Page 84 of Lord Appleby's Gorgeous Imposter
“And Tate,” Viv added. Her own husband had bested the beast of Paris.
“Enjoy what you have earned,” Augustine assured her.
“Forgive yourself for failure,” said Amber. “It is a gift we give ourselves recognizing our humanity.”
The weight of Viv’s remorse fell from her shoulders. To hear about Diane from this woman made her heart return to its normal beat.
Viv was done with the past. She had served Diane as only she could, and now she had a good life to lead and an honorable man to love.
Minutes later, the two couples left, and Viv could not wait to get her husband alone.
No sooner was the front door closed than she seized his hand and led him up the stairs at a run. In their suite, she spun, shut the door, and put her arms tightly about his waist.
“I love you, Tate Cantrell.”
He dropped kisses to each corner of her mouth. “I will not tire of the words.”
“And I promise to be a merrier wife.”
“I love you as you are, whatever you feel. Come to me, I am yours. Lean on me, I am yours. Laugh and love with me—”
“I am yours.”
*
On the firstof September, Tate and Viv left London for Cantrell Manor in Norfolk. He wanted to get back to his estate and into the old business of working with his tenants. At Heidelberg as a student, he had studied chemistry, and in Germany and France on his journeys, he had studied farming methods. He wished to put what he knew to good use.
Viv had longed to return to Norfolk, to the estate she loved, the tenants who were her friends—and her animals too. She told Tate she planned to finish her book on housekeeping. Young women had to learn efficiencies to find satisfactions in their daily lives. One day she hoped to publish it.
Meanwhile, she rode out often with Tate on horseback to supervise the taming of dykes and the raising of barns. She asked him to have a new plot of land plowed for her near the great house. She had herbs and fresh vegetables to grow. She had brought Fred up to the stables near the main house so that he and she could “talk” every morning. It was a good thing, too. Days after Fred took up his new quarters in the stalls with six horses for company, a fire broke out in the back. The old fellow could be heard for miles around, alerting those in the house tobring their fire buckets. He saved his friends with his diligence. Viv rewarded him with even more hugs for his service and his bravery.
One afternoon, her former suitor George Farland came to pay his respects to the new Countess of Appleby. He stood in the formal parlor, twirling his hat in hand. A handsome fellow with windswept, fair features, he was a swashbuckling hulk of a man. All the young girls in the manor, servants and tenants alike, pined to be favored by the tall blond who resembled the Vikings who had once raided this land.
“Hello, my lady,” he bade her with a small bow of deference.
She took his big hands and led him to the settee. “Never bow to me again, George.”
“Oh, ma’am, ’tis my duty.”
“No. I am Viv to you always. We were friends. I hope we still are.”
“Aye. Course we are. I am honored you received me.”
“I always will, George.”
He took a quick gaze at the room, then frowned at her. “I had to come, Viv. You are the lady of the manor now, but I came to see you.” He examined her then as he always had before. An astute man who saw people’s emotions in their faces and in their stances, he read her as if she were the pages of a new book. “I have to know. All this? Is it…?”
“Yes?”
“Are you happy?”
“Very much so.”
“You married him for…?”
“Love, George. I married him because I love him.”
“I see.” He winced, then delved into her eyes. “And he loves you?”
