Rupert held his breath, and Alice did the same.
“My permission?” The duke chuckled. “Miss Sharpe is of age. If she gives her consent, I give mine.”
Rupert released a shaky laugh. “You do? I mean—thank you, Your Grace.”
“I expect everything to be conducted as becomes a gentleman and lady, of course. Miss Sharpe, should you require a chaperone, Miss Arlen might be willing to provide her company. And”—he held up a finger to underscore his point—“your duties must be fulfilled to the standard you promised the duchess.”
“Yes, Your Grace.” Alice released Rupert and sank into a low curtsy. “Thank you, for everything. I promise I will continue to make your children my priority, Your Grace.”
“Unless you decide to accept Mr. Gardiner.” The duke sighed deeply. “At which point, we will need to find a new governess. Again.” He gestured to the castle. “I am certain we are too late to enjoy dinner, but perhaps you would both join me in my study? I can have some food brought up from the kitchens, and we can discuss the estate catalog. How close do you think we are to completion, Gardiner?”
Rupert took Alice by the arm, the two of them following the duke into the castle together. To his delight, Alice shared her impressions of the work, and the three of them conversed with ease on their interest of the natural world.
With his courtship of Alice approved by the Duke of Montfort, Rupert promised himself he would succeed.
How could he ever find someone as intelligent, lovely, and compassionate as Alice Sharpe?
She interrupted his musings just before they climbed the stairs. “Oh, Rupert, you have a spider on your shoulder. Probably from the woods.” She rose and used her bare hand to scoop up the creature and hurried back to the door, where a bemused footman opened it again for her to let the spider free on the front steps.
“I think,” the duke whispered to Rupert as he watched the governess, “you had better marry that one.”
When Alice turned, her smile in place and her blue eyes shining with happiness, Rupert could only nod. “I intend to, Your Grace. As soon as she will agree to it.”
Alice entered the children’s wing quite late, and she found Lord James waiting for her. He sat on the floor in front of her door, leaning against it. When she stood before him, a lamp in hand, he sat up and rubbed at his eyes.
“Geoffrey said you saved him,” the boy said, his tone subdued.
“Mr. Gardiner and I helped him down from the tree and walked him to the castle. But there were a lot of people looking for him.” She lowered herself to the floor, sitting beside him. “You did the right thing when you told me he was missing, Lord James. Thank you for that.”
The boy raised his gaze to hers, and she saw the brightness of tears in his eyes. “I don’t always do the right thing, though. I did something very wrong, Miss Sharpe.”
She studied him, even while her heart ached for the little boy. He was still so young, yet bore a great responsibility merely for being born to a duke and duchess. “What have you done, darling? I am certain it is not too terrible. We can set it to right.”
His bottom lip quivered a moment, then he lifted his chin. “I hid the note Mr. Gardiner left for you. I saw it in the flowers, the day he left. Isabelle said you’d probably leave us to marry him, and I didn’t want you to g-g-go.” A sob broke from him on the last word, and he buried his face in his hands.
This missing note explained, and the thief’s confession, filled Alice with relief. She wrapped the little boy in her arms and held him tight. “It was very wrong to take it, Lord James.” He nodded against her. “I want you to know, though, that I forgive you.”
He pulled back and looked up at her, his eyes wide. “You do? I thought you’d hate me.”
“I could never hate you, Lord James. You see, I like you very much. Even if I go away, that will never change.”
His shoulders relaxed and he nodded, then wiped at his tears with the back of his hand. “What will happen to Geoffrey? Miss Felton is a horrid—”
“Lord James.” Alice fixed him with a stern expression. “Mind your manners.”
“Yes, Miss Sharpe.” He lowered his gaze to the carpet on the floor.
She sighed and put her arm around his shoulder again. “I understand your concern. Your father feels the same as you do. The duke has decided to take a special interest in Master Geoffrey. I would not be surprised if he finds a way to bring Geoffrey here to stay at the castle.”
Lord James smiled, the expression small and slight. “Papa likes looking after people.”
“He does. I think, if you’re very good, you may grow up to be just like him.” Alice hugged the boy one more time. “Now, you had better go to bed.”
She stood, and Lord James slowly followed suit. Then he looked up at her one more time. “I really am sorry, Miss Sharpe.”
“Thank you for that. We needn’t speak of it again, so long as you behave better from now on.” Alice smiled kindly, relieved when he smiled back. “Off to bed with you.”
The boy went down the hall to his door, shutting it behind him.
Alice entered her room and prepared for bed, her heart lighter than it had been in a very long time.
Epilogue
Although Alice had waited patiently for the better part of the summer, she was nearly beside herself with anxiety when the first day of autumn arrived—and with it, the first copy of Rupert’s catalog.
The master copy, meant for the duke’s library, with all the original illustrations colored by her hand.
Alice stood in the library, a grand room with shelves two floors high, with sliding ladders as the only means of reaching the very top shelves. It was one of Alice’s favorite rooms in the castle. On a row of chairs facing a tall pedestal, crafted especially for the occasion to hold the bound catalog, sat the ducal family.
The duchess, dowager duchess, Lord Farleigh, Lady Josephine with Miss Arlen, Lady Isabelle, Lady Rosalind, and Lord James, all waited in their seats.
His Grace, Rupert, and Alice stood at the pedestal.
“After six months of your efforts, Mr. Gardiner and Miss Sharpe, it gives me great pleasure to see the fruits of your labors at last. This catalog of the flowers and insects inhabiting our lands will be a marvel for years to come, and through the change of seasons. Who knows but that a century from now, these very pages will be used by the naturalists of the future, to compare their world to ours?” The duke touched the large, green leather cover with reverence. “Thank you for your dedication, both of you, for making this work of science also a work of art.”
Then he opened the book and gestured for Alice and Rupert to look at its pages.
Alice noted a ribbon had been placed at the location where the duke opened the pages, and then she realized the significance of the illustration.
“Narcissus,” she said softly, her fingertips hovering over the page. “And Pieris napi. The little white moth.” They had been among her first of his drawings to color in, the flower and creature the first of each they ever discussed.
The room grew very still, and Rupert took her by the hand.
Alice turned and saw him kneeling beside her, and her eyes immediately filled with tears.