by Sarah Winn
She didn’t look convinced. “But you’ve had to take on the responsibility of another man’s child, and see what that’s cost you?”
“I did not rescue Toby to repay my debt. He has become like a son to me. When he called me ‘Papa’ for the first time, I almost wept. I love you and Toby, and I very much want us to go on being a family. I know you can’t love me in return, and I will not expect—”
Her fingers covered his mouth, stopping his words. “When I told you I could never love another, I greatly underestimated the human heart’s capacity to love. I fell in love with Philip the first time I saw him in his red, brass-studded uniform, but I have come to love you in the weeks we have been together for the kind of man you are.”
Gerald couldn’t believe what he had just heard. “Are you just saying that to make me feel better?”
Bracing with her arms, she rose above him so she could look him fully in the face. “I didn’t realize how much I cared until I faced the possibility of truly losing you.” Being careful not to touch his chest, she lowered her head until she could lightly press her lips against his. Scooping his arm around her, he pulled her closer and deepened the kiss.
She pulled her head back just far enough to whisper, “Be careful.”
“I’m too happy to be careful,” he replied and kissed her deeply, thrusting his tongue against hers. She fully responded.
Soft taps sounded on the partially opened door. Ellen pulled away from Gerald just as Toby’s head peeked around the edge of the door. “Grandmother said I could come up and see you.”
Gerald smiled at him. “Indeed, you can.”
Toby fully entered the room, came over to Gerald, eyed the two people on the bed, and asked, “What are you doing?”
“I’m following the doctor’s orders to let my wounds heal, and your mother is taking a well-deserved rest. Would you like to join us?”
Toby nodded.
Ellen sat up, so she could see her son. “Come around to this side of the bed. That side is where your papa’s sore spots are.”
Toby obeyed, and after a good deal of tugging, shifting, and arranging he was tucked between the two adult bodies. Gerald smiled down at his step-son, who nestled against his body and smiled back. Then he looked at his wife, whose eyes were a bit more shiny than usual, and realized he truly had the family he had longed for.
Epilogue
A smile pulled at Ellen’s lips as she looked around the table and saw how smoothly this meal was going. In the last year, she had survived being the hostess for visits from Gerald’s parents, her aunt and uncle, and now the Earl and Countess of Firthley. She had originally thought to serve all of this exalted couple’s meals in the formal dining room, but Gerald had assured her that the smaller room would be acceptable for breakfast, and it seemed he was correct. Catherine was as chatty as usual, and the earl seemed perfectly at ease.
“How long will we be hunting today?” the earl asked.
Gerald shrugged. “We’ll be through by noon or a little after. This early in the season it’s too warm to ride all day. Besides, the pack of old hounds I’m using probably couldn’t make it for much longer.”
Toby, despite Ellen’s instructions that he should be seen and not heard this morning, couldn’t resist defending the hounds. “They can run a long time, Papa.”
Gerald grinned at the boy, and then looked back at Firthley. “I got the dogs at bargain prices because they were about to be phased out of a hunting pack. Toby has become my master of the hounds.”
The earl nodded at Toby. “Good for you, young man.”
Despite the warning glare Ellen sent his way, Toby responded. “They’re smart dogs, my lord.”
At least he remembered to use the proper address.
Gerald chuckled. “I’ll say they’re smart. We give them meat scraps at the end of the hunt. The first three times we ran them, we put the scraps in the same place. On the third run, the dogs got about half-way through the course and then went straight to the scraps. Now we have to alternate the end of the course every run.”
The earl laughed heartily, and Toby smiled, apparently taking the laughter as approval of his dogs.
“But what are the dogs following?” Lady Catherine asked. “Surely there are no foxes left in this part of the country.”
“We use faux foxes,” Gerald said. “That’s a bundle of rags, soaked in fox-scent, tied to a rope, and dragged behind a horse.”
“What is fox-scent?” the countess asked.
Ellen lightly touched the Countess’s hand. “I don’t think we want to discuss that at the breakfast table.”
“Oh!” Lady Catherine’s eyes widened and then she said, “Never mind.”
Both of the men smiled and Toby looked confused.
“So,” the earl promptly changed the subject, “how many students will be riding this morning?”
“We currently have nine students, but they like to bring friends. We’ll probably have fifteen to twenty.”
“Aren’t the students taking advantage by bringing guests?” the earl asked.
“Not a bit. They pay a visitor’s fee and some of those guests may sign up for lessons or buy a horse from us. Mr. Samuels and his teaching methods have become quite popular. We’re getting more applications now than he can accept.”
“Don’t downplay your own contribution, Gerald,” the earl said with a smirk. “Much of the attention your riding school is getting is due to the owner’s daring exploits.”
Gerald grimaced. “Yeah, I know. Everyone wants to meet The One-Armed Wonder.”
The earl chuckled. “I have been dying to ask how you felt about that sobriquet the newspapers gave you.”
Ellen reined in a smile as she said, “At first, he was quite put out. Threatened to write letters of protest to half the papers in the country.”
Gerald looked a bit sheepish. “Then Mr. Coyler told me the right kind of notoriety was good for a man’s business, so I decided to tolerate it.”
Lady Catherine spoke up. “How are you two getting along with the Coylers, by the way?”
“Very well,” Ellen replied.
Gerald added, “It’s a good thing Mr. Coyler has his business headquarters in Leeds, or they’d probably move in with us.”
One of the new maids entered the room and silently stood beside Gerald until he nodded to her. “Beg pardon, Mr. Osborne, but Mr. Samuels asked me to tell you that the young gentlemen have started to arrive.”
“Thank you. Elsie. You may tell him that we’ll be there shortly.”
Then Gerald looked back at the earl. “You don’t have to come now, but I need to be there to get things organized.”
“Oh, I want to see the whole show,” the earl replied as he laid his napkin on the table.
“Can I come now, Papa?” Toby asked.
Gerald nodded at his stepson and then looked over at the countess, “If you ladies will excuse us.”
“We should go and watch the start,” Ellen said to Catherine.
Catherine nodded, “I agree.”
The gentlemen held the ladies’ chairs and everyone soon spilled into the hallway. Toby ran ahead to the long hall table where the gentlemen had left their hats. Toby’s hat had a crown about one-half the height of a gentleman’s, but otherwise, it was very similar to the two black, stovepipe hats on the table. As he carefully donned his hat, Ellen felt a twinge of melancholy to see her baby boy looking so grown up. Then he carefully picked up the earl’s hat and rushed it to the earl and repeated the action with Gerald, and she beamed at his good manners.
As they started walking toward the front of the house, Gerald asked, “Firthley, how do you want me to introduce you? Some of the young men are likely to be awed to have a nobleman in their midst.”
“By all means give my title,” the earl responded. “I need to impress them with something since I shan’t be taking any of the jumps.”
Ellen supposed that was in deference to his stiff left leg.
Gerald looked at his old friend with a smirk. “They’ll probably think that’s due to your advanced years.”
Firthley raised his eyebrows. “Does that mean you won’t be taking any jumps either? You’re as old as I am.”
Gerald drew back as if offended. “No, indeed. I have to live up to my title, The One-Armed Wonder.”
The earl guffawed and slapped Gerald on the back. Ellen and Catherine exchanged looks of bemusement over male humor.
They exited the house through the front door. A crowd of milling horsemen waited where the lane, which came up from the town road, met the drive that circled in front of the house. A few of the young men were dressed in the traditional black, top hats, red jackets, and buff trousers like those Gerald and Firthley were wearing, while the others wore more conventional riding habits. But they still made a festive showing.
Mr. Sam and Jim were waiting nearer the front of the house, holding horses for the earl and Gerald and a pony for Toby. The pony, Sunshine, was surrounded by a pack of hounds that looked relaxed to the point of boredom, until they spotted Toby. Sight of the boy inspired them to wag their upright tails and issue a few yelps. The boy rushed to greet them, pat several heads, and then graciously accept Jim’s help in mounting the pony.
Gerald had Phantom and the earl a specially trained horse that he had had delivered from Firthley Hall, so both men were able to mount from the right, to favor their physical disabilities. Ellen noticed that the other riders watched them closely and then exchanged knowing looks. No doubt this would add to The One-Armed Wonder’s legend. Gerald, of course, was not wearing his rebuilt artificial arm for that very reason.
As the two newly mounted horsemen approached those waiting on the lane, Gerald called out, “Gentlemen, an old comrade of mine will be joining us this morning. This is the Earl of Firthley. You may introduce yourselves to him as is convenient. Now let’s get this hunt underway.”
Gerald and Firthley took the lead, the young men eagerly fell in behind them, and Toby, surround by fox hounds, rode beside this group. It was a crisp morning in early October, but the sun was shining brightly, and the group truly looked like it was headed out to track the wily fox not a stinky bundle of rags.
Ellen and Catherine watched the group until it disappeared around the side of the house. “They look like they’ll have a good time. Do you ride, Ellen?” the countess asked.
“No. Do you?”
“No, and I don’t know why since my father was a horse trainer.”
“Maybe he was like my mother’s side of the family. They think riding horseback is unladylike.”
Ellen led the way back into the house. “I need to have a word with the cook about the menu for the rest of the day. I wonder if you’d be willing to go with me. Mrs. Moore will be delighted to be introduced to a countess.”
“I’ll be happy to go. I’m all at loose ends with no children to see to.”
“Is this the first time you’ve been away from baby Jamie?”
“Yes.”
“Are you missing him terribly?” Ellen asked.
“I was pretty upset at bedtime last night. Kept feeling like I should go and check on him. But I’m better about it today. I know he’s being well cared for, and I do need to be more considerate of my husband. He wants me to go places with him and I keep putting him off because of the children.”
Ellen nodded as they turned down the hallway leading to the back of the house. “It is difficult to balance the needs of all the members of a family.”
The countess gave her a searching look. “Is it truly difficult for you?”
Ellen was a bit startled by that question. “Of course.”
“So—you are concerned about Gerald’s feelings?”
Ellen felt a stab of indignation at the question, until she remembered that Catherine knew the original conditions of her marriage to Gerald. “You may rest assured, my lady, that there are strong, mutual feelings between my husband and I.”
Catherine smiled broadly. “Oh, I was hoping that was the case. You two certainly act like love-birds.”
“I’m happier than I ever imagined I would be again, and I have you to thank for it. Gerald told me you came up with the idea of us getting married.”
The countess stopped walking near the entryway to the back wing of the house, and looked directly into Ellen’s eyes as she spoke. “To tell you the truth, I started trying to find Gerald a wife soon after I married Firthley. I thought if any man ever needed one, he did. So, I introduced him to every unmarried woman within a half-day’s ride of our hall. It wasn’t until you came along that he even considered the possibility.”
Ellen looked at the countess in amazement and then burst into laughter. Finally, she regained enough breath to say, “Thank goodness you were not successful before I came along.”
“Indeed!” The countess gave her a quick hug, and then the two friends continued on their way to the kitchen.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sarah Winn
After a career as a research technician in food science, Sarah Winn embraced her true love, writing. She joined Romance Writers of America and her local chapter, Heart of Carolina Romance Writers in 1993. She stumbled into electronic publishing back in 1998 after entering a contest she saw advertised at the national conference of RWA. Sticking with this market, she’s experienced its amazing growth.
She won the EPIC Award in 2003 for the best electronically published historical romance and was a finalist in the historical erotic romance category in 2007. After experimenting with a number of time-periods, Sarah has settled on Victorian England. The Widow and the Warrior is her fifth book in this setting and the third in her first series, Wounded Warriors of the Crimean War.
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