Simply Forbidden (28 page)

“I have to go and see my uncle, don’t I?”

She met his gaze. “You don’t
have
to, Gabriel, but I think it might be a good idea, don’t you?”

He sighed, rose to his feet, and held out his hand. “Will you come with me?”

She placed her gloved hand in his and smiled. “Of course. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“You are a bloodthirsty wench, aren’t you?” he murmured as they proceeded down the narrow staircase and out into the busy street. “I promise you I’m not going to lay a finger on him.”

Their carriage rolled up and Gabriel gave the coachman the address of his uncle’s club and then helped Lisette inside.

G
abriel took a deep steadying breath as he studied the imposing door to his uncle’s club. He took Lisette’s hand and walked up the steps toward the doorman.

“Good morning. We wish to see Mr. Granger. Is he available?”

The doorman looked Gabriel up and down as if he was a street vender hawking his wares. “Are you a member here, sir?”

“Obviously not.”

“Then you can’t go in, sir.”

“I’m sure you have a morning room for callers tucked away somewhere in this monstrous building?”

“We do, sir, but …”

Gabriel took off his hat and pulled off his gloves. “Then we’ll wait for Mr. Granger in there.” He kept walking even as the doorman tried to bar his way. “You’d better show me where it is, or else I’ll simply barge upstairs and start looking for Mr. Granger myself.”

“The waiting room is through here, sir.” The doorman sounded flustered as he darted around Gabriel to fling open a
door at the end of a dingy hallway. “Whom shall I say is asking for him, sir?”

“The Earl and Countess of Swanfield.”

“Yes, sir.”

Despite his age, the man disappeared from view with the speed of a greyhound. Gabriel grimaced at the cold dreary oak-paneled room and mourned the lack of a fire. Lisette tucked her hands into her fur muff and started pacing the floorboards, as if she was too cold or too nervous to sit down. Gabriel concentrated on calming his breathing and watching the door.

After a considerable wait, he heard voices in the corridor and straightened up. The door opened to admit his uncle, who was using a cane to walk with. Even in the dim light, Gabriel could see the yellowish, waxen tone of his uncle’s skin, and the lines of pain etched into his face. Mr. Granger ignored Lisette and turned to Gabriel.

“I understand you wish to see me, Swanfield.”

Gabriel inclined his head a frigid inch. “Indeed. I wanted to inform you that your stewardship of my estates is at an end. I’ve taken the final steps to regain control of my finances and separate them entirely from yours.”

“Is that so?” Mr. Granger eased himself into a chair by the fireside and looked up at Gabriel, his expression inscrutable. “And what of the powers you so willingly relinquished to me on your return from Spain?”

Gabriel met his gaze without flinching. “I’m no longer
willing
to give you any control over me at all. According to my solicitor, the letter I signed when I was ill isn’t legally binding. I have also gained the backing of some of the most influential men at court and in the government. Your day is done, uncle.”

“My day
is
almost done, nephew, but that is between me and my God.” Mr. Granger straightened painfully in his chair. “Do you intend to continue to extract vengeance from me for my ‘imagined’ wrongdoing?”

Gabriel tried to relax his clenched fists. “I’m not like you, uncle. Once my affairs are free of your interference I’m willing to let things stay in the past.”

An expression of intense distaste flickered across Mr. Granger’s face. “For a moment I thought you’d discovered your balls, nephew, and intended to act in a manner befitting your sire.”

“You would prefer it if I ruined you? Why would I wish to do that, when I find nothing to admire or respect in the previous earl’s conduct? I’d much rather move forward.”

Anger flashed in Mr. Granger’s faded brown eyes. “If he was here to witness your sniveling cowardice, your father would wish he’d smothered you at birth.”

“No doubt he would.” Gabriel found himself smiling at the impotent fury on the other man’s face. There was nothing his uncle could do to hurt him anymore.
Nothing
. He had a whole new life to embark upon. His estate was safe, his mother was alive, and, best of all, he had Lisette beside him. For a moment, he almost felt sorry for his uncle, but not quite.

Mr. Granger glanced at Lisette. “Have you thought through all the ramifications of your choices, nephew? You are newly married. Is your wife ready to share in your continuing disgrace when a military court finds you guilty of cowardice?”

Lisette raised her chin and looked first at Gabriel and then at his uncle. “I’m ready to share in all aspects of my husband’s life, sir. Surely that is what family is for?”

Gabriel fought a smile as she sat down. “I received news this morning from Major Wesley that I’ve been cleared of all charges,” Gabriel said calmly. “I’m sure it will be in all the papers tomorrow. Please don’t forget to tell Michael. I’m sure he’ll be mortified to hear that his efforts to discredit me on your behalf have amounted to nothing.”

Gabriel held out his hand and Lisette came to join him. He withdrew a letter from the inside of his coat and handed it to his uncle. “I’ve written down the terms of our legal separation.
I expect you to reply to my solicitor by the end of the week and agree to them.”

“Why would I do that?”

Gabriel shrugged. “Because if you don’t, I
will
drag you through the courts and beggar you. You might not be long for this world, but your family will suffer in your stead. I’m sure you wouldn’t want that.”

Spittle glistened on Mr. Granger’s chin as he bared his teeth. “I’ve always said bad breeding will out. You are indeed the devil’s spawn.”

“Aye, and as I said, I have no wish to be like my father.” Gabriel bowed. “Good-bye, uncle, and I hope I never have to see you again.”

He turned to the door and escorted Lisette out. His desire to lambaste his uncle for every slight, grievance, and hurt had completely disappeared. It simply wasn’t worth it. He waited for his composure to dissolve and for his body to start shaking in reaction to facing down his enemy, but nothing happened. He simply kept walking, his head held high and his past finally behind him.

Much later that evening, as Gabriel waited for Lisette to join him in the small family dining room at the rear of the immense house, he realized that he felt different. It was as if he’d sloughed off a skin and emerged into the light again. The small brass clock on the mantelpiece struck seven, and the door opened to admit his wife dressed in pale green and cream.

“Am I late?”

Gabriel smiled at her and noticed her heightened color and the small bruise on her throat where he’d nipped her skin during their recent lovemaking. “Not at all, my dear. In fact, I think our guests have just arrived.”

Lisette came to stand by his side and he placed her gloved hand on his sleeve. He could hear the sound of voices approaching
and the deep burr of Mr. Sturges’s northern accent echoing in the marble hallway.

“Mr. Sturges, welcome to our …” He stopped speaking as Mr. Sturges ushered a diminutive woman into the room, a protective hand on her shoulder. She wore a modest, blue high-necked muslin gown and a soft white cap. Gabriel swallowed hard. “Ma’am?”

The woman lifted her head and smiled tremulously at him. “Gabriel?”

He wasn’t aware of stepping forward, but suddenly she was in his arms and he was holding her and babbling incoherent nonsense in her ear. The familiar scent of lavender engulfed his senses. He couldn’t let her go, he just
couldn’t
.

“I never thought I’d see you again, I thought he’d killed you, I …”

She stroked his hair and rocked him until tears flowed from his eyes. “Ah, my little lamb, I know, I know …”

After some time, he found himself sitting next to his mother on the couch, still clutching her hand like the nine-year-old boy who’d never wanted to let her go in the first place. His emotions were in pieces, his vaunted control destroyed, and yet he didn’t care at all. He looked up to find Lisette and Mr. Sturges smiling at him and managed to smile back.

“You didn’t tell me that you’d brought my mother to London with you, sir.”

His mother patted his hand. “He didn’t bring me, lad. I insisted on coming. I figured Mr. Granger could no longer hurt me.” She sighed. “I wasn’t expecting you to want to see me. I thought I might get a glimpse of you in passing, just to make sure that you were all right.”

He squeezed her hand. “How could you think I wouldn’t want to see you?”

She grimaced, her vivid blue eyes fixed on his. “I’m still a
scullery maid at heart, love. I wouldn’t want to shame you in front of all your new, high-class friends.”

Gabriel brought her work-roughened hand to his lips. “You could never shame me.”

Mr. Sturges cleared his throat loudly. “I told you so, my dear. I told you he was a good, decent man despite his sire.”

Lisette came to kneel at his side and looked up at his mother. “Of course Gabriel is a good man. He
is
your son after all.” She nodded reassuringly at his mother. “Ma’am, Gabriel and I have both learned that listening to society’s opinions is a very bad thing indeed. We are quite happy to walk our own path.” Her smile was bright and full of love. “My family isn’t exactly what you might consider
conventional
either.”

Gabriel studied the faces of the two women he loved most in the world. His past and his future irrevocably intertwined, his life made whole, his ability to love mended and renewed. Whatever the future held, he knew he would face it with confidence, because he really didn’t have a choice. Between them, his wife and his mother would never let him be alone again.