“They would hardly shoot me in the middle of a soiree, my love,” he murmured into her hair. “It would have been considered very bad ton.”
Was he smiling? She could feel it against the side of her face.
“It is over,” he soothed.
She felt tears burning in her eyes, the stress of the night, the fear finally overwhelming her.
“We managed to set off an explosion of a different sort at Pinchbeck’s soiree. Freyne and Pinchbeck are in custody We have witnesses to testify against them. Lord Russell was there from the Home Office. Moreover, your friend, Alice put the final nail into the case, in front of half of London, telling how Freyne had used her to get the kegs into the ballroom. She knew nothing of the explosives.”
“Poor Alice. How could he have done such a thing to her?”
“They were announcing their betrothal tonight. But that is a conversation best left for later.” Lucien hesitated, looking at the nursery door. “Who have you tucked in the nursery?”
“Sibby Rose and her brothers.” Grace felt a momentary shyness. “I hope it is all right that I put them here. Penelope is keeping little Kit with her and after all the Nolan children have been through, I thought…such a cheery room might comfort them.”
He drew back, cupping her face in his broad palms. “It’s perfect. But then, you always do know how to make people feel safe. It is a gift, Grace. Greater than you will ever know. Will I wake them?”
“No.”
He opened the door and slipped inside. “But why are they all in one bed?”
“At first, they were thrilled to have their own beds, but then…when I was telling them a story, they cuddled together like puppies. I think they sleep better, holding on to each other.”
A child softly moaned, and Robert thrashed a bit. One long, scabbed leg thrust out from under the coverlet, pale white in the light of the candle she’d left burning. Lucien released her and crossed to the child’s side. Grace’s throat felt tight at the poignant expression on his face as he lifted Robert’s small leg back onto the mattress.
“I spoke to Cassandra before I came to find you,” he said, smoothing the blanket over the boy. “I think we have made peace at last.”
“Truly?”
“Do you remember the tin box? The blue one you saw?”
She nodded.
“I will tell you about it sometime. But for now…” His hand curled around her fingers, so warm and strong as he led her from the room. “What matters is that I can keep my promise to you,” he said. “We can go home to Everdene Hall. Our child can grow up running the same green fields we did. You can be close to your brothers as you hoped.”
“Oh, Lucien!” She blinked back tears, her happiness almost too great to hold.
He drew her down the stairs to their own bedchamber, the room where they’d shared so much passion. Once the door was closed, he faced her. She needed to reassure herself that he was safe, that he was well, that he was hers. She ran her fingertips over his face, the bristles of his beard darkening his strong jaw, his mask of cool restraint gone. “You’re sure you’re not hurt?”
“I’m fine.”
“Well, I’m not. I worried about you every second you were gone. It’s bad enough that Pinchbeck was involved. I can’t believe that Neville was part of this.”
“I can’t even imagine how horrible Alice must feel. Why would he do this? And single you out? It’s all so very strange.”
“Not so strange. If he was to succeed in his plan to start a war against the reformers, he needed to convince his peers that the danger was real. And what better target than the man who stole the woman he wanted?”
“But he didn’t want me. He was the one who jilted me.”
“He’d secured the cotton resources with his American wife. After she conveniently died, he saw you as the perfect match. With Lady Barbara Elliot’s daughter on his arm, he would have access to the most powerful men in the land.”
“Where I would have decried everything he stands for! Enslaved people and children in his factories.”
Pride shone in Lucien’s smile. “If he believed for an instant he doused the fire in my fierce crusader just because she wears a bonnet, he was a fool.”
“I’m not sure how you managed not to throttle the man right there, and save the Crown the trouble of hanging him!”
“The thought crossed my mind. But I had something far more pressing to do,” he insisted, his voice rough with emotion. “Get home to the woman I love.” He pressed his cheek to hers,and she felt a tremor go through him. “The day you came back into my life was the day I began to awaken. I didn’t want to. I fought it. I’d spent so much of my life concealing who I was, any tenderness or weakness. Even when I began to love you, I resisted the truth.”
