After an arduous day of travel, they arrived at Alcott Hall with the fading light. Rosalie begged them to stop at the last turn so she could admire the house for a moment, nestled so beautifully by gardens, hills, and trees. Love for the place swelled inside her.
Home. A family to love her.
It still felt too good to be true.
“What are you thinking?” said Burke from her side.
“I am thinking about how happy I am to be home,” she replied, placing a hand over his knee.
“When we get inside, there is something we must discuss,” James muttered. “All of us.”
Rosalie glanced from him to the others. “Can we not get a hint of it now?”
“Best save it for when we’re inside,” he replied, rapping his fist on the carriage roof.
The coachman gave a call and the carriage rattled on.
James left the unloading of the luggage with Mrs. Davies. He only asked for one small travel case to be brought to his study. He led the way, Rosalie, Burke, and Tom following. Rosalie knew it would be pointless to get him to say a word before he was ready, so she just helped herself to a place on the sofa and waited. Tom made them all drinks, passing the glasses around, while James stood behind his desk shuffling papers in the travel case.
“The suspense is killing us,” Burke said at last.
“I just need to make sure I have it all in order,” James replied, stepping around his desk with a thick file in hand. He took the glass Tom offered and sat down in the chair opposite Rosalie. “We haven’t really had a moment in all the…”
“Chaos?” Rosalie offered.
“Aye,” he replied. “I have something I need to show you. I think it’s best we all know about it. I only received the report the day after Burke woke up, and since then it’s been—”
“Chaos, yes, we’ve established,” said Burke. “James, for the love of god, just show us the file.”
“It’s for Rosalie,” he replied, giving Burke a pointed look.
“Oh…shit,” Burke whispered. “James, if this—”
“Wait, what is for Rosalie?” She sat forward. “James, what have you done?”
James sighed, giving her a guilty look that set her heart to racing. “I knew you would never agree to marry any of us so long as your independence was at stake. You needed assurances that you would not be confined nor controlled. For a lady, freedom in a marriage means financial freedom. I knew I couldn’t possibly give you money and have you accept it, even if it freed you to marry Burke…which was my original plan.”
“Oh, god,” she gasped, glancing from James to Burke. “You were going to pay me to marry Burke?”
“I was going to settle a dowry on you,” he corrected. “I was going to settle a sum on you both so that money would be no impediment to your happiness.”
She blinked back tears, knowing that was exactly the kind of heavy-handed gesture James Corbin might perform. “But something clearly changed your mind.”
“You changed my mind,” he replied. “All your talk of marriage as a cage, your outspoken loathing of the institution. And then there was the way you panicked and groused every time I spent so much as a shilling on you in any way you deemed frivolous. I knew you’d never take a settlement you hadn’t earned…but what if there was money you had earned?”
“I don’t understand.”
He nodded, drumming his fingers on the folder. “You mentioned your father had a brother, a John Harrow? He emigrated to India some thirty years ago, and the family never heard from him again.”
“You found him,” she whispered.
“I tracked him down, yes. I hope it does not pain you to learn that he died four years ago.”
“Oh, well that is…I never knew him.” She glanced at the others. “Is it wrong to say I feel nothing for his passing?”
“I knew my father well, and I felt very little at his passing,” Burke replied with a shrug.
“What did you learn about him?” said Tom. “You must have learned something.”
“Aye, he died without wife or child,” James explained. “Since his younger brother is also dead, you are his sole heir. Having tracked him down, I next had to track his assets. I found he has a business partner still living, a Mr. Occum. He provided a full accounting of your uncle’s business affairs. He’s willing to keep you on as a silent partner. Otherwise, he will buy you out of your share. I have his offer here, and I can set you up an appointment with my lawyer and an accountant so you can understand all the particulars before you decide.”
Rosalie’s head was spinning. “James, please—”
Tom leaned forward, eyes wide with interest. “How much is it?”
“His savings total about forty thousand pounds, and his half of the business is easily worth another eighty, less if you choose to liquidate your share,” he added at her. “The point is that it is yours. Sign the top paper in this folder, and we can make it official. Perhaps, when my mother joins us in the spring, she can give you lessons on how to double it. You’re tenacious and clever, I have no doubt you could manage it.”
This was all too much. “James, when?”
He raised a confused brow. “When what?”
“When did you do all this?” She cried. “This is…investigating assets and meeting business partners and reports and…when?”
“The moment we arrived in London.”
She sat back, heart pounding in her ears. The moment they arrived, when he sent her alone into his house wearing his evening coat, his rejection of her still ringing in her ears. That was the moment he began finding her a fortune so his best friend could marry her. “James…”
“We need to talk about our situation,” he went on. “We need to come to a decision. The chaos with George changes everything. We cannot go on as planned.”
“Why not?”
“Because with George as the duke, and with his marriage to Piety, Alcott would have been a safe space for you. You would have had my mother, the new duchess, her sister, their friends, quickly there would have been children. All these feminine touches would excuse all whispers of impropriety.”
Her heart sank. “And now?”
“And now Alcott is home to a bachelor duke. I believe my mother refused to join us on purpose. She wants to create as untenable a situation as possible. You cannot stay here as my ward. It would be scandalous.”
“If I cannot stay, then I wonder why you dragged me along at all,” she said, rising to her feet. “You should have left me in London!”
“Rosalie you’re not listening to him,” Burke soothed.
“Did you not just hear him say I cannot stay—”
“As his ward,” Tom pressed. “Sweet girl, he’s right. Everything is changed. We said we’d not push the marriage issue unless we all thought it right. Protecting you is paramount, but to protect you, we must also protect James. Marry James, and you can stay at Alcott as his wife, not his ward. There will not be a hint of impropriety then.”
“This is the best course,” Burke agreed. “Marry James, and we all get what we want.”
“And what is that?” she said, glancing from one to the other.
“To love and cherish you for the rest of our days,” Burke replied. “Between the three of us, we will give you a life so full of happiness. There will be children, a family. Adventure if you want it. Tom can sail a boat, James is rich as Croesus, and I promise to make you laugh every hour of the day.”
“You’d never be alone again, Rose,” Tom added with a smile. “Never worry. Never struggle. No bars and no limits. Just…freedom.”
Her heart was racing out of control. “This is madness. This cannot be happening. You talk of children?” She spun to face James. “You cannot possibly be willing to accept this.”
He frowned, setting aside the folder. “What makes you think I wouldn’t want children?”
Did she really have to spell it out for him? “Well…what if the first child I carry is Tom’s? What if it is a boy? Would it be your heir, Your Grace? Would the next Duke of Norland be Tom Renley’s bastard?”
James had the audacity to shrug. “I would claim it. I would claim any children you have as my own. They will be Corbins. That’s all that matters in society’s eyes.” He glanced from Burke to Tom. “Risk comes with reward. All the children are mine. Agreed?”
Tom nodded, while Burke just said “of course.”
All the children? She pressed a hand to her fluttering heart. “You can’t be serious. You would knowingly deceive everyone? Deceive the Crown? Defy your Corbin blood?”
“Corbin blood got us George,” he replied. “And we all know how well that turned out. Renleys are upstanding people. I’d be proud to think of a Renley inheriting my title.”
“Hmm…and what is the opposite of upstanding?” Burke teased. “For surely that explains a Burke. And if children are indeed on the table, you can be sure I intend to devour you, sweet siren. And every black-haired beauty you birth will be named after me.”
“Rose has dark hair too, so that’s hardly fair,” Tom replied.
“I’m going mad,” she murmured, pressing both hands to her chest. “This is madness.”
Tom narrowed his eyes at her. “Rose, why do you hesitate? Is this not everything you want too?”
She turned to James, tears in her eyes. “You did all of this. From the moment we arrived in London, you’ve been planning this out, moving the pieces in your chess game. You were going to watch me marry another man…why?”
He sighed, holding her gaze. “Because I wanted you both to be happy, even if it could never be with me.”
A tear slipped down her cheek. “And now?”
“And now I want you to marry me. I want you all to stay here with me. I am your Atlas, Rosalie. It all falls on my shoulders. For us all to be together, I must be your husband. Only my title can protect us all. The only way it protects you is if we’re married. But it must be your choice. Your money frees you to choose.”
She turned to Burke. “What about you? This money could free you. We could split it—”
“I am exactly where I’m meant to be.” He glanced over at Tom. “Tom, are you in?”
Tom smiled at Rosalie, a look so full of love and confidence. “Over the cliff, and over again.”
She spun back to face James. “And you, Your Grace?”
He frowned. “Are my intentions not already clear?”
Burke sighed. “Yes, but we’re speaking them aloud just now, trying to have a moment. Join us, won’t you?”
James held her gaze. “I want to marry you, Rosalie Harrow. I want you to be my duchess and my wife. I want to wake with you in my arms every morning. But most of all, I want you to want me…want us. Enough to stay, enough to try this, enough to trust us with your heart and earn the right to love you. And I want this painful moment to be over, and I want you to answer me, because if I’m left wondering if you’ll ever say yes much longer, the ulcer I’ve named after you will burst, and I’ll die, and this will have all been for nothing.”
She couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her. Was it possible for a heart to feel so much happiness? She glanced from Tom to a smiling Burke, back to James. “Yes, Your Grace.”
James blinked, lips parting in surprise. “Wait…yes?”
“Yes, I will marry you.”
Before she could even take a breath, James was on his feet and crossed to her side. She readied for a kiss or a tender embrace. But no, he grabbed her around the middle and threw her over his shoulder.
“James,” she shrieked. “What are you doing? Put me down—”
He held tighter to her, moving towards the door. “I’m marrying you.”
