So much for neither here nor now. Fairchild sighed and searched the towering blooms for those ice-blue eyes he had so sorely missed. “I have heard, yes. Our timing in getting your sister and her mother out of the country was impeccable.” He darted a glance at his companion. “Are they settling in well?”
Gates studied him for a moment with pursed lips and then nodded. “Quite well. My father is giddy as a schoolboy. He and Lady Poole are behaving like newlyweds. And Taunton and Julienne act as though it is their sworn duty to make up for two and a half decades of missed siblinghood with incessant teasing and jesting.”
A corner of Fairchild’s mouth tugged up. “And you?”
Gates’s face reflected nothing. “They have made the family happy, and I have found nothing objectionable in their politics or beliefs.” Then a light flicked behind his eyes, and his mouth curved. “I will enjoy getting to know my sister, certainly, but I prefer to play my cards closer to my chest than my brother or father.”
Farichild chuckled. “That I know well enough, my friend.”
“Which reminds me. You have established yourself as d’Ushant, and the Home Office could—”
“Nay.” He couldn’t get the word out quickly enough. “I am done with the covert, Gates.”
“Oh, come now. Your country can use your service.”
He lifted his brows and glanced down at the brilliant red jacket he once again wore. “My country is getting my service.”
Gates grinned and moved off as the earl came into sight. “One can always serve more, General. Remember that.”
Pushing that thought aside, Fairchild headed for the earl and greeted him with an outstretched hand. “Good day, my lord.”
“General.” Poole’s eyes crinkled when he smiled and shook hands. “How good to see you. I expected you to visit again sooner.”
“Would that I could have, but my duties had piled up in my absence, and this was the first I could escape them.” A flash of color caught his eye. Summer blue silk, a gleam of red-gold. Julienne.
Lord Poole followed his gaze and chuckled. “I cannot thank you enough for all you have done for our family. My wife and daughter have yet to stop talking of your heroics.”
She moved past a break in the hedge, one large enough so that he could see her face. That she could look up and meet his gaze.
Ah, how his heart thudded to life at the way fire danced within the ice. “I would not call it heroics, my lord, but it was certainly my honor to bring them home.”
The earl shifted, his posture solemn enough to steal Fairchild’s attention. He found the man’s gaze intent and probing. “Julienne has also said that the two of you fell in love. Tell me, General, is this true?”
She had told him that? Fairchild sucked in a quick breath and prayed for strength. In that moment he would rather face a battalion of enemy soldiers than a rejection—even a kindhearted one—from this man. “I realize I am not the suitor you would wish for your daughter. I have no title, no wealth—”
Poole’s lips quirked up. “Well, I would hardly go that far. I asked a few questions when Julienne confessed her feelings for you. You are not ill-situated. And your family certainly leaves nothing to be desired.”
“That is a very generous view of my circumstances, my lord.” Fairchild inclined his head, his hand smoothing down the woolen jacket as his gaze went of its own accord to where Julienne flashed into view again, a smile wreathing her face. “I have certainly striven to handle my assets responsibly, and I received fine compensation for my service in the American rebellion—but still, I realize this is not ideal for an earl’s daughter.”
“Yet you seem to forget I spent much of my life as a younger son as well.” His hand landed, warm and encouraging, on Fairchild’s shoulder. “You did not answer my question. Do you love her?”
Fairchild tore his gaze away from where Julienne and her mother and Taunton emerged from the hedge and focused on the understanding gaze of the earl. Was this man honestly willing to entrust him with this most precious woman in the world? “With all of my heart, Lord Poole.”
Poole smiled. “Then, given that your heart is without question one of the noblest I have ever encountered, I would be pleased and honored to give you my blessing, if you care to ask for it.”
“I…” Words twisted on his tongue, too befuddled by the rampaging joy to make sense. He nodded, grinned—undoubtedly like a fool—and turned to watch Julienne’s quick approach. When she was a stone’s toss away, he opened his arms. She flew into them, and he laughed as he spun her around once, again, then put her on her feet and dropped to a knee. Now the words surged up. “Je t’aime, Julienne. More than anything. Will you be my wife?”
She clasped his hands tight and beamed hope and joy upon him with all the brilliance of the sun. And then she said the sweetest words the world could know. “Oui, Isaac. I will.”