Page 22 of Invitation to Pleasure
She couldn’t speak. Worried at what he would think when he read the note. She saw Rheda and Rufus watching them with a smile on their faces. She’d gotten Rufus and his estate manager to witness the document to ensure it could not be challenged. He must have told his wife, for Rheda’s eyes welled with tears.
Daniel gently undid the ribbon and unrolled the document. She watched as he read but his face remained unreadable. When he’d finished he rolled the document back up and looked at her.
She couldn’t stand the silence. “I wanted you to know how much I love you and trust you. I knew how much it would mean to you to be near Rheda, and I could think of no one better to look out for the staff. You could buy Went—”
“It’s too generous.” He opened his mouth and then shut it again. He ran his hand through his hair. “But God I love you for it. To know I have your trust… I’m the luckiest man alive.”
“So you’ll accept. I want you to use the money to buy Wentworth Estate from my father. It solves all our problems. Mother can stay in the house she knows. The staff will have us to ensure they are employed and treated well. We can turn Wentworth back into the best horse stud in Newmarket, besides Rufus’s of course. And you can be near your sister. And father is gone from our lives for good.”
Daniel looked across at his sister and Rufus.
Rheda offered an opinion. “I think it’s a wonderful idea. You can keep Tumbury Cliff and breed the cavalry horses you love. And you can breed thoroughbreds here at Wentworth.”
Rufus added, “We could work together and be the biggest and most successful thorough bred stud in all of Europe. I’ve already agreed to lend you the money to buy Wentworth until Georgiana comes into her trust.”
Daniel could barely breath he was so filled with love. Georgiana had signed over the money in her trust to him. He would have total control over everything she would receive. He understood just how much of a gesture this was.
“Sweeting, I’m so touched I barely know what to say. You don’t need to do this to prove your love. I can see it shining in your eyes. I can feel it in your touch. My heart and soul is completely in tune with yours.”
He watched her smile die as if she thought he would say no.
He cupped her cheek. “I have another idea. How about we use the money but we put Wentworth into both our names. We would own it jointly.”
The smile that she sent him made his heart fly. “I love that idea just about as much as I love you.”
Rheda’s squeal of delight warmed them too. “That’s the best Christmas news of all. You’ll be nearby. I’ll have my brother back in my life, and I’ll have a sister-in-law too.”
“Rufus and I will speak with your father tomorrow and see what can be arranged. He would have to agree of course.”
Georgiana shrugged. “He will agree because when you tell him we are to be married, he’ll realize any chance of getting his hands on my trust money is gone. He was counting on my distrust of men. He had thought I’d never marry. He hadn’t counted on fate sending me the man of my heart.”
“I also want to thank your father. If he had not used Apollo to repay has debt to Rufus, which made you try to steal him back, we may never have met.”
At Daniel’s words she started laughing. “So father has no one but himself to blame for taking a horse that did not belong to him. Poetic justice I believe that is called.”
Daniel pulled her into his arms and kissed the woman who owned his heart. “But just so we are sure, having your love is the best Christmas present ever.” Then he soundly kissed her.
Epilogue
Wentworth Estate - July
The heatof the midday sun was somewhat muted by the shade from the oak tree they were sitting under. Daniel sat with his back against the tree watching Georgiana playing hoops with Samantha and Wilton. Rheda was lying next to him, her head in Rufus’s lap.
He’d married Georgiana a few days after New Year by a marriage license, letting Rheda fuss over the wedding to take her mind off her upcoming surgery.
That was months ago. It had been six months since his sister’s operation and God willing Rheda would be with them well into old age. The surgeon had revealed the lump was merely a vesicle and she did not have the cancer.
“Daniel, it’s too hot for your wife to be playing with the children in her condition.”
He smiled to himself. Georgiana had only told him that she was with child this morning. How did Rheda know? “Is this what I am to expect living near you. That you know more than I about my wife and our life,” he said on a laugh.
“Don’t worry. She hasn’t told me. I caught her cradling her stomach this morning and guessed.” She looked at him with such joy and pride. “You’re not sad you moved here to be near me, are you?”
He wasn’t. “I still own Tumbury Cliff Manor and in time we will likely spend the winters there as they are milder.” He loved his new home because it was where Georgiana was happiest. Her mother’s state of mind meant moving someplace new was questionable. New faces and new places upset her, except Hascombe for some reason. “Lady Wentworth needs to be here, and Georgiana wishes to stay near her mother.”
And Rufus added, “And you want to be with the woman you love.”
He nodded and rose to his feet, his eyes set on his beautiful wife. “On that note I shall go and rescue my wife. A rest from this hot weather is calling.”
