The Seymour Siblings (Fiona Miers' Regency boxsets Book 2)

by Fiona Miers

  True to his word, Carson had told Adrienne to leave the estate, as he would not have her disrespecting the woman he loved, and she had agreed. Perhaps she truly wished for him to be happy, but she simply was not sure how to show it?

  Nevertheless, she had written to him a few times, but they ultimately seemed to lose touch when she was offered a position at the Royal London Hospital, which she accepted without a moment’s hesitation.

  Both Carson and Lizzie were delighted for her, but they didn’t keep in contact much. It was perhaps better that way. Lizzie believed that everything in life worked out as it should.

  As Lizzie reached the Great Hall, the front doors opened and Carson approached her, greeting her with a happy smile.

  “The two most important and most beautiful women in my life,” Carson beamed, and he kissed both Lizzie and Rebecca on the cheek. “Are you ready?”

  “Indeed, my love, but I do not understand why it was necessary to prepare a coach when we can simply climb through the hole in the wall, as we would always do.”

  “Why must your mother always question everything I do, my dear Rebecca?” Carson asked his daughter and the young child tapped her small hands against Carson’s face. “You will not question everything I do one day, will you?”

  Lizzie scoffed with amusement and shook her head. “She is a woman, after all.”

  “Indeed. Clearly, I am outnumbered,” Carson chuckled.

  Carson and Lizzie exited the manor and climbed into the coach. They had barely settled in their seats when the coach began to move.

  “I cannot believe that Emmett is four years old already. Time has certainly flown by,” Lizzie said as she glanced at Carson with Rebecca on his lap.

  “I cannot believe that it has been four years since the day you made me dig up that old box with letters from my mother.”

  “It feels like just the other day, to be truthful.”

  “Indeed,” Carson said quietly and smiled at her. “And from that day on, it has been the best four years of my entire life.”

  “Mine as well, my love,” Lizzie replied with a grin.

  The coach came to a stop as they reached Woodlock Manor and Carson was the first to climb out with little Rebecca in his arms. Of course, Emma was the first to take Rebecca from him and cuddled her lovingly.

  Shortly after Emmett was born, Emma had received bad news from the physician that she would not be able to bear children. It had certainly saddened both Emma and Will, but it didn’t stop her from adoring Emmet and Rebecca.

  Carson helped Lizzie out of the coach and greeted James and Kitty, and Emma and William, with happy embraces and cheerful chatter.

  Kitty’s parents, Lord and Lady Montague were there as well to join in the celebration.

  After they all exchanged pleasantries, they congregated in the garden, where tables and chairs were arranged in a crescent. The tables were stacked with delicious food, cakes, pastries, fruits and meats of all sorts. Flowers adorned the chairs and ribbons were weaved into the hedges and the trees.

  When everyone was seated, James stood and glanced at his family and smiled. “I only wish to speak for a short while, and I promise not to bore anyone with my words,” he stated and glanced briefly at Will with a snicker. “I simply wish to say that I am sincerely grateful to each one of you who is here this afternoon, celebrating Emmett’s fourth year of life. We are not only blessed to have such a delightful and remarkable child, but we are also blessed to have you all in our lives. We are grateful for you all, and we love you very much.”

  “And,” Kitty started as she stood holding a glass of water, “we would simply wish to say thank you for being here. You mean the world to us.”

  Will stood and raised his glass to James and Kitty, “To the duke and duchess, and their wonderful son, Emmett.”

  The other guests raised their glasses as well and murmured, “Here, here.”

  The sound of horse hooves sounded through the air and Will glanced over his shoulder to the entrance of the estate.

  A coach of dark wood appeared at the furthest end of the path that led to the estate, where the path met the country road.

  “Are you expecting someone else, James?” Will asked as he motioned to the coach, which approached rather quickly.

  The two black horses harnessed the coach were eye-catching, large and brawny, their manes perfectly braided and their coats sparkling in the sun.

  Emma glanced at Will, who stood beside her, seeming inexplicably quiet and perplexed. “The horses are magnificent. I have not seen horseflesh like that since our visit to Denmark.”

  Will glanced at her, and as soon as his memory was triggered by her words. “Royal horses?” he whispered, and his eyes widened.

  Will glanced at Lizzie, who had overheard their exchange of words, but she didn’t utter a word.

  “Carson?” Will called him over. “Do you mind if we have a word in private?”

  “Now?” Carson asked.

  “Indeed. It simply cannot wait.”

  Carson nodded and handed Rebecca to Lizzie. “I will not be long. My apologies, my love.”

  “No need to apologize. It must be important if he wishes to speak to you and cannot wait until later,” Lizzie assured him.

  Carson kissed her on the cheek and lightly touched Rebecca’s head before he stepped away from the table. He joined Will, who was already halfway across the lawn and noticed the coach approaching them.

  Lizzie smiled. She knew who was visiting. Finally.

  “What is it, William?” Carson asked Will.

  “Do you see the coach coming this way?” Will asked and Carson glanced at the vehicle.

  “I am most certainly not blind.”

  “Those are warmblood stallions. Notice how much larger they are than even the finest horses we own?”

  “Indeed,” Carson answered with a nod, still confused about his friend’s urgency.

  “They are royal horses,” Lizzie said from behind them and both Carson and Will whirled around.

  “Lizzie, you are aware of this?” Will asked in disbelief.

  Before Lizzie was able to respond, the coach came to a stop and the metal steps were released, creating a stepping surface for the passengers.

  “Remind me to have one of those made for our coach,” Will muttered.

  Lizzie silenced Will by playfully smacking him against the arm, but Carson paid them no notice. He slowly and carefully approached the fine vehicle, and as soon as the door opened, he came to an abrupt stop.

  His heart pounded in his chest as a woman climbed out of the coach. As soon as she removed her hood, her face came into view. Her dark brown hair glimmered in the sunlight, a pair of light green eyes, the same as his, stared back at him.

  Carson had never expected to gaze upon her face ever again, and a giant wave of emotion crashed over him. “Mother?”

  His mother, the Princess of Wales, stood in front of him, ten years older, but still the same beautiful woman he remembered.

  The sadness of the day she left appeared in his heart, but now that he was aware of the circumstances that had forced her to leave, he was not filled with anger as well.

  She had not simply abandoned her family to live with another man. A man she had supposedly had an affair with. She had left to honour her father, and fulfill her duties to her family, which Carson understood entirely. He now had his own family, and there was nothing he would not do for them.

  “Carson, my handsome son,” Her Royal Highness, the Princess of Wales said.

  “What are you doing here, Mother?” Carson asked with a furrowed brow, still in a state of shock. “Or how do I correctly address you?”

  “Mother will do fine, my dear Carson,” she answered. “I sent a letter to your lovely wife, informing her that I would be visiting.”

  Carson glanced over his shoulder at Lizzie, who smiled at him apologetically, then back at his mother. “It seems as though she failed to mention it.”

  “Do not be
upset with her, Carson. I asked her not to. She is a truly delightful woman, and I am thrilled that you married her. I have loved her since the start,” Her Royal Highness stated.

  “As did I,” Carson smiled.

  “Would it be all right if I embraced you?” she asked.

  “I thought you would never ask, Mother,” Carson answered, his voice breaking slightly as he opened his arms and enveloped his mother. Tears formed in his eyes as the familiar scent of his mother filled his nostrils and he closed his eyes, his emotions threatening to spill out onto his cheeks.

  “I have missed you very much, my son.”

  “And I have missed you, Mother,” Carson muttered and loosened his embrace after an elongated moment.

  “I wish to apologize for leaving without telling you the true reason why, but I was protecting you. You meant the world to me and it broke me every single day to be so far away from you.”

  Carson sighed. “In all honesty, I despised you for a long while, Mother. I blamed myself, that I was not the son you wanted, that was why you left.”

  “No, my dear. That was not the case.”

  “I am aware of everything now. Lizzie informed me of the letters you wrote Father. He had kept them until the day he died, which meant he never truly stopped loving you,” Carson said.

  “And I never stopped loving him, Carson. So much so that I never remarried. I could not betray your father like that.”

  “He would have appreciated that,” Carson said softly.

  Carson lowered his gaze, and suddenly felt Lizzie’s hand on his shoulder. He glanced at her and smiled. “I believe you have already met my mother.”

  “Indeed, I have,” Lizzie smiled happily. “Many years ago, but we have been corresponding with letters for a few months.”

  “And do not dare be dissatisfied with Lizzie. I asked her not to tell you. I wished for it to be a surprise,” Her Royal Highness announced.

  “I am not upset, though I am certainly surprised,” Carson said in disbelief. “Would you care to join us? I am certain everyone would delight in your presence after all these years.”

  “Only if it will not inconvenience any of you.”

  “Of course not,” Carson answered. “Plus, I would love to introduce you to your granddaughter, Rebecca.”

  “I would love that also.”

  Carson took Lizzie’s hand and together they walked, with his mother towards the celebration of Emmett’s birthday. A feeling of lightness filled his heart and even though he had always considered himself an ordinary man, from an ordinary family, at that moment, he felt like a king.

  The End