Gathering her in his arms, he stood and carried her warm body to her small canopied bed. He lay down, facing her so that their heads rested upon the pillow. And for the next few hours, he simply held her and kissed her until they both fell asleep.
Raven awoke before dawn with Jane’s drowsing head cradled in the crook of his shoulder and her hand over his heart. All of the questions and confusion that had overwhelmed him these past weeks had vanished from his mind in a soft cloud of lavender.
Everything was clear.
He knew the life he wanted, and it was with Jane. But he also knew that her parents would never let her marry a mere orphan with no cemented family ties.
The only way he could keep her, would be to claim his birthright. Completely.
Chapter 30
December
Later that morning, Raven discovered that negotiating with the Earl of Warrister was like dealing vingt-et-un to a seasoned Captain Sharp.
They sat across from each other in the library as they’d done on the first day, each one carefully sizing up the other.
There was a triumphant gleam in the old codger’s gaze. “That’s all settled, then. I’ll give a formal announcement at Aversleigh’s ball next week.”
That would be perfect, he thought, already imagining Jane’s reaction as he was introduced as Merrick Northcott. He would keep it a surprise until then. And after the ball, he would ask her to marry him and they would begin a new life together.
He wasn’t afraid of the unknown any longer. There was nothing waiting to pull the rug out from under him. Jane would never be this certain of his true identity otherwise. He trusted her unequivocally and knew that she would never lead him astray if she had the smallest doubt.
So, he was taking the plunge.
“But no sooner than that,” Raven said, keeping his elbows perched on the armrests. He knew that if he gave in too easily, Warrister would only ask for more.
“Then you’ll live here starting that night.”
They’d had this particular discussion several times in the past weeks, but Raven was always firm. “No. I’m keeping my own house. I’m a grown man, after all.”
The earl shook his head. “No. There’s just too much for you to learn. Or were you under the impression that gentlemen of the peerage fritter about all day, ringing for their servants and riding through the park? Spend their nights gaming and whoring?”
Well, actually . . . Raven thought wryly but he earned a dark, exasperated look.
“Just as I thought,” Warrister said. “You’ll have investments and estates to manage, tenants to look after, farms to oversee, along with a hundred other things. I’ll need time to teach you.”
Estates and lands? That sounded like an inheritance that he didn’t really earn. “I don’t want to be handed anything. That isn’t why I’ve come here.”
“You’re a Northcott and my heir. Whether you like it or not, these responsibilities will fall to you,” he said, his features set and immovable. “Had I found you as an infant, you would have been raised in my house. I’d have had a lifetime to prepare you, but that time is coming swiftly to an end.”
Raven didn’t want to think about losing the man he’d only just discovered. But even he knew death was an inevitable part of life. And, during whatever time they had left, he realized with a pang of yearning, he wanted to make the earl proud.
He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I wouldn’t know the first thing about estate management.”
“You have a sharp mind from the work you’ve done for Mr. Sterling. And from what Sanders tells me about your house, you’ve got a good head for property and for knowing what repairs would need to be done. I used to manage it all on my own,” he said, looking down at his gnarled hands only to shake his head. “But I’ve had to rely on my stewards for too many years.”
Raven offered another short, conciliatory nod. “I’ll need to give proper notice to Reed Sterling. He is not only my employer but like a brother to me. I won’t abandon him.”
“Understandable,” Warrister said, then sat forward with a glint in his eye, as if he felt he’d gained the upper hand. “And you can keep your house as long as you hire servants.”
He paused, considering. “I will concede only to hiring a cook for the time being.”
“I want you here in the mornings to break your fast and we’ll discuss your duties while my mind is still sharp.”
“My lord, I highly doubt there is a time of day when your wits are not edged with the precision of a cutpurse’s blade,” Raven said, surprised his palms weren’t sweating by now.
“Grandfather,” he said with resolute tenacity. “You’ll call me grandfather from this point forward. Is that clear?”
The old codger was always pushing for a bit more. But a grin tugged at Raven’s lips nonetheless. “Very well . . . Grandfather.”
Even after such an intense debate, Raven felt lighter somehow when he left the room. As if a great stone had been pried from his chest.
He had a grandfather now, and he had Jane. They were all the family he needed. All he ever wanted.
Knowing he would see her again this afternoon for tea, his thoughts were distracted as he walked down the stairs to the foyer. He nearly collided with a man stepping in from the rain.
The figure in the doorway paused, back turned to shake the droplets from the brim of his beaver top hat. “Take my coat, will you? And fetch me a whisky while you’re at it.”
Raven remembered the voice and instantly bristled, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end. Staring at the sharp profile, the hawklike nose and silver streaked sandy hair, he recalled the man from a confrontation at Sterling’s.
Straightening his shoulders, Raven growled, “Take off your own bloody coat.”
The man whipped around, blue eyes flashing daggers. They widened in twin recognition. “You! What are you doing in my uncle’s home?”
“Paying a call on my grandfather.”
It felt good to say it aloud to another person.
It felt even better to see the shock on this prig’s face.
Raven said nothing more and simply walked past him, through the open doorway. Yet, it didn’t escape his notice that the man was likely Lord Herrington, his father’s cousin—the same man who’d been campaigning for years to be named Warrister’s heir.
This was Raven’s first lesson that, while a man might wish to have a family, he could not always choose them.
* * *
Jane put away all the jars, vials and gallipots from the trestle table in the conservatory, then dressed it in linens and her mother’s finest china and silver. She baked a special cake for Raven’s birthday tea, and Mrs. Dunkley set it on a porcelain pedestal in the center of the table, enrobed in pink icing and sugared flowers.
For the occasion, Jane wore a dress of rose-and-white stripes with flounced sleeves. She wanted to surprise a laugh from him with this color scheme, reminding him of the night they’d met.
Busy fussing with an intricately folded napkin, she heard the door to the garden open and then close. Her heart started turning in an endless revolution. She bit down on her lip to keep from grinning too broadly. He was here.