Page 69 of Lady of Providence
“Thank you all,” Elizabeth said, retaking her seat. “Before you depart, I would like to provide you with one last piece of information. The Redmond family has decided to now bank with Clarke & Co. You may have also heard of the run on the bank just two days ago. The malicious rumors that had been spread about this bank caused great panic among our clients, and many came to remove their savings. We provided them the same service that Clarke & Co. has always been known for, and I am happy to say that a very large percentage of them returned just this morning to re-invest with us. It seems that no other bank in London can offer the same service as we do. I hope that many other major clients will soon follow us, as we remain strong as a partnership.”
The partners looked impressed with her words, and Gabriel’s heart swelled with pride.
What a woman.
* * *
Gabriel whistleda tune as he departed the bank and entered his carriage. He had begun this day with the knowledge he was going to be dismissed as a partner, the worry that the bank itself failing, and the disappointment at the fact that Elizabeth continued to reject him.
Now, just a few hours later, he remained a partner, the bank seemed to be in sound and strong practice after all, and as for Elizabeth… well, she hadn’t come any closer to accepting him as far as he was aware, but he could have sworn there was something there when she looked at him, that she was, perhaps, warming to him once more.
Could he be imagining it? Perhaps. But it was enough, for now, a glimmer of hope.
Never in his life had Gabriel had to work so hard for something — but had anything been so worth it before? The only reason he even had to do so was because of his own actions. Perhaps her refusal of him had also partially set her apart from any other.
Gabriel tried to picture his life in the future. First, life with another woman. A woman who would seamlessly devote her attention to following his orders in running his multitude of households and estates, demurely greeting guests when he hosted parties, bearing and raising his children as was expected of her.
The only problem was, he couldn’t see a face on the woman, and that vision brought him nothing but additional boredom and an ache in his chest.
When he replaced the woman’s face with Elizabeth’s, everything changed. The wife in this vision did not follow his orders when it came to the running of his household and estates but rather determined what she felt were the best decisions. She greeted his guests, but not demurely — no, she wasn’t a woman to stand behind him, but beside him, for she needed to be present and visible due to her own business interests. And as for bearing and raising his children — well, this woman still did that. And the thought of the woman as Elizabeth caused warmth unlike anything he had ever felt before to flow through him. When he pictured a family — with Elizabeth — that hole that had been growing ever wider not only shrunk but completely closed, and Gabriel was filled with a serene peace that he nearly didn’t recognize.
It was his love for her. Love that he hadn’t wanted to name, but that had been growing ever stronger until it finally made its way through his thick skull.
The carriage pulled up at his London home — so large, he thought as his eyes followed the expansive wings stretching out east and west, but so empty. He knew what it was he was longing for now, to fill that space with children, and additional caregivers for his family, and — most of all — his wife.
Only one problem remained — the fact that Elizabeth was still not entirely convinced that she wanted him in return. When she looked at him today, in that moment before the meeting commenced, he had thought he could feel her soul reaching his, sharing a moment of connectedness. He knew she still didn’t completely trust him, and worried about what her life would look like were she a duchess. As Gabriel now entered his study and sat behind his desk, his chin upon his fist, he thought of the way Elizabeth’s mind worked. She needed to be convinced on multiple levels — both emotionally and intellectually. She worked best when her heart and mind were as one.
Gabriel called out to his butler, who appeared momentarily.
“Your Grace?” The man asked.
“Can you please arrange a meeting with my solicitor, as quickly as possible?”
The butler nodded, confirming the appointment but an hour later.
His plans concluded, now all Gabriel had to do was follow through himself. If he didn’t succeed… then all would be lost.
CHAPTER33
Elizabeth returned home that evening feeling as though a great burden had been lifted from her shoulders. Were she being honest, she hadn’t meant to tell the partners the truth of it all. But in that moment, the denial on the tip of her tongue, she knew that she couldn’t be dishonest while expecting that the rest of them model the integrity of the bank.
“So I told the truth,” she said to her grandmother, providing her the entire story from the beginning. Her grandmother was not shocked, as Elizabeth had expected her to be by her confession.
“Just because I am an old woman now, it does not mean that I forget what it was like to be in the young blush of love,” she said with a smile, and Elizabeth began to shake her head.
“That’s the thing, Grandmother,” she said. “At the time, I think it was more infatuation than love. I cannot use that as an excuse. We were two young people who were caught up in a moment of passion, not thinking of the consequences.”
“I have seen the two of you together many times now,” Justine said, “And I have a hard time believing that the two of you do not love one another.”
“Therein lies the problem,” Elizabeth said, her voice soft as she looked around the drawing room. “I do love him. So much. Only I was too proud, too stubborn to admit it when I should have, and now it is too late.”
Justine leaned across the table between them and placed a hand on Elizabeth’s. “Darling, it is never too late,” she said, her smile gentle. “You have an entire lifetime ahead of you. A lifetime that could be filled with love, or could be filled with regret for what could have been. Tell him how you feel. What’s the worst he could say?”
Elizabeth nodded, though a few of her reservations remained.
“I am afraid.”
“Of what?”
