Page 55 of The Widow’s Christmas Surprise

The stunned earl staggered backward.

Heart beating so hard she was almost dizzy, Maria took Kinellan’s arm and he escorted her from the room. Now to find her cousin, her child, and her maids. She couldn’t wait to scrape the mud of this place from her shoes forever.

* * *

Excitement growing as the carriage neared Wingate, Maria gave Jane’s hand a squeeze.

“Ouch.” Her cousin snatched it away, shaking it. “Do restrain your exuberance, my dear. I will need the use of that hand without broken bones.”

“I cannot help it, Jane. I cannot wait to tell Hugh about this miraculous change in circumstances.” She’d thought of nothing else, save her harsh words for Lord Kersey, almost since they left London. The surprise on his face would be one of her fondest memories in the years to come. Years together with him.

The carriage rolled up to the little manor house, where a light shone in a single room. Probably a sitting room where Hugh and his sister would read or talk in the evenings after dinner. Soon it would be the three of them, talking, laughing, sitting companionably. In years to come, little Jane would be with them and later their own children together. Just as her family had been when she was growing up.

When the carriage stopped, Kinellan helped her down. “Would you like us to go with you, my dear?”

Jane poked her head out the door. “It will be a shock to him, Maria. As much a one as it was for you. Perhaps we should accompany you.”

“Thank you, but no. I want this to be a private moment between us.” She could picture Hugh’s astonishment, then delight. He would take her in his arms and kiss her as if they stood under the mistletoe. A moment in their lives they would remember forever.

Maria straightened her pelisse, adjusted her hat, took a great breath and marched to the door. Her knock brought the butler, and she was shown in immediately. “May I speak to Mr. Granger, please?”

“Yes, my lady.” He divested her of her coat and hat. “Will you come this way?” He showed her into a small, neat receiving room, done in dark greens and reds. Very festive for this time of year. “I’ll tell Mr. Granger you are here.”

Nodding, she walked to the fireplace, where a fire had been recently banked, and held out her hands to the glowing embers. Excitement seemed to have gotten the better of her, for she now seemed to run hot and cold. Her hands were like ice, but her body burned like a furnace. Was this the way it was supposed to be when life turned into a fairy story? All her dreams were about to come true.

“Maria.”

She whirled around but Hugh was already at her side, enfolding her in his arms.

“Lord, but I’m glad to see you.” He hugged her to him, and the wonderful feel of him pressed to her once more brought tears to her eyes. “Have you just—you’re crying.” Leaning back to peer at her face, he cupped her face. “What is wrong, my love?”

“Nothing.” She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Why did she never remember a handkerchief? “I missed you so much is all. I didn’t know quite how much until now.”

“Here.” He produced one of his handkerchiefs, and the scent of citrus—now permanently linked to him in her mind—filled her head. Blotting the tears, he carefully patted her cheeks dry. “Now, come with me to the drawing room. Bella and I sit there after dinner.”

“Can we stay here? I have news from London I would like to tell you alone.”

“Of course.” He led her to the damasked sofa and sat beside her, holding her hand in a gentle grip. “What is it, sweetheart?” His deep voice had softened. “Was Mr. Clarke’s news disappointing?”

“Oh, no, Hugh.” Maria couldn’t contain her smile. She’d been waiting so long for this moment. “The news is impossibly good, better than I could ever have dreamed.” Leaning against his shoulder, just to feel his warmth, she laced her fingers through his. “I never thought I would say this, but Alan has finally made amends for the callous way he treated me all during our marriage. In the end, I suppose, he wished to leave this world with his conscience, not completely clear, but at least at peace, having knowledge that our child and I would be taken care of in any eventuality.”

“I am glad of it, my love.” He squeezed her hand and it radiated throughout her. “I remember him that morning, very somber, not at all like his usual devil-may-care self.”

“Do you think he knew he would not return from the dueling ground?”

“I think he did. Sometimes a man knows when his luck has run dry.” Slipping his arm around her, Hugh leaned his head against hers. “Did anyone tell you that he died well?”

She shook her head. “No. No one wanted to tell me anything for fear it would harm the baby.”

“I spoke to his second, after I returned from London. He told me that Lord Kersey seemed calm, even poised as he took his position. When the handkerchief dropped, he raised his weapon in good time and fired. The bullet lodged in Lord Remington’s shoulder, but didn’t wound him badly enough that he couldn’t shoot. So Lord Kersey stood there and waited some seconds, without flinching, while Remington took careful aim before shooting him in the heart.”

The image of the golden-haired man she had worshiped for such a short period of time, struck down in a crumpled heap, brought back the tears. She pressed her face into Hugh’s shoulder and sobbed.

“Do not cry, my love. It was a good, clean death. A gentleman’s death, met bravely.” He handed her his handkerchief. “And a quick one, which Remington must have come to envy.”

“Why?” Maria dabbed at her eyes. She’d never thought she’d cry over Alan again.

“The wound in Remington’s shoulder became inflamed. They amputated his arm, but the infection couldn’t be contained. He died, quite probably in agony, two weeks later.”