Page 121 of Counting on a Countess
Gone.They were gone. And Chei Owr was hers.
Kit raised her hand to his mouth and kissed it. “Love,” he said, beaming, “you were magnificent.”
For many moments, she couldn’t speak, too overwhelmed by emotion. “The credit goes to you,” she said at last. “Making up that tale about turning Newcombe into a seaside resort.” She shook her head in awe. “No one could tell it was a fabrication.”
His gaze fixed to hers. “It doesn’t have to be a fabrication.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Actually have the bathing machines and the tearoom and build the musical pavilion?”
He brightened. “Yes, actually,” he answered, energy growing in him as he looked around at the village. “A frivolous pleasure garden will generate income for a score of people. Instead,” he went on animatedly, “we put that money into the village. Transform it into a choice destination for wealthy Londoners. Everyone in Newcombe will have honest employment. No more dependency on sporadic fishing catches—”
“And no more smuggling,” she concluded. Her mind whirled with the idea. “Beyond belief, preposterous.” Her breath came quickly. “Wonderful.”
“It is, rather,” he said as if astounded by his own cleverness.
“Do you think we could do it?”
He stroked his palm down her cheek. “I’ve said it before, love,” he said gravely. “There isnothingyou cannot do.”
She wasn’t concerned that many villagers hovered nearby. She didn’t give a damn if the Archbishop of Canterbury looked on. Her husband needed kissing, and by God, she was going to kiss him.
Cupping the back of Kit’s head, she brought his mouth to hers. He was warm and firm and deliciously masculine. She kissed him with all the passion that pulsed through her.
Someone whistled. She didn’t care.
Finally, she and Kit broke apart. “We’ll have to ask the people of Newcombe if they’ll agree to the plan,” she murmured.
He eyed the numerous faces surrounding them. “I’m confident that they’ll approve of whatever you propose. After all, theydidsign on when a sixteen-year-old girl suggested that they take up smuggling.” He shook his head. “Fearless woman.”
She couldn’t stop the smile that wreathed her face. Everything within her brimmed with gratitude and joy—especially for him.
The past couldn’t be changed. The pain they’d both experienced couldn’t be erased. Hurts and wounds, however, faded.
There might be scars, but scars meant survival.
She and Kit had been alone in their battles before. Yet now, they fought and endured. Together.
And they would thrive.
Epilogue
Two months later
“Brighton, Margate, Portsmouth,” Langdon declared, spreading his arms wide as he looked out at the sparkling water. “They’ll be deserted once word gets out about Newcombe.”
“Alas for Prinny and his Pavilion,” Kit added with an unrepentant grin.
Greyland waved his hand dismissively. “He’ll find some other way to bolster his flagging ego. Perhaps he’ll declare war on Andorra.”
“With any luck,” Tamsyn said hopefully, “it will be a verybriefwar. One that lasts a half an hour.”
“From what I’ve heard,” Lady Greyland added in a conspiratorial tone, “the Prince Regent can’t last more than two minutes.”
“After sobbing over his insufficient manhood, Prinny will realize the key to his health will be an extended stay in Newcombe,” Kit affirmed, smiling at his wife and friends. A small folding table had been set up on the boardwalk, surrounded by five chairs currently occupied by Kit, Tamsyn, Langdon, and the Greylands. A teapot and cups had been brought out, as well, for refreshment.
There was far too much bustle and activity on the high street for anyone to sit and take a leisurely tea. Even from where Kit and the others sat, the sounds of construction rose above the crashing waves and gulls’ cries. Hammers, saws, and men’s shouts punctuated the air.
Military training, Kit had discovered, provided the exact resources needed for the metamorphosis of a sleepy fishing village into a fashionable seaside resort. Since the expulsion of Lord and Lady Shawe and the purchase of the manor house, not a day went by that didn’t witness Kit and Tamsyn reviewing plans and overseeing countless projects.
