Reunited with His Long-Lost Cinderella

by Laura Martin

  She watched as he turned and looked at her, watched as the smile of relief lit up his face. Francesca broke out into a run, her feet sliding across the damp paving stones, and flung herself into the arms of the man she loved.

  ‘Frannie,’ he murmured into her hair, kissing her again and again wherever his lips could find skin.

  ‘I thought I’d lost you,’ she said. ‘Again.’

  ‘Never.’

  ‘I was so scared. I can’t believe what Father did to you.’ Even as she said the words she realised it wasn’t true. For so long she’d been making excuses for her father, but the reality was he was a cruel and heartless man who only cared for his own needs. ‘How did you get out of prison? I went there and they checked the cells and you weren’t anywhere to be found.’

  ‘I escaped,’ he said. ‘I wasn’t going to wait for the law to condemn me again.’

  ‘I’m so sorry I couldn’t come sooner. Father locked me up in one of the upstairs rooms. Felicity released me, but only once Father had passed out. I came to find you as soon as I was able.’

  ‘I know,’ he murmured, bending down and cutting off her sentence with a long kiss. She felt all the panic and stress of the last twelve hours begin to melt away. ‘We will have time to pick apart what happened once we’re on the ship, but right now I’m a wanted man. We should leave.’

  Francesca shook her head, smiling at the man she loved. ‘It’s all explained,’ she said quietly, taking his hand in hers. ‘I told the magistrate everything—how Father lied and planted the items you were meant to have stolen, how he owed you a lot of money with the gambling debt. He believed me and has decided not to pursue any of the charges against you.’

  Ben looked at her with astonishment for a moment.

  ‘They’re not chasing you. The magistrate asked if I would bring you to him to sort out the formalities, but you’re a free man.’

  With one hand, he stroked her cheek, ‘I love you, Frannie,’ he said softly, ‘But I think you’ve been duped. Magistrates don’t just drop charges on a woman’s word.’

  ‘He listened to me, looked into the things I was saying and he believed me.’

  ‘I can’t risk it,’ Ben said, glancing at Fitzgerald. Francesca saw his friend shake his head out of the corner of his eye. ‘There is a ship sailing in two hours. We’ll be in France before they even have chance to mount a proper search for me.’

  ‘There isn’t going to be a search,’ Francesca said. ‘We can stay here, there’s no need to flee.’

  Ben shrugged, ‘Perhaps not. Perhaps you found the one magistrate in England who believes in the law and doing the right thing, but I’m not prepared to risk my life on it. If they catch me, Frannie, it might be the noose.’

  She fell silent. She understood his concerns. Eighteen years ago he’d been innocent as well, but that hadn’t saved him from an eight year sentence, transportation to one of the harshest countries on earth and the end of his life in England. Still, they didn’t have to leave everything behind this time. The magistrate had assured her he would drop the charges against Ben. They could stay in England at least for a while, work out how they wanted to live their lives.

  ‘Come on,’ he said, gripping her hand.

  ‘I can’t just leave,’ she said.

  ‘Of course you can.’

  ‘My family...’

  He looked at her with disbelief. ‘The family that locked you up and tried to have me hanged for theft?’

  ‘I can’t excuse my father,’ she said, ‘but I can’t just leave them like this, without saying goodbye, without making sure they will survive.’

  ‘I’m leaving, Frannie. I’m sailing for France and then on to Australia.’

  She shook her head. Part of her wanted to take his hand and go with him without any further protest, but she knew there was no need to run.

  ‘We can stay here, make a life for ourselves,’ she said. It wasn’t that she was averse to the idea of living in Australia—it was just everything she knew was here. In England she knew how to live, how to socialise. Surely she would flounder elsewhere?

  ‘Are you still worrying what people will think of you?’ Ben asked with exasperation in his voice. ‘If you leave, are you worried that your family will sink under their debts and the family name be dragged through the mud?’

  ‘Of course I’m worried about my family,’ she said, a little sharper than she’d intended.

  ‘But are you worried about your family, or are you worried about how it will look when the scandal breaks? Damn it, Frannie, none of that matters.’

  She shook her head. She knew none of that mattered, but she still couldn’t quite bring herself to leave everything behind.

  ‘Perhaps it’s me you’re ashamed of,’ he said quietly. ‘If you marry me you won’t have a title, you’ll just be the wife of an ex-convict.’

  ‘I don’t care about the title,’ she said. ‘And you are a finer man than any duke or earl.’

  ‘Think about what you want,’ he said, some of the harshness fading from his voice. ‘Do you want status and a place in society, or do you want a simple life with a man who loves you?’

  * * *

  Ben watched as she turned away, walking back towards the house, and he felt his heart break in two. He had never thought she would actually choose to stay in England. He understood it would be difficult for her to leave her family, he’d had first-hand experience of having to do just that, but he thought she would do it for him.

  ‘We have to go,’ Fitzgerald said quietly. ‘The ship...’

  Ben nodded, but didn’t move. He couldn’t leave without her. Once they’d been ripped apart and it had been the hardest time of his life. Eighteen years he’d tried to live without her and hadn’t succeeded, and, now he knew her intimately, he couldn’t imagine his life without her.

  ‘Frannie,’ he called out, his voice sounding pleading even to his own ears. She was already up the steps and inside the house.

  ‘You can’t miss that ship,’ Fitzgerald said, manoeuvring Ben closer to the carriage.

  He pictured her face, the way her eyes lit up when she smiled, the softness of her lips and the unruly hair that tumbled around her shoulders. Even though it hurt so much to see her walk away, he had to try one last time to persuade her to come with him.

  Quickly he darted forward, bounding up the steps and striding in through the door. Inside he came to an abrupt halt. Francesca was standing there embracing her sister, both women crying softly.

  ‘Go, you fool,’ Felicity said, giving Francesca an encouraging smile.

  ‘Frannie,’ Ben asked, hardly daring to hope. ‘I thought...?’

  ‘I lost you once,’ she said, her face serious. ‘I’m never losing you again.’

  He reached forward for her, pulling her close to his chest and kissing her deeply. Ben felt like singing, like shouting with joy from the rooftops.

  ‘I might not agree with how you want to leave the country,’ Francesca said, ‘but I will go to the ends of the earth with you rather than have to spend time without you ever again.’

  ‘And your family?’

  ‘Leave them to me,’ Felicity said grimly.

  ‘Felicity...’

  ‘You need to stop worrying about me,’ Felicity said to her sister. ‘I’m not a child any more.’

  ‘You can’t stay here...’

  ‘I’m not planning to, not long term. I have arranged a position as a governess. In Devon.’

  Ben felt his eyebrows raise in surprise. It was a bold move for the daughter of a viscount.

  ‘And in the meantime?’ Francesca asked.

  ‘I’ve been placating Father for a long time,’ Felicity said. ‘I’m sure I can sidestep his rage for a few more weeks.’

  ‘Perhaps I could suggest an alternative,’ Fitzgerald said. ‘My aunt is always bemo
aning the lack of company. I’m sure she would be pleased to have you stay until things are a little more settled.’

  Felicity only took a moment to consider, nodding her head to the suggestion and seeming not to mind she would be leaving with only the clothes on her back for now.

  ‘Good, that’s sorted. Now we need to get you to that ship.’

  Ben gripped Francesca’s hand. He felt a surge of hope for the future. This wasn’t quite how he imagined leaving England, but what really mattered was the time he’d spent here. The wonderful days with his family, getting to know them again and realising how much they cared, how much they had always cared. Perhaps one day he might return—if Francesca was right about the magistrate believing her, then in a few years they might be able to come back for another visit. Or maybe he would persuade his family to make the trip to Australia.

  Then there was the woman standing beside him. Francesca. His Frannie. He would traverse the world a thousand times to find her.

  He waited as she glanced back over her shoulder, expecting to see sadness in her eyes as she turned around, but instead there was a glimmer of anticipation.

  ‘I love you, Frannie,’ Ben murmured, realising that he had everything he wanted standing right beside him. Wherever they were in the world it didn’t matter, as long as they had each other. ‘We will build a new life together,’ he murmured. ‘A family of our own.’

  Epilogue

  Ben stood hand in hand with Francesca, watching the big ship come in to the bay. Three days they’d made the journey down to the port area, knowing it would be soon that the ship carrying Ben’s family would arrive, but not knowing the exact date. Today they’d been in luck, with the tall masts in view even as the sun rose over the shimmering sea.

  ‘I can’t believe we’re all going to be together,’ Ben said, shading his eyes as he watched the ship’s slow progress.

  It was like a dream come true. For three months he and Francesca had been back in Australia. He’d loved showing her the land he now thought of as home, the rich fields, the vast expanses of farmland, and further afield the hazy blue mountains and beaches framed by long stretches of golden sand. They were happy here. Francesca had slipped easily into the role of an Australian landowner’s wife and most days would ride out with him to solve the problems in the furthest corners of his land and to keep the farms ticking over. He could see she didn’t miss the world of London society, the balls and the expectations to always be presented perfectly with impeccable manners. Here things were different. You were respected for your hard work and self-made success, not a title inherited from a grandfather.

  ‘I wonder how they found the voyage?’ Francesca murmured, watching the ship as it neared. Now they could see the tiny figures racing about the deck as the sailors prepared the vessel to dock.

  He and Francesca had made that same voyage, setting out a year ago. The long months on board had flown by, a much different experience than the first time he’d sailed from England to Australia when each day on the transport ship had seemed like an eternity. With Francesca by his side the voyage across the world had been enjoyable.

  ‘Come with me,’ Ben said, taking her hand. It would still be over an hour until the ship had safely anchored and the unloading of the passengers would begin. Although he was eager to see his father and brothers, Ben had a different motive for bringing Francesca out here today.

  They wandered through the streets of the settlement. It had changed in the time Ben had been away, becoming more organised, more permanent. It was as though the people of Australia realised they were here to stay and were finally building something more solid than the camps that had welcomed them when he and Sam Robertson had first arrived nearly twenty years ago. Despite this it was still small, still a town you could walk through without needing to stop and take refreshments even in the heat of the summer. They climbed a small hill and once they were at the top Ben pointed to the land in the distance.

  ‘See that there,’ he said, indicating the wild area between the settlement and the hazy blue mountains in the distance. ‘I’ve put in an offer for five thousand acres.’

  ‘Five thousand...’ She shook her head with a small smile on her face. Even after the months she’d spent in Australia she still seemed surprised at the vast areas of land available to be farmed.

  ‘I thought I would gift it to my father and brothers, let them have some land of their own to manage.’

  ‘That’s very generous,’ Francesca said.

  It was the least he could do. Ben still couldn’t believe his father and both his brothers had given up their lives in England to come join them out here in Australia. In fact, they’d jumped at the chance. Ben had sold Australia as a land of opportunity and he knew his brothers were eager to see what they could make of themselves in this fledging country. His father was just pleased to have all the family together for the future.

  ‘When Mr Fitzgerald gave me my first parcel of land on my eighteenth birthday it was a wonderful feeling. Like someone believed in me. He wasn’t asking me to work for him, to report to him, he was trusting me to make a success on my own.’

  ‘And you want to give that to your brothers.’

  Ben nodded. He turned slightly so they were looking at a stretch of land to the west.

  ‘That area there is for sale, too, although I’ll have to get in before Robertson claims it,’ Ben said. The land in question was a strip between where his farms started and his friend’s land ended. They both would enjoy being direct neighbours, whoever owned the land. ‘I thought I might put in a bid for it. For the future.’ He looked pointedly down at Francesca’s midsection and she bit her lip.

  Slowly her belly was beginning to swell. When she’d first tentatively mentioned she thought she might be pregnant neither had dared to hope. Francesca had been married for such a long time to Lord Somersham with no sign of a pregnancy, she’d long ago resigned herself to the fact that she couldn’t have children. They’d discussed it before their wedding and Ben had assured her he did not mind. That had been the truth—he’d rather have Francesca even with no hope of children than a future without the woman he loved. However, when she’d missed her monthly courses not just once, but three times, and when she’d started finding certain smells utterly nauseating, Ben had begun to hope.

  Just last week a doctor had confirmed the pregnancy, putting her about four months along.

  ‘I still can’t believe it,’ Francesca said, her face lighting up as she thought of their unborn child. Only a few months ago Robertson and his new wife, Georgina, had given birth to a beautiful baby girl. Francesca visited at least once a week and Ben had seen the longing in her eyes every time she came home. Now, they were going to be blessed themselves.

  ‘Is this how you ever envisaged your life?’ Ben asked.

  Francesca shook her head. ‘A little over a year ago I was resigned to a miserable marriage to Lord Huntley and a life of dull domesticity.’

  ‘Do you ever regret it?’ He often wondered. For him he had just returned to his old life, with the added bonus of the woman he loved by his side. Francesca had given up so much more.

  She turned to him and stepped closer, reaching out for his hand.

  ‘Not for even a single second.’

  Ben grinned. Only a certain type of woman would be suited to the rough and adventurous life Australia offered, but Francesca had loved every minute of it. He felt like the most blessed man in the world. He had a collection of successful farms, his family arriving to start their lives out here and the woman he loved to share each wonderful moment with. And soon they would have the only thing they’d never even hoped to wish for, a child to complete their family.

  ‘Good. The voyage is too far to take you back to England.’

  Playfully Francesca punched him on the arm, giggling as he caught her wrists and swung her round to kiss him. Then, arm in arm, they starte
d off back down the hill to watch the progress of the ship bringing Ben’s family as it made its way into Sydney Cove.

  * * *

  If you enjoyed this story

  be sure to read the first book in the

  Scandalous Australian Bachelors miniseries

  Courting the Forbidden Debutante

  And check out these other great reads

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