His thumb continued to caress her cheek. He inched closer. May felt her face heat as she realized how shocking their behavior must look to the carriage driver and to anyone who might pass by. She ducked her head away from his magical touch.
“You look healthy and content. I’m happy,” she said in place of a dismissal and turned to climb back into the carriage. She let him lift her since no steps had been lowered.
“Right now I’m better than content,” he confessed. “I’m tremendously happy.” That determined focus of his nearly tripped her as she nervously settled on the carriage’s narrow bench. “If you are agreeable, I would like to call on you tomorrow afternoon. There is much I would like to explain . . . and to apologize for.”
May gave a brisk nod just as the carriage lurched forward and began to roll down the road.
Yes, yes, yes, she could barely refrain from shouting. She would dearly love for Radford to call on her. His leg was stronger and yet his expression still softened when he’d first set eyes her. Perhaps his affections for her did go beyond his need for her troubled situation to give his injured pride a sense of worth. Her spirit soared. It had been far too long since she’d allowed herself to feel so recklessly special.
Certainly such a rare happiness was worth the risk she’d just placed on her barely healed heart.
* * * * *
No one would tell her anything. Iona would stare at May with a funny grin but kept her lips tightly sealed when pressed for answers. That evening, Aunt Winnie had come to the Newbury’s townhouse for dinner and, like Iona, would only smile when asked about the vague but urgent letters.
“Tomorrow,” was the most anyone would say.
Tomorrow.
May sat in the Newbury’s welcoming, sage-colored parlor the next afternoon and fidgeted. Radford was due to appear any moment. This waiting felt only too familiar. A sick feeling turned in her stomach.
What if he didn’t come?
She’d donned the same deep violet gown fashioned from the sheerest muslins that she’d worn a month ago as she’d waited nervously in this very same parlor for his visit. Iona had helped her to tame her ruddy-brown curls and pile them on the top of her head.
As she spied her reflection in the window, she thought she looked surprisingly elegant. Last summer had changed her. She’d grown even more confident, more comfortable with herself. Unlike before, the gown’s stunning color didn’t discomfit her. Gone was the shy creature who had felt a need to hide behind the curtains.
She was who she was. Nothing was going to change that. Radford had taught her she had no need to feel ashamed. She straightened a book sitting on a small, elaborately carved rosewood table and glanced out the window again. Hopefully he would keep his word and arrive on time. She so wanted to thank him for this new confidence she enjoyed.
“May?” Iona stood at the threshold of the parlor, nervously twisting her hands.
“He’s not coming, is he?” May said, feeling suddenly tired.
“What?” Iona’s hands moved all the more nervously. “Oh, I don’t know. There are some people in Papa’s study waiting to see you.”
“Who?” May crossed the room to follow Iona to the study. Iona grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug. Tears dampened May’s shoulder. “What is wrong, Iona? You are scaring me.”
“Nothing.” Iona dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief and tried to smile. “I’m just happy, is all.”
May imagined she understood the apprehension men felt when being led to the gallows. Her heart thundered erratically. She knew Iona. Those nervous tears were not born from simple happiness. Something earth-shatteringly big was awaiting May in the study . . . and Iona was terrified for her.
May straightened her spine, drew a deep breath, and opened the door leading to the duke’s oak paneled study.
Three faintly familiar, darkly tanned figures beamed smiles in greeting. They were clearly a family. The gentleman stood with his arm lovingly around the lady’s waist. A much young man with black unruly hair tugged at his boots as if they were paining him.
“May, darling? Winnie hadn’t lied. You have grown into a beautiful woman,” the gentleman said.
“May, my sweet May,” the lady wailed. “We’ve come home to stay.”
The voice rang like a whisper in a dream. May covered her mouth while staring, unable to believe.
“I think she’s in shock,” the duke said.
Someone began patting her hand vigorously. May looked and saw it was Iona.
“Who are you?” May whispered the question from behind her hand. She didn’t know why she asked such a foolish question when she already knew the answer.
Despite the gray streaks in their hair and the deep bronze hue of their skin, they were the very image of the tiny portraits she’d always worn in her locket.
“Who are you?” she shouted when her gaze latched on to the young man. He couldn’t be much older than fifteen or sixteen. His face was a tanner, masculine version of her own.
He swaggered up to her and gave an awkward bow. “I am your brother, Perseus.”
“Brother?” May was amazed at how calm her voice sounded. “It is a pleasure to make you acquaintance, Mr. Sheffers.”
“Oh dear,” said her mother, who suddenly felt more like a stranger to May than this boy calling himself her brother. “You’re angry.”
Angry was a blasted understatement. Her parents had a son. They’d traveled the world while heaping their love on this boy. She hadn’t been good enough to keep by their side. They’d left her behind, let her fear they were dead.
Let them go back to their exotic, far off lands and love their son. She’d been happier without them in her life, anyhow.
“May?” Iona whispered. “Lord Evers has arrived.”
As if sensing May’s need for support, Radford placed his hand protectively on the small of her back. “You look stunning,” he murmured in her ear.
May tore her gaze from her parents and slowly turned toward Radford. He was dressed in his finest black suit. His beaver hat gleamed as it sat at an angle on the top of his head. His cane was tucked underneath his arm so he could hold the largest bouquet of wildflowers May had ever seen.
“Would you care to introduce me?” he asked with a nod toward her parents.
“Viscount Evers, I am pleased to introduce Mr. and Mrs. Gaylord Sheffers . . . my parents.”
Oh God, her parents were finally home, and she felt absolutely unloved and miserable. This was not at all how she imagined their homecoming.
Hands and arms were smothering her as her mother and then her father embraced her, crying as earnestly as she wished she could. Her eyes remained curiously dry throughout the emotional ordeal.
“I suppose we should explain,” her father said after the duke had ushered them all into the upstairs drawing room where tea had been served.
Radford had directed May to sit on a small sofa. He set the flowers on a sideboard and sat beside her with his hand protectively holding hers. She let him feed her strength while she steeled herself for whatever her parents had to say.
“We wrote,” her father said. “We wrote letter after letter explaining our delayed absence. I’d send the letters to a small fishing village in Brazil along with the specimens I’d collected. Only recently did I learn that neither the letters nor the specimens ever found their way to the trading ships in the Caribbean. A man we trusted took payment for this service and threw away our packages. When I confronted him, he tried to kill us and steal what little money we had left. We escaped only to lose our way in the jungle. Years passed before we happened upon a captain of a ship willing to carry us home.”
May heard the very logical explanation and accepted it as true. Still, she felt miserable. If not for Radford’s steadying presence, she was convinced she’d ha
ve stormed from the room like a spoiled child.
“When I heard how Sires had treated you . . . ” her mother said. “I cannot tell you how his behavior angers me. I am so sorry we weren’t here to protect you. To give you a better life.”
“I am content,” May said softly.
Her father’s gaze narrowed. He looked at Radford as if seeing him for the first time. “Viscount Evers,” he said, a lilt of raw emotion alive in his tone. “What interest do you have in my daughter? I am not sure it is at all appropriate for you to sit there and cradle her hand like that.”
Radford’s protective hold remained firm. “I disagree.”
May’s father, a tall man who appeared as fit as a man many years his junior, peeled off his gloves. “I don’t give a fig if you disagree or not. She is my daughter and I will protect her.”
The dam broke. May charged across the room and tossed herself into her father’s arms just as she had when she was four years old and begging him not to leave.
“All these years I feared you didn’t love me,” she cried. “I feared I wasn’t good enough and that’s why you didn’t take me with you.”
“Oh dear God, May.” Her father held her tightly in his arms. “We have always loved you. Leaving you was the hardest thing we ever did. I fought against it, but Sires and Winnie convinced us that it would be wrong to endanger you by bringing you along. You deserved a better life than the one a wandering scientist such as I could give. You deserved to be raised as a lady.” He set her down and looked her square in the eye. “Never has my love for you wavered. You are my dearest, sweetest little Mayflower.”
Those were the words May had somehow forgotten but desperately needed to hear. The day her parents set sail, her father had made her promise to always remember that she was his dearest, sweetest little Mayflower . . . to remember that she would always be loved.
“I remember now, Papa,” she said as she wiped away a sheen of tears. “I remember you telling me that no matter what happens, this forever kind of love is always worth the risk.” She kissed his cheek and stepped back. Her gaze met Radford’s. “Please excuse me a moment. I need to speak with the viscount in private. It is truly something that shouldn’t wait.”
Radford stammered and blushed as she led him out the room, down the stairs, and out into the Newbury’s meticulously groomed flower garden. A heavy perfume traveled on the gentle autumn breeze and tickled her nose. May was about to comment on the scent when Radford pressed a finger against her lips.
“I need to explain something to you. And no, it cannot wait for you to go first,” he said. “I was a fool. I was so wrapped up in pride and fear I made unreasonable demands on what I wanted and ended up pushing you away. I would have chased after you immediately, but the duke asked me to wait and give you time.”
He ducked his head and stole a quick kiss. That brief brush of their lips sent May’s beautifully practiced speech flying.
“May, you are very important to me. I would like to court you properly. I will go to your father and beg his permission, if need be. I don’t want this to be a burden to you, what with your parents’ sudden return, but I have to speak my mind.”
He took a step back and sucked in a deep breath. “Miss Margaret Sheffers, I am utterly, completely, and hopelessly in love with you. You are the only woman I would even consider asking to be my wife.”
“Oh, Radford,” May said with a sigh, “I brought you out here to tell you the very same thing. I shouldn’t have let fear and pride keep me from telling you the truth about my feelings. I shouldn’t have pushed you away. I love you, too.” A great warmth filled her as she spoke the words she’d held hidden for far too long. “How quickly can we get married? We’ve wasted enough time already; I certainly don’t have the patience to wait any longer.”
“Nor do I, sweeting,” he said with a shout of joy. “If we could manage it, I’d say let’s get married today.”
Epilogue
The wedding didn’t happen right away. Both Radford’s mother and May’s parents demanded the wedding be a grand affair. Six agonizing months passed before they finally were able to say their vows. Radford penned long, romantic letters to May and sent enough flowers to fill several rooms. May wrote him equally romantic letters and embroidered all sorts of handkerchiefs, nightshirts, and linens with his initials and figures of dancing horses.
The extra time gave her a chance to reacquaint herself with her parents and to grow to love her nearly wild brother, Perseus. But still, she lived for the day her life with Radford could finally begin.
“Are you sure you’re safe up there?” Aunt Winnie called a year after the blessed wedding day. She was cradling the future viscount in her arms while watching with a twisted grimace as May sat atop a gentle old mare Radford had promised was the kindest of souls.
“She’s as safe as if she were in my arms,” Radford answered and gave May a look that made her blush from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. Never had she imagined marriage to be so pleasing.
A year had passed since the wedding night and he could still make her legs turn watery with just one heated glance.
Radford’s mother reached over Aunt Winnie and fussed with the baby blanket. May watched as the two stubborn women argued over the most beautiful baby she’d ever beheld. He was the very image of Radford.
Thankfully, the dowager Lady Evers had welcomed May into the family, telling her how grateful she was that May had made her son happy again.
“Shall we trot toward the hill?” Radford asked. “I promise we won’t stay away from little Henry for long. I can’t bear to leave him yet either. But I want you to resume your practice so you will feel comfortable riding.”
“As long as I’m by your side, I’m comfortable, Radford.”
She watched as he and Princess trotted on ahead of them. Both man and horse moved as gracefully as the wind. May tossed back her head and laughed. She prodded the dappled gray horse into a full run, blasting past Radford. Her bonnet flew off as the wind sailed through her hair.
Within no time, Radford caught up to her. They flew across the field, side-by-side on two wondrous creatures. May had never felt so happy or so wildly free.
Thank you for reading
THE MARRIAGE LIST
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The Marriage List Page 22