by Alice Kirks
“She certainly would have. And she would have been proud that the adventurous spirit that she bestowed upon us had ended up coming in handy after all!”
Chapter 38
When Lord Alymer and Deborah came back up and rejoined the party, Bridget immediately found them. “Oh I’m so glad Deborah found you!” she cried, flinging her arms around her father. When she pulled away, she continued, “And you’re just in time, for Lord Geoffrey is about to give a speech to the assembled guests.”
Deborah gave her sister a queer look. “Why is he doing that?” she asked.
Bridget smiled pleasantly. “You’ll see,” she said noncommittally.
The three Stanhopes made their way across the lawn to where the guests had assembled in front of the band. Geoffrey was standing off to the side, speaking with one of the musicians, but when he saw Bridget return he smiled at her, thanked the musician, and took centre stage.
“Good afternoon, everyone,” he addressed the guests. “I apologise for the interruption in the midst of your festivities, but I wanted to address all of you about a matter that I feel a great deal of guilt about.
“As many of you know,” Geoffrey continued, “I am partly to blame for the goods that have been stolen from many of your homes. But I hope that you are also aware that many of these intrusions occurred because my cousin, Henry, was trying to assist many of you through difficult times. I am not saying that what my cousin did was right, but I wanted you all to know that he had the best of intentions when he committed his crimes.”
“As for myself, I know that many of you will have difficulty trusting me after this, and I completely understand why. I should never have harboured a thief, even if he was my cousin, and I should not have intruded into the Stanhope Manor, even if it was in an attempt to return their stolen goods. My father would never have stood for this kind of behaviour, and I wanted to ensure you that going forward, nothing like this will ever be tolerated again,” Geoffrey said confidently.
“I also wanted to assure you all that not only will you be reimbursed for any of the goods that were stolen from you, but I shall also be setting up a fund for those in our community who are experiencing hard times. Hardships come to us all at some point or another, and so I believe that having funds available to assist our fellow citizens will greatly help to reduce crime and increase morale in the village,” Geoffrey explained.
“Lastly,” Geoffrey concluded, “I wanted to make sure that all of you knew that I will do everything in my power to protect all of you. I may not have had a good start to my tenure as magistrate, but I hope that with your trust and assistance, I might take better steps towards filling the great void that my father left when he passed away. Thank you all.”
With his speech concluded the crowd applauded him loudly, and then Geoffrey walked down from the stage. Bridget positively beamed at him as he came over to where their group was standing. When he made it over, he stuck out his hand to Lord Alymer and said, “My Lord, I hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me for my actions against you, for there are many and they are great. I understand that forgiveness may not come quickly, and have resigned myself to that fact. I will work to gain back your trust and respect which I violated when I intruded into your home and proceeded to lie to you.”
Lord Alymer gave Geoffrey a hard look. He left Geoffrey’s hand suspended there in the air for some time as he looked him up and down. Bridget could feel her heart racing in her chest, and silently prayed that her father would accept Geoffrey’s apology for it was another step in the right direction for the two of them being together.
Finally, Lord Alymer heartily shook Geoffrey’s hand. “Thank you, Lord Geoffrey. I accept your apology, and will cooperate with you as we endeavour to rebuild our relationship.”
The two men shook hands, and then when they broke apart, Lord Alymer turned to Miles and said, “And what do you have to say for your part in this?”
Miles cleared his throat and stood up a little taller. “Lord Alymer, I apologise profusely for my abhorrent behaviour towards you. I should never have admitted to a crime that I did not commit, for that violated your trust.”
Miles and Lord Alymer shook hands, and Lord Alymer said, “Good man.”
When they finished shaking hands, Miles turned to Deborah and said, “But the person that I truly have to apologise to is you, Lady Deborah. I was deceitful, cruel, and unkind towards you, and you never treated me with anything other than respect. You are a truly magnificent woman, and I shall endeavour to earn back your trust for the rest of my life. Could you ever forgive me?”
Deborah nodded vigorously and said, “I most certainly could, Lord Miles, thank you.”
Suddenly, Lord Geoffrey tapped Bridget on the shoulder and said, “Lady Bridget, might I pull you away for a few minutes so that you and I might... discuss something?”
Bridget’s heart began racing again. “Certainly, Lord Geoffrey. Please excuse me, everyone,” Bridget said to her sister, Lord Miles and Lord Alymer.
Lord Geoffrey and Lady Bridget set off towards a quieter part of the garden, and Bridget soon spotted an empty bench off on its own in a corner where there were absolutely no people. Geoffrey seemed to spot it at the same time that she did, and he steered the two of them towards it. When they arrived in front of it, Geoffrey swept away the dirt that was on the seat and said, “After you, My Lady.”
“Thank you,” Bridget said nervously, sitting down. She knew that they were about to have the conversation that she had been dreading for so long, and she did not feel calm at all. She tried taking a deep breath to centre herself, but it was no help. She would just have to talk with Lord Geoffrey feeling as anxious as she was right now.
“Lady Bridget,” Geoffrey began, sitting down beside her and facing her. “In the midst of all of these apologies, I feel that it is essential to apologise for my abhorrent behaviour the other night. I was in a terrible state, but I am not telling you that as an excuse for my behaviour. Nothing can excuse the way that I treated you.”
Bridget gave Geoffrey a weak smile. “Thank you, Lord Geoffrey,” she replied, anxiously playing with the lace of her glove. “I greatly appreciate you apologising for your behaviour towards me.”
“I am very glad of that,” Geoffrey continued, “but I wanted to specifically apologise for that which I believe was the cruelest.” He paused, shuffled uncomfortably on the bench, and took in a deep breath. “If my memory serves me, I believe that I made an unacceptable comment about you and the books that you so enjoy. I do not want to repeat it, for even mentioning it would make me want to curse myself, but I wanted you to know that... well, that...”
Geoffrey trailed off, and looked as though he was struggling to find the right words to say. “Yes, Lord Geoffrey?” Bridget encouraged him. She did not want to say much, but she did want him to know that she would be receptive to whatever it was he had to say.
Geoffrey sighed. “My tongue is tying itself up in knots, for I have so much that I want to say but do not know how exactly to say it,” he said, chuckling. “But I shall try to. Lady Bridget, I think that you are the most spectacular woman that I have ever met. I think that your love of fantastical stories is magical, and the fact that you continue to dream of your own adventures and seek them out wherever you can is inspirational. You are so interesting, kind, engaging, hilarious and gentle, all at the same time. I don’t believe I’ll ever meet another woman as life-changing as you, and you make me feel... complete.”
Bridget stared at Geoffrey, completely transfixed by his words. She could not believe he was finally saying all the right things, and exactly what she needed to hear. She was so taken that she could not speak for a few moments, and so she just took Lord Geoffrey’s hand and held it tightly.
When her ability to speak returned to her, Bridget took her other hand and stroked the side of Geoffrey’s face lovingly. When he felt her touch, he leaned his face towards her hand more and closed his eyes happily.
&nbs
p; “Lord Geoffrey,” Bridget began, and Geoffrey’s eyes snapped open and he had his attention fully upon her. “Thank you so much for all that you have said. Your apology was generous and well-said, and... I cannot even begin to thank you for all of your lovely words about me. So instead, I shall just say what I feel about you. Every time I look into your eyes, I am more taken with you. To me, you are my life’s greatest adventure, and I would like it to begin as quickly as possible. You are daring, brave, kind and thoughtful... even if our first meeting did not go exactly as I had always dreamed it would.”
Geoffrey laughed, and then quickly returned to his silent reverie of Bridget. “You work so hard to ensure that everyone in your life is taken care of to the best of your abilities, you have endless patience for the mistakes we make, and I believe that you are the most remarkable gentleman that I have ever met. If you would allow me the pleasure of being with you... I think I could be happy every day for the rest of my life,” Bridget finished.
Lord Geoffrey gave her the biggest grin that she had ever seen him wear. He took a quick look around to ensure that there was no one nearby who could see them, and then leaned forward and kissed her passionately.
When Bridget felt Lord Geoffrey’s lips upon her, she wanted to melt into him. His lips were so soft and inviting, and kissing him felt exactly like she had dreamed it would feel like. Their kissing was so desperate, so long-awaited, that Bridget wanted to kiss Geoffrey forever.
When they finally did pull apart, Geoffrey took Bridget’s face in both of his hands and said, “Bridget Stanhope... I do believe that I love you.”
Bridget giggled and replied, “Geoffrey Nott... I believe that I love you too.”
They kissed once more, and Bridget felt as if she were living in a dream. She could not believe that all of her problems had finally come to a close, and that she and Geoffrey were finally going to be together. She would have happily married him right there, but she knew that the sensible thing to do was to have him court her for a time so that her father would not pass out from shock.
When they pulled apart once more, Geoffrey was chuckling. “What is it?” Bridget asked, mildly concerned.
“I do apologise, Bridget,” Geoffrey replied. “I was just thinking how funny it was that when we first met, you thought I was stealing from you. And just after I told you I loved you... I stole a kiss from you!”
Bridget burst out laughing and the couple laughed together on the bench, holding each other close and basking in their newly admitted love for each other.
Chapter 39
After Bridget and Geoffrey had torn themselves off each other they returned to where their family members were talking, which happened to be in the middle of all of the action at the party. When they approached, Lord Alymer was looking happier than Bridget had seen him in a long time, and Miles and Deborah were... holding hands in front of him!
“Deborah!” Bridget cried when they came closer to the group. “What are you... when did you... does Papa know?”
Deborah turned and looked at her sister, laughing. “Yes, yes, Papa is aware of the relationship that Miles and I would like to build together.” Deborah turned her attention to Miles, and placed her other hand on his arm and pulled him in more closely to her.
Miles beamed at Deborah and then said to Bridget and Geoffrey, “While you were gone, I apologised to Deborah for the way that I treated her and to Lord Alymer for my behaviour towards him. They were both kind enough to extend their forgiveness to me, and so I summoned up my courage and asked the generous Lord Alymer if I might be afforded the pleasure of courting his daughter...” Miles trailed off and looked embarrassed. “And this time, I certainly meant Lady Deborah, not Lady Bridget.”
Geoffrey and Bridget both laughed, and then Bridget flung her arms around her sister. They embraced happily, and when they broke apart, Bridget turned to her father to see what he had to say about all of this.
“Well,” Lord Alymer replied, “I had already given him my permission once before, but this time around I felt much better about my decision to do so.”
It was Deborah’s turn to embrace someone, and she hugged her father tightly and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
Then, Deborah turned to her sister with a mischievous look on her face and said, “And what did the two of you speak about while you were parted from our group?”
Bridget felt the colour rising in her cheeks, and she looked towards Geoffrey for direction. He beamed down at her, and then addressed Lord Alymer, saying, “My Lord. I know that I have already apologised to the group at large, but I wanted to apologise to you directly. I know that I do not deserve your immediate forgiveness or understanding, but I hope that in time, we can come to have a respectful relationship together. I cannot tell you how much I admire you for having brought up your daughters the way that you did, and how you have managed to carry on gracefully after your wife’s passing.”
Lord Alymer gave Geoffrey a satisfied smile and replied, “Thank you, Lord Geoffrey. I accept your apology, and would like you to go on with what you have to ask me.”
“How did you know that I-” Geoffrey began, but when he saw the look upon Lord Alymer’s face, he dropped that line of thought. “Thank you, My Lord. I next wanted to tell you how highly I thought of your daughter, Bridget. I believe that she is the most remarkable woman that I have ever met, and every moment that I get to spend with her makes me more grateful to be in her presence. She is open-hearted, kind, endlessly forgiving, adventurous and fun, but I know that you are already aware of all of these qualities that she possesses, and so I shan’t continue to ramble on about them. Instead, I shall ask you...” Geoffrey paused and looked anxiously over to Bridget, who gave him an encouraging smile. When he saw that, he took in a deep breath and said, “Lord Alymer, might I have your permission to court your daughter, Lady Bridget Stanhope?”
There was an agonising pause. Lord Alymer studied Lord Geoffrey hard, and gave him a thorough once-over. Then he sighed, his face broke out into a smile and he said, “Nothing would please me more. I am very impressed that you plan to be an upright citizen and there is no doubt in my mind that one day, you will be as skilled a magistrate as your father was.”
Geoffrey beamed and stuck out his hand for Lord Alymer to shake, but Lord Alymer was having none of that. He pulled Geoffrey into a hug, and the two men laughed.
“Thank you so very much, Lord Alymer,” Geoffrey said appreciatively.
“Yes, thank you, Papa!” Bridget cried, flinging herself around him. He chuckled and spun Bridget around in his arms, and then put her down.
“Now,” Lord Alymer said happily, “shall we not have the band strike up a merry tune? I believe that these newfound courtships deserve a celebratory dance!”
Everyone laughed as Lord Alymer trotted off across the field to speak with the band. The two couples hugged each other and congratulated the other couple on their courtship. Bridget embraced her sister tightly once more and said, “I cannot imagine a more perfect ending for us both.”
Deborah grinned from ear to ear and said, “We each got our happy ending, sister! Just like in your books!”
Bridget gave her sister’s hand a squeeze, and then she turned to Miles and said, “And you had better do everything in your power to endeavour to deserve a woman as incredible as my sister, do you understand me?”
Miles and Bridget laughed, but then Miles said, “I shall work to deserve her every single day for the rest of my life.”
Miles looked lovingly at Deborah and Bridget could not have been happier. The band suddenly struck up a tune, and the couples looked towards the bandstand where Lord Alymer was clapping along with the music happily. They all laughed, and Geoffrey said, “Shall we not dance, then?”
Deborah and Miles began dancing together, and Geoffrey took Bridget’s hand. She looked deeply into his eyes, and as they danced together, Geoffrey whispered to her, “What you do still betters what is done. When you speak, sweet, I’d have you do it ever
. When you sing, I’d have you buy and sell so, so give alms. Pray so, and, for the ordering your affairs, to sing them too. When you do dance, I wish you a wave o’ the sea, that you might ever do nothing but that. Move still, still so, and own no other function. Each your doing, so singular in each particular crowns what you are doing in the present deed, that all your actions are queens.”