, so unfettered from cares and concerns that she almost couldn’t believe that he was her husband. Except that he was her husband, vibrantly so at this moment, and that knowledge thrummed deeply in her core.
As though he knew what he was doing to her, Thomas laughed softly and ambled closer to her. “If that is so, I wonder if you might be interested in accompanying me for a stroll along Dandrea Beach.”
Lily stared at him, blinking owlishly. Dandrea Beach was on the estate lands, but it was no simple walk. It would require them traipsing the paths along the moors and through at least two fields. “That will take ages,” she told him, feeling the need to remind him of the extraordinary distance. “We’ll barely be home before we must go to bed.”
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