Caught by Surprise

by Jen Turano

  “Of course we’re proud of her, but I’m afraid this memorial service may be a touch premature because we’re alive and well, although it did take us forever to get out of that jungle.”

  For a moment, Temperance thought she’d imagined that voice, until she stepped out of Gilbert’s embrace, lifted her head, and found her mother and father, looking almost the same as they’d looked the last time she’d seen them, except thinner, standing in the aisle a few pews away, beaming smiles at her.

  Before she could move so much as a single muscle, everything in front of her eyes began to spin, and then as her legs gave out, she began to fall.

  Chapter

  Twenty-Nine

  As the minutes ticked away and Temperance did not come around, even with Mrs. Davenport waving smelling salts she’d pulled from her reticule under Temperance’s nose, Gilbert was finding it difficult to hold his panic at bay.

  Temperance was not the type of lady to faint. She’d never, to his knowledge, fainted before, not even when faced with an abduction, more than a few attempts on her life, or allowing Miss Henrietta to drive her at breakneck speeds through the streets of New York City.

  “Gilbert, come sit with her,” Grace Flowerdew said, rising from her daughter’s side and motioning Gilbert forward. “I need to rewet this rag.”

  Taking Grace’s seat beside Temperance, he smoothed a hand over her forehead, willing her to open her eyes.

  “You do realize you’re dipping that in the baptismal water, don’t you?” he heard Miss Henrietta say.

  “If that doesn’t bring her around,” Mrs. Davenport said, speaking up, “I don’t know what will. I’ve never had my special smelling salt concoction fail me before, but she didn’t so much as twitch when I held it under her nose.”

  “You used your own recipe for smelling salts on me?”

  Relief flowed freely when Temperance’s eyes fluttered opened, and she settled her green gaze on him and smiled.

  It was a lovely smile, one that suggested she was glad to find him with her, and it left him reeling as he realized he could never abandon Temperance—not even if it meant he had to go to unusual lengths to figure out how to abdicate his role as the Earl of Strafford.

  “I must have picked up a fever from that dip we took in the ocean yesterday, because I had the most peculiar hallucination,” she whispered. “I thought my parents strolled down the aisle right after I finished playing the violin. It was a lovely hallucination, even though I’m incredibly sad that’s all it was.”

  “You’re not suffering from a fever,” he said as a single tear rolled down her cheek. Catching it with a finger, he leaned forward, placed a kiss on her forehead, then placed his mouth right next to her ear. “Your parents really are here.”

  “You must be suffering from a fever as well. People don’t come back from the dead.”

  “We were never dead,” Grace said, hurrying up to rejoin them, the rag she was clutching dripping water on the floor.

  As Gilbert moved aside, Grace took his spot and plunked the rag right over Temperance’s face, then stilled, as if she didn’t quite know what she was doing or what she should do next.

  “I’m having a difficult time breathing,” Temperance rasped.

  Whipping the rag right off again, Grace tossed it aside before she gathered Temperance into her arms, holding her as if she’d never let go.

  “My darling, darling girl. I’m so sorry we left you for so long.”

  “I don’t understand,” Temperance whispered. “How can you be here?”

  “It was not without difficulty,” her father said, moving to join his wife and daughter. “We were abandoned in the wilds of South America and left there to die.”

  “We were so gullible,” Grace continued. “Did not have the slightest idea the two men who accompanied us off the ship, claiming they wanted to see some ruins, had murder on their minds.”

  “We figured that out rather quickly, though, when they held us at knifepoint after we got out of view of the ship and tied us up,” Anthony said. “The only reason they didn’t go through with the murder was because Richard the Snake seemed to have slight misgivings about murdering two people who’d spent a great deal of their time while onboard the ship assisting all the members of the crew and passengers who’d eaten a bad batch of fish.” He shuddered. “That was not a pleasant experience for anyone involved.”

  “His misgivings didn’t go so far, though, as to abandon all attempts to do us in,” Grace added with a roll of her eyes. “They did leave us there to die, tying us up and stuffing rags in our mouths to muffle our yells before they ran out of the jungle, screaming there were wild savages on the loose, intent on killing everyone onboard the ship.”

  Anthony took a step closer to Temperance. “It was such a farfetched notion that Grace and I were certain someone would come and investigate, but no one did. By the time we were able to escape our bindings, the ship was gone and we’d been abandoned in a jungle in South America.”

  “That was three years ago,” Temperance pointed out right before her father took her mother’s place, gathered his daughter up into his arms, and hugged her tight.

  “Do you have any idea how difficult it is to navigate through a jungle with no supplies, no money, and nothing to bargain with?” Anthony asked, pulling a little away from Temperance, but only to smooth her hair out of her face.

  Gilbert tilted his head. “How did you do it?”

  “We ran across some indigenous people, none of whom could understand us, nor could we understand them. However, they were a peaceful people and took us in, fed us, and allowed us to stay with them. We were there for at least a year, and by the time a tribe of nomads came through the area who were willing to allow us to travel with them, we could speak a little of their language, and they could understand some of ours.”

  “They were fascinated by the idea we only serve one God, and some of them even asked us to teach them more about our faith,” Grace said. “That kept our hope alive, and we came to believe that our encountering these people might have been God’s plan all along, although we would have preferred not being away from you for so long, Temperance.”

  “We finally reached a remote port as we traveled with the nomads, and we begged passage in exchange for work from a captain who took pity on us. We traveled north, reaching another port, and then we searched for a way to travel onward, taking on unusual jobs along the way to survive,” Anthony said.

  Grace smiled. “We reached Florida two weeks ago and sought out friends of ours who were amazed to discover us on their doorsteps.” She frowned. “We sent off a telegram to you, even knowing that wasn’t exactly the way we wanted to inform you we weren’t dead. But then the thought struck that there was a good chance you wouldn’t have wanted to live in the family house in Connecticut by yourself, not when it was so large.”

  “That’s why we decided to seek out Mr. Howland, my solicitor, when the ship we were on stopped here in New York, hoping he’d know where to find you,” Anthony said. “Unfortunately, when we arrived at his office, we were told by his secretary that Mr. Howland was not available, and then she mentioned something about The New York Lunatic Asylum, but wouldn’t expand on that when I pressed her. She did, however, tell us we could find you at Miss Snook’s School for the Education of the Feminine Mind. We were then told by the man who opened the door at that school, after he questioned us rather relentlessly regarding why we wanted to find you, that you were here at Grace Church.”

  Temperance blew out a breath. “Mr. Howland’s secretary probably didn’t know how to explain to you that the man who’d been her employer wasn’t the man he portrayed himself to be, but was a man who couldn’t be trusted.”

  As Temperance launched into the story of John Howland and everything he’d put her through, Gilbert walked over to join Reverend Perry, who was watching Temperance with a smile on his face.

  “Is this where you tell me God moves in mysterious ways, or something to that
effect?” Gilbert asked.

  Reverend Perry’s eyes twinkled. “I have no idea what God was thinking with this one, Gilbert. But it’s not my place to question. I simply accept the results, and what we’re witnessing now, my dear friend, are wonderful results.”

  “Temperance has gotten her family back.”

  “Indeed, although she’s surrounded herself with people who’ve become her family, just not of the blood-related type.” He nodded to Temperance. “Have you decided what you’re going to do about her?”

  “I have.”

  “But you’re not going to tell me, are you?”

  “I think I should tell her first.”

  “Do know that I’ll need a bit of notice in order to officiate at your wedding. We seem to be having quite the demand for weddings held here at the church these days.” With that, Reverend Perry excused himself, walking over to Temperance to take hold of her hand. He said a brief word of prayer, made his excuses to them, then turned to where everyone was gathered in one section of the pews, all of them seemingly unwilling to leave Temperance until they were certain she was all right.

  “Could I interest any of you in a nice cup of tea, or perhaps coffee?”

  “I’ll help you make it,” Miss Mabel said, and with Miss Henrietta and Mrs. Davenport following her, she walked out of the sanctuary and through a door past the pulpit.

  “I need to introduce you to my friends,” Temperance said, pushing herself up from the pew she’d been sitting on, wobbling on her feet for a second.

  “You need to sit down,” Grace said, turning to Gilbert and nodding. “Come sit with her again, Gilbert. Anthony and I will introduce ourselves to her friends.” She took Anthony’s arm and moved away.

  “Since I’m not actually a friend,” Clementine began, walking over to Temperance, “and since I admitted to cousin Anthony while you were in your senseless state that you and I suffered from a less-than-amiable relationship over the years, I think I’ll be taking my leave.” Clementine shook her head. “Your father is certain to inquire further about my family, and after he learns the details of your stay with us, well, I’m not sure I’m quite ready to deal with that just yet.”

  “You’ll do no such thing, Clementine,” Temperance said. “It’s past time you and I mend our bridges for good, so come sit down by Gilbert and me.”

  Gilbert waited until Clementine took her seat, then sat down, content to simply watch his friends as they went about greeting Anthony and Grace. Temperance and Clementine began to talk about how Clementine’s life was unfolding under the watchful eye of Mrs. Boggart Hobbes, the obvious disgruntlement in Clementine’s tone suggesting she was not finding life with her Aunt Minnie very pleasant.

  “Temperance, darling,” Grace suddenly called. “Your friend Permilia has just asked me where your father and I are intending to live. I’ve just realized we have no home since Mr. Howland apparently sold our house in Connecticut.”

  “I told her she should move to New York because this is where you live,” Permilia said.

  Temperance shot Gilbert a look, seemed to be waiting for him to say something, then released the smallest of sighs. “You should buy a house in New York, Mother, although I do need to tell you that I adore living at Miss Snook’s School for the Education of the Feminine Mind. I hope you won’t be too disappointed if I decide to continue living and teaching there.”

  Harrison, with Asher by his side, suddenly strode down the aisle, stopping directly in front of Gilbert. “If you’ll excuse us for a moment, Temperance, Asher and I need to have a word with our friend.”

  Before he could protest, Gilbert found himself hauled to his feet and tugged across the front of the church.

  “Why are you hesitating?” Harrison asked, lowering his voice to a whisper and stopping directly underneath a stained-glass window. “This is a prime opportunity to declare your intentions once and for all. But whatever you do, do not mess it up.”

  Gilbert glanced around the church, then shook his head. “Absolutely not. I’ve planned out a special moment for Temperance, and this”—he gestured around—“is not it. Besides, I don’t have my romantic gesture with me now, one I put quite a bit of thought into.”

  “Don’t be an idiot,” Asher said, moving right up next to Gilbert as he crossed his arms over his chest. “If you don’t act now, I fear you may lose any chance of winning Temperance’s hand in marriage once and for all.” He sent Gilbert a rather pitying look. “Is it really worth losing the love of your life simply because you’re unwilling to stray from whatever plan you’ve created, one I’m sure comes with many lists and graphs?”

  “I did not make a graph, although I might have made up a list,” Gilbert admitted. “But if both of you believe I’m making a muddle of everything by not speaking up right this very moment, fine, I’ll give it a go.” He narrowed his eyes on his friends. “But it’ll be on your heads if this goes badly.”

  “It’ll be fine,” Harrison assured him.

  “Just tell her you love her,” Asher added.

  Gilbert frowned and glanced at all the people assembled in the chapel. “I’m not certain I’m comfortable declaring my love for her in front of everyone. I was hoping to do that in a more intimate setting, one where it would only be the two of us.”

  “She’ll view your declaration of love in front of everyone as a grand romantic gesture,” Asher said before he gave Gilbert a bit of a push in Temperance’s direction. “Best to get it over with quickly, though. It’ll be easier that way.”

  “Quickly was not a part of my plan either,” Gilbert muttered, but because everyone was now watching him since he’d been pushed in a slightly forceful manner and was headed in Temperance’s direction, he squared his shoulders and continued forward.

  Stopping in front of where she was still sitting on a pew, he summoned up a smile, ignored that Clementine seemed to be giving him an encouraging nod, and leaned over to take Temperance’s hand.

  “Before you decide you’re going to remain living at Miss Snook’s school forever, I have a few matters I’d like to broach.”

  “You’re going to ask me to become your countess again?” Temperance asked, her eyes alight with something that almost seemed like anticipation.

  “Well, no.”

  Murmurs sounded around the chapel as Temperance yanked her hand back, right as Gilbert realized he’d already made a blunder of matters, which just went to prove he was less than effective with spur-of-the-moment decisions.

  He cleared his throat and tried again.

  “That didn’t come out the way I intended,” he began. “And in all honesty, I had begun to compose a special speech regarding what I want to say to you, Temperance. However, I wasn’t planning on using that speech today, which is why my notes for what I wanted to say to you are at my house, in the top drawer of my desk, and . . .”

  “We don’t need a detailed description of where you’ve left your notes, dear,” he heard his mother call. “Just embrace the spontaneity of the moment. You’ll do fine.”

  Gilbert quirked a brow in the direction of his mother. “You’ve never been spontaneous in your life.”

  His mother, annoyingly enough, smiled. “I fled from England, abandoned my title of Dowager Countess, and hopped on a ship with you as an infant in the dead of night in order to make a most spectacular escape from what I thought was a life of boredom and far too many rules. That, my dear, was certainly a spontaneous act if there ever was one.”

  “I don’t believe pointing out to Temperance how boring you found your life as a countess is exactly going to convince her she’d enjoy it.”

  “Ah, so you are going to ask her to become you countess?” Miss Henrietta called.

  Gilbert paused, realizing that he wasn’t intending to do anything of the sort, but had become completely rattled and had forgotten his plan.

  He looked back at Temperance, who was scowling back at him, an entire storm now brewing in her eyes. The sight of those eyes, and the sto
rm clouds that were often present in them, had him smiling, an obvious mistake considering she took one look at him, jumped to her feet, and began stomping her way through the church toward the door.

  “Perhaps we shouldn’t have pushed you to declare yourself,” Asher said, moving beside him. “This has got to be the worst declaration of affections I’ve ever seen.”

  “That’s helpful,” Gilbert muttered before he began striding after Temperance. “Temperance, wait,” he called, not encouraged when she increased her stomping.

  “May I suggest breaking into a run?” Mrs. Davenport all but yelled. “She’s remarkably fast when she sets her mind to it, and it does seem as if her mind is set to get away from you.”

  Breaking into a sprint because he thought Mrs. Davenport had just made a most excellent point, he swallowed an unexpected laugh when Temperance increased her pace, a remarkable feat considering she’d only recently suffered a fainting spell.

  “You’re being incredibly annoying,” he called, his words having her stopping her in her tracks, spinning around, and marching back to him.

  “I’m annoying?” she demanded once she stopped a few feet from him. “You’re the one who kept insisting we have to get married.”

  “And you kept insisting we’d kill each other within weeks of exchanging vows.”

  “I don’t believe you’re going in the right direction with your responses,” his mother called from behind him.

  He pretended he hadn’t heard her.

  Temperance drew in a breath, let it out in one whoosh, then nodded, just once. “I did say exactly that, and because I am currently feeling a distinct urge to strangle you, I doubt I’m far off the mark.” With that, she turned on her heel and practically sprinted down the aisle again, disappearing through the door of the church a few seconds later.

  “Go after her,” someone called.

  Realizing he was out of his depth, he turned around. “And what should I do if I catch up with her?”