Chapter 8: Reunited

Summary: Well, we're on the home straight now…and I'm afraid it's horribly predictable. But sometimes it's not the ending, but the journey that's important (or so they tell me!)

As the sun rose on another beautiful morning at Croft Manor, its cheerful light was deeply at odds with Lara's dark state of mind. She should have felt excited about the day, and the challenge ahead. Instead all she could feel was a dull, aching emptiness. What had she done wrong? No, that was unfair to herself; she knew. As far as she was concerned, she and Hillary had done nothing other than give in to their very strong feelings about one another, but she now knew that Hillary felt differently. Yesterday he had helped her to fly, today she felt as though he'd clipped her wings.

What the hell was she going to do? She had to leave for Peru in a little under twelve hours in order to arrive in the country under cover of darkness, and the last thing she wanted to do was leave, knowing that when she returned Hillary would be gone. She couldn't bear the thought of coming back to the house in two weeks with the knowledge that she would no longer see Hillary at the door to welcome her. But what could she do to avoid that situation?

On automatic pilot, she wandered down to her drawing room to take breakfast. Resting beside the silver tray, alongside her usual grapefruit juice, toast and cereal lay an envelope. With a sense of foreboding that made her stomach churn, hands trembling almost uncontrollably, she opened it.

My dearest Lara,

I took the opportunity while you were resting this morning to slip quietly away. Lord Montague has been most accommodating and has agreed that I may start my service a little early. Under the circumstances I felt it was best that we did not linger over goodbyes; I do not wish to cause you more pain and inconvenience.

Please know that I never intended to hurt you, Lara, and that in all the years I have served you and your family, I have never been happier than when I have been a part of your life. Watching you develop into the beautiful and compassionate woman that you are has been one of my greatest pleasures. I am only sorry that our friendship, if I may take the liberty of calling it that, had to end so suddenly and painfully for us both.

I implore you, please keep yourself safe in Peru. You have always been precious to me, and I know that, in pursuit of a target you can be careless with regard to your own life. I hope that the knowledge that I am praying for your safe return will, in some way compensate for the emotional damage I have done.

I will always remember you, and you will forever be in my thoughts.

Yours,

James Hillary.

As Lara reached the last lines, Hillary's elegant handwriting blurred before her eyes. How could he just leave without even bothering to say a proper goodbye? The thought that she would at least see him before he left had kept her hope alive during the tortuous early hours of the morning, when the dawn had seemed so distant a prospect and it was all she could to not to run down to the servants quarters and wake him. Now, she had been denied even that. Without even bothering to touch her breakfast, she ran from the room. She nearly collided with Mrs Bainbridge, who, worried for the Lady of the Manor's wellbeing was hovering nervously outside the door.

"Can I get you anything, Ma'am?" she asked as Lara stumbled from the room.

"Tell me when he left," Lara said bleakly. "And which way he went."

Mrs Bainbridge looked even more worried. "I'm sorry Ma'am, all I can tell you is when he left, which was about six o'clock this morning. As far as which way he went, well, there are so many routes from here to Lord Montague's residence, I couldn't begin to guess."

Lara smiled sadly. "That's good enough-he's had two hours, he's bound to be nearly there by now."

The look on Lara's face was so desolate that Mrs Bainbridge was touched deeply. "If it's any consolation, my Lady, he spent the whole of last night pacing up and down in his study. He loves you more than anything, from what I can see." Her eyes filled with tears as she looked at the young woman in front of her. "He just couldn't bear to ruin your reputation by bringing scandal on your family name."

"I don't care about the family name!" Lara retorted quickly, but not in anger. "All I care about is Hilly. How can he just walk away like that?" She brushed away the tears that threatened to spill over. Then, in the space of a heartbeat, she smiled.

"He's not going to get away with it," she said. "If I have to renounce my name and give up my home, I'm getting him back!" With that, she ran off down the corridor, leaving a bewildered Mrs Bainbridge smiling slightly after her. The old Cook hoped that the impulsive Lady Croft wasn't going to do something she'd regret.

A telephone call later and Lara had everything she needed. The helicopter that was supposed to take her to the airstrip to board the charter plane to Peru had been called in early for a somewhat more urgent mission. Lara didn't bother to inform Jacqueline Natla; she had no intention of pulling out of her commission, but there was something she had to do before she left the country. She had twenty minutes to get her things together before the helicopter landed.

Gathering all of her provisions for the trip to Peru, Lara was out waiting for the helicopter as it landed on the smooth green expanse of Croft lawn. Wasting no time, she boarded the bird and, giving instructions to the pilot, they soared back into the air. As the ground fell away beneath her, Lara hoped against hope that when she got where she was going, she would succeed in bringing Hillary home.

"Lady Croft, when we reach Beaulieu, there will be approximately half an hour before we need to get back in the air and get to the Longmoor air strip for your plane to Peru," the pilot said. Lara nodded. That should be enough time to convince Hillary to return to Croft Manor-and her.

In what seemed to be very little time the helicopter had covered the distance between Croft Manor and Lord Montague's estate. Thankfully the two houses both had an expanse of lawn at the front, which allowed a safe and easy set down of the helicopter. Almost before the helicopter had landed, Lara was out of her seat and jumping to the ground, hoping against hope that she could get to Hillary before she had to leave once more. Racing over the lawn, she ran to the front entrance of the house and rang the heavy door chain. Its gloomy toll echoed through the house and there was a slight pause before a stern looking butler opened the door.

"Good afternoon, may I help you?" The butler enquired, looking through half moon spectacles at Lara. His face registered polite disapproval as he took in her khaki shorts and green vest top and the sunglasses that were perched on top of her head.

"I'm looking for James Hillary," Lara replied, a touch breathlessly. "He has been appointed as the new…I mean, a new member of staff for the Montague household."

"And may I ask who you are?" The butler said, unconvinced by her appearance that she was anyone worth bothering with.

"My name is Lara, I mean Lady Lara Croft of the Hertfordshire Croft family. With all due respect, I'm in a bit of a hurry. Is Hillary here or not?" She was getting impatient, and no amount of breeding could hide the urgency that she felt, and her frustration that she was being held up.

"One moment, Lady Croft," the butler finally said, and beckoned her into the hallway. Before he could seek the answer to her question, the answer provided itself. Coming out of what Lara assumed was the drawing room on the left hand side of the hall, was the elderly and kindly looking Lord Montague, and behind him, looking tired yet smart in a well cut pale cream summer weight suit, was Hillary.

If Hillary was surprised to see Lara, it registered only for the barest second on his face. Lord Montague walked forward with a smile. "How can I be of assistance, dear?" he asked as he saw Lara. Unlike his butler, Lord Montague had an eye for a pretty girl and so was a little more friendly.

"Good afternoon, Lord Montague, my name is Lady Lara Croft. If you'll forgive the intrusion, I came to have a word with Mr Hillary." Lara smiled her most disarming smile, although inside she was quaking with nerves.

Lord Montague looked confused for a moment, and then, realisation seemed to dawn.

"Of course, dear, please, take Mr Hillary out to the grounds where you may talk in private." He pointed to the door at the back of the hallway. "Take all the time you need. I knew your father, we were in the forces together…splendid chap, sorry to hear of his disappearance."

"Thank you, my Lord," Lara replied hastily, feeling the pressure of time upon her.

"Well, go on man, don't keep the lady waiting!" Lord Montague chided Hillary, not unkindly.

Hillary nodded, quite unable to speak, and followed Lara into the sunlit back garden.

It seemed an eternity before Lara dared begin. Looking at Hillary, so differently dressed and so handsome in the sunlight, despite the paleness of his skin and the lines under his eyes, she knew she had made the right decision to come here. Now all she had to do was convince him. Turning to him once they were out of earshot of the manor, she began.

"Hilly," even his name made her tremble. "I want you to come back with me to Croft Manor." She laid a hand on his arm. He jumped as if she had burned him. Undeterred, she carried on. "I miss you already, and you've only been gone a night."

"Lady Croft…Lara, I can't come back to the manor as your butler. It's not permissible for me to do so now that we've-now that I've broken the code." Hillary looked into Lara's eyes, and she could see the wretchedness of feeling that betrayed his calm exterior.

"I don't want you back as my butler, Hilly," Lara replied, tightening her grip on his arm. "In fact, I decline your resignation because I've come down here to tell you that you're sacked."

Hillary's look of surprise almost made Lara laugh out loud. In fact, if she wasn't so close to tears, she would have giggled. "Sacked? But I don't understand. Why did you come here to tell me that?" He made to turn away from her, but she kept hold of his arm to prevent him from moving and instead, she forced him to look at her.

"Because I want you to come back to the house as an equal, Hilly." This was it; this was the moment for which she'd flown down here. "I want you to come back as the man I'm going to marry." Placing her other hand on Hillary's cheek, she could feel the tension that he was holding in check just below the surface.

"Lara, you don't…you can't mean that you and I…you really want…?" He was, temporarily lost for words as he finally met her gaze. What he saw there seemed to take his breath away. Lara could see the unhappiness melt slowly away from his eyes and a new, softer expression of hope take its place. She nodded, herself unable to speak.

Eventually, Hillary seemed to come to a decision. "Lara, are you sure that this is what you want?" He began. "I'd never forgive myself if I thought that I'd forced you in any way to do this. Do you really want me to come back with you?" His voice was low, but its tone told Lara that he needed an answer.

"Hillary, I love you more than anyone I've ever met," she replied without hesitation. "You're the only one I've ever loved. Please, I'm begging you, come back to the manor with me." She swayed forward into his arms, and, both giddy with relief and love, they clung to each other for a long, blissful moment.

"I don't known how I could ever have thought of leaving you," Hillary said shakily when they eventually parted. Wiping his eyes, he looked deeply into Lara's once more. "But what about the family? Your reputation?"

"Bugger them!" Lara responded. "You make me happier than any son of an Earl or Baronet ever could. You always have. And it's not exactly unheard of for someone to marry out of the system, is it? It's about time we stopped marrying our cousins and got some fresh blood into the line!" She was being flippant, but in her sheer relief that Hillary wasn't going to leave her, she didn't care.

Hillary looked thoughtful for a moment. "Alright then," he said eventually. "But on two conditions." He smiled mischievously.

"Go on."

"Firstly, I do the asking." He dropped to one knee and looked back up at Lara, his eyes all seriousness. "Lara Croft, will you do me the very great honour of agreeing to become my wife?"

At the sight of Hillary's handsome, open face staring up at her, Lara, who blamed lack of breakfast for her sudden weakness, felt her own knees give way. As she tumbled towards Hillary, he caught her in a firm embrace. "Of course I will," she replied. They kissed gently but with increasing passion until at last, Lara paused to draw breath.

"What was your second condition?" She asked as they helped one another up.

Hillary smiled. "Well, I know I certainly need time to get used to the idea that you and I are going to be married, and I think a lot of your family and friends will need the same, so I suggest for the moment, that we keep our engagement quiet and gradually tell them when the time arises." At Lara's look of indignation, Hillary put a finger to her lips. "Have faith in me, Lara, it's the best way to go about it."

"But I want everyone to know!" She protested. "I'd shout it from the rooftops if I could."

Hillary pulled her close. "I know, Lara, so do I, but trust me, it's for the best for now. And anyway, I want to have you to myself for a little longer before all of your cousins, aunts and uncles descend with congratulations, or otherwise."

Reluctantly, knowing that Hillary was right, Lara nodded. "But not too long," she warned. "After all, now that I've decided to become Mrs James Hillary, I'm going to have to start practising my signature!"

"Ah yes, about that…" Hillary said sheepishly. "You see you won't actually be Mrs James Hillary." At Lara's look of surprise, he continued. "Hillary isn't actually my last name, it's just what I've been called from the time I took employment with you. You were too young to remember this, but my father's name, like mine, was James Winston, and as everyone called him James in private, and your family called him Winston when he was working, I couldn't very well be called Winston while he was still serving the family with me. So to avoid confusion, I took my middle name as the name I'm known by, hence you calling me Hillary. So when you marry me, you can take your pick from Mrs James Winston, Mrs Hillary Winston or Mrs James Hillary Winston."

"I can't believe I've known you all these years and never known that!" Lara laughed. "But you've forgotten one." She smiled. "How about Mr Hillary Croft?"

Hillary gave her an old-fashioned look. "Any wife of mine will take my name." He said solemnly, then the mischievous smile returned and the put his arms around her again. As he did so, Lara gave a squeak.

"What is it, am I hurting you?" Hillary replied, suddenly worried.

"No, it's just, oh bugger, we've only got five minutes before I have to leave for the airstrip." She turned frustrated eyes to Hillary, who gave a consoling smile.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go," she said softly.

"Of course you do," Hillary replied. "I wouldn't want you to do anything else now that you've committed yourself. Can you give me five minutes to meet with Lord Montague to tell him the news?"

"No need to, old man!" Lord Montague seemed to materialise form nowhere. "Many congratulations to you both." He shook Hillary's hand and kissed Lara on the cheek. "And don't worry, until you go public, your secret's safe with me." Both of them smiled at the old Lord's sense of discretion.

Lord Montague, in his hospitality agreed to have Hillary's car sent back to Croft Manor so that he could accompany Lara to the airstrip and see her off. It seemed as though barely the blink of an eye had passed before they were landing at Longmoor. Standing together as the afternoon sun began to wane, Lara clung to Hillary for one more moment.

"I love you, Hilly," she began. "More than I can say."

Hillary looked down at the woman he had loved for so long. "Come back to me, Lara," he said softly. "Come back and make me the happiest man in the world."

And in that blissful, bittersweet moment there was no need for more words; there was just the truth of their love.

THE END

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