Page 21 of The Duke’s Absolutely Fantastic Fling (The Notorious Briarwoods #15)

I ntellectually, Teague had understood what Josephine had been through.

He knew that she was an orphan of war as so many of Lord Achilles’ children were.

He’d known she must have suffered greatly.

But now understanding, truly hearing what Achilles had said, he realized that if he was not careful, he would fall short in supporting Josephine.

He felt such grief and pride in the woman he loved and the family that he was already a part of through his sister, Ellie.

He’d been able to face any difficulty with his brothers and his sister. Somehow, they’d made do, but he was standing now in a very different place of understanding than he had in the small hours of the night.

The woman he loved? He was asking things of her that perhaps she could not do.

Was he going to try to make her into something that she had no wish to be?

Would he take her to Scotland, to the north where the wind howled and the heather bloomed?

It was a land full of magic and mystery and contradiction. Could he take her from her family?

No, he couldn’t.

The answer was like a bolt out of the sky.

He could not do that to her.

And so he slipped into the salon where his brothers, much as they had done in Scotland, were sprawled on various chairs. They had been out with the other Briarwood young bucks, making merry all through the night. They were lavish with their adventures in London.

Perhaps a little too much.

“Right,” he announced, clapping his hands together in an echo of that morning so long ago. “We have a dilemma.”

His brothers groaned.

Brodie blinked. “A dilemma? What is it?”

“Has Napoleon surrendered?” Leith asked, wiping a hand over his face, his leg hooked over a leather chair’s arm.

“Did the Americans give up?” Archie demanded, wincing at the daylight.

“Nothing to do with war, nothing to do with politics, nothing to do with the great workings of history,” Teague returned. “This is about the most important woman in the world.”

His brothers snapped to, sitting up despite being exhausted from their late-night antics.

“You’ve come up with a solution,” Leith said.

“Thank God,” Brodie said.

Archie let out a sigh. “We thought you were going to muck it up.”

“Has she told you no?” Leith asked suddenly, clearly slightly panicked.

Brodie narrowed his eyes. “Oh dear God, she has. She’s turned you down and now you have to make some last pitch to win her back.”

Archie’s mouth dropped with horror. “Is it true? Are we heading back to Scotland without a new wonderful sister-in-law?”

Teague rolled his eyes. “Not a bit of it, but I know what needs to be done to make it all work.”

Leith stood, brushing his hands along his crumpled waistcoat. “What?”

Teague grew silent, reflecting on how foolish he’d been.

“I have not understood her, or myself, for that matter. I have felt melancholy for some time at being almost powerless in the face of what has befallen Scotland. I’ve felt the cry of history through my veins, through our whole family’s veins, wishing for a time that was great, but that time is long gone and there’s really only one way to make Scotland strong now. ”

“And that is?” Brodie prompted.

Teague grinned. “To live in England.”

Leith let out a bleat of horror. “To do what?”

Teague laughed. “Not the full year round. Only while Parliament is in session. I should be sitting in Parliament. My rare visits are a travesty. I know I have done much for the war effort, but it is not enough. I will no longer spend most of the year in the Highlands. Not if I wish to make things better for Scotland, not if I wish to actually help people.”

Instead of looking horrified as he’d feared his brothers would, their eyes lit with excitement.

“At last,” Leith crowed.

“Finally,” Brodie added.

“We’ve been waiting for this,” Archie boomed.

“What?” Teague gasped.

“Look, we all prefer Scotland. Anyone with brains would. It’s far more beautiful. It is a magnificent country, but sometimes you just have to live where you can get the most done,” explained Brodie.

“And London,” said Leith, “is where you can get the most done.”

Teague eyed his brothers. “Why didn’t any of you ever tell me this before?”

“Because some things,” Archie drawled, “you have to figure out for yourself. You’re very stubborn.”

“And we didn’t wish to push,” said Leith.

Brodie ventured, “Also, we weren’t entirely certain if Josephine was going to say yes in the end.”

“I see,” he laughed.

“But has she?” Brodie asked.

“Said yes?” prompted Archie.

Teague beamed.

“She has!” rejoiced Leith.

“She has told me she will be my wife, and I cannot express how full of joy I am,” Teague replied.

“Oh, we know,” Archie said. “We know how badly you want her. That’s the entire reason we’re here and willing to do all of this.”

“So,” Brodie said, grinning, “several months a year in Scotland during the best weather, several months a year here in London when the weather is terrible at home. There are many delights here to improve the winter months, along with you managing the country better. I don’t see how that’s a bad thing. ”

“I suppose neither do I,” Teague said, relieved, because the truth was winter in Scotland could be quite challenging.

So they would come when Parliament opened sometime between November and January, and they would stay until it closed, which was often June or July.

And here, in this great city where so much occurred, Josephine would thrive and she would be close to her family.

“Now, what are you going to do about it?” said Archie.

“I’m going to go, and I’m going to assure her that she need never fear the future with me.”

Brodie smiled.

Then Teague cocked his head to the side. “And how are things going with Emily and Anne?”

Leith and Brodie rolled their eyes.

“Those two are impossible.” Brodie said.

Archie laughed. “As they should be.”

Teague waggled his brows. “Any more weddings in the offing?”

“Not yet,” groaned Brodie.

Teague laughed. “The more the merrier, I say.”

“Leave off,” Archie drawled, but with a wink.

“Go find your lass,” insisted Leith.

Teague drew in a breath, feeling more hopeful than he had in some time, and headed out into the hallway.

He knew exactly what he had to do. He needed to find the woman of his dreams. He needed to tell her exactly what his plan was.

He caught a glimpse of colorful gowns through the window, close to the river.

He’d rather have found her alone, but he was done with waiting. As he burst outside of the house, eager to declare his resolutions, his heart leapt.

He raced across the groomed lawn, headed down to the river, and threw himself down on one knee before Josephine, Emily, Anne, Ellie, Phoebe, and a lady who he felt fairly certain was Josephine’s mother.

“Will you marry me?” he asked, throwing out his arms.

Her eyes danced as she took him in. “I already told you yes. What are you doing? Stand up.”

“I know,” he said, “but it was never particularly formal, my asking. I wish it to be formal now. I thought the audience would be a nice touch, since the Briarwoods do love a performance. And I have something else to say.”

She stared down at him. “What else could you possibly have to say?”

“You’ve been crying,” he said, astonished to realize that her eyes were red-rimmed.

“Yes,” she said, “I have.”

“Oh, Josephine,” he rasped. “Is this a mistake? You do not have to marry me just because—”

“No, you great fool of a man,” she cut in, her voice full of love. “I want to marry you more than I could possibly say.”

“But you are afraid of what that might change,” he ventured. “And for very good reason.”

She gaped at him, eyes full of wonder. “I am.”

“It is not an unreasonable fear,” he said.

“Isn’t it?” she said. “Don’t most young ladies have to go away and be with their husband?”

“Then it is exactly what I thought,” he breathed.

“What?”

He pressed his lips together, closed his eyes, and then, opening them, he shared his thoughts. “I spoke with your father and your cousins, and I confessed to being extremely dense. I did not mean to be.”

“How so?” she asked, clearly surprised by his sudden turn of conversation.

The other ladies were listening too, leaning in, eager.

“I could never ask you to go away from the Briarwoods, Josephine, and I never will. I think that we can manage things beautifully. You can be my duchess and we will live here in London, and you can go to as many plays as you please. I will buy you your own desk and writing tools. You can write about those performances and tell the world which ones to see and perhaps which ones needed a little bit of extra help. And then we shall go to Scotland for the end of the summer, and we shall invite your family and fill my palace with Briarwoods. Life will be merry, and we shall overcome any odds.”

Tears flowed down Josephine’s cheeks, but she was smiling. Smiling so brightly she would have outshone the sun. “Get up. Get up, my own heart.”

He did and pulled her into his arms, hardly daring to believe her words.

Her own heart.

That was him.

Emily, Anne, Ellie, Phoebe, and Josephine’s mother stared on approvingly.

“I told you he’s a good one,” Emily declared.

Anne nodded. “Exactly. We knew you’d marry him. I was certain from the beginning that he would do the trick.”

And then his sister, Ellie, all but shouted, “I had always hoped this was how it would be, and now all my hopes are realized.”

“And you,” Teague said, turning to Josephine’s mother as he held Josephine close. “Can you approve of us?”

Josephine’s mother took him in for a long moment. “I have long heard about you. I have been given many reports from my sisters-in-law and from my mother-in-law about you. My brothers-in-law too.”

He tensed. He had not realized that there had been such a study of him, though he probably should have.

Josephine’s mother lifted her chin and said, “And this is what I have to say.”

He waited, hoping, fearing.

“I could not trust Josephine with anyone other than you,” Lady Aurelia Briarwood insisted. “For I see how you look at her now. I see the love that you have in your eyes and I see what you are willing to sacrifice.”

“It is no sacrifice because this is something for me too. I think it would be very easy to say that I was doing this all for her, but that is not the case,” he reassured, pulling Josephine tighter into his embrace, tilting her head back with his thumb and forefinger as he gazed down at her.

“You have opened the world to me, Josephine. You have showed me that there is more to life than walking the Highland bens. And while I shall always love walking the Highland bens and living in my home nestled along the loch, I have seen that there is beauty in London. Stories are being told here, music is being created here, and art that I never would’ve seen is being introduced to the world.

And I, for the first time in a long time, have hope, because the souls of dreamers are here daring it all in order to make something new.

So many have come to this great city to make their mark and fight against those who would tear it all down. ”

Love filled him then. Love so intense he could hardly believe it was possible. He slid his hand to cup her cheek. “And while it is true that the world is full of those who would tear it down, we shall not be cowed by them, shall we? No, together, we shall be the menders of this world.”

The love in her eyes told him all he needed to know.

“Unlike those who destroy, my love, you are so right. We shall be the builders,” she whispered. “We shall shape the future together.”

Her words, oh, her words, they told him that despite all her fears, they would beat any hardship together.

“And what a beautiful one it will be, my Josephine.”