Page 25 of The Dream of Love
“Enough,” Adam said calmly. “You’ll crush no one. You’ll go home and sleep off your drunken rage. Perhaps as that dense fog of stupor dissipates, you’ll come to realize what a gem you have in Remi. She loves you with all her being, would have taken any scrap of affection from you and treasured it. You’ve had your chance and now it is mine.”
He turned to Remi. “I will love you to the day I die, lass. While there is breath in me, I will honor and cherish you and the children I hope we’ll be blessed to have.”
Several ladies fainted.
Remi couldn’t pull her gaze from Adam, but she thought Emily Dowd and Lady Monkton were among those who had thudded to the floor. Yes, there would be weeping, wailing, and fainting throughout Wellesford tonight.
“Adam, do you mean it?” she whispered, hardly daring to breathe.
“Aye, every blessed word. I’m sorry you proposed to me first. It was my intention to offer for you tonight.” He kissed her lightly on the lips, the pressure of his mouth warm and delightful on hers. “As for my family, there’s something I ought to have told you about them.”
Her father laughed harshly. “Here it comes, Remi. Now you’ll see what you’ve stepped into. You could have had a viscount or a baron. Perhaps an earl. But you’ve chosen the penniless son of a lowly Scottish crofter. Let’s see how warm your threadbare clothing keeps you in the years to come.”
She ignored her father and maintained her gaze on Adam. She knew he would pounce on the man if he dared harm her.The man. She could not think of him as her father. What parent would ever treat his child this way? “If you love your family,” she said, smiling up at Adam, “then I shall love them, too.”
“As I’m sure they’ll love you.” He was grinning at her now. “I should have told you about them sooner.”
She nodded. “It isn’t important. I love you for the man you are.”
“A nobody,” her father muttered.
Adam’s smile faded as he stared at her. “Perhaps I am that, but my family is quite important in Scotland.”
More snorts of disdain from her father. “Whiskey runners?”
“Aye, there’s a little of that. Remi, lass, I wanted to tell you sooner.” He glanced over her head to Nathaniel. “Lord Welles has always known the truth, but I asked him to keep it quiet. There’s no need any longer.” He sounded pained as he said, “My father…happens to be the Duke of Inverness.”
More female bodies dropped. Remi was too busy making sense of what he was telling her. “Not that I’ll ever inherit the title. As I said, I have older brothers and they have sons of their own. My brother Gavin is the heir and Gareth is the spare. At best I was only ever third in line. Now I believe I’m about seventh.”
“You’re the son of a duke?” her father said.
“Fifth son by birth order.”
Remi cast him a glowing smile. “I love fifth sons.”
“And I happen to love auburn-haired hoydens who save foxes. Will ye come home with me, Remi?”
“To Scotland?”
He nodded. “Aye, lass. My father will be pleased to meet my new wife. It will be good to see him and my brothers again. As you said, it’s long past time we reconciled.”
“It would be my pleasure.”
Epilogue
Inverness, Scotland
July 1818
Remi’s heart beatfaster as the massive castle where Adam had been raised came into view. The stone fortress overlooking the wild sea and the ruggedly beautiful highlands around it seemed to suit his temperament and she saw how his character had been formed by his upbringing here. Wild and a bit isolated. Strong and stoic.
“What do ye think, Remi?” His light brogue had returned, not out of irritation but of happiness, for his eyes were alight and he had a smile on his face as their carriage rolled into the castle courtyard and drew up beside the front entry.
“It is magnificent. I cannot wait to meet your father and brothers.”
“I don’t think you’ll meet Gareth and his brood yet, but Gavin and his son are sure to be here.”
“Little Rafe,” she said with a nod. “I hope they’ll like me.”
