An Earl by Any Other Name(40)

"Ahh, there they are. The lovebirds have finally emerged from their nest." Mr. Leighton was smiling.

Smiling. Leo froze, sensing something was afoot.

"Oh, Leo dear, tell me it is true. You are to be married to Ivy?" His mother rose from the couch and joined them, her eyes so bright with hope that his throat constricted. Here he had been feeling irritated that she continually interfered with his life. She had only ever wanted him to be happy, and she'd known right away that Mildred wasn't for him.

"Yes, it's true, Mother. Your scheming bore fruit. Lucky for you." He kissed her cheek. "I love Ivy."

"We are glad to hear it." She beamed like the sun in the height of summer. "I knew if you rescued Ivy from her motorcar that neither of you would be able to resist each other. To think, you chastised me for my meddling. But look how everything has turned out!" She clapped her hands together.

"Wait, what? Someone tampered with the Hudson?" Ivy demanded.

Her father joined them, looking amused. Leo glanced at Ivy and could tell she had got her back up. She was bristling like an angry cat. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.

"I had the petrol tank tampered with so it would have a slow leak." He tipped Ivy's chin back and kissed his daughter's cheek, still chuckling at her silent outrage.

"There was no guarantee that Leo and I would fall in love just because my motorcar broke."

God bless her, she was a dear. "Ivy, sweetheart. If there's one thing I know about my mother, her instincts, fortunately in our case, are never wrong."

"So let me be clear." Ivy jabbed her father in the chest with a finger. "You were involved with this scheme as well? I thought only Lady Hampton and I were party to this plan." The dagger-laden glare she gave her father would have killed any other man.

"Of course. Mina couldn't have done this all on her own."

Leo arched a brow and shock rippled through him. Mina? Since when did Mr. Leighton and his mother exist on such familiar terms? They stood awfully close together, almost touching.

"Oh." His mother blushed like a young girl. "That reminds me, Leo … Mr. Leighton has asked me to marry him. I've accepted." She glanced away as though embarrassed. "I didn't plan that part, you see, but we just spent so much time together, planning this and well … nature and all that." She waved her hand in the air, dismissing any further discussion on that particular subject. 

"You're getting married?" Ivy clenched Leo's hand tight, and he squeezed back to reassure her.

"The way I see it, lad," Mr. Leighton said, "you are taking my daughter, and I will take your mother. A fair Romani trade." He winked at Leo and burst out laughing.

She had wanted to live scandalously …

"Mother, if this is what makes you happy, then I am happy for you both."

"Ivy?" His mother bit her lip, hands clasped together. "I hope that this is all right with you. I cannot replace your mother and would never want to … " She trailed off, eyes glimmering with unshed tears.

Ivy sniffled and then let go of Leo's hand to embrace his mother fiercely.

"I always thought of you as my second mother. Mama would have wanted all of us to be happy. And now … now I think we are."

Leo placed his hands on Ivy's shoulders and nuzzled her cheek. He couldn't have said it better himself.

"How will we explain this to everyone?" his mother asked, looking a tad vexed at their new social situation of her marrying Mr. Leighton and Leo marrying Ivy. It was certainly unusual.

With a crooked grin at his mother, he winked. "I believe our marriages will be the least of everyone's concerns. The biggest scandal will be when I attend your WSPU meetings and start a petition for women's rights in the House of Lords. I'm liable to bring down society altogether."

"Oh, Leo!" She swatted him, but he didn't care. Ivy was here in his arms, in his life. He made a vow in that instant to never waste a second of life with her. He would do everything he could to give her what she wanted in life, including love and even equality in the eyes of English law. He gazed down at her, hoping she could see the love he felt bursting from inside him.

"What is it?" Ivy asked. "You have an odd expression … " She stroked a finger over his lips.

"I am finally free." He echoed her feelings, the word she'd whispered in the wake of their passion. "With you, I will always be free."

Ivy's skin blossomed into a delicate red, and he couldn't resist stealing one kiss, knowing it would never be enough. That … that was love.

This is love.