“Here, Esther,” Mary motioned to a chair. “Please sit and let me explain.”
Esther sat down in the chair and looked at her sister. She was beginning to get angry.
“Esther,” Mary said, “This is not a concern nor a problem, so I don’t want you to think something is wrong with Allan.”
“Someone better tell me what Harry meant by that,” Esther said with force.
“Really, you already know,” Mary said. “You know that Allan was in the Battle of Waterloo and that he was gravely injured, right?”
“Yes,” said Esther. “But what did Harry mean about him being broken?”
“Allan’s injuries were severe,” Mary said. “And from what Edward has told me, when Allan speaks about those injuries, he refers to himself as a broken man.”
Esther thought about it for a moment. “So, why do you think Harry would say that? I already knew that he was in the war and was injured.”
“Your Grace?”
A footman had walked through the door. “Lord Wiltshire would like to speak with Lady Esther,” he said.
Mary looked at Esther and said, “Do you want to speak with him?”
Esther nodded.
“Fine, then,” Mary stood. She turned to the footman. “Please collect Rose and have her join us. Then, please let Lord Wiltshire in. You can bring the toast and jam and tea back to the dining room, if it’s not too much trouble.”
“Of course, Your Grace,” the footman replied.
He opened the door and Mary walked out. Esther waited alone for several minutes. The door opened again, and Rose came through. “I am here, My Lady,” she said.
“Thank you for coming, Rose,” Ester replied. She watched as her lady’s maid sat behind her.
Again, the footman came through the door. “Lord Wiltshire, My Lady,” he said. She nodded.
Esther watched as Allan came in. He immediately walked over and sat in the chair across from her.
“Esther,” he said. “I am so sorry you had to hear all of that.”
“Allan,” she replied, shaking her head. “I just don’t understand.”
“Harry is infinitely jealous of me,” Allan explained. “He has always wanted to be with you, and when he found out that we were talking about getting engaged, it seems he didn’t take it well.”
“That’s an understatement,” Esther said. “His reaction scared me.”
“I don’t ever want you to be frightened of him,” Allan said. “I will always protect you.”
Esther smiled and nodded at him. “I know you will, Allan.”
“But, I do want to tell you something,” Allan said. “And it is difficult for me to talk about.”
“What is it?” Esther asked. She couldn’t imagine that he would tell her anything that she couldn’t handle.
“When I was injured, I was injured badly,” Allan explained quietly. “I wasn’t supposed to live. During the blast, my back was ripped open, and though the doctor was able to sew it up, I have a horrific scar that goes from my shoulder to hip.”
Esther could tell that it was difficult for him to talk about. She tried to look as understanding as possible and nod at him as he spoke.
“I am very aware of it,” he said. “And I would be lying if I said I didn’t worry about what you might think when you see it.”
Esther smiled at him and felt her eyes begin to fill with tears. “Allan,” she said. “I would never, ever not love nor care for you because of a scar. I don’t care how big it is. I love you, scar and all.”
Allan looked at her, and she could see that he had tears in his eyes, too.
“Thank you, Esther,” he said. “You don’t know what that means to me. I love you, too.”
Ester nodded. It was hard not to cry harder while looking into his eyes.
“I must get ready to leave, Esther,” Allan said, “And I promise you that I will miss you every minute of every day that we are apart. But there is work to do, plus we have to make arrangements to get Julia. On top of that, I must get in touch with your father, of course.” He smiled.
Esther nodded again, and the thought of leaving Allan made her feel like weeping. She swallowed hard, and said, “I will miss you, and I will tell my father to expect a letter.”
Allan leaned forward and touched Esther’s arm. “I will see you soon, Esther. Thank you for understanding me.” He nodded at her, turned, and walked out of the room. All Esther could do was watch him leave, though all she wanted to do was run after him.
Chapter 25
Allan was more nervous than he had ever been in his life. He was sitting in his carriage, which had just pulled up in front of the home of the Duke of Aishling, Esther’s father. He was here to ask for Esther’s hand in marriage.
As he looked out of the window of the carriage, Allan could see the home in front of him. It was much larger than his own, and he hoped that Esther, when she saw his house, wouldn’t be disappointed. He also noticed a distinct lack of staff around the estate, which he thought was unusual, but perhaps it was just the time of day or they had been temporarily reassigned.
The coachman came around the side of the carriage and Allan heard the familiar sound of the steps being pulled down. The door opened, and Allan stepped out. He was hoping that Esther would be there to greet him, but instead, the Duke of Aishling himself, stood at the door.
Allan had only met Esther’s father one time, and during their brief interactions, he had seemed like a jovial, reasonable man. Edward had even told Allan that the Duke would welcome him with open arms, though that didn’t seem to be the case.
The Duke was standing in front of the door with a man to his side, presumably his steward. He did not smile, nor did he seem particularly happy that Allan was there. Allan took a deep breath and walked towards the Duke.
“Good Afternoon, Lord Wiltshire” the Duke said as Allan approached him.
“Good afternoon, Your Grace,” Allan said. He could hear that his voice quivered. “Thank you so much for inviting me to your beautiful home.”
The Duke nodded, and said “I trust you had a safe journey?”
“I did,” Allan replied.
“Very good,” the Duke responded. Allan still couldn’t detect that the Duke was happy to see him. “Please allow my steward to show you in, and I will meet with you shortly.”
“Thank you, Your Grace,” Allan replied. He then looked at the steward who motioned for him to follow. A lone footman stood by the door and opened it as the pair walked in.
Allan immediately started looking around and noticed that the walls in the home were quite bare, and there were no other staff members seen. As he walked, he remembered what Esther had told him; her father was having financial struggles, and now, it was apparent how difficult that had been on him. Allan also figured that these issues were the cause of the lack of staff.
The steward didn’t speak to him until they came to a door. He opened it and said, “His Grace will meet you shortly.”
Allan walked in and a footman approached him. “Would you care for drink, My Lord?”
“Yes, please,” Allan said.
The footman didn’t ask what he wanted. Instead, he simply walked over to a cabinet and poured Allan a glass of wine. The footman placed the glass on a tray, and then brought it over to Allan.
“Please, have a seat, My Lord,” the footman said, as he held the tray out. Allan took the glass and took a sip before sitting.
“Thank you,” he said to the footman.
Allan took the chance to look around the room. Like the other areas of the home he had seen, this room was quite bare, too. Allan wondered if it had always been bare or if this was a recent change. He would have to remember to ask Edward when he had a chance.
The door opened and the Duke walked in. “No need to stand,” he said, as he came to the chair next to Allan. He sat down, looked at Allan, and said, “I take it you are here to discuss the marriage settlement.”
Allan didn’t expect this
to be brought up so quickly. He at least thought that the Duke would make a bit of small talk before jumping into the marriage settlement, and Allan had not officially asked for Esther’s hand. “Yes, Your Grace, I am,” Allan replied.
The Duke nodded. “I assumed that was the case. Esther and her mother and sister are in London, but before she left, I discussed this with her.”
Allan was disappointed that Esther was not there.
“She informed me that she told you a bit about my current state of affairs. Imagine my surprise when all three of my daughters decide to marry in a year’s time.”
Allan wasn’t sure if he should laugh or not, but based on the Duke’s expression, which was not one of happiness, he decided not to.
“I am sure that we can work something out,” Allan said. “I love your daughter, and I want to marry her. Because of that, I am willing to compromise with the terms of the marriage settlement, even if it isn’t traditional. In fact, Your Grace, I have already talked to my lawyer about it.”
“I see,” said the Duke. “What did you have in mind?”
“I know that you are facing two of your daughters marrying at once, and that you have just married off your third daughter,” Allan explained. “So, my proposal is that you can pay for Esther’s marriage settlement over time instead of right now.”
“This is an idea,” the Duke said, and finally, Allan saw a change in his expression. “It would, of course, make paying two dowries easier on me.”
Allan nodded. “I figured as much. I want to make this easy for everyone involved. My main focus is to marry your daughter, if you will allow it, and the rest of it, I believe, will fall into place.”
The Duke nodded back and looked directly at Allan. “If you are willing to work with me, I will give you permission to marry my daughter.”
Allan smiled widely, and said, “Thank you, Your Grace. I assure you that I will never hurt her and that I will care for her the rest of our days. There is, however, one more caveat that I would like to discuss with you, and it has nothing to do with the marriage settlement. We can allow our lawyers to work that out. What I really need to speak with you about has to do with Esther and the orphan, Julia.”
* * *
“Ruth, this linen is simply beautiful, and it would look so nice with your eyes.”
Esther was with her mother and sister, Ruth, in a London dress shop finding fabric for Ruth’s wedding gown. Though she was happy to be here, she couldn’t help but wonder what was happening at home. She knew that her father and Allan would be meeting while they were away, and it was difficult to concentrate on anything else other than that.
“Mother,” Ruth said, “I want a color that is more like me. I explained that already.”
“This is very feminine, Ruth,” her mother replied. “It is almost the same color as Mary’s gown. Are you saying that her gown wasn’t beautiful?”
Esther had to step away from the squabbling. It was not unusual for Ruth and her mother to disagree, but Esther was not interested in witnessing it once again.
As she walked through the dress shop and noticed the different bolts of cloth, she fell into thoughts of her own wedding gown and what she wanted. She was thinking of something light green in color, as Allan had mentioned how beautiful her ball gown was. It, of course, was light green.
Allan must be with her father today. Though she, her mother, and sister had left yesterday, they would be returning tonight, and she couldn’t imagine that her father would set up a meeting with all of them home.
“Esther, what do you think of this pale yellow?”
Esther turned towards her mother. “I like it, Mother, but I agree with Ruth. The color looked much better on Mary.”
She could only hope that when they came shopping for her gown things would go more smoothly. She and her mother rarely argued, so she could likely feel good about that. However, there was something else weighing on her mind. She knew that Allan and Edward would be meeting with Mr. Smith, soon, and that was worrying to Esther.
“We have decided on this blue color,” Ruth said to her. “What do you think?” Ruth held up the bolt to show Esther.
“Oh, Ruth,” she said. “I think it is absolutely lovely.”
Ruth beamed, and said, “Did you see anything that you might like for your gown?”
Esther nodded and smiled widely.
“Oh, Esther!” Ruth exclaimed. “We should get it, today!”
“Oh no,” Esther said quickly. She was still half expecting something to fall through with her engagement and upcoming wedding. There were simply too many things happening in her life right now. “I think it is best if we wait. I want you to have this experience to yourself. My time will come.”
“Are you sure?” Ruth asked.
“Yes, I am sure.” Esther replied. “The cloth will still be here when it’s my turn to get my gown.”
Ruth smiled and nodded. “Yes, I’m sure it will be. You will be shopping for your gown before you know it.”
“I will,” Esther smiled, as she watched her mother giving direction on the gown to the seamstress.
“Mother and I decided that we will go have tea in London before we leave,” Ruth said. “Is that acceptable?”
“Oh, of course,” Esther said. “Actually, I think that is a wonderful idea, because I still haven’t told the two of you the plan to save Julia, and I want your opinions.”
“Excellent, then,” Ruth replied. “As soon as mother is done, we will leave. So much is happening in our lives, Esther, and it all sounds good to me. I hope that the news about Julia is just as good.”
Esther nodded. “I don’t know if what I have to tell you is good,” she said. “But I hope that the final outcome is better than anything I could imagine.”
Ruth smiled at her. “Esther, if you have Allan on your side, I am sure that the two of you can do anything.”
Esther’s heart began beating wildly, and she beamed. “You know what, Ruth?” Esther replied. “I think you are right.”
* * *
The discussion with Esther’s father had gone much better than Allan could have thought. They not only were able to talk about his upcoming marriage, which the Duke had approved, but they had come to a preliminary agreement for the marriage settlement and discussed the plan for Julia.
Now, all Allan had to do was get in touch with his lawyer to set everything up and talk to Edward about getting Julia. He also, of course, had to officially ask Esther to marry him. Fortunately, they had plans to meet at Edward’s and Mary’s over the weekend, and her entire family would be there.
Edward and Mary were kind enough to host a dinner for the family, and it would be an intimate gathering where only Esther, Ruth, Mary, their parents, Harry, Edward, and Allan would be in attendance. It would be the perfect time for Allan to officially ask for Esther’s hand.
Allan had arrived back to his home and was sitting in his office thinking about all of this. He couldn’t believe all of the events that had led up to where he was now. He was in love, he was planning to be married, and he had another plan for Julia, which would eventually change all of their lives. He was also waiting for his friend, Oliver, to arrive.
I am happy.
“My Lord?”
Clark was standing in the door.
“General Blackmore has arrived. He is waiting in the sitting room.”
“Thank you so much, Clark,” Allan replied. “Please tell him I will be there in a moment.”
“Very well, My Lord,” Clark replied before walking out.
He and Oliver had a lot to catch up on, and Allan was looking forward to seeing his best friend.
Allan straightened up his desk, and then, as usual when meeting with Oliver, he made sure that his appearance was top notch. He brushed his shoulders with his hands and looked down to make sure his boots were shining.
Once he was pleased with his appearance, Allan made his way to the sitting room. Oliver was sitting on the sofa on the left sid
e of the room, and he rose as Allan walked in.
“My friend,” Oliver said as Allan approached him. “You look very well.”
Allan smiled. “I am, Blackmore,” he said. “I’m very well.” He reached out to take Oliver’s hand to shake it. “It is so nice to see you.”
“Same here,” Oliver said.
“Please, sit,” Allan said, motioning to the sofa. “Do you need a drink? Wine?”
“Yes,” Oliver replied. “That would be wonderful.”
Lusting For The Broken Earl (Steamy Historical Regency) Page 23