Lady Lissa's Liaison (29 page)

Authors: Lindsay Randall

Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #Historical, #Regency

"I won't," she whispered, pressing her face against his, loving the feel of him, the scent of him. "What I wanted to tell you today is that... that I'd come to the conclusion that I
am
in the mind of marrying—but that I wish to marry only you."

"So Langford never had a prayer?"

Lissa frowned at mention of the man's name.
"Never.
It's only been you, Gabriel."

"Ah, there, you've said it again; said my name. How I love the sound of my Christian name passing your lips. I
love you, Lissa."

"Oh, Gabriel," she breathed, hugging Harry tightly even as she melted against the man she'd come to love more than anything. "I love you, too. I think I have felt this way since the first time I viewed you at the river's edge..."

Gabriel kissed her eyes, her nose, her mouth. Harry giggled. Gabriel opened one eye, looking down at his son. "Is this the secret you shared with Lissa while in the tree?"

Harry nodded. "The very one," he said.

"Hmmm... I thought so."

Gabriel kissed Lissa again, as Harry, seemingly over the many ordeals of the day, wriggled out of Lissa's lap, then scurried away, gathering up three of the long poles that were housed on the opposite wall.

"I do believe our son wishes to fish, m'lord."

"Gabriel,"
he growled against her lips.

"Gabriel," she murmured, her mouth forming a smile even as he kissed it again and again and again.

Long seconds later, Gabriel lifted his face, looked longingly into Lissa's eyes and said, "Do you know what tomorrow is?"

"A new beginning for the three of us?" she ventured.

"Aye. It is that. And it is also Sunday. What say you that our family heads to the church and finds our own special boxed pew? I should like to pray again, Lissa, and to offer up thanks for the fact that you and Harry are with me, that we've found our way to being a family."

"Oh, Gabriel," she murmured, emotion choking her, unable to say more.

It was enough. His heart, at last, was full. Life along the Dove would be everything he'd ever dreamt about, with Lissa and Harry, and the many other children he and Lissa would create.

"We shall have the most beautiful life together, Lissa," he promised. "We'll begin every day in each other's arms, and end each day in the same. In between we shall worry over our children and love them, and teach them about flies, and trout, and angling, and about the wonders found alongside the Dove."

"Children? As in many of them?" Lissa teased.

"As many as you are willing to create with me, my sweet," said Gabriel sincerely.

Lissa felt wonderfully warm inside. "We shall have as many as we have," she said, trusting now in the future. "And Harry shall make a famous older brother—or a perfect only child. Whatever our future holds, Gabriel, I wish to share it with you and Harry. Forever. For always."

Gabriel squeezed her tight. "Mayhap I shall write the definitive book about night angling for trout."

"How perfectly wonderful. And I shall make the sketches for your book, yes?"

"Yes," he said, kissing her again. Always he would kiss her, he knew, for Lissa was his soul mate, the life partner he'd been lacking.

* * *

Much later, Lissa and Gabriel got up off the bench, then moved to join their son in preparing for a busy day alongside the river.

"Finally,
" said Harry, grinning. "I'd thought you had forgotten me."

"Never that!" both Lissa and Gabriel said in perfect unison.

Together, the three of them headed out of the lodge, toward the river, and into a bright, sun-filled future.

The End

Page forward for a special note from the author followed by excerpts from the other
To Woo an Heiress
titles

Dear Reader,

I hope you enjoyed your foray into the countryside of England's rich past. I wanted to write a Regency story not set amidst the drawing rooms of London, but rather one that captured the excitement of fly-fishing during its early stages, that illustrated the fervor with which the true anglers of this time went to the water, and one that also highlighted the passion of two characters who realized the gift of a river surrounded and inhabited by life and the beauty of God's vast bounty.

The idea for this book was born during several fly-fishing trips to the high mountain streams of Hunts Run in Cameron County, Pennsylvania, with my father and my son.

What a treasure to watch my father pass on his devotion of protecting and preserving nature to my son, and what a pleasure to sit quietly by a clear, tumbling brook and have my father tell me about the origins of fly-fishing, and of how many gentlemen in England's history found challenges and contentment alongside that country's rivers and streams.

My father learned to tie flies at the knee of an old mountain man, and was night fishing for trout long before it became popular. He was also crusading to preserve nature years before doing so became politically correct. A fly-fishing historian of sorts, and a definite defender of nature, it is my father's knowledge I've sprinkled throughout this tale of an angling lord and a spirited, nature-loving lady.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for sharing his vast collection of rare books on trout and angling, and for being so generous with his time and knowledge. I will always remember the many hours we spent sitting at his kitchen table as he talked about the woods he loves so much—and I'll never forget his warning that life, as we know it, hinges on the preservation of our planet's precious water bodies.

Thanks so much for choosing to read the story of Lissa and Gideon (and little Harry!). I loved writing this book—and I absolutely treasured every second spent in the woods with my father and my son.

Lindsay Randall

Page forward and continue your journey with an excerpt from

MISS MARCIE'S MISCHIEF

To Woo an Heiress

Book Two