Chapter Twenty-Four #2
She let go of Deo’s hand and flung herself at her father, which made him stagger backward. “Thank you, Papa!” she hugged him and kissed his cheek.
“You’re welcome, my dear.” He looked at Deo over Emily’s head, and Emily turned to look at Deo as he spoke. “I gather you do love my daughter, Pendrell?”
“God, yes,” said Deo, his eyes on Emily as he said it.
Completely forgetting that public displays of affection were unladylike, Emily flung herself at him then. “Deo.”
And Deo kissed her in front of all those people. It was delicious but all too brief. Cut off by the round of applause that greeted it from the assembled company—begun, she suspected, by Kenrick, who had peeled himself off the wall to shake Deo’s hand and kiss her cheek.
“Congratulations. Quite a romantic tale. My sisters would have loved to see this!”
Creighton arrived with the tea tray at that point, and the duchess served tea while Deo and Emily received congratulations from the Ashfords.
Emrys clapped Deo on the shoulder, “Well done, old chap.”
Annis hugged Emily, and Emrys added to Deo, “I’ll take you into Leicester tomorrow to see the bishop. We’ll get you another license and I daresay Rob will let you use his chapel for the wedding.”
The duchess looked up from serving tea and handing around cakes to say, “Yes, of course! You will be the third of us brides to be married in the Chapel, and I will be delighted to dress you!”
Emily flushed with pleasure. “Thank you, Sarah.”
She took a cup of tea and a plate of cakes over to her mother and offered them. “Mama?”
Mama sat up, stuffed her handkerchief into her reticule and took the proffered tea and cakes. “Well, I suppose it’s all turned out rather well in the end. But Emily, how did you meet him? You never said.”
Emily sat down beside her mother and said, “I answered his advertisement.”
Mama stopped with a cake halfway to her mouth. “Advertisement?”
Emily flushed and smiled in memory. “He advertised for a—an assistant. He’s an antiquities scholar, Mama. I thought the advertisement was from a woman. A female scholar. I was rather shocked when I discovered he was a man.”
Mama took a bite of her cake. “How extraordinary. Then what happened?”
“Well, he proposed. You see, he was looking for a wife who could also be his assistant.”
Mama took a sip of tea. “Most peculiar. He’s quite a well looking fellow. Why did he have to advertise?”
She looked over at Deo who was still talking to the Ashfords.
“He’s shy,” she said with a soft smile. “And he wanted a wife who was also interested in antiquities.”
“So, all those fusty books you read helped you find a husband?”
“Yes, Mama.”
“Hmm.” She took another sip of tea. “An earl no less.”
“Yes, Mama.”
“Well, all’s well that ends well then.”
“Yes, Mama,” said Emily with a smile.
“He’s rather big, isn’t he?”
“Yes, Mama, he is. You should see him without his shirt on!”
“Emily!” But Mama was smiling. Emily felt a surge of relief. Mama would never change, but now Emily didn’t need to deal with her everyday and—she glanced at Deo across the room—she thought her husband would be equal to Mama in future.
Emily joined her husband as Deo turned to the duke. “By the way, Rob, what did you do with Smiggens?”
“I sent him back to the cottage under Hastings’s supervision. We will have to decide what to do about him. I can’t believe he took the items.”
“He didn’t! I’d swear it,” said Annis staunchly.
“But someone has,” said Deo. “We should search the rest of the house and post a watch tonight.”
“Agreed,” said the duke.
Once tea was completed, the duchess conducted the Effords to a suite, where they planned to rest until dinner, and the rest of the company dispersed.
Alone at last, Emily turned to Deo and walked straight into his arms.
“You meant it, what you said to Papa?”
“Of course!” he said gruffly, hugging her tight. “Did you mean it?”
“Deo, I’ve been in love with you since we left London, I think.
” She frowned in an effort of memory. Everything was a bit of a blur.
“I think when I discovered you loved Gothic novels, too, it was, oh, just the icing on the cake. You were my perfect match. My soul’s mate. ” She smiled up at him, misty eyed.
“You’re mine too, Em. I couldn’t imagine my life without you now.
I was certain of it the day we cleared the tomb, but even before that I knew I wasn’t prepared to let you go for anything.
I’m sorry it took me so long to figure it out.
Emotions are not something I’m used to dealing with.
But I’ve been wanting to tell you I love you for several days now.
I don’t know how I kept it in. It felt so overwhelming sometimes.
Like I couldn’t breathe, it hurt so much. ”
“Oh, Deo!” she sighed and buried her face in his great chest. “I’m so happy!”
“Me too!” he said and kissed her.
The kiss, as always, was delicious, and she lost herself in it for several minutes until he finally broke it and murmured, “I’ll have to sleep elsewhere tonight, now your parents are in the house.
We will get the license and be married in the chapel as soon as possible.
I can’t wait to make you my wife properly, Em. ”
“I can’t wait either,” she said.
He let her go with obvious reluctance. “In the meantime, we need to search the rest of the house and grounds. Our treasures are still missing.”
She nodded, frowning. “Do you think Smiggens did it?”
“Not really, but we have no other lead at this point.”
“Deo, do you think—” She stopped because the enormity of the idea took her breath away. “Do you think it could have been Bidenden?”
He stared at her very hard. “I did wonder fleetingly, but I thought it was just that I disliked him so much because of his persistent pursuit of you. Why?”
“Well, I always thought his interest in me was mainly motivated by his desire for my fortune. Although,”—she broke off flushing—“I do have some proof he desired me.”
“Do you?” asked Deo grimly. “What did he do?”
“Oh, nothing more than I’ve told you, I think. But when he grabbed me and tried to kiss me in the anteroom after lunch the day he arrived—”
“I didn’t know he’d done that!” Deo’s expression became quite ferocious.
“Oh, didn’t I tell you? Anyway, he—well I—I could feel that he wanted me, if you know what I mean,” she said, blushing.
“Yes, I know what you mean, and I’ll string him up by his neckcloth!” growled Deo.
“Well, anyway, I do think it was mainly my fortune. I accused him of it that day and he denied it. His father is quite wealthy, so he shouldn’t be short of funds, but perhaps he is?
And he did mention to me that his father has a strong interest in antiquities, too. He’s quite a collector, apparently.”
“God, yes! Why didn’t I make that connection? His father is the Marquess of Malmsbury.” Deo headed for the door. “I need to speak to Rob about this. We let the fellow go! If he’s taken the items, he could be halfway to London by now.”