The Captain's Christmas Family (18 page)

A month after his proposal, Gideon set out on horseback for the village church, where he would await the arrival of Marian and the girls. As he rode, he recalled the first time he’d accompanied them to worship. The countryside had been dull, barren and chilled by frost, not unlike his heart. Now, wherever he looked, fresh,
vigorous new life was springing forth. His heart quickened in response.

A tiny voice in the back of his mind cautioned against drinking too deeply from the cup of happiness, for the dregs might be bitter indeed. Gideon dismissed such forebodings as wedding nerves, though he could not imagine why he should have those. He had no misgivings about wedding Marian…except perhaps whether he could make her happy. Even those had begun to fade during their brief engagement as he’d witnessed her transparent delight in their wedding preparations.

When he reached the church, he tethered his horse, then hurried inside where the vicar was waiting for him. Most of the guests were already assembled, and the rest soon arrived.

The bride did not keep them waiting. When the organist struck up the processional, Gideon turned to see Cissy and Dolly walking down the aisle strewing flower petals. Their radiant smiles were the crowning delight to his happiest of days. He and Marian had worried the girls might be upset by their aunt’s abrupt departure. Cissy had been a little at first, but when she and Dolly learned that Gideon intended to marry their beloved governess and become their guardian, the girls could scarcely contain their elation. Dolly wore a purple dress with a bright yellow sash, while her sister wore a yellow dress with a purple sash. He wondered at the unusual choice of colors until he looked past the girls to catch his first glimpse of Marian carrying a nosegay of purple and yellow crocuses, those bright, hardy little heralds of springtime.

For her wedding march, she clung to the arm of Mr. Culpepper. The butler beamed with pride over being chosen for this honor.

Gideon could scarcely take his eyes off his lovely bride. Having only seen her wearing dark colors, he marveled at how well she looked in her creamy white wedding dress. It brightened her complexion and brought out the gold and copper highlights in her dark brown hair. But no dress could account for the luminous glow in her dark eyes or the sweet radiance of her wide smile. Those could only come from a source of joy within her heart. That sweet certainty banished Gideon’s last lurking shadows of doubt. He savored the realization that their union brought her as much happiness as it brought him.

When Marian reached his side, he returned her loving gaze and lavished her with a doting smile.

“Dearly beloved…” The opening words of the marriage ceremony drew their attention to the vicar. “We are gathered together here in the sight of God and in the face of his congregation to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony.”

An instant of breathless tension gripped Gideon when the vicar asked if there were objections to the marriage. Some tiny part of him still feared Marian might change her mind at the last moment. But she responded to the vicar’s charge with serene silence, and the service moved on.

So intense was Gideon’s relief that he was only vaguely aware of the vicar addressing him. Then came a moment of expectant silence in which he realized he was supposed to reply.

Fortunately, Dolly came to his rescue. In a loud whisper she prompted him, “You’re supposed to say,
‘I will.’
”

Gideon’s response was nearly drowned out by a soft ripple of laughter that ran through the congregation.

Fortunately, Marian did not seem to take his hesitation amiss. After the vicar asked her the same question about loving, honoring and keeping Gideon, she needed no help from the girls to reply with fond resolve, “I will.”

Determined to make up for his earlier lapse, Gideon concentrated very hard on repeating his vows to Marian clearly and sincerely. “I, Gideon, take thee, Marian, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part.”

Soon it was time to slip the gold ring onto his bride’s finger and pledge himself and all he owned to her.

As the vicar prayed for God’s blessing upon their marriage, and late winter sunshine filtered into the sanctuary, Gideon could feel the divine presence surrounding them and stirring within them. Deep in his heart there pulsed a prayer of thanksgiving for two of the most precious blessings in all of creation—family and love.

Nottinghamshire, England
1815

W
ould Gideon ever come home? That question ran through Marian’s thoughts as she sat in the nursery reading a story to Cissy and Dolly.

The blissful happiness of her wedding day had quietly shattered a fortnight later when Gideon received word from the Admiralty that he had been absolved of any wrongdoing and was being returned to the command of HMS
Integrity.

“I don’t understand,” she recalled him saying as he stared at the letter in bewilderment. “I was certain the board meant to make me their scapegoat.”

“Do you suppose they changed their minds after Napoleon returned to power?” Marian suggested. “In time of war the Admiralty must know they need strong leadership, not men who are only concerned with advancing their careers.”

Though her heart quailed at the thought of Gideon
returning to sea, she could not be sorry he had gotten the justice he deserved at last. Besides the possible explanation she’d offered for his acquittal, Marian wondered if perhaps her friend Rebecca had persuaded Lord Benedict to look into the matter.

“You do realize what this means?” he asked, clearly torn between devotion to his family and duty to his crew and country.

“Of course.” Much as she hated to see him go, Marian could not bear to add to his conflict. “You’ll be able to return to your ship and protect your crew from those horrible bullies.”

Though he hadn’t spoken of it since the night he’d returned from London, Marian could tell that concern for his crew had weighed upon him.

Gideon gave a grim nod. “So I shall. But once this war is over, I intend to retire from the Royal Navy and return home to Knightley Park to stay.”

Marian pretended to believe it would happen, though a streak of fatalism in her character insisted that any happiness she found in life would always be snatched away.

“This is something I must do,” he murmured as he held her close and stroked her hair. “For my men and for my country. Before I returned to Knightley Park last autumn, my country was only a vague abstraction. Now it means so much more. It is you and the girls, our household, all the people of the parish, those school friends of yours whom I hope to meet someday. Everything I do as captain of the
Integrity
will be in your service.”

The girls had reacted to his going in the way Marian
expected. Dolly wanted desperately to go along and share his adventures at sea while Cissy seemed to feel abandoned by yet another parental figure. Gideon assured the girls he would write to them as often as possible and begged them to write him about all their doings. He promised when the fighting was over and he returned to Knightley Park to stay, he would bring them presents from London.

On the night before his departure, after tucking the girls in with a kiss, he confided in Marian. “Thank heaven we were able to secure guardianship of the children. If any harm should befall me, I shall have the comfort of knowing you will love and care for them always.”

“Please do not speak of harm coming to you, my love.” She clasped his arm tighter, wishing she never had to let go. “I cannot bear to think of that.”

But it was not her only worry. She also feared what might happen when he was reunited with his first and greatest love—the sea. Could he give up a life of adventure and gallant service for the quiet existence of a country squire?

The morning he left for London, she sensed their parting was as difficult for Gideon as for her and the girls. For all their sakes, Marian strove to appear cheerfully resigned, pretending to believe her husband would soon return. It was only after his carriage disappeared from view down the elm-lined lane and the girls had gone to play in the garden that she indulged in a few tears.

As the days turned to weeks and weeks to months, life at Knightley Park returned to its old familiar
rhythm, with a few important differences. Marian was now the lady of the house, a role in which she was not altogether comfortable. But, for the sake of Gideon, the girls and the tenants, she gradually rose to the challenge. Whenever she was inclined to feel sorry for herself, she tried to remember that she now had everything for which she’d once prayed…and so much more. With that thought in mind, she concentrated on treasuring her blessings rather than yearning for the one thing she no longer had.

Whenever the longing for Gideon overwhelmed her, she wrote him another letter or prayed for his safety and happiness. Somehow, that helped her feel close to him again.

Now, several weeks after Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, Marian rejoiced that the war was over, but grieved that she had not received a letter from her husband in some time. Clearly, his other life had reclaimed him. Perhaps this was his way of indicating he would rather she did not pester him with mail.

Her voice caught on the words she was reading. She could not make out the next passage through the haze of tears that rose in her eyes.

“Is something the matter?” Cissy leaned closer to Marian and ran a hand down her arm in a comforting caress.

When Marian could not master her emotions to reply, Dolly heaved a great sigh. “You miss him, too, don’t you?”

Swallowing her tears, Marian gave a shaky smile and nodded.

“Don’t fret,” advised Dolly as if their roles were sud
denly reversed and she was now the adult. “He’ll be home soon, you’ll see, and he’ll bring us presents from London.”

The sound of rushing footsteps made all three of them look up as Martha burst in. “It’s him, ma’am— Captain Radcliffe, driving up the lane!”

The book Marian had been reading to the girls slid from her fingers to land on the carpet with a soft thud. The moment she’d hoped for all these weeks had arrived at last…in answer to her fervent prayers.

“Are you certain it’s him?” demanded Cissy, clearly reluctant to get her hopes up.

“Of course it’s him.” Dolly seized her sister by the hand and pulled her toward the door. “Didn’t I tell you he’d be coming home soon?”

In a daze of happiness, Marian rose and followed the children. The tears of longing she’d suppressed welled up again from a deep spring of joy.

No long line of servants waited under the portico to greet the captain this time, only his family.

When the carriage came to a halt, he did not wait for the footman, but thrust the door open himself and sprang out.

Dolly and Cissy ran toward him, crying, “Welcome home!”

His face alight with happiness, Gideon caught the girls each in one arm and pulled them into a warm embrace.

He looked rather gaunt and weary, but Marian relished the opportunity to fuss over him, making sure he got plenty of food and rest.

Gideon pressed a kiss on each of the girls’ foreheads.
“That is the finest welcome I’ve ever received. But there is one other lady I have been longing to see.”

When he looked up at Marian, his smile froze and his eyes widened. Striding toward his wife, he took her in his arms with restrained eagerness and kissed her tenderly.

“Why did you not tell me?” he whispered, lowering one hand to caress her swelling belly.

“I didn’t want you coming back only for the sake of the child. I was afraid that once you returned to your ship, you would want to stay at sea.”

“Never.” Gideon shook his head vehemently. “In fact, there were times I got so homesick for you and the girls that I wanted to desert. Every evening in my cabin I read your letters and imagined myself back in the library at Knightley Park. Now that the war is over for good, and I have settled matters aboard the
Integrity,
I consider myself blessed to have such a fine family to come home to.”

Feeling a familiar tug on his coat, which he had missed so keenly, Gideon glanced down at his darling Dolly.

“Did you bring us presents?” she demanded. “You promised you would when you went away, remember?”

“He came back.” Sweet Cissy looked up at him with such love and faith that it made his throat tighten. “That’s better than any present.”

Gideon glanced at his beloved wife, whose eyes were shining with unshed tears of joy.

“It certainly is the best possible gift for me.” He reached for Cissy’s hand and gave it a warm squeeze. “But Dolly is right. A promise is a promise. I had great
fun scouring the shops of London for things you might enjoy.”

“Frederick,” he called out to one of the footmen unloading his baggage. “Bring that small trunk into the Chinese drawing room.”

A short while later, the whole family crowded together on the window seat as Gideon prepared to dispense the gifts he had bought. He could hardly wait to see Marian’s face when he presented her with a gold locket in which he planned to put miniature portraits of the girls. Soon he would need to get her another one to hold the likeness of the child she was carrying.

“So tell me,” he asked her as the girls opened the first of their presents, “when can we expect the newest member of our family to make an appearance?”

His question brought a gentle, brooding smile to her lips that made him catch his breath. “The midwife says the baby will likely arrive by mid-December.”

As he recalled the Christmas that had made them a family and looked forward to many equally joyous in the years ahead, Gideon heaved a sigh of blessed happiness. “What better Christmas gift could we ask for?”

Dear Reader,

This story holds a special place in my heart. It came to me at a time when I was under contract to write another series. To keep the characters from taking too much of my attention away from those books, I wrote down a loose outline and bits of scenes, then stuck them away in a file.

By the time I was free to work on the story again, Love Inspired Books had launched its Historical line which I read and loved. I wondered if my governess story might be a good fit for the line. Taking out the old file, I began writing Gideon and Marian’s story as an inspirational and found it worked so much better.

I had originally imagined the story taking place in the English countryside during the summer months, but when I checked the time frame of Napoleon’s return to power after Elba, I realized that wouldn’t work. Instead, the story would have to take place over the autumn and winter. Writing it as a Christmas story made all the pieces fall into place.

I hope you will enjoy this story of two lonely people, a pair of orphaned children and the Christmas that made them a family!

Wishing you the joy and peace of Christmas,
Deborah Hale