The Rogue Steals a Bride
Page 27
“Sophia!” June exclaimed.
“Oh, Sophia,” Mae whispered softly. “It’s Mr. Brentwood, isn’t it?”
Sophia looked at Mae and nodded sadly. “I was barely seventeen when I made that vow to Papa. How could I know about true love and the unrelenting desire for a man? I wanted to redeem myself for costing my father the woman he loved. I now know the only way to redemption is forgiveness. I have forgiven myself. Perhaps I could have married Lord Snellingly if I hadn’t fallen in love with Matson, but now I can’t. I know all of you will be disappointed in me, but I can’t live without Matson. I must go to his ship now and stop him from sailing away.”
“We are not disappointed in you, dearest,” Mae said. “Would your father really want you marrying a man you don’t love? It won’t change the past and what happened to him. Besides, if he had truly wanted to marry that lady, he would have sent you to your room for the disobedient child you were and married her anyway. Don’t give that vow another thought. If you love Mr. Brentwood and he loves you, marry him.”
“Mae!” June said harshly. “Just because you have completely lost all your common sense is no reason for you to encourage Sophia to do away with hers.”
“No, Miss Shevington, Sophia is right,” Sir Randolph said. “It’s time she knew the whole truth.”
“What truth?” June asked.
A faraway look settled in Sir Randolph’s eyes. With an expression filled with contrition, he said, “I always agreed with your father’s obsession for you to marry a title. It seemed the right thing to do. I lost the woman I loved to a title too. I had more money than we could have ever spent, but money meant nothing to her. She wanted a title. When her first husband died, I thought now Lady Elder will finally marry me, but she didn’t. She married four times and always for a title. Sophia, it’s true your father loved Miss Hamilton, but she never loved him.”
“What?” Sophia whispered. “I don’t understand.”
“Your father saw her and fell instantly in love with her. He assumed she would marry him. He was young, healthy, and wealthy. He didn’t not marry her because of you. Miss Hamilton wouldn’t marry him. He asked her and she refused him. She told him she intended to marry a gentleman with a title, and she did. Your father and I concluded that if titles meant that much to the two ladies we loved and wanted to marry, then you must marry a title too. We’ve always wanted the best for you. You don’t need redemption, Sophia. You did nothing wrong.”
Sophia felt as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, and her knees went weak.
“That’s all well and good for you, Sir Randolph,” June said, “but Sophia is not absolved from keeping her vow. I don’t intend to let Sophia go back on her word. I won’t hear of —”
All of a sudden, Sir Randolph grabbed June by her upper arms and kissed her hard and quick on the lips.
She gasped, and so did Sophia and Mae.
He looked down into June’s wide eyes, and then he kissed her open mouth again. He then turned her loose, stepped back, and said, “Now, Miss Shevington, I think you should consent to be my wife.”
Sophia’s gasp was muted by her aunts’ gasps.
“What did you say?” June asked.
“Marry me, Miss Shevington. I’ve only ever found one other woman who tries my patience, challenges me on every issue, and provokes me to madness like you have. Because of that, I think we will suit.”
More gasps were heard.
“When I asked Lady Elder to marry me over forty years ago, she turned me down for a man with a title. So, Miss Shevington, what do you say? Will you marry me or refuse me?”
June turned a stunned face to Mae. “Sister?”
At first Mae’s eyes were full of questions, but slowly a smile eased across her face. “I think you should say yes.”
“But what about you?” June asked.
“I can’t marry him, too, June. It’s time we have our own lives. It’s time we part.”
“Part?” Sir Randolph said. “What are you talking about, Miss Shevington? You’ll live with us. I need you here to help me keep her straight when she gets crotchety.”
“Crotchety?” June said, jerking her hands to her hips in indignation. “I’ll have you know I have never been crotchety in my life.”
“See what I mean,” Sir Randolph said and then smiled. “I can’t even get her to say yes to my proposal.”
“Then I’ll say it for her,” Mae said. “Yes, Sir Randolph, June will—”
“Wait,” June interrupted. She ran her palms down her sides. “I’ll take care of this myself, Sister.” June turned to face Sir Randolph. She relaxed her shoulders and lowered her chin a fraction and smiled. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
“Good. We’ll make plans over breakfast tomorrow morning, but right now I have to get Sophia to the docks. I am an honorable man. I am partially responsible for keeping them apart. I must help them get back together. I pray we can get there before the ship sets sail.” He looked at Sophia. “You get our cloaks and meet me out front. I’ll go to the mews and get our carriage before the horses get unharnessed.”
A few minutes later, when Sophia and Sir Randolph were settled in the carriage, he told the driver not to spare the horses on his way to the docks. Sometimes they took the corners so fast Sophia thought the carriage would topple. Thankfully, Sir Randolph knew exactly which ships were Matson’s, and he had the carriage pull them right up to the ship. When she stepped out of the carriage, Sophia saw three huge ships at the dock.
“This is the one that will be leaving,” Sir Randolph said. “See the smoke rising from it?”
Sophia’s heart pounded, and she looked about the dock. She wanted to board and find Matson but realized the gangplank had been removed to get ready for their departure.
“Matson,” she called. “Hello! Can anyone hear me?”
A light lifted above the hull of the ship, and a small face came into view. Sophia blinked, thinking her eyes were deceiving her. It was the boy thief who had stolen her brooch.
“You!” she said. “What are you doing on the ship?” she called up to him.
“Doing me job, lady,” he called back. “What can I do for ye?”
“You’re working? On Mr. Brentwood’s ship?”
“I ’ad no choice. ’E told me I could go to an orphanage or take a job learning to be a sailor. I took the ship.”
Sophia’s heart swelled even more. Matson had taken care of the little boy. “That was very kind of Mr. Brentwood. Do you know where he is?”
“’E’s standing right behind you.”
Sophia spun and saw Matson. She rushed into his arms, and he caught her up to him and swung her around. “Don’t leave, Matson, I will marry you. I love you. I will marry you. Please don’t go.”
Matson set her on her feet and looked at Sir Randolph.
“I’ll wait in the carriage,” Sir Randolph said and turned away.
“Do not tease me about this, Sophia.”
“I’m not. I don’t want to live without you. I’ve forgiven myself, my father, everyone. I have to live for me, and I want to live with you.”
Matson pulled her up against his chest. “Sophia, I have been waiting here, hoping you would come so I wouldn’t have to get on that ship and sail away. Let me hear you say it again.”
“I love you, and I will marry you if you still want me to.”
“You know I do.”
Matson looked up at the boy on the ship and said, “Henry, tell the captain to prepare to sail without me.”
“Aye, sir.”
Suddenly there was a loud bang, and bright lights filled the sky.
“Look.” Matson smiled. “Beautiful fireworks from Vauxhall Gardens.”
“I see fireworks every time you kiss me,” Sophia said, looking up at Matson with all the love she was feeling for him.
/>
“So do I, my love.”
Matson pulled Sophia into his arms again and kissed her as the sky rained lights.
Sophia thrilled to his touch.
Epilogue
Where love is concerned, too much is not enough.
—Pierre de Beaumarchais
Sophia waited anxiously for Matson to come home. She had donned a light turquoise-blue dress and fastened her mother’s brooch to it. A fire had been burning all day, and the drawing room was warm and inviting.
It was her first dinner party in their new home. It had taken them six months to find a house and furnish it, but now they were happily settled. They were having his brothers and their wives, her aunt Mae, and newly married Sir Randolph and Aunt June for dinner. They couldn’t have been coming at a more perfect time.
Finally, Sophia heard Matson come in the front door. She moistened her lips and walked to the doorway of the drawing room to meet him. He smiled when he saw her. Matson wrapped her in his arms and kissed her lovingly.
“You’re late,” she whispered seductively.
“Hmm, had I known such sweet kisses would be waiting for me, I would have hurried faster to get home.”
“You did know,” she teased him. “Now tell me, did you have a good day, my love?”
“No, I missed you. How was your day?”
She smiled. “I missed you too, but I found the perfect place for the offices of Shevington Shipping, and I sent a letter to Mr. Peabody, telling him to start making arrangements to move everything to London. Thank you for letting me continue to oversee my father’s company.”
“It makes me happy that you are so happy.” He kissed her again.
“Come and sit down,” she said. “I have something to discuss with you before our guests arrive.”
“If we haven’t much time, I think I would rather kiss you and then talk later,” he said, not letting go of her.
“There will be plenty of time for that after our guests leave, now sit.”
“Yes, Mrs. Brentwood,” he said and made himself comfortable on the settee.
Sophia poured him a drink, and when she handed it to him, he promptly placed it on the table in front of him. He pulled her onto the settee with him and kissed her again.
“Now, tell me what it is you want to discuss.”
“I know you told me you would not touch Sir Randolph’s estate when it is passed on to me, but what about your sons? Will you let them have it?”
Matson gave her a curious look. He shrugged. “Maybe, I don’t know. I haven’t even thought about that. We have plenty of time to discuss that. Last time I saw Sir Randolph, he looked younger and happier than ever.”
“But there is another reason we might want to talk about it now.”
“Why?”
“You are going to have sons or daughters in about six months.”
Matson’s eyes widened. “I—you—we will have sons, as in more than one?”
Sophia smiled. “The midwife is certain I am carrying more than one baby. She says she has never been wrong in predicting two, but she doesn’t predict whether boys, girls, or one of each.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Maybe that you are happy?”
“Happy?” He looked into her eyes. “I’m elated, Sophia. I can’t believe I will be having sons or daughters before either of my brothers.”
“And do you agree that we will tell them tonight at dinner?”
“Yes.” He laughed and hugged her close. “I can’t wait to see the expressions on their faces when we tell them there will be another set of twins in the family. I love you, Sophia.”
“And I love you, Matson. I always will.”
Dear Readers,
I hope you have enjoyed Matson and Sophia’s story. I thought it was a fitting ending and tribute to the Rogues’ Dynasty six-book series. It was difficult to write the last few chapters, because I knew I would be saying good-bye to the continuing characters I had come to love. And to all of you who wrote to me about Gibby, or better known most recently as Sir Randolph Gibson, I hope you are satisfied with how I ended his story.
When I came up with the idea of twins for the last two books, I had no idea how very rare it was for both twins to live to adulthood during the Regency. There wasn’t much historical information to go on concerning twins, but the few references I found seemed to agree that before the twentieth century, twin adults were hard to find. The main reasons given were the harsh living conditions at the time. Quality of hygiene was poor, and food was often filled with bacteria, causing many deaths. Most areas of the world had less than competent medical care available. Another reason suggested was that usually one infant was born smaller and weaker than the other, and therefore more susceptible to succumb to illnesses.
But I didn’t allow these dire statistics to deter me. I had fun creating two sets of adult twins in The Rogue Steals a Bride and they were very healthy and lively.
Thank you for following The Rogues’ Dynasty Series with me. The first five books of the series—A Duke to Die For, A Marquis to Marry, and An Earl To Enchant—also A Gentleman Never Tells and A Gentleman Says “I Do” are available at your favorite local or online bookstore. If you missed any of them, I hope you’ll check them out on my website at ameliagrey.com. You’ll find all of them listed there.
I love to hear from readers with questions or comments. Please follow me at Facebook.com/Ameliagreybooks, email me at ameliagrey@comcast.net, or visit my website at ameliagrey.com.
Happy reading,
Amelia
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