Epilogue
“Iam incredibly jealous,” Anthony said to Emeline as he stood shoulder-deep in the excavation site and watched Hart brush dense layers of soil from a thousand-year-old gold shoulder clasp. “You two could have included me sooner, you know!”
She gave her brother a little push. “Don’t be nonsensical. I did tell you about Hart’s project before you and Freddie went off to help the Darwins settle into their new home, but you had more important things on your mind. Besides, you are here now.”
“It’s the next great frontier, you know,” he said, picking up a trowel. “Archaeology.”
“You are welcome to stay and work on the dig as long as you like. You know, I have a feeling that there is another grave nearby…perhaps this man’s wife! Just before the cave-in, I thought I saw some amber and lapis beads. Of course, now they are hopelessly buried.”
“Excellent!” her brother said. “It sounds as if we’ll be at it here for weeks or months to come.”
As Anthony set off to work in his own corner of the trench, Emeline exchanged a smile with Hart. He came to stand close to her.
“Remind me again, how many days until the wedding…when we can go away together?” he asked in a low, suggestive voice. “Alone.”
“Three.” She caressed his hard cheek. “But no doubt my parents and others who travel here from London will stay on for a bit—and we cannot go on a proper honeymoon until the dig is finished.”
“Perhaps not a proper one, but I mean to take you away all the same. I like the notion of returning to the empty house on Wigmore Street where we can spend our time in bed and wander down in our nightclothes to cook for ourselves.”
Hart’s wicked smile made her tingle all over. “Yes, and if we must go out, we might don disguises.”
“I like the way you think, your ladyship.” His breath was warm and stirring against her cheek.
“I’m not a ladyship yet…”
Sliding one strong hand around her waist, he brought her close enough to feel the heat of his body. “In every way that matters, you are.”
Tobias’s deep voice boomed behind them, breaking the spell. “Excuse me, lovebirds! Do you know where Louise has gone? I have unearthed a silver spoon, Byzantine I reckon!” He brandished the blackened spoon with its long, thin handle. “The details must be entered in the record.”
“Amazing,” said Hart as he released Emeline. “More signs of travel to the Continent.”
“I believe Louise went inside a few minutes ago.” As Emeline spoke, she realized that her brother Charles was also in the priory.
He had arrived the day before, with the rest of her family, and several times she’d seen him bent over the artifacts labeled and displayed in the library.
“Also, I am hungry! I believe Mrs. Dawson has made apple tarts. I’ll bring some back with me. ”
With that, she climbed up the new ladder and strode across the lawn in her trousers and boots. Her father was standing on the terrace, drinking coffee and watching her with one brow quirked above his eyepatch.
“Ma petite, are you certain you are planning a wedding in a mere three days?”
“You needn’t fret, Papa. I am fully capable of doing more than one thing at once.
” She paused close to him, smiling. “In any event, the wedding will be small and intimate. To be honest, I am more focused on the dig right now. Every day it gets colder and there is more risk that hard rains could damage our work.”
He pretended to frown. “It is just as important that you are properly wed, before that libertine Hartcliffe attempts to compromise your virtue.”
“One might imagine you believe that nonsense!” Emeline laughed and patted his cheek. “I, however, know who you really are.”
“Of course you do,” St. Briac said gruffly. “You share my blood.”
“Indeed. I learned the secrets of life at the knee of my pirate father.” She kissed him, excused herself, and went on into the manor house.
Muffled voices reached her from the stairway, and she glimpsed Mouette and Frederica ascending the steps with little Oliver between them, doubtless to put him down for a nap.
More conversation drifted from the dining room, where her Raveneau grandparents lingered over their luncheon.
The approaching wedding afforded her a rare opportunity to have time with much of her family together, and she paused to absorb the sense of deep contentment.
After years of claiming independence, she realized that a new chapter had truly begun in her life.
Ahead lay strengthened bonds with family, present and future…
Out of the corner of her eye, Emeline perceived movement in the library and heard her brother Charles speak in a low, intimate voice. “You know, I have missed you, Louise.” There was a pause, some murmurs, then, “You have grown prettier with each passing year.”
She held her breath, listening, edging her way toward the arched doorway in case her cousin needed her.
Charles and Louise were standing next to the table where the artifacts were laid out to be cleaned and catalogued.
Her fair-haired brother remained angelically handsome, while Louise gazed up at him, especially lovely in delicate profile.
“Oh…I never thought I would hear you say things like that,” Louise murmured. She looked up at Charles in wonder, and Emeline could see that he had reawakened all her cousin’s old, hopeless longings.
“It’s true, my dear. We are both getting older, and I’ve realized that no other female could take your place or love me as you do.
” He reached out to gather her into his arms, and Louise did not resist. “I would like to show you the world! Let me take you to Italy. If you are able to persuade his lordship to let me sell some of these pieces to worthy collectors, all of us can profit…”
Emeline waited, her heart in her throat.
She had hesitated about inviting Charles to the wedding, and now she was furious with him for being so selfish.
A part of her wanted to interrupt them and tell Charles off, but she forced herself to remain silent.
Although Louise might falter, she had come a long way toward severing her connection to a man who had proven himself unworthy, time and time again.
“That jeweled brooch, for example…” Charles glanced over toward the table and seemed to shiver with excitement. “Oh, my sweet, I know of a wealthy collector of antiquities who would pay an immense sum for that piece alone.”
Louise looked torn. “I really don’t think…”
“You have been thinking too long, my darling. It is time to begin enjoying life more passionately.”
As Charles leaned down to kiss Louise, Emeline held her breath. Surely this was what Louise had waited and prayed for since she was a young girl, when the seeds were planted for her attachment to Charles.
“I don’t think so,” Louise said softly. She took a step back, away from him, and her voice became more determined. “In fact, I cannot, Charles. I have an important role to play, right here, in this excavation. I am part of a team.”
Footsteps sounded behind Emeline, and Tobias’s stocky form loomed up and strode past her, into the library. “Furthermore, Brandreth, the lady is in love with me,” he announced.
Upon Tobias’s appearance on the scene, Louise hurried forward to meet him, cheeks pink. “Oh, Tobias,” she whispered.
He held her at arm’s length and searched her face. “I should have told you sooner, Louise. I love you. I was only waiting for this wedding to be over before declaring myself.”
“This is”—her face shone with joy as she received his embrace—“most welcome news.”
Looking rather baffled, Charles made his way toward the doorway, and Emeline stepped out of the shadows to head him off.
“Really!” she frowned, pulling him out into the entry hall. “How could you?”
“You wouldn’t speak to me that way if we were truly siblings,” he accused. “You and Anthony are the genuine St. Briac offspring, and I am merely an afterthought from Mother’s first marriage. You all doubtless wish that I would return to Italy and never return!”
Emeline looked out onto the terrace and was relieved to see that her father was walking away with Monte, down toward the slowly winding River Alde.
“Come with me.” She drew Charles out of the house, away from other listeners, and stopped by a brick wall.
“Do you think I want to feel this way toward you?” Emeline demanded, lightly tapping his shirtfront with one forefinger.
“On the contrary, Charles, we could all enjoy being part of the same family if you would cease being pretentious, vain, and devious! Why not remain here in England and embark on a life of honest effort and accomplishment rather than running off to Italy and scheming to enrich yourself at the expense of others?”
Charles bristled. “Oh, so now that you’re about to be Lady Hartcliffe, you imagine you can issue commands to me? You and Anthony don’t care a fig if I’m part of this family or not.”
“That is not true.” Emeline knew she must not give up on him, no matter how he pushed her to do so.
“You are our brother. But I know you, Charles, and it upsets me that you would try to use others, like Louise, for your own gain. There is another way, if only you would trust in your own talent! You could use your architecture degree and achieve great things.”
Her brother sniffed doubtfully, but now his eyes gleamed with real emotion. “I don’t know…”
“It’s not too late to find real happiness,” Emeline said softly. “Perhaps you’d like to live in the empty house on Chesterfield Street until you settle on a plan? Louise and I won’t be there any longer and I don’t believe Papa means to sell it.”
“I will think about it.” Squeezing her hand, Charles whispered, “Thank you, Em.”
Hart wanted to rush the events of his wedding day in order to reach the end, when Emeline would openly come to his bed and sleep there every single night. It took all his powers of restraint to appear relaxed as the day unfolded.