Chapter 30
Gabriel saw the flash of metal in Julian’s hand and moved before he could think.
He crossed the distance between them in a few strides, catching Julian’s wrist just as the knife came free. Julian struck at him with his other hand, and the two men crashed into the rose beds, tearing through branches and scattering petals across the path.
“Eleanor, take Sophie and go.”
She did not hesitate. Eleanor caught Sophie’s hand and pulled her toward the garden wall, keeping herself between the child and the struggle behind them.
“Come, darling. Keep moving.”
“But what about—”
“He will be with us in just a moment.”
Gabriel heard the words and drew strength from them. Julian fought like a cornered animal, driving his shoulder into Gabriel’s chest and forcing him backward into the roses. A thorn caught Gabriel’s cheek, and another tore through his sleeve, but he barely noticed the pain as Julian swung again.
“You have ruined me!” Julian snarled.
“You ruined yourself.”
Gabriel seized his wrist with both hands and twisted until the knife fell into the earth. Julian lunged after it, but Gabriel caught him around the shoulders and drove him down into the grass.
They grappled among the rose bushes, breath coming hard while thorns caught at their coats and tore at their hands. Julian managed to wrench himself partly free, but Gabriel caught the back of his coat and dragged him down again.
“You killed your uncle, and you stole a child.”
“I was owed her inheritance!”
“You were owed nothing.”
Gabriel forced his arm behind his back.
“Enough!” he commanded.
Julian still struggled, but the sound of boots approaching through the garden announced the arrival of the magistrate’s men. Two officers seized Julian and dragged him away from Gabriel while another kicked the fallen knife safely out of reach before securing Julian’s other arm.
“Hold him.”
Julian fought until the last possible moment, but there were too many men around him now. His coat was torn, his face was scratched, and the dignity he had maintained throughout the trial had disappeared entirely.
“You cannot do this!” he whimpered.
The magistrate’s officer tightened the restraints.
“You are under arrest for the murder of the late Lord Marbury, and the abduction of a child.”
Julian stared at him. For once, there was nothing he could say. Gabriel rose slowly, breathing hard. Blood marked one sleeve where a thorn had torn through the fabric, and several scratches crossed his hands, but he barely noticed them. His gaze immediately went to Eleanor.
She stood beyond the fountain with Sophie clinging tightly to her.
“Eleanor.”
She hurried toward him and reached for his hands, examining them with trembling fingers. “I saw the knife. I thought he was going to kill you.”
“He did not.”
Gabriel looked past her toward Sophie, whose frightened face was still pressed against her mother’s side.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
Sophie nodded, though her eyes remained wide. “I was frightened.”
“So was I.”
He crouched before her and opened his arms. Sophie ran into them, wrapping her arms around his neck with such force that he nearly lost his balance.
Gabriel held her tightly. “I am simply happy that you are safe,” he promised.
He closed his eyes briefly. Eleanor was watching them, and when Gabriel opened his eyes he saw the last of the fear slowly leave her face. She reached down and rested one hand against Sophie’s back, her fingers brushing Gabriel’s shoulder as well.
Behind them, Julian was being led through the garden. The officers did not hurry him. There was no need; the evidence against him was already in the magistrate’s hands, and the witnesses who had once been frightened into silence were prepared to speak. Julian stopped once and looked back.
His gaze met Eleanor’s, and she did not look away, which gave Gabriel an immense sense of pride.
For years, she had feared that man’s judgment.
She had feared his accusations, his influence, and the power he seemed to hold over her future, but now he stood in restraints while she stood with her daughter and her husband.
The difference was almost difficult to comprehend.
Julian was led through the gates and disappeared from view. Gabriel watched until the officers were gone before turning back toward Eleanor.
“It is over.”
She looked at him, still holding Sophie’s hand. Eleanor released a long, unsteady breath and leaned against him. Gabriel slipped an arm around her shoulders, drawing her close while Sophie remained tucked safely between them.
The rose garden was scattered with broken petals and crushed leaves, evidence of the struggle that had just taken place, but beyond the damaged beds, the morning had grown bright, the sunlight catching on the dew that still clung to the roses.
Gabriel looked down at Eleanor. She was still pale, still shaken, but she was standing beside him with her daughter safe between them.
Julian was gone, the truth had been heard, and the family they had fought so hard to protect remained together.
Sophie was safe, and Eleanor was safe. The knowledge should have been enough to settle the frantic beating of his heart, yet when Gabriel looked at Eleanor standing beside the fountain, he felt a different kind of urgency rising in its place.
She had one hand pressed against her chest, her face still pale from what had happened, and a few strands of hair had come loose around her face. There was a small tear in the sleeve of her gown where she had caught it on a rose branch, but she was standing, and that was all that mattered to him.
“Are you hurt?” she asked as she glanced at his torn sleeve and scratched hands.
“It is nothing worth mentioning,” he assured her, and when she gave him a doubtful look, he managed a faint smile. “I promise you, I have suffered worse injuries from William’s temper.”
A small smile touched her, but it faded almost immediately. Gabriel stopped in front of her and took her hand, feeling the tremor still running through her fingers. At that moment, his mother came and took Sophie inside with her.
At last, there was no one else in the garden.
Sophie was inside with the dowager, the officers had taken Julian away, and for the first time in months there was nothing demanding Gabriel’s attention except the woman standing before him.
He drew a slow breath, knowing that if he allowed the moment to pass, he might spend another year finding reasons to postpone the words that mattered most.
“There is something I should have said before any of this happened,” he began. “I am not certain I can say it properly.”
“You do not have to say it at all,” she replied. “It is my turn.”
Gabriel lifted her hand and held it between both of his.
“I know you told me that you love me, but I do not think I understood the meaning of it,” she said.
“I thought perhaps you had loved the girl I was, and that when I returned you had simply felt responsible for the woman I had become. I thought your kindness was something you gave because you believed you owed it to me. I should have told you the truth.”
He frowned slightly. “What should you have told me?”
“The truth about why I left.”
She took a careful breath, and Gabriel could see how difficult it was for her to open that old wound.
“You know what I told myself was the reason, but you never knew everything. The truth was that I was afraid of loving you. I loved you so much that it frightened me. You had become the one person whose loss I could not imagine surviving, and instead of trusting that you loved me enough to stay, I ran before you could choose not to.”
“You never gave me the chance,” he said quietly.
“I know.” Eleanor raised her eyes to his, tears still shining.
“Leaving you was the greatest mistake of my life. I have regretted it for years. I regretted it while I was married, when I was widowed, and when I came to Bath and saw you again. I thought I had lost the right to want you after everything that had happened.”
“You never lost it,” Gabriel said.
She stepped closer, and the warmth of her body reached him even through the layers of his clothing.
“Then I want to choose you now. I want this marriage to be real.”
Gabriel stared at her, scarcely daring to believe what he had heard. Eleanor placed her hand against his chest, directly over his heart.
“I do not want to remain your wife because Sophie needs protection. I do not want to stay at Ravenscourt because you are a good man who could not bear to turn me away. I want to be your wife because I love you.”
Gabriel covered her hand with his.
“I love you too. I have wanted you to hear those words from me for years, but I wanted even more to know that you were choosing me freely.”
“I am.”
He drew her into his arms, and Eleanor came willingly, resting against him as he held her close. He could feel the last tremors of fear leaving her gradually, and he pressed his cheek against her hair.
“We have wasted so much time,” he murmured.
“We cannot change that.”
“No,” he agreed. “But we can stop wasting any more.”
She raised her eyes to his, and the distance between them suddenly seemed very small. Gabriel touched her cheek, his thumb tracing the dampness left by her tears.
“I want to kiss you.”
Her breath caught, and then she gave him the smallest smile.
“You have permission.”
He smiled in return before bending down.
He gave her every opportunity to change her mind, but Eleanor did not retreat.
She lifted her face to his, and when their lips met, the kiss was soft and tentative, filled with the wonder of finally being allowed to want what they had both denied themselves for so long.