Page 174 of Love ad Lib
Libby followedthe sound of voices to the lawns at the very back of the grounds. The far side looked out over the parkland and ended with a ha-ha, the edge of the lawn dropping vertically into a dry ditch that slowly sloped back up on the other side, giving the illusion of the garden continuing out into the wider estate. Croquet hoops had been set up and Arthur and Vivienne, Connor, Willow, Leo and Summer were already playing.
‘Aha!’ Arthur cried. ‘There’s our darling girl with the guests. Want to split ’em up into teams?’
Libby bit back her disappointment. The scene was almost perfect, but it was clear Henry wasn’t coming. She put on a smile, divided the tour members, and put each group with one of the Foxbrooke family before explaining the rules and how the game of Pall Mall evolved into croquet. Dervla arrived with plates of biscuits as the game continued, with Arthur, Leo and Summer crying foul the moment things weren’t going their way.
Happy that the tour was exceeding everyone’s expectations, Libby strolled to the edge of the ha-ha and gazed across the parkland. The ancient oak trees stood like sentinels in the landscape and in the distance the surface of the lake glittered in the summer sun. Skylarks swooped through the air hunting insects and high in the sky, a buzzard soared on the thermals. The version of the countryside she’d loved in Jane Austen novels was in front of her, more visceral and more beautiful than she could ever have imagined.
In the far distance, two specks of black shimmered on the horizon. Were they horses? Within a minute she could see two of them galloping at full tilt in the direction of the Manor, their riders low on their backs and urging them on. Was one of them Estelle?
They were still a few hundred yards out when one of the riders waved, her long curly black hair streaming behind her. But if that one was Estelle, who was the—
Henry.
Relief, joy and emotion bubbled out of her and she gulped a breath, tears spilling down her cheeks.
‘Stand back, everyone!’ Arthur yelled. ‘Incoming!’
The horses weren’t slowing down. Surely, they weren’t going to jump from the park onto the lawn over the ha-ha?
Estelle was whooping as they drew near, urging Duke to overtake her brother. Everyone moved to the side as the two horses leapt onto the garden. Henry circled his horse to a stop. He looked uncertain as he gazed at Libby, his forehead furrowing when he noticed her tears.
‘Henry!’ Estelle yelled. He turned instinctively towards his sister as she aimed a weapons-grade water blaster at his chest and pulled the trigger.
He shook his head and dismounted once she’d emptied it.
‘There we go, Libby,’ Estelle said with a grin. ‘He’s all yours now.’ She took the reins from Henry’s horse and led it away.
Henry stepped towards her, his wet shirt clinging indecently to his body.
‘Libby,’ he began, uncertainly.
Fresh tears ran down her cheeks. ‘You’re here,’ she whispered.
He wiped her tears away with his thumbs, then took her hands. ‘I’m so sorry, Libby. If your feelings are still what they were last week, tell me at once. My affections for you are unchanged. I love you with my heart and soul.’
‘You love me?’
He nodded. ‘I am yours. Forever, if you’ll have me?’
Her heart pounded, her mind rearranging itself as it struggled to comprehend what he was saying.
‘If you won’t have ’im, I bloody will!’
Libby glanced around with a gasp. She’d completely forgotten they were surrounded by people. People who, until that moment, had been silent.
Some of the members of the tour were filming; the rest, like his family, were standing as still as statues, anxiously waiting for her answer.
She turned back to him and blinked her blurry eyes clear. ‘Yes, of course I will,’ she replied. ‘I love you. I love you so very much.’
The tension dissolved from his face and she reached up and brushed her lips against his, only vaguely aware of the shouts and cheers around them.
He wrapped his arms around her with a groan, his mouth pressed to hers as he kissed her with the passion and intensity of a man brought back from the brink.
Libby clung to him. Now, in his arms, the love she felt only amplified how bereft she’d been without him by her side. She had to find a way to make this work. He was too precious to lose.
His lips broke from hers and he lifted her off the ground. She held around the back of his neck, positive she was only seconds away from swooning.
‘Where are we going?’ she asked, breathlessly as he strode towards the house.
