“I have taken the liberty of having the carriage prepared for your departure this morning, my lady.”
“That was very kind of you, Geoffrey.” She draped her reticule over her wrist, accepted her white gloves and lacy pink bonnet from Geoffrey, and put them on.
Geoffrey opened the door, an icy morning breeze rushing in. With a word of thanks to the butler, Bridget trotted down the front steps and leapt into the carriage.
* * *
“A Knighthood?” Charles could hardly contain his disbelief. “This, in addition to the promotion?”
“Should you wish to accept, the ceremony would be held once you are able to attend. Both Mr. Stevens and Mr. Jones have been offered knighthoods as well, for their chivalrous accomplishments for the Crown.” Liverpool shifted his position in the stiff chair by Charles’ bedside. “The knighthood has been awarded by the Prince Regent. The offer for promotion to Gilley’s former position has come from me. I believe you a capable man in the field, Charles, but your aptitude in overseeing and controlling the secret intelligence operation, your command while issuing instructions, your determination to protect the public, and your loyalty to the crown speaks volumes about your character and your ability to excel in the position.”
Charles’ stomach flipped over with eagerness and hope. Since his return from war, Charles had envied Gilley’s position in the Home Office; the security, the safety, and the absence of threat that would enable him to plan for the future with Bridget was much to be desired. He could have everything he had ever wished for.
His answer was ridiculously simple.
“Thank you, your lordship. I would be honoured to accept.” He shook Liverpool’s hand.
“Excellent. Keep me informed of your health, and I will anticipate your arrival to the Home Office.” Liverpool rose from his seat and walked to the door. “Have a pleasant and quick recovery. Good day.”
He closed the door softly behind him.
Charles hardly knew what to do with himself. He was positively bursting with excitement.
After several moments, a light knock sounded at the door.
“Come.” As though he would deny admittance to anyone in his happy state.
“Good morning, my love. I have brought the morning paper.” Bridget’s beauty wrapped in a delectable pink dress was precisely what he needed at that moment.
“Bridget, you would not believe my happy news…” He told her of Lord Liverpool’s visit, and what that would mean for them.
“Oh, Charles, I am so happy.” She leaned forward to place an amorous kiss on his lips, then resumed her seat at his bedside. “I have something about which I wish to speak with you, as well.”
His excitement waned slightly.
“Do not get disheartened, Charles. I wish to speak with you about Henry.”
“Oh yes, how has he fared at Mason Hall?”
“Very well, indeed. However, it occurred to me this morning that Henry is still very much an orphan. I had thought…I had hoped…that perhaps you would be amenable to adopting him after our wedding?”
His lips split into a broad smile. “What a brilliant thought! Bridget, I would be overjoyed—nay, honoured—to adopt Henry with you.” Their circumstance had changed so drastically, that while days ago he might have been hesitant, now it felt…right.
Besides which, the smile on Bridget’s face was enough to make him wish he could agree to it all over again.
Bridget clambered atop the bed and sat beside him, far enough from his injured leg to not cause him undue pain. Charles brought his arm around her to hold her against his shoulder and he kissed the top of her head.
“I had never thought that I could ever be this exultant. I so look forward to telling our families the happy news.” Bridget snuggled closer to his body.
She traced a finger along the lines of his chest. “I happened upon some light reading this morn.”
“Did you, indeed?” His voice boomed beneath her ear.
She nodded against his chest. “Dios mio, querido, did you not suspect I would find out?”
Charles’ heart thudded against his ribs, the sound loud to her ear.
Bridget laughed, pulling away to look at him. “I could not recall the longer phrase that you’d said.”
A rose hue crept up Charles’ neck, but he sighed. “Me entrada con su belleza. It means ‘you entrance me with your beauty.’”
He traced his fingertips over her hairline, then curved a stray hair behind her ear before cupping her jaw. “Te amo, Bridget.”
“And I love you, Charles.”
Epilogue
“What a happy Christmas!” Emaline clasped her hands together, startling the small kitten sleeping on her lap. “I am about to become an aunt!”
“I am rather excited myself,” Bridget smiled at Emaline, “though I daresay Lane is close to an apoplexy.”
The sisters turned their gaze toward Lane as he paced incessantly near the door of the family parlour, tense and rigid like a lion in a cage.
At first light, the large group of them—Charles’ parents, Bridget’s family, and their newly adopted son, Henry—had entered the parlour, where they had previously decorated for Christmastide. The family had enjoyed gift giving and singing carols, but very suddenly, Anna went into labour.
The doctor was immediately summoned and Anna had remained abovestairs ever since. Dr. Claridge requested that Lane remove his fretful self from the room not two hours past, and he was clearly not handling it well.
Bridget trailed a finger along the spiralling emerald pattern of her Spanish necklace as she turned to gaze at Charles. He sent her a conspiratorial wink and her stomach fluttered in response. She didn’t think it was possible, but she loved the man more every day they were together.
A hoarse shout echoed from abovestairs and Lane threw his hands in the air. “That is it. I cannot allow her to birth our child alone.”
“She has Dr. Claridge, the nurses, and Mrs. Bradley there to aid her, my dear brother,” Kat said soothingly.
Mama extended a hand toward Lane. “Women have been birthing babes since the beginning of time, son. Our Anna will do well.”
He spun to face Mama, his eyes wild and a sweat forming on his upper lip. “Yes, and woman have been dying at birth since the beginning of time, mother. I appreciate your attempt to comfort me, but it will not do. I must see my wife.”
Another hoarse shout sounded, and Lane turned on his heel and ran from the room.
“That was abrupt,” Emaline noted.
“He is distraught,” Mama said defensively. “He is allowed to behave oddly.”
Charles grasped Bridget’s hand and lightly squeezed it. She nodded in response and they both rose to address the room. Bridget’s stomach was a veritable jar full of butterflies.
“Are you ready, Mrs. Bradley?” Charles whispered to Bridget.
She took a quavering breath. “As ever, mi amor.”
Charles cleared his throat, to address the room. “While Lane’s agitated energy is abovestairs, we should like to take this opportunity to make an announcement.” The anticipation in the room was palpable as he paused in his speech. He puffed out his chest with pride as he announced, “We are going to have a baby!”
The room erupted with cheers as everyone stood to take turns embracing both Charles and Bridget.
Her mother grasped Bridget’s hands, her eyes glistening. “My first grandbaby will be born today, and in only a few months I get to experience that joy all over again. You have made me so proud, Bridget. Congratulations, my darling girl.”
Bridget’s own eyes threatened tears. “Thank you, Mama.”
Her mother dabbed at her cheeks with a kerchief, turning to Henry. “Are you excited to have a sibling, lad?”
Henry appeared beside them, smiling up at Bridget’s mother. “I already knew that I was going to become a big brother, but I was told to keep it secret. And I did, didn’t I, Mother?” He turned his gaze up at Bridget and she was c
ertain her heart swelled in her chest.
“You did, indeed, Henry. You did an admirable job of it, too.” He stood straighter at the praise.
A cry came from abovestairs, but this the wail of a newly born babe.
Everyone gazed at the open doorway expectantly and, soon, Lane appeared with a grin on his lips and unabashed tears staining his cheeks.
He threw his hands up in the air and yelled triumphantly, “I’m a father! I have a son!”
Another chorus of cheers, and exclamations of “it’s a boy!” filled the room. The group surrounded Lane, giving him hugs and pats on the back.
“How is Anna?” Emaline raised her voice above the commotion.
Lane’s chest heaved with each hitched breath. “Anna is excellent. Dr. Claridge says she has done a fine job, and I am inclined to agree.” He wiped at the tears beneath his eyes and stepped back toward the doorway. “I must return abovestairs to Anna…” his grin grew as he spoke, “and my new son, Michael.” Without waiting for a response, Lane darted away.
Slowly everyone resumed their seats, excitement still simmering beneath the surface of their conversation.
“How do you feel, Bridget?” Katherine asked as a downstairs maid brought in the tea service.
“Very well,” she replied brightly. “I scarcely noticed a change at all.”
Mama leaned forward to pour tea. “I daresay you will notice soon enough.”
Bridget looked toward the room’s entry as the sound of footsteps alerted her to someone nearing them from down the hall. Her family members soon followed suit, not having heard the soft footfalls when Bridget did.
Several heartbeats passed before Dr. Claridge entered the room. “Good afternoon.” He nodded his head to the room, and his gaze took in the group, pausing for a moment on a blushing Emaline. “I must take my leave of you now. Annabel is doing wonderfully, and baby Michael is robust as ever a baby boy was.”
Bridget’s eyes misted as her heart swelled with joy.
“Oh, thank you, Doctor!” The dowager Countess of Devon clapped her hands together before her chest. “Won’t you join us for tea?”
Dr. Claridge’s lips curved upward in one corner. “I thank you for the offer, Lady Devon, but I must return to my parents.” He bowed to the room. “I wish you all a happy Christmas.”
His gaze sought out Emaline once more before he quit the room. Bridget watched her sister with curiosity as the doctor departed.
“And what a happy Christmas it has been!” Mama exclaimed. “Could there ever be such a happy Christmas as ours?”
“Oh, indeed! What a wonderful—” Emaline grew silent as Kat rose from her seat and cleared her throat.
Once every eye was trained on her, Katherine stood straighter, clasping her hands behind her back. “Since this would seem to be the afternoon for announcements, I should like to take the opportunity to make one of my own.” She took a quivering breath. “I have accepted a position as a companion to a woman in Dumfries, Scotland. I leave on the morrow.”
Acknowledgements
I’d like to say a huge thank-you to my Pandamoon family for their wonderful support and tireless efforts.
To my parents for their unconditional love and encouragement, and the hours upon hours of babysitting, thank you!
About the Author
Cheri Champagne has had a passion for the written word since she was a child; even before she learned to write, she would scribble “stories” into notebooks and read the imaginary words aloud for all to hear. As a child and preteen, Cheri wrote adventurous short stories and heartfelt poetry, filling her notebooks with writing she would enjoy for years to come. Since then, Cheri poured insatiably over the pages of every historical romance she could get her hands on.
In College, Cheri first focused on Creative Writing and English Literature, thus beginning her eternal love of Jane Austen’s work. She then graduated with honors with an Applied Business Technology degree in the Administrative Assistant field.
After getting a job straight out of College, Cheri quickly moved up the proverbial ladder to Inside Sales, to Accounts Receivable in a mere four months, where she stayed until she left on maternity leave.
Cheri and her husband married and two years later they had their first son, followed quickly by their second a year and a half later.
When her sons were still very young and Cheri’s love of historical romance still very strong, her husband saw one receipt for a sizeable bookstore purchase and knew of her partiality to writing, suggested that she try it. Cheri, having been longing for her favorite authors to create very specifically plotted novels, agreed. She began writing her first novel in 2011 and after the first paragraph, was completely addicted.
In Autumn, 2012, Cheri and her husband were overjoyed to discover that they were expecting their third child, but in January 2013 they were shocked to learn that they were having twins in the Spring. With that unexpected but very happy discovery, their lives changed forever.
In addition to reading and writing, Cheri crochets, paints, scrapbooks, gardens, collect antiques (teacups, artwork, books, and skeleton keys, specifically), and above all, plays with her children.
Still passionate about her sizzling historical romances, Cheri writes as often as she can manage and continues to come up with a seemingly never-ending supply of plots, writing them exactly how she likes to read them.
Thank you for purchasing this copy of The Trouble with Love by Cheri Champagne. If you enjoyed this book by Cheri, please let her know by posting a review.
Growing good ideas into great reads…one book at a time.
Visit www.pandamoonpub.com to learn more about our other works by our talented authors and use the author links to their sales page.
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The Trouble with Love (The Mason Siblings Series Book 2) Page 32