Page 39 of Sir Hugo Seeks a Wife (Cinderellas of Mayfair #1)

Our happy end is here!

The skies above are clear.

Hugo will be mine.

The world is all sunshine.

Hugo didn’t understand, and he saw that Athene was equally confused.

“Of course there was a scandal, Miles,” she said with a trace of irritation. “Lady Athene Colton-Heath, the Earl of Stannard’s seventeen-year-old daughter, eloped with a scoundrel. Even worse, she never married him. It must have been the talk of the county.”

Miles looked troubled. Hugo had spent a good deal of time with him since Athene’s accident.

He liked the man. Miles mightn’t resemble his sister, but he shared her directness and intelligence.

So this nonsense about the lack of a scandal struck Hugo as an absurd attempt to be kind, when kindness achieved nothing useful.

Miles made a sweeping gesture. “Athene, you remember what a hermit Father was. We never saw anyone, we never participated in any social life. We rarely even saw the neighbors.”

“But…” She turned a wide-eyed gaze on Hugo.

Miles went on before she could phrase her question. “Father told the household that you’d gone north to live with an aunt. Given you spent most of that last summer quarreling with him, it was in character for him to send you away.”

“I haven’t been back in ten years.” She reached for Hugo’s hand, struggling like he did to make sense of what Miles said. “That’s a long time to be exiled to some mythical aunt.”

“Everyone understood how obstinate Father was. Nobody questioned your absence.”

“The Fosters know I ran off with George.”

“The Fosters had as much reason as we did to keep the secret. They were used to covering up George’s faux pas in the local area.

And his extended absence was nothing unusual.

Their son was always a rare visitor. The fleshpots of London held his attention, not rural Yorkshire.

When you met, he’d only come home to hide from his creditors.

If he found someone to warm his bed in the meantime, it made a nice bonus.

It was just damned bad luck you fell into his clutches. ”

“I was riding in the woods when I met him trespassing from the Fosters’ estate.

He was bored and I was ripe for seducing,” she said in a dull tone.

“He claimed he fell in love with me at first sight. Just what a girl brimming with romantic dreams wanted to hear. It took me longer than it should to realize what a fool I’d been. ”

“You were young and inexperienced, Athene. The fault is his,” Hugo said grimly, firming his grip on her hand. “He must have thought all his Christmases had come at once when he discovered the old earl’s daughter was primed for adventure.”

Her fingers tensed around his. “I was bored, too, and furious with Papa. We’d just had another fight, which was why I was sulking on the edge of the estate.”

“And because you were unfortunate enough to encounter a cur without an ounce of honor, your fate was sealed,” Hugo said, lowering her hand.

Athene frowned down at where their clasped hands rested in her lap. “So hardly anybody knows I eloped with George?”

“You could have come home any time after Papa died.”

Athene regarded her brother with a tormented expression. Hugo could tell that she was afraid to accept what Miles said because if it wasn’t true, the disappointment would eviscerate her. He felt the same. “Papa never forgave me. He wrote to me in Vienna and told me never to darken his door.”

“That’s like him,” Miles said in a hard tone.

“He wasn’t worried about his daughter or what became of her. He was only worried that nothing tarred the family name.” Athene sounded bitter. Hugo couldn’t blame her. “He didn’t care about me at all.”

Miles shook his head. “No, he loved you. In his cold fashion. You were always his favorite, which was why he couldn’t bear your defiance.”

“Maybe.” She sounded unpersuaded.

Hugo brought her hand to his lips and placed a fervent kiss on her knuckles. Inside him, ineffable joy gushed up like a mighty fountain. And relief. He’d been euphoric when Athene agreed to marry him, but this news from Miles changed their entire future. “My darling, you know what this means?”

He couldn’t believe their luck, although he should have guessed something of this outcome. He wasn’t a man who wasted much time on gossip, but surely if the Earl of Stannard’s daughter had eloped, some whisper would have reached him. Yet he’d never heard a word.

Her eyes glowed with wonder as they rested on Hugo. He saw that she came to accept how wrong she’d been about so many things. “All this time, I could have come back to Yorkshire. I could have had a family.”

“I wish you had,” Miles said with feeling. “Nothing tainted your name. When the Fosters announced George’s death, they didn’t mention you. And they’ve both passed on since. The only people who know what happened are me and whoever you’ve told.”

“I wasn’t trumpeting my youthful stupidity.” Self-derision edged her voice. “Hugo knows. And Sylvie.”

“Your friend?”

“Yes. But she’ll never betray my secret.”

“Athene,” Hugo said, speaking from the depths of his heart, “I will love you forever, scandal or no scandal.”

“Oh, my darling…” His declaration made her eyes brighten with tears, and she squeezed his hand.

Her slender throat moved, as she swallowed.

She swallowed again and strove for her familiar ironic tone.

“I know you will. From the day we met, you’ve been absurdly and self-destructively set on ignoring my checkered past. I cherish you for it, even if it always made me question your common sense. ”

Hugo smiled at her with all the thankfulness in his heart.

“How could I blame you for the events that made you the person you are? But this news makes our marriage much more straightforward. Sir Hugo Brinsmead can announce his wedding to Lady Athene Colton-Heath without anyone blinking an eye. Except perhaps for thinking that such a highborn bride could choose a duke instead of a mere baronet.”

With a clogged laugh, Athene brought his fingers up for a kiss. “A mere baronet is perfect for me. But what about the people who saw me in London?”

Hugo shrugged. “The bride was an eccentric who pursued a literary career. They’ll say my wife is an original. I can live with that.”

He watched the truth sink in that their future looked rosy. Against all the odds. “I am an original, and don’t you forget it, my good man.”

He surged forward, unable to resist kissing her.

If Miles wasn’t here and if she wasn’t in such a parlous physical state, he’d kiss her properly.

But he made do with skimming his lips across hers.

That would suffice for now. There was no rush.

They had years together ahead, years where they’d build the life they wanted, full of love and trust and happiness.

“We’re going to marry and have a family and settle into dull respectability. ”

“That sounds like heaven.” Smiling, Athene lifted her good hand to stroke his face. “I can’t wait.”

***

The day Hugo brought Athene to Hampden Crags was one of the proudest moments of his life. As his stylish curricle bowled across the estate, Athene cuddled into his side. On either side of the road, his lands spread out around them.

The proudest moment? Maybe not. Of late, his list of proud moments had lengthened by the hour.

He frowned at the trotting horses and decided that his proudest moment had instead occurred a little over eight weeks ago.

On the day when with her arm in a sling, his darling stood beside him in the inn’s parlor and became his wife.

Or perhaps…

“You’re very quiet, Hugo,” Athene said softly. “You can’t be nervous. You must know I’ll like your home.”

He did. Now that she wasn’t hiding her origins, she made no secret of her love for Yorkshire’s dramatic landscapes.

He must have had an inkling when they met that this was no soft Southerner.

He’d straightaway pictured her striding across the hills, as at home in this expansive landscape as the lapwings and the skylarks.

Since her accident, they’d stayed in York, leaving the inn after a week and returning to the rented house and their loyal staff. All four servants now had places at Hampden Crags.

Athene had recovered well from her accident. She no longer wore her sling, and her ribs had healed. While she mightn’t yet be up to hillwalking, she wasn’t far off. The only relic from her ordeal was the charming coiffure of cropped dark curls that framed her remarkable face.

“I’m trying to work out my favorite,” he said in a thoughtful tone.

That sparked a gurgle of amusement. “I hope it’s me, given we’ve been married a scant few weeks. You can’t be tired of me already.”

Hugo smiled at her and dared to negotiate her large and fashionable bonnet to place a kiss on her lips. He didn’t linger. The risk was too great. He was so famished for her, he was ready to explode. Athene’s injuries had dictated a very sedate honeymoon.

Not that he minded. Fate gave him this chance to woo her, as he would if they’d met under more conventional circumstances.

They’d had time to talk about the casual things that created the groundwork for a life together.

Their childhoods. Their interests. Books.

Music. Art. Family. They’d come together in such a hectic rush that they still had so much to learn about each other.

But two months into married life, Hugo was jumping out of his skin with frustration. Having his darling snuggled up against him like this only worsened his torture. His arm curved around her willowy waist. Her soft breast pressed into his side. Her rich smoky scent tormented his senses.

Wanting her this way made him feel like a barbarian.

He’d won. She was his wife. He should be happy to wait for her full recovery before he started bouncing around on top of her.

He concentrated on the road and told himself he’d spend the rest of his life with Athene.

A few weeks of abstinence at the beginning was insignificant.

Nonetheless, it was an effort to respond to her teasing. “No, you’re definitely my favorite.”

“Pleased to hear it.” She straightened and stared at the view. He was grateful that it was one of those rare perfect February days, promising a sparkling spring ahead.

“I was putting all our recent events in order of preference. I’ve decided the best day was our wedding.”

Athene tilted her head to survey him. Her expression was soft as it mostly was these days. The rigid control of her London days belonged to the past. “That was marvelous, wasn’t it? And I’m so glad Miles was there.”

Miles and Fogg had stood up with him. His sisters and their families had all attended, creating a celebratory atmosphere.

Hugo had passed the entire day in a daze of joy, still barely able to believe that Athene took him as her husband.

And with a wholehearted gladness that had turned every hour since to gold.

“Now I get to carry you home, as I’ve always wanted.”

“Yes, that’s very special.”

His brows drew together, as he reckoned up all the other wonderful moments they’d shared.

He might be a heaving mess of sexual frustration, but he wasn’t fool enough to discount the closeness that he and Athene now enjoyed.

“You know, after much thought, I’m demoting today to third place, proud as I am to convey my beautiful bride to the family domain. ”

“The family domain?” she repeated in a dry tone. “Someone’s feeling very dynastic all of a sudden.”

He cast her a loving smile. Gently, he firmed his hold on her waist. “Be warned, Lady Brinsmead.”

“So what could be better than our wedding or today?”

“Why, the day you told me you loved me, of course.” His smile broadened. “What could make me prouder than that?”

Her deep brown eyes turned misty. There was a definite tremble to her lower lip when she smiled at him. “Hugo, I love you so much.”

He drew the carriage to a stop on the crest of the hill and leaned in for another kiss. Their lips clung in tender connection before he drew away. “What do you think?”

She made a moue of disappointment. “I think you should kiss me more often.”

A low chuckle greeted that suggestion. “Noted. But what do you think of the view?”

She blinked at him, as if she dragged herself back from some rapturous, faraway place. “The view.”

He knotted the reins over the rail at the front of the carriage. A wave of his hand indicated the scene before them. She turned to survey the valley, greener and lusher than the wild country that they’d traversed during the last hour.

“Hugo, it’s perfect.”

He’d been a happy man since she’d admitted that she loved him at the King’s Arms. But hearing Athene’s delight in this place where he hoped to create a family with her infused happiness deep in his bones. This was when their life together really started.

He, too, paused to take in the panorama.

At the base of the hills, a fine Palladian mansion nestled into the bend of a river that flowed to form a large lake sparkling in the sunlight.

Woods covered the gentle slopes rising behind the soft gray-stone buildings.

Gardens showing the first green traces of spring surrounded the house.

“I always stop here to remind myself how lucky I am. That counts for double, now that I’ve got you with me.”

“I can see why. I don’t know how you can bear to leave it.”

“I don’t unless I have to. The longest trip I’ve ever made was my journey to London to find a bride.”

“Well, you did that.”

“And I’d do it again. Hell, I’d go to the far reaches of the earth if it meant I came back with you at my side.”

“You’re such a romantic, Hugo.” She wriggled closer. “I love that you wear your heart on your sleeve.”

“I don’t, you know.” Before she could argue, he went on. “You’ve had my heart in your keeping from the first. So whatever you see on my sleeve, it’s not my heart, because that’s in your possession, my love.”

She gave another sigh and stretched up to kiss him again. To his relief, she didn’t linger. “Take me home, my beloved.”