Sin With a Scoundrel (The Husband Hunters Club 4)

He looked up as Tina knelt beside him, his face ghastly. “I sent them back,” he gasped. “The pearls and the watch. They were kind to me. I sent them back.”

Little did not live to see the doctor. Tina didn’t know whether she was glad or sorry that he wouldn’t be hanged after all, but she supposed Little himself would have been glad. Sutton, in response to Peggy’s insistence he make a clean breast of everything, and before he was wrestled into the coach to be returned to London, admitted that it was Evelyn who had told him where to go, to kidnap Tina.

Evelyn’s days were numbered, thought Tina, with a glance at her beloved’s uncompromising expression. Just as well. She couldn’t imagine sharing Eversham Manor with that woman. She wanted to live there with Richard and make it into the sort of happy place it had once been, when his mother was alive. For now, Evelyn had been restricted to her own rooms, under the close watch of the servants, while Richard and Tina took possession of the manor.

“I wonder if my parents will have to live with us,” Tina said uneasily. Now that she was safe and they were together, it was time to consider the future. And her future meant bankrupt parents.

He gave her a startled look. “Your parents?”

“They may not have a home any longer, Richard.”

“Good God. Well, they can stay until we find them somewhere else, Tina, but I will not live with your mother. She hates me.”

“I’m sure she will grow to love you. How could she not?”

She was teasing him, and he smiled. They were in the sitting room at Eversham Manor, just her and Richard, gazing out at the garden. It wasn’t as exotic as Lady Isabelle’s garden, nor so extensive, but Tina already loved it. And, she promised Richard, she had no intention of turning it into a showpiece.

“Although I may want a folly,” she said, and then giggled when he caught her up and swung her onto his lap.

“We don’t need a folly,” he said. “But you should feel free to change anything you like. It has been so long since I’ve lived here, I feel it’s time for a new start. A fresh start for a new line of Evershams.”

“A new line?” She raised her eyebrows, and tapped her fingertip against his chin. “Are you planning on creating a dynasty, Richard?”

“Of course. At least ten children, I think.”

Tina smiled and kissed him. “If we start with one, we can go on from there,” she suggested practically.

“I am, as ever, putty in your hands, my love.”

Tina doubted that, but she loved him for the man he was, and she knew he loved her. Everything felt right, and although she knew they would argue and disagree, they would always make up their differences.

She’d planned to marry Horace only to discover he was all wrong for her, but in hunting him, she had found someone else. Someone who was perfect.

“Kiss me, Mr. Eversham,” she murmured.

His eyes warmed. “Why?”

“Because I feel in need of more lessons.”

His mouth hovered over hers, teasing. “How many lessons do you think you’ll need, Miss Smythe? You do realize there is a price to be paid at the end of them?”

“As many as possible. I intend to be your only pupil from this moment on. And, Mr. Eversham, I am quite willing to pay any price you may ask of me.”

“Well then,” he said, “I’d better get started.”

Epilogue

Tina was nearly ready. Her dress, a simple, cream-colored satin with ruching about the hem and the sparkle of pearls sewn into the bodice, was quite simply beautiful. She went to the window and looked out at the garden at Eversham Manor, where she had decided to be married. It was a glorious day, and the white rosebushes had been trimmed into neat balls by enthusiastic gardeners, while the fountain, with its dolphin statue, was splashing water, droplets glitterin

g like stars in the sunlight.

Down below her, Tina could see the guests moving about, awaiting her arrival. The wedding was larger than Richard had expected, but Tina had just laughed at his astonishment. “They love you, Richard,” she’d told him, when he understood how many guests would be coming from the surrounding countryside. “They want you here at Eversham Manor, creating your dynasty.”

Archie and Maria had come from London, where they now owned the tearoom in Camden that specialized in Spanish sweets. A big change for Archie, although he seemed happy with his new life. Maria said it was as good as being in Spain. Better, because she didn’t have to leave Archie.

They did seem very happy, Tina thought with a smile.

Her parents were thrilled at her happy union once they’d heard the full story, and Lady Carol and Richard seemed to have overcome their rocky beginnings. Sir Thomas was even more thrilled when Charles announced his engagement to the wealthy Anne Burgess, and it seemed as if they wouldn’t have to leave Mallory Street after all.