Charming Artemis by Sarah M. Eden

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Artemis glanced at the clock on the wall of Rose’s office for the tenth time in a quarter of an hour. They had been in London a fortnight, and their dress shop was nearly ready to begin accepting customers. Rose, they had decided, was far too gifted in matters of business, with far too keen an eye for fashion, to not be present at their establishment for consultations and for overseeing the efforts.

With Rose’s new position, one that suited her perfectly, Artemis needed to secure another lady’s maid, but that was not the matter weighing heaviest on her mind.

“Watching the clock won’t make time pass any faster,” Rose said, looking up from the papers on her desk.

“Charlie was so nervous when he left for his lecture. I am anxious to hear how his presentation was received.”

“You’ve married a very intelligent gentleman, one who is quite articulate when discussing mathematics. I haven’t the least doubt he proved a rousing success.”

How she wished ladies were permitted membership in the Royal Society so she could have attended and heard him speak.

Two of the Huntresses, Daria and Gillian, arrived in the office a moment later. The Huntresses hadn’t seen one another in months, and the Season was all but over.

“We have come on a rescue mission,” Daria said.

“Rescue?” Artemis eyed them both.

Daria nodded. “We are rescuing Rose from your no-doubt ceaseless fretting.”

“Please do,” Rose said from her desk. Those who didn’t know her would not recognize the teasing in her voice. Artemis had lived too long with Adam to not know dry and painfully subtle humor when she heard it.

“Let us go to Falstone House now,” Daria said. “Even if your Charlie is not back yet, he will be soon enough.”

“My Charlie?” She wasn’t objecting. On the contrary, she rather liked hearing him referred to that way.

“It appears, this time, Artemis did not kill Actaeon after all,” Gillian said, managing to keep her expression free of any hint of an “I told you so.”

Artemis tipped her chin. “You have confused your myths. This time, Artemis did not kill Orion after all.”

Daria’s eyes darted from Gillian to Artemis and back again, barely holding back a grin.

“I will see you in the morning,” Artemis said to Rose.

She was offered a farewell in return. Their business venture was already proving a grand and glorious undertaking. The years to come in London would be nothing short of exciting. And she would have Charlie with her through it all. Her Charlie.

The O’Doyle sisters had only just arrived at Falstone House when Artemis, Gillian, and Daria alighted from their hackney. They all walked into the house together.

“Are you simply falling to bits without Charlie at your side?” Nia asked, not bothering to pretend she wasn’t teasing her friend. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were a little besotted.”

“If I didn’t know better,” Artemis tossed back imperiously, “I would think you don’t want to be invited to my house party this autumn.”

That turned the topic nicely. Artemis and Charlie had decided that a gathering of their friends later in the year would be vastly enjoyable. With income from the dress shop and, if all had gone well that day, from Charlie’s lectures and published papers, the monetary burden was not so worrisome as before.

The Huntresses were at the top of their list of wished-for friends, including Lisette, who had been in France for months. Charlie wished to have a few friends from Cambridge stay with them as well—Newton and his wife, Sorrel’s brother Fennel, the oddly-named Duke, and Toss, who was at Falstone House even then.

Brier Hill would never again be a lonely and empty place.

Falstone House was full to bursting, with both the Jonquil and Lancaster families in attendance, as well as various family friends. Sorrel was there, utilizing her wheeled chair, which she used more often than not now. And she wore a dress Artemis and Rose had designed especially for her, one that accommodated her hip bracing, accentuated her figure, and hung narrow enough in the skirts to not get caught in the wheels of her chair. Artemis was particularly proud of the work they’d done on that design.

Hestia sat on Mater’s lap, held and adored. Adam’s children—all the Lancasters’ children, in fact—had gained a grandmother in her. And Artemis had gained a mother, just as Charlie had promised.

“Aunt Artemis.”

She turned at the sound of Oliver’s voice. The boy stood beside her, regal and confident and every inch his father’s child. “Yes, dear?”

“When will Uncle Charming be back?”

“‘Uncle Charming’?” Daria repeated, her eyes dancing.

“Miss Caroline Jonquil called him that for ages. Oliver learned of it and adopted it himself.”

Oliver stood in patient anticipation of an answer. She knew better than to disappoint him. He was not one to throw fits or grow petulant, but his heart broke more easily than he preferred to let on, and she didn’t wish to cause him any sorrow.

“He should return any moment.” She pulled the curtain back to show Oliver where to watch for the carriage only to discover that her husband was, even then, alighting in front of the house.

She slipped back from the window and weaved through the crowd gathered there. The entire Jonquil and Lancaster families were present, all wanting to support Charlie on his day of, she hoped, triumph.

They teased her as she passed. She didn’t care. Charlie was back, and she meant to be the first to welcome him home.

She reached the entryway as Charlie, Adam, and Mr. Barrington stepped inside. All her attention was on her husband. She, Rose, and Wilson had carefully selected his emerald-green waistcoat and perfectly cut jacket. Wilson had pushed aside Charlie’s own valet, recently hired, to undertake the tying of Charlie’s cravat himself. Charlie had left impressive and ready to prove his worth to his peers through the paper he’d worked tirelessly on. But had he returned triumphant?

“How was your lecture received?” She held her breath.

“Well, I think.”

She looked to Adam. “Please free my husband from the chains of his own modesty.”

“The lecture was excellent,” Adam said, no frills or exaggeration in his tone. “We will not need to disavow him after all.”

Having been divested of his outercoat, Adam made directly for the drawing room, no doubt guessing that was where Persephone would be. As he passed, though, he leaned closer to Artemis and said quietly, “He was brilliant.”

A footman had likewise taken Mr. Barrington’s coat. Artemis looked to him, not because she doubted Adam’s assessment but because she wanted Charlie to hear further praise of his abilities and efforts. He deserved to know that he was remarkable.

“Everyone in attendance was impressed,” Mr. Barrington said. “I suspect he’ll have ample opportunities to discuss his theories whenever he is in London.”

Artemis looked to Charlie. “Have you been accepted for membership?”

He nodded. “I am decidedly the best thing that has ever happened to the Royal Society.”

He had grown quite adept at theatrics over the past few months. His performances delighted her. He was quite funny and quick to tease her into laughter without ever being mocking or belittling.

“The whole family is here,” she told him.

“Whose family?” He handed his folio of papers to the footman who had taken his coat.

“Our family,” she said. “All of them. Including Newton and Toss, all the Huntresses, except Lisette, the Gents and those of their wives who are still with us, your mother, brothers, their families, my siblings, their families.”

“All of them? At the same time?”

She nodded. “It is, as your father so eloquently put it in his last letter to all of you, ‘a wonderful bit of chaos.’ And they are all anxious to see you and hear about your lecture.”

“I doubt most of them have the least interest in Euclidean geometry.”

Artemis took his hand. “But they have a tremendous interest in you.”

“Even the Huntresses?” he asked with a doubtful laugh.

“I have declared you my Orion. They will accept you as one of their own now.”

He tucked her up to his side, still smiling, still clearly amused. “Didn’t Artemis shoot Orion?”

“Not yet.”

His laughter rang through the entryway, a joyful and hopeful sound. There’d been so much happiness and laughter between them in the weeks since they’d left Lampton Park.

As they stepped into the drawing room, her gaze glided over her siblings. Athena and Harry. Daphne and James. Linus and Arabella. Persephone and Adam. Life had been difficult for them in the early years. At times, it had been utterly bleak. But there they all were, gathered with their children, surrounded by friends. Happy. Joyous. Hopeful.

* * *

Charlie entered the drawing room of Falstone House with his arm around his wife, feeling content and optimistic. The last weeks had been idyllic. They’d settled in at Brier Hill, making it their own. Artemis and Rose were soon to open their modiste shop. Charlie’s lecture to the Royal Society had been received with even more enthusiasm than he’d dared hope.

The house was full to bursting, overflowing with laughter and pleasantries. Looking over the enormous gathering of Jonquils and Lancasters, Gents and Huntresses and Cambridge comrades, he struggled to even remember what it had been like to feel lonely for so long.

“Uncle Charming!” He knew the sound of Oliver’s voice as well as he knew those of his Jonquil nieces and nephews. The boy rushed to him, and Charlie picked him up, tossing him in the air before holding him in his arms. “Have you missed me, Tadpole?”

“I’m Oliver. Not Tadpole.”

“My brothers used to call me Tadpole when I was your age,” he said.

“We are going to play catch us, catch us,” Oliver said. “But Mama says we have to play in the back gardens. Will you come?”

“Of course.” Charlie gave him a squeeze. “But first, I need to give my mama a hug and a good afternoon.”

Oliver nodded somberly. “One mustn’t neglect one’s mother.”

“Did your father tell you that?”

“Yes. And he knows everything.”

Charlie set him on his feet and nudged him toward Persephone. “Go give your mama a hug. I suspect she would appreciate it.”

With his armful skipping across the room, Charlie reached for Artemis’s hand once more but was waylaid by the arrival of Caroline.

“How was your mathematics talk?” she asked.

Charlie hunched down in front of her. “Would you believe me if I said I was utter rubbish?”

“No, I wouldn’t.” She plopped her fists on her hips. “Aunt Artemis says you’re the smartest person in the world. And Uncle Flip says you understand everything about mathematics, and he didn’t say it with his silly face on, so he was being truthful. And Grammy says that mathematics is . . . ” She thought for a moment. “Is not for the faint of heart. I think that means if you understand it, you are likely very smart.”

“Your grammy is very, very smart,” Charlie said.

“Mr. Layton said so too. And he said I am pretty as a penny.” Caroline blushed a bit. “I like him.”

“So do I,” Artemis said.

Charlie stood once more as Caroline spun around, making her way back amongst the family.

Artemis threaded her arm through Charlie’s. “They are quite a collection, aren’t they?”

“It is an enormous, chaotic family gathering, so easily mixed together.” His heart swelled as he watched them all. “Even Adam is enduring Philip, who, no doubt, still insists on calling him Brother Adam.”

“He enjoys it more than he lets on.”

Charlie shot her a look of doubt. “Enjoys it?”

“Perhaps not Philip’s teasing, but he likes having family. As lonely as you and I were as children, our isolation was nothing compared to his.”

“He is likely never to enjoy a moment’s isolation again.”

Artemis pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Papa would have loved having him here. Having all of us here.”

“He would have, indeed. All of his children, including those he adopted”—he squeezed her shoulders—“are here together.”

“And he would be especially pleased that Mater is surrounded by people who love her.” She gave him a little shove. “Go give her a hug and a good afternoon, as you told Oliver you would.”

“You’ll be here when I get back?” He’d taken to asking her that when they were going to be apart.

“I always am,” she said.

Charlie made his way to Mater. A rare break in the attentions of the Gents and their wives gave him the opportunity to sit with her, something he missed doing now that his home was not the same as hers.

“Are you simply in heaven, Mater?” He knew at a glance she was.

“Crispin has a peaceful home life. Adam is here and surrounded by family. Arabella is among us. Your father’s Princess has found her way to us. All you boys are happy, loved, and together.” She sighed a contented and pleased sort of sigh. “I have long dreamed of a day like this.”

Stanley happened to look over in that moment. Charlie motioned him to join them. The summons was taken up by all the brothers, none of whom, it seemed, had been entirely unaware that Mater’s friends weren’t currently surrounding her.

In an instant, she was surrounded by her sons. They kissed her cheek in turn and hugged her fiercely, Philip last of all.

“Our rock in the storms of life,” he said. “We’d have been lost if not for you.”

She pulled them in close, managing somehow to embrace all seven of them at once. “My boys. The lights of my life. I couldn’t be prouder of the gentlemen you’ve become. And I love you more every day.”

Mater’s daughters-in-law and Crispin soon joined the circle. Adam and Persephone were among them in the next moment, then Linus and Arabella. And as Mater had more or less adopted Athena and Harry as well as Daphne and James, her gathered “children” grew to include nearly everyone present.

Charlie set his arm around Artemis. She held him in return, her expression one of genuine contentment and an open, unfettered happiness. Charlie kissed the top of her head, holding her fast.

This family loves you and loves each other,Father had written, his last and most personal bit of advice to the very young son he’d left behind. Embrace them. Let them embrace you. You need never be alone.

And he wasn’t. No one in this family would ever walk the paths of life on their own. They had each other. They had the legacy of their father’s unwavering support. The surety of their mother’s fierce devotion. And the promise of each other’s loyalty.

They had the sure, steadfast love that ties families together.

Forever.