Beneath Spring's Rain (Ashton Brides Book 1)

by Rebecca J. Greenwood

  Dark rage overshadowed the earl’s face. “I should whip you. I should take my horsewhip to you all!”

  “Try it. We’ll happily rip it from your hands and use it on you, old man,” Thomas answered. He turned and said almost conversationally to Daniel. “I do think we could take him to court for defamation and attempted kidnapping. The humiliation of the trial would be good for him.”

  “You have no proof,” the earl interjected.

  “How sure are you of that?” Thomas answered. “I call collusion. I say that you joined with the Broughtons to defraud Lady Daniel of her inheritance.”

  The earl shut his mouth, his jaw flexed.

  “But what did Broughton offer you?” Daniel cocked his head at the earl. “He’s not rich enough to offer a cut of the money, say. He’s trying to avoid paying it at all.”

  “No, not Mr. Broughton.” Eliza shook her head. “Mrs. Broughton. Mr. Broughton is neither intelligent nor devious enough to head such a scheme. But Mrs. Broughton, she is intelligent. And she . . . it seems that she hates me.”

  “Mrs. Broughton!” Thomas’s eyes widened in surprise. “Now that’s a thought! I do believe she was known as a beauty in her younger years, though you wouldn’t know it now.” Thomas nodded, and his eyes lit. He turned to the earl. “Were you doing an old lover a good turn, Crewkerne? Or did she have something on you?”

  “This is insufferable!” the earl snarled. The lines on his face became deep creases.

  “Oh!” Eliza cried. Her hands flew to her mouth. She stared at Crewkerne, looking him up and down with wide eyes. “Oh, oh my. Henriette. It’s Henriette Broughton. She’s the only blonde in the family. She didn’t get Mr. Broughton’s height at all, not like Margaret and Charles did. You’re her father, aren’t you?”

  The earl flushed a deep, raging red. His mouth worked, and his hands fisted.

  He straightened his posture and with a semblance of control, he said, “I will not listen to these wild accusations any further! You have nothing, and this issue is done and over. I wash my hands of it all!” He called for his second. “We are leaving!”

  “Just washing won’t remove the dirt,” Thomas commented as Crewkerne stomped past. He gave him an ironic bow. “But a good day to you, my lord!”

  Eliza turned to Daniel, devastation on her face. He clasped her trembling shoulders.

  “That’s why.” She let out a shaky breath. “To preserve Henriette’s portion, he helped Mrs. Broughton ruin me. That’s the reason.” She blinked back tears. “She must have been very persuasive. He went too far in pursuit of me.”

  Daniel scanned her beautiful face. “I doubt he needed much encouragement since your legal guardians were so willing to collude with him.” Eliza was the most desirable woman in the world. He’d almost feel sorry for the deluded, obsessed fool, if the man hadn’t tried to destroy and coerce Eliza in order to have her.

  Her face crumpled, and Daniel pulled her into his arms.

  When she had calmed, he pulled out his handkerchief, and she wiped her face.

  “Let’s go home, my love.”

  She took in a shuddering breath. “And there are no holes in you!”

  He threw his head back and laughed. “I’m glad of it too.”

  He took her by the arm and led her to Thomas’s carriage. She followed meekly, looking drained.

  Outside the door, she faced him. “I am so relieved. It’s over, all over. Oh, Daniel!”

  His heart swelled. His lips ached to kiss her. He pulled her closer to him. He told himself he shouldn’t. There were too many people around them.

  He barely noted the sound of rushed steps behind him. A shout called out, and pain lanced across his back and shoulders. He grunted and spun, keeping Eliza behind him. Lord Crewkerne’s face was a mask of rage, his horsewhip raised above his head, his arm poised to bring down another blow.

  Foolish man. Delight brought a wicked grin to Daniel’s face. He lunged forward and jabbed the earl in his unprotected stomach. He doubled over and Daniel grabbed the horsewhip out of his limp hands. Daniel drew back his fist and landed the man a facer that sent him reeling.

  The earl collapsed at Daniel’s feet, gasping, his lip split and nose bloodied.

  Daniel grinned down at him. “I thank you, Lord Crewkerne, for the righteous joy of planting you a leveler.”

  The earl was too winded to respond.

  The sting on Daniel’s back faded with the rush of excitement in his veins. Daniel raised the whip over the earl and stared him in the eye.

  The earl’s eyes widened. Daniel moved his arm and the earl flinched.

  Daniel laughed. He gripped the whip in his hands and brought the leather-covered wooden handle down on his knee with a sharp crack. The handle broke. With a satisfied smirk, Daniel held the mangled instrument over the earl and dropped it on top of him. The man flinched as the pieces hit him in the chest.

  Daniel turned, triumph running through him, and found Eliza wide-eyed behind him. He strode the two steps between them, caught her up, and kissed her soundly.

  Her fingers gripped his arms, and she kissed him back.

  Passion flared with his triumph, and all he wanted to do was get her away from all these other people.

  He pulled back and stared at her, the grin permanent on his face. She was breathless, and he saw an answering passion in her eyes.

  She pulled away and straightened her skirts, gathering her dignity around herself once more. But she kept glancing back at him, looking pleased.

  He wanted to crow to the world, but restrained himself.

  Crewkerne’s second stalked up to them. Thomas hurried up from another direction.

  The stranger scowled down at his friend. “I hope you gave him a sound thrashing,” he said to Daniel. “His behavior is disgraceful to the name of a gentleman.”

  “Not sound enough. He’ll be able to get up again in a few minutes.” Thomas glared at the earl, who was lying prone, breathing heavily, his eyes darting between the men standing over him. “I could finish the job.”

  Daniel smiled and bent over the earl. The man flinched. “My dear Lord Crewkerne. I do think some months of rustication are in order.”

  “That means get out of town, fool, if you know what’s good for you,” Thomas said.

  Chapter 46

  “What convinced you to stop the duel?” Eliza turned to Daniel as they sat close together in the carriage headed back to Ashton House. Daniel’s friend, Major Yarrow, had graciously given them privacy by driving back in the dogcart with Betsey and John, the groom. “All my pleading and solid, rational logic hadn’t stopped you before.”

  “You said something that made me reconsider.” A grin spread over his face. “I wonder if you’ll even remember saying it?”

  She blinked at him in confusion. “I begged you to not.” His grin didn’t change. “I was very unladylike. I even said I would shoot Crewkerne myself. Was that what tipped the scale?”

  His smile grew even wider. “No, but I adore that you said that.” He raised her hand to his lips, noticed her glove, made a face, and pulled at the glove till her fingers were bare.

  “What was it I said, then?” Eliza insisted.

  Daniel kissed her knuckles, her wrist, and her palm in a most distracting way. He flashed his grin again, put her hand to his cheek, and held it there with his large palm. His eyes were bright. “I love you too, my darling.”

  She pulled her hand away and sat back. “What? I . . .” Had she said she loved him? How could she have said that? She didn’t remember saying anything of the sort. But she had been speaking quickly, desperate to get through to him.

  She didn’t even know if she knew what it felt like to love anymore. Her family was dead. She’d cared for her younger cousins, but their parents—the woman who had taken her in—had betrayed her, had tried to destroy her in the most vicious way.

  Was Eliza even capable of love anymore?

  What she did know was that she ached for, longed for, D
aniel. She didn’t want to ever be parted from him. She didn’t know what she would do if he was gone.

  “Ah.” His voice was softer, the smile gone. “I was afraid you didn’t notice that word slip from your tongue.” He gave her a small, gentle smile. “I hope to hear it again someday, but don’t fear. I can wait.”

  Her heart clenched. The patient sadness in his eyes made her want to weep again.

  “Oh, Daniel, I—” Tears pressed the backs of her eyes. She rubbed at them with impatience. She sniffed. “I do love you! Oh, how could I not, with everything?”

  She hiccuped. “Everything you’ve done, and how wonderfully you care for me? And when I thought about a pistol ball going through you, possibly killing you, I couldn’t stand it! And that you were the instigator! That it was your choice to have a man shoot in your direction while you stood still, waiting for it. I hated that! And you knew I hated that. Don’t put yourself in such danger again.” She thumped her hands against his chest and glared at him through her tears.

  “I’ll be happy to never do it again, my darling.”

  “You had better not! You’re my husband and I’m most desperate without you.” She pulled away and searched for her handkerchief. She tried to get control over her overflowing emotions as she wiped at her face.

  “You were concerned for me?”

  “Of course I was concerned! My life would be most pitiful without you.”

  He leaned in and nuzzled her cheek with his nose. He drew her close, his arm around her, his hand stroking her upper arm.

  “Say it again,” he whispered into the space behind her ear.

  “What?” She whimpered.

  “Say that you love me, please, my darling, darling wife.”

  She drew in a shaky breath. “I love you. I love you desperately and don’t want to ever be parted from you.”

  He gave a happy sigh.

  She pulled his face to hers with both hands and kissed him.

  The curtains were drawn on the carriage, thankfully, so she didn’t need to worry about giving London an exhibition as the carriage bounced along the cobblestones.

  Sometime later they separated, breathing heavily. Daniel gave her a look of such adoration it made her heart jump.

  The side of his mouth lifted. “You’ve fulfilled one of my most closely held, cherished dreams. For I have loved you long, but couldn’t imagine you could ever love me in return.”

  She would not cry again. She was heartily sick of crying. No more tears. “You’ve given me what I thought was lost to me forever. Love, and a family, and a home again.” She swallowed. “My own family, the only family I had left, they betrayed me.” Her voice went high as she tried to control the devastation this news did to her heart.

  He pulled her in close to him again, his large, strong body cradling her, comforting her. “I’m your family now, and my family is your family. My home will always be your home.”

  Relief like soft joy flowed over her. Her heart swelled in her chest, filled with warmth. She pressed her head against him and heard the strong beating of his heart, his arms steady around her.

  Epilogue

  The month of May ended softly and sweetly. The spring breezes and sunshine warmed their faces as Daniel and Eliza walked in Hyde Park. When clouds covered the sun and rain showered down, Eliza played the pianoforte for the household as he drew her in his sketchbook. Or he joyfully pulled her away to their quiet rooms.

  The story of the withdrawn challenge ran through the Ton. Enough details were correct that Daniel feared the surgeon they’d employed had a loose tongue.

  Crewkerne fled to the country in disgrace, cut by society. The Broughton women left London as well, gossip that Henriette was not her father’s daughter following them. Eliza cried out in dismay when she heard the rumors were all over town. She blamed herself for speaking it aloud in the hearing of others.

  Daniel didn’t feel more than pity for the girl. It wasn’t her fault that her mother was what she was, but he knew Henriette hadn’t been kind to Eliza.

  Mr. Broughton settled out of court, accepting the lien on his property for Eliza’s portion, and fled town immediately after, abandoning his seat in the House of Commons.

  Daniel hoped it would be a long time before they saw any of them again.

  But the money would come. Five hundred pounds a quarter was the agreement till Eliza’s dowry was complete. They could live off that.

  Daniel sold his commission, bringing another three thousand pounds in to fill their coffers. Eliza agreed with his selling out of the army. She wanted no more possibilities of his being shot at.

  They needed more for the future and the children they intended to have. They discussed purchasing a small property that would bring in rents or investing in his sister Cassandra’s horse-breeding endeavors.

  But they had time. Such things could be decided later.

  They enjoyed the public spectacles of the Season: Astley’s Amphitheater, a balloon ascension, fireworks, and the opera. Vauxhall Gardens was delightful when one was married and uncaring what the Ton said. He danced with Eliza for every dance and didn’t give her up to anyone.

  Rumors about Eliza still swirled, but the contradictory stories and Frederick’s stern dignity next to them when they went out stemmed the tide of the worst of offenses. The rest—cuts on the street, and whispers behind fans—Daniel and Eliza in their marital love and harmony strove to ignore. That they did not get many invitations did not bother them.

  The marquess upbraided Daniel fiercely for the duel—not, to Eliza’s dismay, that Daniel had attempted one, but that he had concealed it from his brother. “Next time, Daniel, you will tell me, and invite me. I’ll be your third, if that’s all you’re willing to grant me.”

  Florentia’s Season did not prosper. She wasn’t granted Almack’s vouchers again. Any of the suitors that had clung on after Eliza’s scandal Florentia dismissed as uninteresting, and most of her female friends had cut the connection.

  She pouted, but then shrugged it off. The worst was when not enough partners asked her to dance at balls.

  “I am not meant to be a wallflower!” she declared.

  The marchioness strove to stem her wild flirting.

  The Queen’s Drawing Room was rescheduled for June. The marchioness gasped in relief that Florentia was still invited when the letter arrived. Florentia gave a cry of dismay and began practicing her deep curtsies again.

  * * *

  “Daniel! Eliza! Come downstairs immediately!” Florentia pounded on their door. Daniel and Eliza looked at each other with raised eyebrows.

  It was time they rejoined the family for the day. They usually skipped visiting hours, not wanting to deal with awkward pauses or be a show for the gawkers when their time could be more pleasantly spent together.

  Daniel, ignoring his little sister, finished doing up the laces on Eliza’s gown, and kissed the back of her neck.

  Florentia pounded on the door again. She hissed into the keyhole. “It’s uncle Harlow! And he’s brought his wife!”

  Eliza and Daniel gave each other surprised looks in the mirror and joined the family downstairs post-haste.

  Uncle Harlow stood in the parlor, a self-satisfied smile on his face. His bride stood next to him, a beautiful, dark-skinned Indian lady in a modish high-waisted red gown made of Indian silk with gold embroidery, a matching shawl draped over her body like a sari. A red dot graced her forehead and red stained the center part in her dark hair.

  Daniel glanced around the room, taking in the bemused looks on his family’s faces.

  “Lord Daniel, Lady Daniel,” Uncle Harlow boomed. “I am pleased to introduce you to my wife, Mrs. Yamini Harlow.

  Daniel grinned. “Well, congratulations, Uncle!” He walked over and shook his uncle’s hand. He gave Mrs. Harlow a bow and a welcoming smile. “Mrs. Harlow. It is a pleasure to see you again.” He had met her when he’d first visited his uncle in Brighton and had been impressed by her lady-like manner.
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  “It is so lovely to see you.” She curtsied gracefully and answered in her accented but perfectly clear English. Daniel felt his family’s surprise around him. He hoped they kept their goggling off their faces.

  “And how are your fine children? Are they in London? Will I have a chance to see them again?” Daniel asked.

  “They are,” she answered. “We would be happy for you to visit. They would be excited to see you again.” The gold bangles on her arms jingled as she spoke, accenting her graceful movements.

  Uncle watched his bride with a pleased expression on his face. “We’ve rooms at the Grand Hotel. You’re welcome to visit.”

  Daniel spotted Frederick masking a pained look with a tightened jaw. The gossip mill would start up again with this. The Ashtons just couldn’t seem to get away from being scandalous.

  Frederick cleared his throat. “When was the happy event, Uncle?”

  “Two weeks ago, in Scotland.”

  “Scotland?” Frederick raised a brow of inquiry.

  “To put it bluntly, I didn’t want to deal with Church of England legal nonsense, banns, licenses, and clergymen.” Harlow waved a meaty hand. “Would make Yamini uncomfortable. So I chartered a boat up to Scotland, and we tied the knot in front of some obliging witnesses. Got a nice certificate signed and everything.”

  “If it is not too indelicate to ask, what brought this change of feeling? Your letter hinted, but we were unsure what you meant.”

  “Oh, was I cagey? Perhaps I was. It was Danny-boy here.” He gave a hearty slap to Daniel’s shoulder. “If he could disoblige the family and give up a fortune to make the girl he loved an honest woman, why, how much more could I! You’re the only family I have left to disoblige, and no offense, but I don’t much care what you think. If we never see each other again, it’ll be no skin off of my nose.”

  He grabbed his lapels and rocked on his heels. “And for the woman I love to be a fully honest woman in both India and in England, with legal protections, well, I had to stop putting English family’s opinions over the good of my family! And she is my family, she and our children. So there you have it. My boy and girl will inherit, and any other children we have.”