AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His grin broadened. ‘I’ll try to make it as short as possible.’ He gave her another quick kiss. ‘I’ll see you this afternoon.’
With a purposeful stride, he went out...leaving Theo frozen, a hand to her trembling lips, torn between elation and terror.
* * *
Exultant, Dom practically danced out of the parlour. Until the very last minute, he wasn’t sure Theo was actually going to accept him—and somewhere over the course of the last few days, it had become terribly important to him that she did. Strangely enough for so important a step, and one he’d not seriously considered until very recently, the idea of marrying her seemed so natural and right, he’d had not a single second thought from the moment he decided to propose.
He’d make sure she never regretted accepting him, either, he vowed. Living with and loving Theo—ah, especially making love to Theo—was going to be an entertaining life’s business. He couldn’t wait to begin.
Ticking off in his mind all he needed to do to put together a wedding with the least possible delay, Dom paced towards the entry door. He had little doubt Theo’s aunt would enthusiastically approve their plans, especially given the delicacy of her niece’s position.
Then it suddenly occurred to him that for his marriage with Theo to be a success, one other important person must approve their union . Stopping short so quickly the footman escorting him out nearly ran into him, he turned to the servant and said, ‘Before I go, I’d like to speak to Master Charles. Would you show me to his room, please?’
Whatever the footman thought about escorting a visitor who’d arrived far too early up to the room of a person who generally did not receive guests, he merely blinked and motioned Dom to follow him. A few minutes later, he gestured towards the open doorway of a third-floor bedchamber. ‘He’s in there, sir.’
‘Thank you. I can find my own way out.’
As the servant retreated down the hallway, Dom moved to the doorway.
Peeking in, he noted the maid, Constancia, in a wing chair, bent over some sewing, and Charles by the window, sunlight glowing on his fair curls as he repositioned an array of toy soldiers in rows before him.
Dom watched for a moment, curious about this child who meant so much, his mother had been ready to sacrifice her own happiness to keep him. What would you do if you were threatened with losing one of your cousins...wouldn’t you do whatever you had to, in order to prevent that?
That argument he could understand—losing Will or Max or Alastair would be unthinkable.
Tapping on the doorframe, he said, ‘May I come in?’
Charles looked over to the newcomer, his face brightening. ‘Mr Ransleigh!’ he cried. ‘Have you come to take us home?’
Clever boy, Dom thought. Nodding a greeting to the maid as he entered, he replied, ‘I thought I might. Would you like that?’
‘Oh, yes! London is big and noisy and there are some very nice horses in the park, but I like Thornfield better. And I miss Georgie and Jemmie and even stupid Maria. Will we go soon?’
Dom walked over and knelt down, so his face was level with the boy’s. ‘It should be very soon. Before we go, though, Charles, I wish to ask you something. I want to marry Miss Theo.’ Ignoring a gasp from the maid, he continued. ‘When we get back, you’d both come and live with me at Bildenstone Hall. Would that be all right with you?’
The child paused, considering him. ‘Could we still go to the school?’
‘Every day, probably.’
‘Will I still get my pony?’
Ah, the things of importance to a child. ‘Did Miss Theo promise you a pony?’
‘After my papa’s friend visited us at Thornfield, she did.’
‘You mean Lady Hazlett?’
Charles considered the matter for a moment before giving an affirmative shake of the head. ‘She said it was time for me to have a pony, like my papa did at my age.’
So the grandmother’s blackmail began immediately, he thought. ‘Of course you may have a pony. But you will have to learn to ride him properly.’
‘Oh, I will!’ he exclaimed, his eyes wide with excitement. ‘Will you teach me? Jemmie says you are a s’perior horseman. I think it means you ride well.’
‘Yes, I’ll teach you,’ he said, agreeing upon the instant—his first obligation as mentor to Theo’s son. Oddly enough, he found himself looking forward to the task. ‘Riding well is an important skill for a gentleman.’
Charles nodded. ‘Miss Theo says I have to learn to be a proper gentleman, like her papa and mine. They both died in the war.’
‘I’m sorry.’
The boy studied him again. ‘Jemmie says Miss Theo likes you, and Jemmie knows everything. Maybe if you marry her, she’ll smile more. I like it when she smiles.’
The memory swooped in: Theo after their gallop, laughing in delight, impulsively embracing him. ‘I like it, too.’
‘Do you like to play soldiers?’ the boy asked, gesturing towards the lead figures arranged before him.
‘Mr Ransleigh was a soldier,’ Constancia inserted. ‘He fought in the same war as Miss Theo’s papa.’
Charles’s interest intensified. ‘You were a soldier, too? Will you tell me about it?’
A sudden flurry of images filled his head: smoke, flame, the cacophony of rifle, musket and artillery fire, the yells of the charge, the screams of the wounded. With a shudder, he shook them off. ‘Some of it.’
‘Can you show me the battles, where the soldiers were? I have General Wellington, General Blücher, and lots of cavalrymen!’
‘I could help you arrange the men and explain tactics. Battles are all about tactics, you know.’ As is life, he thought.
‘You can marry Miss Theo, then. Can it be quick? I’m ready to go home.’
‘It’s a bargain.’ Dom held out a hand, and the boy extended his, taking Dom’s and shaking it firmly. ‘When we get back to Bildenstone, I’ll show you the battles. I must go now, but I’ll see you later, Charles.’
‘’Bye, Mr Ransleigh,’ the boy said, turning back to his soldiers.
‘You are truly to be wed, Senhor Ransleigh?’ the maid asked softly as Dom turned to walk out.
‘Yes, Constancia. As soon as it can be arranged.’
‘Good.’ She nodded approvingly. ‘You will be kind to Miss Theo, yes? She has suffered much.’ She made an oblique glance towards the child. ‘She needs a man who will treat her as she deserves.’
‘I hope to make her very happy.’
Constancia regarded him steadily. ‘See that you do.’
Feeling that he was going to be watched on several fronts, Dom quit the room. How amused his cousins would be, he thought with a smile as he paced down the stairs, when he told them he owed the winning of approval for his suit to his knowledge of the battles they’d fought and his ability to teach riding.
Chapter Nineteen
Four days later, Theo nervously smoothed the skirt of her new Pomona-green gown, watching the clock on the mantel tick closer to the time when she must go down to her aunt’s parlour and be married.
Married. The idea still made her stomach clench, sending eddies of trepidation and excitement through her.
She wasn’t where she’d expected to be, or feeling how she’d expected to feel when about to plight her troth. It should have been at the English embassy in Lisbon, the wedding breakfast afterwards thronged with army friends and their families who’d relocated to Portugal for the duration of the war. Awaiting her should have been Marshall in his dashing cavalry tunic, attended by his squadron mates, and her father, solemn in full dress uniform, ready to give her away.
All that seemed like a hazy dream from a faraway world. That younger Theo, so completely in love and absolutely confident of the future, was gone too, lost somewhere along the rocky trail from an isolated convent in the Portuguese hills.
The man waiting downstairs, though, was no less worthy of her faith, affection and trust than Marshall. How many women were lucky enough to find two such paragons? If it came to it, she probably knew Dom better than she’d known Marshall, given a whirlwind courtship in the middle of a war. She and Dom had ridden together, walked together, sharing their interests and discussing problems at a length and leisure not possible in an army on the march. Marriage might be the fearful unknown, but she had no doubt whatsoever of the sterling character of the man she was about to marry—even if she still harboured unsettling doubts about the wisdom of marrying him.
Aunt Amelia, though, had been unabashedly delighted when Dom had called, soliciting her permission to wed her niece. He’d set her laughing, telling her he was relieved she’d agreed, else he’d just wasted a great deal of blunt on a special licence.
Her thrilled aunt, insisting Theo must have a new gown of her very own in which to be married, had carried her off to the modiste that very afternoon. A half-finished dress of green shot through with gold caught her eye and was fitted to her immediately. She thought it flattering, and Aunt Amelia, Susan and Constancia all agreed.
