“And Earl Gerrick?”
“I told him his daughter had been offering quite unmaidenly advice and he muttered something about it being past time for her to wed. He is writing to Viscount Bricker in Yorkshire immediately, to set a date for the wedding.”
She clasped her hands between his. “Will he ship her off there?”
“Oh, yes. Special license, wedding in the chapel on the estate in Yorkshire. If the man isn’t willing, Earl Gerrick said he’d marry Lady Lillian off to Viscount Hortley.”
“Thank you.”
He squeezed her hands. “My mother will have her surgery on Friday. I don’t mean to suggest that you wait on her as I will hire sufficient staff, but would you consider coming to Hatbrook House soon?”
“I’d like nothing better,” Alys said. “I am so happy you asked. It was foolish of me to leave the Farm without you.”
“You were worried about your father.” He offered her an excuse but she dismissed it.
“No, I was afraid.”
“That he was seriously ill? He seemed well to me, other than a sore nose.”
“No, I was afraid of our life together.” She lifted her hands from his grasp and moved her fingers up his chest, hoping he would embrace her. “I didn’t know how to make it work, to have the loving relationship I know I want.”
His gaze was intent on her. She snuggled closer and his arms found their way around her.
“I love you, Michael. I didn’t know it before. I’ve been such a fool. I should have been patient and kept putting myself in front of you, so we would have time to know each other. I don’t know how to be still.”
“I love you too and I’m sorry I never told you. I thought you regretted our marriage terribly once you discovered there was to be no baby.”
“I have wanted you desperately since you rescued us from Redcake Manor. You are my hero, Michael. But I lived more like a man
than a woman. I didn’t know how I felt because I never let myself feel.”
“You have never lived like a man,” Michael said, pressing his lips against her hair. “But you did lock your sensibilities away. That I can believe. Every tender moment with you is like an explosion before you lock yourself away again.”
“I want to change.”
“I want to change too,” he whispered, his breath tickling her ear.
“You have made my life so much better already. Who would have thought that War Office telegram would become a blessing?”
She found his lapels and tugged until his lips met hers.
“Everything has changed. Even my mother and I had a moment, yesterday. It is as if your presence in my life spun everything on its axis and everyone and everything came down in a slightly different place.”
She agreed wholeheartedly. “In a very different place for me.”
“I can see that. I have asked you to make an incredibly hard adjustment.”
“That is what women have to do,” Alys said. “That is the way it is.”
“It does not have to be. Do you want Redcake’s? I’ll give it to you, even if you want to manage it yourself. It needs a steady hand.”
She considered his words carefully. “You want me in your business?”
“I’ll sign it over to you as your own personal property, if you like.
It is up to you.”
She felt a smile brighten her face. “Are you certain you do not mind? I love Redcake’s so much, but being your wife in every way is important to me.”
His gaze stayed intent on hers. “I am proud that you consider our families in this decision, but I want you to be happy.”
She stared into the flames for a moment, her brain whirring with plans. “Will you help me find a good manager for Redcake’s? Then there will not be so much for me to do. I can make cakes and be happy if we can employ someone with the right sensibility to report to me,” she said. “They must be perfect for the establishment.”
“I like your fierce spirit.” He feathered a finger over her hair. “It comes with the red.”
“Is your temper as bad as mine?”
“In times of stress. I am sorry I snapped at you about my business affairs. I should have realized how capable and knowledgeable you are about many things.”
She flexed her fingers, already poring over options. “I shall make a list.”
“We shall live in London most of the time,” he mused. “But I will be needed at the Farm now and then. However, I promise I shall never hold a hunting ball.”
She glanced up and saw his wink. “Whatever do you mean?”
“The first time I saw you, you were telling one of the cakies that you never wanted to be an ornament at a hunting ball. I am guilty of attempting to treat you as ornamental. It shall never happen again.”
She couldn’t hold back her laugh. She remembered that day so clearly. “As for myself, I do not think I shall find the country so bad when we visit. Certainly the air is better, which means it shall be a better place for children.”
“I cannot wait to see what kind of scamps Alys Shield produces.”
She laughed again and hugged him. “An austere firecracker. I cannot wait either. We will have so much joy.”
“I agree.”
“And good times.”
“Absolutely.”
“All the pleasure in the world does not reside in cake,” she mused.
He put a hand on her shoulder. “But you must promise me something.”
Looking into his eyes, she said, “Anything. What?”
“Never lose that scent you have. Of orange flower water and cake?”
“Ah, there is that hungry look again, my love.”
“I retract any desire I may ever have mentioned to marry a biddable girl, as long as she is as sweet as you.”
He tilted her laughing face to his, and Alys surrendered herself to an endless, promising kiss. He still tasted faintly of gingerbread, though she knew it might be only a memory since his hands were steady on the back of her head. His mouth worshipped hers as if she tasted of the finest Scotch trifle. This was their true beginning, and a sweet one at that.
If you liked The Marquess of Cake, look for Judah’s story,
coming in December !
photo credit: Syneca Featherstone
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Heather Hiestand was born in Illinois but her family migrated west before she started school. Since then she has claimed Washington State as home, except for a few years in California. She wrote her first story at age seven and went on to major in creative writing at the University of Washington. Her first published fiction was a mystery short story, but since then it has been all about the many flavors of romance. Heather’s first published romance short story was set in the Victorian period and she continues to return, fascinated by the rapid changes of the nineteenth century. The author of many novels, novellas, and short stories, she has achieved best-seller status on Amazon’s Romance Anthologies list and on Amazon UK’s Romance Short Stories list. With her husband and son, she makes her home in a small town and supposedly works out of her tiny office, though she mostly writes in her easy chair in the living room.
For more information, visit Heather’s website at www.heatherhiestand.com. Heather loves to hear from readers! Her e-mail is [email protected].
Table of Contents
BOOK YOUR PLACE ON OUR WEBSITE, AND MAKE THE**
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Ninete
en
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The Marquess of Cake Page 28