Wicked Earl Seeks Proper Heiress (The Husband Hunters Club 5)

There was the sound of the door to the parlor opening and then something huge knocked against him, almost sending him sprawling. He turned, his arms still around Averil, and found himself looking into Hercules’s excited face, and there behind the dog, his son.

“Oh good,” Eustace said, smiling widely. “You did it, Papa! Averil, you’re going to marry him, aren’t you? I was so worried he’d mess it up again.”

Rufus groaned and sank down into the chair. Hercules tried to lick him, but Eustace wisely tugged the dog away. Averil looked from one to the other of them, and then she laughed.

“Oh dear, I can see that by marrying one of the Southbrooks I will be marrying them all.”

“Not marrying us,” Eustace retorted a little scornfully, “but perhaps you will be my-my mother?” He looked at her anxiously. “Will you, Averil?”

Rufus watched her rest her hand gently on his son’s head. “I think I’d like that,” she told him.

“Good,” the earl said, “that’s sorted out. Now can we have some time alone, Eustace? And take that monster with you.”

Eustace grinned and began to drag Hercules from the room.

“No, wait.” Averil touched Rufus’s sleeve, her fingers clinging as if she didn’t want to let go. “There’s something I want to say. To you both.”

What now? Rufus wondered. He didn’t want any more hurdles to jump over. He’d given up his Southbrook inheritance spanning centuries for the woman he loved, and she’d accepted him. He wanted to wallow in the sweetness of the moment and start planning for their years together.

“I know how much Southbrook Castle means to you,” Averil said, her chin up, as if she expected opposition. “I rather like it myself. In fact I envy you both such a wonderful home, and all the history that goes with it. Rufus”—and she looked at him—“I never begrudged the money you wanted to spend on your castle. It wasn’t that. It was the fact that you didn’t tell me, that you weren’t honest.”

“Averil—”

“That you are willing to give it up, all of it, for me . . . That makes all the difference. Don’t sell your castle or your Mayfair home. We’ll need somewhere to live, and Eustace must have his inheritance. I have a great deal of money, enough for everyone.”

Eustace gave a shout of glee and went running from the room, presumably to tell Uncle James, who was no doubt lurking about somewhere. Rufus looked at his beloved and shook his head.

“You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into, Averil. You should think very hard before—”

“I have. I want to do it. I want to sit by the lake with you on summer evenings and climb the stairs to the tower in the winter, and watch the weather coming in from the North Sea.”

“Storms?” he murmured, his mouth quirking into a smile.

Her eyes brightened. “I’ll need you to comfort me, won’t I? Are there a great many storms at Southbrook Castle?”

“A very great many.”

“Oh . . .” she whispered.

He kissed her then, and this time they were not interrupted.

EPILOGUE

* * *

“Is she ready?”

Averil heard Eustace’s loud whisper at the door, followed by Violet’s reply, “Nearly.”

“Papa is getting restless,” Rufus’s son added.

“She’ll be there in just a moment.”

Averil smiled as Violet returned to her side. The girl was dressed in pale blue silk that matched her eyes, and her fair hair was interwoven with flowers. “Rosebuds for a Violet,” Averil said with a laugh.

Violet had taken some persuading that she was not Sally Jakes’s daughter, although she’d later admitted that that was because she’d been afraid to let herself believe something so wonderful in case it was snatched away from her again. But Averil and Rufus had convinced her, with the help of Anastasia’s letter, and then when the locket was finally repaired and opened, they had found a scrap of pink ribbon inside it, and Violet had taken one look at it and burst into tears.

It turned out it was from a favorite dress she’d had when she was tiny, and she remembered it all these years later. Who else but Anastasia, her true mother, would have such a memento inside her locket?