She looked away from the old manor home and stared perplexedly at her husband. “Are we living here?” Though at this point, after hours within the confines of a carriage, she wasn’t altogether certain where here was.
“Er.” He yanked at his cravat. “I would rather wish you’d live with me. And it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to live here. Not with you.”
Jane scratched her brow. “I believe a man and his wife are permitted the luxury of sharing the same home, Gabriel.”
“It is a school,” he blurted, yanking his attention back to her.
Her heart started and she swung her gaze in the direction of the old manor home. A school. A school in which young women could attend and be free to exercise their minds and take part in real learning. A school where young ladies of uncertain circumstances might carve out a life for themselves. Love for Gabriel swelled in her heart and she touched trembling fingers to her lips.
“Or rather it is your school. To establish, run, and control as you see fit.” He held his palms up. “I—” His gaze went to her fingers and then he took in her tear-filled eyes. He frowned. “If it does not suit, than you are free to—oomph.”
Jane flung her arms about him and he staggered back. “It is perfect,” she breathed against his lips and then pressed her mouth to his.
Gabriel took her lips in a gentle kiss. “You are perfect.”
She drew back and cupped his face between her palms. “No, we are not perfect.” They were two very imperfect people who’d found each other. She drew him down closer and then pressed her brow to his. “And yet, together, we somehow are.”
He rubbed his thumb over her lower lip. “I love you, Jane Edgerton.”
“And I love you, Gabriel Edgerton.”
And after years of being forgotten, dismissed, and rejected, Jane had in Gabriel everything she’d never had and always wanted.
A family.
The End