Far Beyond Scandalous (41 page)

"We also have the support of
Radcliffe, Colderidge and a few others.
 
Candlewood, too, since he's Lady Radcliffe's brother, if he ever stops
scowling at people and scaring them away.
 
I suspect even Faraday might be amenable.
 
He's not really such a bad sort, I suppose."
 
It wasn't lost on Gibson that, despite how
far he had come, there was still some distance to go before he could claim true
acceptance in society.
 

In some cases, he knew he would
never be accepted, particularly by some of the older matrons.
 
However with the support of certain
influential families behind him, he could restore some of the luster to the
Ardenton name.
 
At the very least, he
would make certain that his mother and sister were remembered properly, as they
should have been had they lived to see this day.

As if she knew what he was
thinking, Amy squeezed Gibson's hand.
 
"They would be proud of you, you know.
 
I am sorry, however, that neither Aria nor Harriett lived to see
the family name restored."

Gibson looked skyward for a
moment.
 
"They know, my love.
 
I am certain of it."
 
He still felt unworthy of everything that
was happening to him, but if he could see his mother's and sister's good names
restored, that would be something.

"As am I."
 
Amy's heart swelled with love for the man
standing beside her.
 
He was everything
her heart had ever desired and more.
 
She owed him everything - including her life.
 
"And we will find a way to honor them once we return to
Wintercrest."

"I cannot believe my good
fortune that everything is still as it was at the house when my father was led
away.
 
Packed and covered, even.
 
Not a plate or furnishing out of
place."
 
Gibson had been
incredulous that morning when a courier had arrived with the papers regarding
the transfer of Wintercrest into his name, along with the accounts containing
the Ardenton fortune, the jewels, and everything else entailed to the
estate.
 
Including the betrothal ring he
had longed to place on Amy's finger.
 
When the courier had handed Gibson the box, along with a note that it
had been kept safe for just such an occasion, he had wanted to weep with joy.

The official conferring of his new
title would occur tomorrow at Carlton House, something else that was happening
far faster than he had anticipated.
 
It
was as if once Prinny had made up his mind to restore Gibson's family title, it
was to be done immediately.
 
No questions
asked.

"I think that was Prinny's
plan all along," Amy said, accepting congratulations from another couple
as they passed.
 
"That is why he
made you a royal physician after all.
 
To determine if your moral character was better than that of your father's."
 
She shrugged and rubbed absently at her
stomach.
 
"I also believe that he
felt guilty in many ways.
 
His father
has done a great many people a disservice in fits of madness.
 
This is simply correcting yet another
wrong."

The first strains of a waltz were
beginning, and Gibson gallantly offered Amy his hand.
 
"Whatever the reason, I am grateful.
 
To you.
 
To our prince.
 
To everyone here
who has accepted me."
 
He meant
every word.
 
It had taken a great deal
of courage for so many people to flout convention and accept him into
society.
 
He would not easily forget
that.

"You laid the groundwork, you
know," she reminded him as he led her onto the dance floor.
 
"With your medical skills and kind
heart, not to mention your strong sense of honor, these people knew long ago
that you were not like you father.
 
They
knew you were a better man.
 
I did.
 
From the moment I met you."

As the music began to flow around
them, Gibson felt his heart swell once more.
 
This was the dream he never thought he would achieve, the happiness he
thought would always be denied him.
 
Yet
here he was, with the woman he loved in his arms.
 
This was his life.
 
It was
real.
 
It was perfect.
 
And it was all his.

"I love you, Amy," he
whispered as they swirled about the floor of the glittering ball.
 
"My love.
 
For now and for always."

"And I love you, Gibson,"
Amy replied, her eyes soft and dreamy, as if she too could feel the magic of
this night weaving its spell around them.
 
"For always."
 
Then she
grinned at him, a sexy smile meant only for his eyes.
 
"Even when we cause a scandal."

Late August, 1819

Seldon Park

Sussex

Amy listened to the rain drumming
on the roof, but she didn't care how fast or hard water fell from the
skies.
 
She was safe and sound inside
the partially sealed summerhouse on the grounds of Seldon Park.
 
She was warm and wrapped in the embrace of
her husband, sleepy and sated after making love for the second time in a little
over an hour.
 
At least she thought it
was an hour.
 
Who was counting, after all?
 
When she was with Gibson, time had little
meaning.

It had been something of a miracle
to convince Nicholas to allow her and Gibson the exclusive use of the
summerhouse, especially considering that a large house party for the wedding
was occurring at the same time.
 
However, at heart, the Duke of Candlewood was a romantic, and he had
seen fit to allow it.
 
Probably with a
little convincing from his sister as well.

"Has it really been only a
year since we were first here?" Gibson asked as he turned over in the bed
Amy had requested be brought to the summerhouse for her and Gibson's use.
 
"It seems to me as if I have lived a
thousand lifetimes since then."

"Only a year," she
teased, rising up so that he might suckle on her breasts, which were already
aching with need.
 
Much to her
disappointment, as well as Gibson's, she was not yet with child, but she hoped
that this interlude at Seldon Park might change that.
 
The timing was right, and she could think of no better moment to
conceive a child with the man she loved than on the anniversary of their first
coming together.
 
"But what a year
it has been."

"I cannot think of a better
way to spend it than with you, sweeting."
 
Gibson's eyes were full of desire, and she wondered if her body looked
as luscious as his did with the shadowy candlelight illuminating his skin to a
golden glow.
 
He used the same
endearment he had that first day, the one she had come to love so much, and her
heart soared.
 
Oh, how she loved this
man.

When Amy had first approached
Nicholas about use of the summerhouse, she had insisted that he needn't send
staff to prepare it, other than to have the bed brought in.
 
The mustier and, to some degree, dustier,
the better.
 
She wanted it as close to
the way it had been that day as possible.
 
However, Nicholas, being a duke, had decided that some touches of
comfort might be appreciated.
 
He hadn't
been completely wrong in that regard.

One door had been left unlocked,
rendering it unnecessary for them to break in.
 
Candles had been set about the room, along with a taper to light
them.
 
Fresh linens covered the bed, and
two chairs, along with a small, round table had been uncovered and dusted as
well.
 
A hamper of food had been left in
a wash bin surrounded by two blocks of ice to keep it cool in the summer
heat.
 
A bottle of champagne, along with
a note of congratulations from the duke was also waiting for them

Amy smiled at Gibson with a wicked
glint in her eyes.
 
"You do have a
way with words, my love.
 
You
practically had Lady Saintwood in a swoon at your feet yesterday.
 
That in itself is rather an
accomplishment."
 
It had been
common knowledge amongst the
ton
that Ursula Saintwood still despaired
the loss of Amy as a potential wife for her nephew, Lord Drake.
 
Even though she also knew that it was for
the best.

Drake, however, seemed content with
the turn of events and had even come to Amy and Gibson's wedding, even though
he had kept to the shadows in the back of the church to prevent his damaged
face and battered body from being seen.
 
He had also sent a small gift in the form of an expensive bottle of
scotch to Gibson.
 
The accompanying note
asked Gibson to save a drink for Drake at White's in the near future.
 
It was a gesture of truce, and one that
Gibson took in the spirit that it was offered.
 
He knew he could have refused, but what would have been the
point?
 
Drake had come to Gibson when
Amy was in danger.
 
That alone erased a
great deal of animosity Gibson held towards the other man.

"She is not as bad as all of
that," he laughed easily.
 
"Not
to mention that Diana is now one of your good friends as well.
 
I was merely being polite.
 
And the woman did need a distraction, what
with the way Lord Downing was mooning after Diana.
 
If I did not know Adam so well, I would think he was toying with
the girl, but I treated him and his family for some time while they were in
London last fall for the Little Season.
 
He is a good man.
 
Not at all
like his father was.
 
If he has interest
in Diana, then he is sincere."

Amy laughed as well, marveling at
how easily her husband was slipping into his new place in society.
 
"I had no idea.
 
No wonder Ursula was in such at state at the
wedding breakfast.
 
If she finds out
that her son is secretly courting Lord Coleridge's sister as well, she will
surely go into raptures and might pass away from sheer joy."
 
It was no secret that Ursula Saintwood
wanted the best possible matches for her children, even to the point of trying
to arrange one.
 
That both of her
children might make brilliant matches on their own that included love would
surely send the woman into a fit of the vapors.

"If her children end up as
happy as we are, that should be enough for her."
 
Gibson rolled over, taking Amy with him.
 
He had dreamed of being able to be with her
day after day, freely and openly worshiping her magnificent body and loving her
with all that he was.
 
"At least no
one died this year.
 
That is something
we should all be thankful for, me in particular.
 
I am out of the medical practice, for a time anyway, and do not
wish to be dragged back in quite yet."

It had been decided that since
Wintercrest, as well as the rest of the Ardenton estates, needed a great deal
of time and attention, Gibson would finally put all of his youthful training to
proper use.
 
With the help of some of
Lord Evanston's advisors, Gibson would learn how to fully manage his
properties, deal with tenants, and tend to other estate matters.
 

He still found all of the books and
numbers boring, but he did not want anyone to be able to take advantage of him,
especially since much had changed since he had been at school.
 
Then, once matters were put to rights and he
was confident in allowing others to manage affairs, he might return to
medicine, at least to some degree.
 
It
was gauche for men of wealth to work.
 
He knew that.
 
However, he also
knew that he had useful knowledge and would not be able to sit idle as many of
his new peers did.

Gibson also knew he could take up
his seat in the House of Lords if he chose, but he wasn't ready for that quite
yet.
 
He wasn't certain that he ever
would be.

Amy could see the wheels turning
inside Gibson's mind and knew she had to put a stop to it.
 
She did not want him thinking.
 
He did that far too much, often seeing
problems were there were none.
 
However,
that was also one of the reasons why she loved him - because he cared.
 
About everyone.
 
Even those that the rest of society placed labels on and then
disregarded.
 
People like her.

She might have once been labeled
The Paragon, but society had forgotten the real woman beneath the mask.
 
Or, if not forgotten, precisely, then
ignored.
 
The people she knew chose not
to see the woman behind the mask, instead preferring to see only perfection and
beauty, a woman incapable of making a misstep or a mistake.
 
A woman without feelings.
 
Sometimes, Amy wondered if anyone other than
Gibson had ever really seen her as a woman at all, or if all anyone had ever
seen was a false idol, something to worship and aspire to, as if she was no
longer human.

Gibson, however, had seen her.
 
He had looked at her that first day in Lady
Julia's entrance hall and seen beneath the mask of perfection to the imperfect
woman beneath.
 
A year ago, he had
looked past her label as a prize to be won, and instead, saw a woman who longed
for love and affection.
 
A woman who
wanted to break out of her shell and be something more than she currently was.

He had once told her that she saw a
better version of himself than he actually was, but she felt the reverse was
true as well.
 
Gibson saw a more human
version of Amy than she, or anyone else, had ever glimpsed.
 
He had been brave enough to love her, even
when he knew he shouldn't.
 
That was a
gift she could never repay, but would spend the rest of her life trying.

Rising up, she kissed him and
pushed at his chest, urging him to roll over again.
 
She liked being in control of their lovemaking on occasion and
today was one of those times.
 
It drove
him wild and took his mind off the few remaining doubts that he had about his
place in society.
 
Perhaps they would
always be there.
 
If they were, it was
her job to soothe them away at times like this.

Sliding up the length of her
husband's body, Amy moved to sit astride him, already feeling the hard evidence
of his arousal.
 
God, she loved
him.
 
All of him.
 
She loved him so much that she thought her
heart might burst with it.
 
"I
cannot think of a better man for me."
 
She stroked his face tenderly.
 
"Gibson,
I loved you when you were poor, a physician of no title or wealth.
 
I love you now as an earl with all of the
wealth and property one could desire.
 
Remember that.
 
Always.
 
Rich or poor, to me it makes no
difference.
 
Just so long as you always
see me for who I truly am."
 
Then
she leaned down and kissed him, wondering if there was any way that they could
return to this spot year after year for an anniversary of sorts.
 
It was, after all, where their scandal had
begun.