Page 39 of Jaxon (Gentlemen of War #4)
Jaxon
27 May 1816
I rode Chesapeake up to the coastal home of Amelia’s Aunt Agatha, having received the precise location of the home from a clerk at the mercantile. I wore my gentleman’s attire and only agreed to bring out the rustic side of me when Amelia returned with me back to the hunting lodge. It is there I hoped to spend our wedding night. Just the two of us… well, and Cook.
I knocked on the door and a housekeeper opened the door with a frown. I handed her my calling card, hoping her dour expression might improve. It didn’t. “Lord Jaxon,” she dipped into a curtsy. “Please, come right this way. Miss Amelia has been expecting you.” She led me to a simple sitting room to wait.
Within minutes, the door flew open and Amelia sailed to my side, wrapping her arms around me followed by a brief kiss before she stepped backward, running her hands down her dress and positioning herself properly. I chuckled to myself, quite enjoying that playful welcome as an elderly woman, moving quite slowly, entered the room assisted by use of a cane.
I bowed to the elderly woman as Amelia introduced me.
“Well,” she grumbled as she sat down. “Enlighten me, Lord Jaxon, is it?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Inform me how soon I am going to have to find a new companion, my boy?”
A deep rumbly laugh surfaced. “I wish I had better news for you, but I fear you will not like what I have to say.”
In a sidelong glance, I watched Amelia’s face light up.
“Pfff.” Aunt Agatha wrinkled her nose. “Go on then, get it over with.”
I chuckled at the woman’s boldness as I stepped over to Amelia and took both of her hands in mine. I had wished to do this privately but would not waste one more second. “Amelia, love, I have spoken with your father and received his blessing.”
Her lips parted with a subtle gasp and tempted my restraint.
“And I will wait however long you wish, as long as I can see you often, but I must ask you please to be my wife.”
She threw her arms around my neck like she had when she entered, whispering in my ear, she said, “I wish for nothing more.” When she drew back, she tilted her head slightly. “You spoke with my father?”
“Yes.” I smiled and winked. “And your stepmother.”
She groaned.
“They seemed a bit surprised that I was unaware of that enormous dowry of yours….”
She rolled her eyes. “That dowry made it so I could not trust men.”
“Do you trust me?”
She smiled wide. “Explicitly.”
“Then you will listen to me.” I waited until she met my eyes. “I want no part of that money. It is yours to further your interests. If you want a library… it’s yours… if you want to travel… it’s yours… anything your heart desires… it’s yours.”
“You are in earnest?” She blinked several times as tears bubbled on her dark lashes.
“I want you to see all the ancient civilizations of your heart. I wish for you to study under the best antiquarians, research artifacts, languages, and people.”
“Truly?”
“Certainly. But I will say, I wish to make you my wife before you begin this grand adventure, for I want to be by your side for the whole of it.”
From her expression, it was as if she could not believe me. She peered between me and her aunt. “But, I just arrived and I’ve committed to help my aunt for a year.”
“Oh, bother,” Agatha grumbled. “Do not let me be the reason you must wait. Have the banns read and marry the poor boy. It’s not like I can’t replace you. Your comportment is askew as it is… no respect for stockings, I tell you.”
We looked at each other and laughed.
“A month?” I asked hopefully.
Amelia shook her head. “My stepmother will likely want two at the very least to plan.”
“Then two and not one day more.”
“22 July. Peter’s birthday.”
I cradled her jaw and rubbed my thumb against her skin. “I cannot imagine a better day.”
“Off with you two,” Agatha griped. “Go for a walk or a ride, this ridiculous salivating over one another is giving me an abysmal megrim!”
I bowed to Agatha. “Thank you.” Reaching for her aunt’s hand, I kissed it before she tried to bat me away, then quickly grasped Amelia’s hand and led her out the front doors and down the wide steps toward the nearby seaport. Wrapping my arms around her at the edge of the path, I kissed her lips softly. “You have made me the happiest man in the world, Amelia.”
Her eyes glistened under the sunlight as she spoke, “When you pulled me from the carriage, Jack, I did not know that you would steal my heart that night, and I’m thankful you did.”
“I believe it is the other way around.”
“Hardly.”
I lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles. “I have brought you a gift, love.”
“Just you being here is all the gift I need.”
“Close your eyes.”
“Jack…”
“Please?”
She closed her eyes, and I rotated her around until her back pressed against me, then waved toward a man who had patiently waited off to the side of his carriage. When he approached, I whispered, “Open your eyes, love.”
She blinked them open as I moved to her side, keeping one hand comfortably at her waist.
“Miss Amelia Newell, may I introduce you to Mr. Thomas Amyot.”
She gasped, “Truly?”
He smiled and tipped his hat. “In the flesh, my dear.” Reaching for her hand, he bowed over it. “Nice to meet you, Miss Amelia. I have heard so much about you.”