Page 50 of Echoes of the Sea (Storm Tide #2)

The final day of Amelia’s six months on Guilford Island arrived.

Kip and his aunt were in the Guilford book room, seated unobtrusively off to one side.

Amelia sat next to her uncle, both facing the desk where her late grandfather’s solicitor sat reading out the details of her inheritance.

Kip had gained a better understanding of what value money had in this time, enough that when the solicitor read out the total that she had received, he didn’t entirely manage to keep his expression neutral.

She perhaps couldn’t rival the royal family, but she would never want for anything.

And she most certainly could afford a home of her own.

All the necessary papers were signed, and everything was put in order.

“Congratulations, Miss Archibald,” the solicitor said. “Your grandfather set you a rather difficult task, and you managed it.”

Though her expression and smile were of the soft and demure variety expected of a lady of this era, Kip knew her well enough to see the pride shining in her eyes.

“I am very pleased to hear that my uncle will, in fact, be able to offer Guilford House to let. That was my aim, and it is always a fine thing when one’s efforts prove fruitful.”

She hadn’t taken full credit for the idea, though she certainly could have. Societal expectations were a complicated thing to navigate. Kip felt more confident moving forward knowing she would help him with that navigating.

Though The Beau had been an amazing experience and had brought him closer to Malcolm and had in many ways helped him manage this strange permanent role he was taking on, there were aspects of life in 1803 that it had very ill prepared him for.

“If your grandfather had thought to make the house suitable for letting,” the solicitor said, “you might not have found yourself with quite so much work to do here.”

“But then,” Mr. Stirling said, “my father might simply have given her a different task entirely.”

Amelia’s eyes darted to Kip very briefly. “It has been difficult, but I’m grateful to have been here these past months.”

Kip smiled at her, resisting the urge to wink. He’d discovered winking at ladies was not really the done thing in 1803, but it made Amelia blush in such an adorable way that he couldn’t always resist the urge.

The solicitor remained behind to gather his papers. Mr. Stirling accompanied his niece from the room, and Kip accompanied his aunt.

As they walked down the corridor, Mr. Stirling said, “I do hope you are proud of yourself, Amelia. I will confess, when my father’s requirements for you were first read, I didn’t think there was any chance of success.

I was quite certain the ocean alone would drive you away before the end of the six months. ”

“I worried about that myself,” she said. “And then Mr. Winthrop made the island almost too uncomfortable to remain.”

“That blaggard tried to toss you off the island entirely,” Mrs. Finch said dryly.

Mr. Stirling hadn’t become truly at ease with Kip’s aunt’s tendency toward blunt speech. Kip thought it was brilliant.

“He spent a good amount of time pouting over all that,” Mr. Stirling said.

Kip ignored how dismissive the choice of wording was.

At least Mr. Stirling wasn’t still trying to manipulate his niece into a life of misery.

“But I heard through a mutual acquaintance that he recently initiated a search for a distant relative who is in line to inherit from him. He seems to have given up on securing his own heir.”

A different part of the Winthrop family might make this area home.

Kip didn’t regret preventing the horrid Mr. Winthrop from marrying Amelia—he would have done so again if given the chance—but it had weighed on his mind, knowing his interference might change or erase Malcolm’s eventual existence.

It was entirely possible that the distant family who inherited from Mr. Winthrop was the line Malcolm would come from.

More than that, it meant that Kip being there in 1803, preventing the tragedy of Amelia being forced to marry such a horrid person, would be what actually brought Malcolm’s direct ancestors where they needed to be so that Malcolm would someday make the world a better place.

Perhaps Kip’s being thrown back in time didn’t threaten to ruin things but held the promise of making at least some things right.

Their traveling trunks were tied to the carriage that would take them across the sea road. Mr. Stirling was remaining on Guilford for the night, but Kip, Amelia, and Mrs. Finch were not remaining a moment longer than required.

The matter of Amelia’s inheritance was settled. Her time on this island, surrounded by the ocean, had come to an end. Mrs. Finch had a good friend in the village with whom she had lived in the years since her husband’s death who’d offered lodging to them all, which they had readily accepted.

Kip reached over and took hold of Amelia’s hand. “I realize you’re likely eager to reach the place you’ll be staying for the next few days, but if you’ve a bit of time and energy you’re willing to expend, my aunt and I have something we’d like to show you.”

“Today, I’m eager to see anything and everything that is away from this island.

” She turned to Mrs. Finch. “I hope you realize this isn’t meant to be a reflection on anyone who helped make these last months bearable and successful.

I will be forever indebted to the people of Guilford Village, and if there is any possible way that I can find a place to live nearby, it would be a dream come true. ”

Mrs. Finch shook her head and waved that off. “Every last one of we knows how eager you are to put some distance between yourself and the sea. Us don’t begrudge you that.”

Amelia looked relieved. “In that case, I would love to see whatever it is you two wish to show me.”

Kip grinned. “Excellent.”

Kip watched Amelia as she studied the estate they were visiting. Elegant, well-maintained, sizable without being overwhelming. She held his hand as they walked along a path made of carefully laid paving stones. Her cane didn’t appear to slip at all.

She looked back at the house, then at the expanse of lawn and tall trees in the landscape. “It is beautiful.”

He and his aunt had done a decent amount of traveling in the area around Guilford.

That had allowed him to make the acquaintance of a few gentlemen his same age who had proved fast friends.

He had a better grasp on that area of the country and the expectations of this era.

And the day they had visited this estate, he’d known almost immediately that he wanted Amelia to see it as well.

“You’ve not seen the best part.” Kip led her to the arched entry to a walled garden. He held his breath as he stepped through with her.

“Oh, Kipling,” she whispered.

“Is that a good ‘Oh, Kipling’ or a disappointed ‘Oh, Kipling’?”

She turned to him. “It isn’t overgrown or in disrepair, but it also isn’t complete.”

He nodded, watching and waiting.

“Though you haven’t said as much,” she said, “I suspect we’ve come to visit here because this estate is available for purchase, and you think it might be a good fit for us.”

Us. Hearing her say that would always thrill him. “I’ve spoken with the gentlemen who’ve become my friends these past months, and they all assure me the asking price is more than fair and well within your means.”

She set her hand gently on his cheek. “ Our means, Kipling.”

He set his hand over hers, shifting it to his lips and kissing her palm.

“How far are we from Guilford Village?” Amelia asked.

“Less than thirty minutes walking.”

She looked around once more, turning and studying the garden. She closed her eyes and held very still. Kip, standing behind her, set his arms around her just as he’d done months earlier at a window of Guilford House as a storm had broken overhead.

Amelia leaned back against him. “I can’t hear the ocean,” she whispered.

“I wouldn’t have even brought you here otherwise,” he said. “You deserve to live where you feel safe and where you aren’t afraid.”

She turned in his arms. “Would you live here as well?”

“I wouldn’t be anywhere else.” Kip kissed the tip of her nose.

“I think we could be very happy building a home here, my darling Kipling,” she said.

“I would be happy anywhere in the world with you, my Amelia.” He bent closer and, in the instant before kissing her, whispered, “I traveled centuries to find you, and you are home to me.”