by Darcy Burke
As he crossed the yard, a carriage arrived, rocking on its hinges as it came to a stop. He recognized the Stratford crest on the door.
“Henry!” Anna’s voice startled him and she appeared in the carriage window.
His body moved of its own accord, understanding what he was seeing before his mind could catch up. He had the door open and handed her out of the carriage, lost for words.
“I’m so happy I found you! I’ve been traveling all day. I worried I wouldn’t catch up to you in time.”
“What are you doing here? Is everything alright?”
She shook her head. “No, everything is wrong.”
A jolt of fear struck through him. “What has happened? Millie and Percy, are they well?”
She laughed. “Yes, they are well. They are the reason I am here.”
“I don’t understand.”
She grasped his hands. “I didn’t either. I didn’t know what to do and I chose wrong. Again. I should have chosen you, Henry.”
He pushed the messy hair from her face. “What are you talking about?”
“I love you, Henry.” She laughed again. “You know I do, but it’s more than that. I don’t want you to go to America and marry someone else. I don’t want you to go off on your adventure and leave me behind.”
He sighed. “I don’t want that either. I was on my way to secure horses to return to you.”
She smiled, her eyes filling with emotion. “You were?”
He nodded. “I shouldn’t have left, Anna, not again. There is plenty of canal work here. I don’t need America.” He rested his forehead against hers. “I just need you.”
“No, you are going to America, and I am coming with you.”
Her words reverberated through him. “You... you want to come with me?”
She nodded.
He regarded her in disbelief. “You would leave Millie and Percy?”
“Percy sets sail on his own adventure; he will be alright without me. And Millie, well, she’s set her mind on taking America by storm. There is no talking her out of it now.”
Henry’s heart nearly leapt out of his chest. He stared at her, mouth agape, as he tried to wrap his head around what she was telling him.
Uncertainty flitted across her expression. “That is, if you’d like us to come with you?”
“Anna, I would take you any way I can have you. And Millie and Percy are...” He paused as tears brimmed behind his eyes. He’d been for so long without family, without people he cared for, that caring for those two didn’t make sense. But he found he loved them as fiercely as he loved their stepmother. “Millie is more than welcome, and Percy too if his travels take him that direction. Those two have a way of wiggling their way into your heart, and I’ve come to care deeply for them over these days together. They’re like the younger brother and sister I never knew I needed.”
Anna laughed and wrapped her hands around his neck, holding him tightly to her. He buried his face in her neck and his eyes drifted closed. It all seemed a dream, and if he just kept his eyes shut, he would never wake and return to reality.
Anna pulled away from him, her hands coming to rest against his cheeks. “Open your eyes, Henry. I need you to look at me.”
He did, and his gaze was filled with her face, and the love that shone from the depths of her hazel eyes.
“I am in this with you,” she told him. “All of it. America. Carrington. Everything.”
Was she saying what he thought she was?
She nodded, though he hadn’t spoken the question out loud. “This will cause enough of a stir as is, but we will do what we can to minimize the damage. For Millie’s sake, and for our own. Our lives together started in scandal; I don’t want that to be all that we have.”
He shook his head. “Whatever you need, however long you need.”
“Well, I cannot imagine it would take long to procure a special license. If you know the right people.”
He smirked. “I am an earl, love. I know the right people.”
“Good. Now there is only one more thing to do.”
He smiled, knowing his love for her was radiating from him. “Marry me, Anna.”
She laughed, which was not what he’d expected her to do.
“Is that not what you meant?”
She shook her head.
“You won’t marry me?”
“Yes, I will marry you, but that is not what I meant.” She leaned closer to him and pressed her lips against his. “What I meant was, the only thing left to do is to take me up to your room at this inn and let me have my wicked way with you.”
He smiled against her lips. “As enjoyable as that sounds, I am afraid I don’t have a room.”
She leaned away from him and met his gaze. “Then I suggest you acquire one.”
He smirked. “Yes, my lady.”
Epilogue
Spring 1825
A heavy mist had settled during the afternoon, leaving the ground glistening with gold as the sun set over the river Henry had helped create.
Anna settled back against Henry’s chest. She would never tire of the sight of what had been dubbed the Erie Canal. They’d spent almost seven years in America, but the canal was soon to be completed. It had been heralded as a modern miracle, allowing for a marriage of lake and ocean waters. Anna still couldn’t believe they’d done it. Each setback and challenge his team of amateur engineers had met with remarkable ingenuity. The creativity that had flowed from them had been a marvel to witness.
Millie found them where they stood at the rail of the porch overlooking the canal. “We are expected at the Van Rensselear manor house in an hour. For the dinner with Lafayette.”
Henry groaned. “Must we?”
“It’s the Van Rensselears,” Millie repeated. “Denying an invitation would be like denying an invitation from an earl.”
“I am an earl. No one seems to think twice about denying a dinner invitation I’ve extended.”
Anna chuckled. “Titles do not carry as much weight in America as surnames and wealth.”
“And Lafayette is a marquis, technically,” Millie added. “Which is a higher rank than an earl.”
Henry was unamused. “He’s French.”
“The Americans adore him.”
“To think their national hero is not even American.”
“It’s been ten years since the war in France,” Anna said. “You’d think you’d have gotten past the grudge. Besides, Lafayette opposed Napoleon.”
Henry grumbled something that sounded like “bloody French frogs”, but she didn’t comment.
Anna glanced at Millie. “Have you written to him again?”
“To Percy?” Millie snorted. “I don’t write to him every day.”
Anna leveled her with a knowing gaze. “That is not the him I meant.”
“Then you should have properly elaborated. Honestly, Anna, no one will know what you are on about if you don’t use your words adequately.”
Anna felt the shake of Henry’s laughter as he fought to keep it inside.
“If the him you are referring to is Lord Pennex, then yes. I may have written him a letter today.” Mr. Pennex inherited his father’s title of Viscount Pennex just a year earlier.
“Why do you write letters every day?” Henry asked. “There cannot be much to say differently in each letter.”
Millie turned towards them; her brow rising to match her cheeky retort. “I might ask why you wrote to Anna every day for a year. At least Lord Pennex replies to my letters.”
“That was different, I didn’t know she was not receiving my letters.”
Millie shrugged. “You still wrote them.”
Anna snickered. Millie had him there.
“Besides, I don’t send every letter I write. Some are just nonsense and are not intended for anyone to actually read. Just a way of getting my thoughts out. Perhaps after ten years I will bestow on him a stack of letters as an indication of the depth of my feelings. Either way, they’re mine to write s
o no more about them.”
Henry had long ago learned how to match her challenge. “I’d suggest keeping them under tight lock and key. If they’re as uninteresting as you suggest, you wouldn’t mind if I accidentally sent them to your brother.”
Millie’s face paled. “You wouldn’t.”
Anna couldn’t see Henry’s face, but she imagined his teasing smirk.
“It wouldn’t be on purpose. But there is a great deal of correspondence that moves through this house. I’d hate to inadvertently send the wrong letter.”
Millie’s gaze narrowed, but didn’t react as she might have in the past. Their time in America had given her the space to grow up without the eyes of British society forcing their expectations on her. Her rebellious nature had calmed, though her temper hadn’t. Her freedom in America had allowed her to truly find who she was, without Percy, and without concerning herself with finding a husband. She’d settled into herself nicely, but she’d not lost her spunk.
Millie shrugged dismissively. “If those letters were to be sent to Percy, he’d read one and be so bored he’d refuse to read another.”
Henry turned his head towards her. “Would Lord Pennex feel the same?”
Millie smiled brightly. “Lord Pennex would take great pleasure in reading my letters, much as Anna did, I am sure.” She dipped into a ridiculously deep curtsy. “Lord Carrington. Lady Carrington. Please do not make us late for dinner.”
She disappeared into the house.
Anna laughed and tilted her head towards Henry. “It wouldn’t do well to spar with her. She might make our letters public.”
“Our letters are boring,” he answered and tightened his arms around her.
Anna turned in his arms to face him. “I didn’t think your letters were boring. I thought they were lovely.” She smiled up at him, wondering if this was a good time to give him a letter of her own.
He smiled at her curiously. “What?”
“I have something for you.” She pulled a folded parchment from the pocket in her skirts.
He took it from her and turned it over in his hands. “You wrote me a letter?”
She nodded, not trusting her voice.
He broke through the wax seal. “I’m going to read it aloud.”
“If you insist.” There was no turning back now.
He watched her for a moment longer, his gaze questioning before he looked at the paper in his hands.
“My dearest Henry,” he read.
Finding you again after so many years apart was the deepest wish of my heart, one I never dared to give conscious thought for fear of ruining something I did not believe possible. Henry, my love, you stole my heart all those years ago and I cannot thank you enough for never letting me go. Your laughter and your touch brought something to my life I missed but could never put a name to. You reminded me what it was to recklessly fall in love and what it meant to put equal importance on myself and my needs. And I needed you. I needed your love, and you needed mine, and we are right where we are meant to be.
The years we’ve had together have been something out of a dream. It has not been without challenges, but each one met we’ve met together, as was always intended. You accepted Millie and Percy into your heart, and your affection towards them has only confirmed what I knew from the very beginning. Your aptitude for fatherhood is clear, and I have every confidence you will meet this new challenge with the same care and grace you have shown time and time again.
You gave me your heart, so it’s only right I finally give you something in return.
All my love,
Your Anna
His gaze flickered across the page as he read and reread her words. Finally, he looked at her and his gaze locked with hers.
“Are you...?” He swallowed but his words escaped him.
She took his hands and held them close to her heart. “I think so.”
Surprise flooded his face. Slowly a smile spread across his lips. “You’re pregnant.”
She nodded. “I hope that is alright? There isn’t much we can do about it now, and I know the timing is terrible since we’re crossing the Atlantic and returning to England.”
He laughed. “Timing has never been our strong suit. Goodness, Anna, I am at a loss.”
“You’re not angry?”
They had not been successful in conceiving in the past. There had been a few times over the years she thought their luck might have changed, but in those instances, she had lost the pregnancy in the early weeks. This was a surprise, to say the least. She’d thought herself too old now to conceive.
“Angry?” He sounded breathless but shook his head. “What I am feeling is the furthest from anger. A child with you, Anna, is something I never dared hope for. Having your love again was enough. I am afraid to breathe in case this is but a glorious daydream I never want to wake from.”
“It’s not a dream. I am real, and this is all real, and this child is real.”
He glanced down at her abdomen as if he expected her belly to suddenly appear swollen and she laughed. “It is only a few months yet, but further than the others were. The baby still has a few more months to grow.”
He pulled her to him and engulfed her in his embrace. “Forgive me, I am still in shock.”
“It’s not too much? You, me, Millie, and Baby Allerton?”
He laughed and stepped away from her. “When you put it like that, perhaps it is time Millie found a husband.” He pulled a letter from his jacket. She recognized the crest on the wax seal.
“Lord Pennex wrote you a letter?” Anna frowned in confusion. “Whatever for?”
“He has asked for Millie’s hand again, formally.”
“What? Millie never said anything.”
“She turned him down, and informed him that should he ask again, he would need the approval of three individuals before she would accept.”
“Three approvals?” Percy’s was the obvious approval needed, as he was now head of the Rycroft family. He’d recently returned from his travels and taken his seat in Parliament.
Henry tucked the letter back into his pocket. “I had a letter from Percy as well. He’s already spoken with Lord Pennex and given him his approval, but it was truly only Millie’s that mattered.”
“Sounds reasonable.”
“Lord Pennex is on his way here to gain the remaining two.”
“Lord Pennex sails here? Now? Does he not know we are set to return in a month?”
Henry laughed. “I don’t think he cares. It’s been seven years. I’m surprised he’s waited this long.”
Anna agreed. Millie’s correspondence with Lord Pennex had never faltered, and she’d never looked twice at another man during their time in America. Lord Pennex had a hold on her heart, and it seemed she did as well.
“He is expected within the fortnight. He has come for my approval. Apparently, I was on Millie’s list.”
Anna’s heart swelled. She knew what it meant to him for Millie to include him. Over the years Henry had taken on various roles and relationships with Millie—cousin, uncle, father, friend, changing moment to moment depending on what she needed from him. Their relationship was truly something special. “What will you tell him?”
Henry shrugged. “Probably the same thing as her brother.”
There was still one person unaccounted for. “Who is the third?”
He gazed at her in bewilderment. “You are, Wife. You are the third person Millie requested he ask.”
Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes.
“Does the prospect upset you? You knew this was bound to happen.”
“An abstract idea of an event is different than faced with an actuality.” She sighed and met his gaze. “Millie doesn’t know he is on his way?”
Henry shook his head. “It should be an interesting spring.”
Anna chuckled. “You wanted a family. This is just one of those things that comes with it.”
He set his palms against her cheeks. “This is ev
erything, Anna. You’ve given me everything.”
She leaned up and pressed her lips to his, warmth spreading down to her toes. Their life here had proven more fulfilling than she could have imagined. Seeing him in his element, even with mud on his boots and his face kissed by the sun, brought her more happiness than she thought possible. And with their child growing inside her, and Millie’s happiness on the horizon, everything seemed just as it should be.
The End
The Macalisters Series from Erica Taylor
The Perfect Duchess
After his fiancée elopes with a footman, Andrew Macalister, the brooding Duke of Bradstone, is hesitant to trust any woman ever again. It is only fitting the woman to melt his heart is Lady Clara Masson, the social outcast twin sister of the woman who jilted him!
When Clara’s life is threatened, Andrew does the only thing he can think of to protect her: proposes marriage. Despite having been in love with Andrew since childhood, Clara only agrees to the engagement to buy herself more time to escape her brother’s murderous plans.
What begins as an engagement of convenience quickly turns to a passionate battle of wills between the stubborn duke and his distrusting fiancée.
With fate giving them a second chance at love, Andrew and Clara fight to trust in their love, and each other, before they are torn tragically apart.
A Suitable Affair
Despite being beautiful and wealthy, Lady Susanna Macalister’s marriage prospects are rather lacking. To avoid a life of spinsterhood, she decides a loveless marriage to the dull and unromantic Lord Riverton is better than none at all. But still, Susanna longs for true, passionate love, the kind she grew up hearing stories about.
Enjoying a quiet walk with her insipid suitor one afternoon, Susanna is nearly trampled by the handsome Earl of Westcott as he rides through Hyde Park. Driven by his own guilt and despair, the earl embraces this chance encounter as an opportunity for vengeance, for Lord Riverton is the very man whom Westcott suspects is responsible for the untimely death of his beloved sister. But is his mission of separating Susanna from Lord Riverton simply a desire to save another unsuspecting lady from his sister’s fate, or something deeper?