“I’ve never heard anything about a family trust.” Suspicion drew his brows together.
“Really?” Aunt Guinevere adopted an innocent expression. “I can’t imagine my sister wasn’t aware of it.”
“She never said anything to me about a trust.” His eyes narrowed. “Why is it up to you to decide where Celia lives?”
Aunt Guinevere shrugged as if the answer was obvious. “I am the oldest surviving daughter.”
Father glared. “And if Celia doesn’t live where you wish, she won’t get her share?”
“I believe that’s what I just said.” Aunt Guinevere smiled pleasantly.
“Very well, apparently I have no choice,” he said sharply. “And I suppose it’s one less female underfoot. Celia.” He turned to his daughter. “I hope you know I have always cared for you. I’m simply inept when it comes to any number of relatively important matters. I do apologize for that.”
Celia’s throat tightened. “There’s nothing to apologize for.”
“Thank you, my dear. I shall try to get to London to visit you on occasion and you will always have a place at the abbey.” Father cast her an affectionate smile. “And I do expect you to write.”
“I will.” Celia nodded.
Father turned to Louise. “Come along, then. We should be off.”
Louise favored Celia with a surprisingly genuine smile and started out the door.
Father followed after Louise, pausing as he passed Aunt Guinevere. “I don’t trust you for a moment, you bloody witch. Take care of my girl.” He nodded at Celia then took his leave, Henry and Edward escorting him out the door.
Celia stared at the open doorway and blinked away what might possibly have been a tear. What on earth was happening to her? This was at least the second time this week that tears had filled her eyes.
She inclined her head to the side and lowered her voice. “There is no family trust, is there, Aunt Guinevere?”
“Oh, if only there was, dear.” She paused. “I’m quite proud of you, you know.”
“I’m rather proud of myself,” Celia said with a shaky smile. “That was far more difficult than I had imagined.”
“That, my dear girl, was easy compared to this.” Her aunt nodded toward Henry and Edward coming back into the house. A footman closed the doors behind them. “Men are not as intelligent as we allow them to think they are. However, the right man is worth a great deal of trouble.”
“I told him I never wanted to see him again.” Right after he kissed me. Right after I kissed him back. Right after I knew I would never be the same again. “I was quite adamant about it.”
“You thought you were doing the right thing—the noble thing. No one can fault you for that. I daresay men change their minds as much if not more than we do. But one of the benefits of being female is that, as a woman, you are practically expected to change your mind.” Aunt Guinevere glanced at Henry. “After a proper amount of heartfelt persuasion, of course.”
“Celia.” Henry stepped toward her. Her heart sped up. “Might I have a moment?”
Celia hesitated. She had no idea what to say to him. “Henry, I—”
“As much as I hate to interrupt,” Edward said, “you should know, none of this was Henry’s idea. He had nothing to do with any of it.”
It occurred to Celia to ask “Any of what?” but at the moment she didn’t care. She met Henry’s gaze. “Go on.”
“It appears I am not to be married to Katherine, after all.” His gaze bored into hers, intense and determined, and something very much like joy swept through her.
“It does appear that way.” She was almost afraid to breathe.
“So it strikes me that I now have the opportunity for an extraordinary adventure.” He held out his hand to her. “Will you join me?”
“For an extraordinary adventure?” She placed her hand in his. “I would be a fool to miss it.”
“For God’s sake, Henry.” Edward groaned. “Kiss the girl.”
Henry grinned, pulled her into his arms and pressed his lips to hers. And any doubt, any misgivings, any hesitation was dashed aside by the warmth of his lips on hers and the delight of his arms around her and the bliss of knowing she was where she belonged. This was right and perfect and exactly as it should be.
Celia barely noticed Aunt Guinevere’s voice. “I think this ended well.”
“And I must say I enjoyed it,” Mrs. Higginbotham added. “It’s very nearly as much fun to separate a couple that shouldn’t be together as it is to match a couple that should.”
“We should keep that in mind,” Mrs. Fitzhew-Wellmore said.
“Should we ever find ourselves in this sort of situation again. Not that we would...”
Dimly, in what sounded like a vast distance away, she heard her aunt and the other ladies agree Celia and Henry should head for Scotland immediately, where they could marry without delay. And she heard Edward say something that sounded like he was coming as well and it was mentioned that there were guests expecting a wedding tomorrow to be dealt with...
And none of it mattered.
This was just the beginning of the adventure of walking a road together hand in hand.
And it would indeed be extraordinary.
The End
Embark on the breathtaking romantic adventures of The Lady Travelers Society in the brand-new series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Victoria Alexander!
If you loved The Lady Travelers Guide to Scoundrels and Other Gentlemen, then watch for
The Lady Travelers Guide to Larceny,
where a desperate widow, a determined bachelor and the search for a missing masterpiece will change their lives, all set against the romance of Venice.
Don’t miss this delightful romp and
order your copy today!
“Alexander is now the go-to author for historical romance readers in search of love and laughter.”
—Booklist
www.VictoriaAlexander.com
* * *
Did you know that Harlequin My Rewards members earn FREE books and more?
Join
www.HarlequinMyRewards.com
today to start earning your FREE books!
* * *
Connect with us on Harlequin.com for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers, free online reads and much more!
Other ways to keep in touch:
Harlequin.com/Newsletters
Facebook.com/HarlequinBooks
Twitter.com/HarlequinBooks
HarlequinBlog.com
ISBN-13: 9781488022708
The Lady Travelers Guide to Scoundrels & Other Gentlemen
Copyright © 2017 by Cheryl Griffin
The publisher acknowledges the copyright holder of the additional work:
The Proper Way to Stop a Wedding (in Seven Days or Less)
Copyright © 2017 by Cheryl Griffin
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, M3B 3K9 Canada.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademark
s of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.
www.Harlequin.com
The Lady Travelers Guide to Scoundrels and Other Gentlemen Page 45