“No, my lord, she did not.”
“Enough of this,” he said between gritted teeth. “I will take Kathleen with me.”
Selina knew if that happened, they would never see her again. In a very stupid act of courage, Selina said, “You are not taking her anywhere. If she goes, I go.”
Noticing the look on Selina’s face and the probability of anyone noticing them as they passed by, Lord Ainsworth groaned in frustration. “Come, both of you. Don’t make a sound.”
‘Please, Edward. Come and find us.’ Selina thought as she put her arm around Marie to lead her away.
Chapter 37
Mr. Edward McAlister
Even though Mr. Gale brought good business Edward’s way, he would rather have a nice walk with his soon-to-be-fiancé and sister instead.
He walked past where they should have bought their sweets, and instead of finding them enjoying themselves, there was no sign of them.
Edward stopped when he noticed some sweets on the ground. He recognized it as being one of Marie’s choices whenever they went out, and it seemed fresh.
Fear took hold of his heart. Neither Selina nor Marie would ever prank him by disappearing. If they did, they would be giggling and he would hear them.
Something wasn’t right.
He was about to call for them when he realized a path of pieces of Selina’s favorite sweets was leading towards the trees.
Edward didn’t even think. He started to follow them, and sure enough, the pieces showed a consistent trail but there were also footprints. Luckily, he was a hunter. He knew how to follow those.
Thankfully it didn’t seem like they went very far, but hearing the voice of Reginald Ainsworth made his blood run cold for a second and then start to boil in anger.
His father had guaranteed him there were records of him leaving the country, far away from their family and loved ones. Instead, there he was.
“Why couldn’t you love me back, Kathleen?” Edward heard him ask and he made sure to make no sound as he approached the voices “I loved you since we were kids.”
“I am sorry,” she whispered. “We grew up together. I could only see you as a brother I never had. I never thought of you that way.”
Edward finally managed to see them and he swore under his breath at the way Selina put her body in front of Marie’s, protecting her from the gun Ainsworth was waving. He looked like he had a mental breakdown and hadn’t slept in months. That was not a good sign.
“Reginald,” Selina said, her voice soft and calm. Using his first name was a tactic. His smart, smart Selina. “Please, if you really love her, let us go. She will be unhappy with you. She wants to be with her family.”
“I will give her another family!” he all but yelled and both women flinched. He then softened his tone when he spoke to Edward’s sister. “Imagine, Kath. Imagine our children running around in our front garden. Us, together for all eternity.”
“I don’t want that. Please, Reginald. Let us go,” Marie begged. “I am not Kathleen anymore, not the one you knew. This is not love.”
Lord Ainsworth looked offended. “Do not tell me what I feel or not about you, Kathleen. You were my light for years, my only desire. I didn’t even want the Dukedom at first. I just wanted it so I could marry you.”
“Please, Reggie,” Marie said. “This is not how love works. You can love someone and know you are not meant to be with them. I know you love me and I love you too, but in a different way.”
“No. No. No!” Lord Ainsworth shook his head and Edward knew he was losing his mind even more with each word. “This is not how things were supposed to have gone! When I proposed to you at your favourite spot by the cliff, you laughed at me.”
Marie shook her head. “That was because I thought you were playing a joke with me. I never thought you had feelings for me. If I had known, I would have been much better at giving you a proper answer.”
“If that answer was still ‘no’, it would not have made a difference,” he raised his voice once again and Edward decided it was time to intervene. Guns and psychopaths were not a good combination.
Coming up quickly with a plan, Edward stepped out from his hiding spot. “Here you all are.” Reginald all but jumped and pointed the gun at Edward and the girls seemed to sigh in relief. “I was wondering if I had missed the party, but it seems I got here just in time.”
“McAlister,” Reginald said the name between gritted teeth. “What do you want?”
“My sister and my fiancé back,” Edward shrugged as if they were discussing the weather. He walked closer to where the girls were. “We were having a very good time until you interrupted us. But that is what you do, isn’t it, Reginald?”
At the same time the other man asked aloud, “What do you mean?” Edward whispered to the girls.
“When I say run, run.”
Edward started to walk away from the girls, dividing Reginald’s attention. He just needed to get him angry, which wouldn’t be too hard at that point really.
“What I mean is, I got everything and you have nothing,” Edward shrugged. “My father went to the King to have me legitimized even when he knew it was a lost cause.” He took a few more steps far from the girls. “Miss Clifford and I only met because she was so disgusted by the notion of marrying you. She’d rather get hit by a carriage and now, she and I are going to get married. Marie doesn’t even see you as a brother anymore because she barely remembers you. It’s me whom she considers her brother now,” he chuckled. “Even the Duchess is starting to like me.”
“Stop it,” Reginald said, pointing the gun at him instead of the girls.
“It is the truth, Reginald. Look who is escorting them to a lovely stroll at the park, and who is pointing a gun at them.” Edward raised an eyebrow. “From up here it seems I am winning.”
“Winning? You? A bastard! I was born to be Duke. I was meant to marry Kathleen and be bloody happy!”
“Instead, you lost it all to a maid’s son,” Edward said with the most amount of venom in his words as he could. He just needed Reginald mad enough for an opening.
“What if I just kill you, huh?” he asked, gun pointing at Edward. “Then who will be the winner?”
“Still me,” Edward shrugged. “I would be dead, but I would have died protecting two ladies while you would spend the rest of your days in a prison somewhere. Just admit it, Reginald. I am better than you in everything and then some.”
That did it and Edward knew.
“Run!” he yelled and he sure hoped the girls followed his instructions. Edward lunged forward and tried to get the gun from Reginald’s hands but somehow he managed to punch Edward in the face with enough force to throw him off for a second.
“If I can’t have you, no one can.” Reginald said and acting by instinct, Edward, seeing that the gun was no longer being pointed at him but at his sister, grabbed the hand holding the gun and they both struggled for it.
When the gun was being fought over between them, all Edward could hear was a loud noise, the smell of gunpowder.
Chapter 38
Miss Selina Clifford
‘Not again’, Selina thought as she sat in the library of Egremont Manor, waiting for the doctor to say if everything was well with Edward. Once again, the Duke was with his son and even her father arrived a few minutes before and seeing his daughter was well, he ran upstairs.
The bullet had grazed his ribs that time and even though it wasn’t as life threatening as it seemed, it looked like it when she saw the whole side of his shirt red with blood stains while he immobilized Reginald on the ground.
He didn’t faint that time. He was quite calm with the whole thing. As long as Reginald didn’t have a gun and was locked away, he was fine.
Selina, though, didn’t know whom to take care of: wounded but seemingly okay Edward, or physically fine but traumatized Marie. After making sure Edward was fine, just gave her a scare, she went to console Marie.
Just when she was adjusting better to bein
g back to her normal life, something like that happened and she lost a little of peace.
“He saved my life,” Marie told the Duchess, who was caressing her daughter’s hair as her head laid on her lap. “Reginald was going to shoot me and Edward struggled to get the gun. Just a little to the right, Mama, and he would have been shot in the stomach or his heart.”
Selina saw the Duchess relax her body a little. “Well, my dear. He is your brother. It is his duty to protect you.”
“You should tell him that,” Selina said and the Duchess looked up to her in question. “That you consider him, her brother. You two need to forgive each other because no one is going away. We are a family, now.”
Marie sat up. “She is telling the truth, mama. I know now why you do not like him, but the circumstances of his birth are not his fault. If it weren’t for him, I would still be working for the Osbournes and I probably would have never see any of you again.” She took her mother’s hand. “Mama, everything that happened, happened for a reason. His very existence, the one you loathed so much, is the reason why I am here instead of presumed dead. He saved my life today and if it is all fine with you, I would like for you to consider this whenever you even think he is not part of our family. He is part of mine. He is my brother.”
* * *
Mr. Edward McAlister
Déjà vu.
Different room, but almost the exact same people that were with him last time he was shot.
It was curious to think he got shot twice in less than two months and yet some people never even saw a gun. He was always that lucky.
He must’ve chuckled because Doctor Schofield stopped cleaning the wound to look at him, with a raised eyebrow. “Is stitching you back together making you ticklish, Ed?”
Edward snorted. “I was just thinking about how lucky I am: got shot twice in as many months.”
“From where I am standing, you are lucky; most people do not survive the first gunshot wound.”
“Fair point, Doc,” Edward shrugged. “So, just a graze, then?”
“Yes. Two stitches, just to heal it faster. I am sure your governess knows how to keep your wound clean. Do it at least once a day.”
“Yes, mother,” Edward chuckled and went to reach for his shirt, but the Duke, who was by the corner waiting for the examination to end, offered a clean shirt to him.
“I think it is for the best if you do not parade around the house or the streets with bloodied clothes.”
Edward chuckled. “Yes, I assume a lot of people would think it is strange. Thank you, father.”
The moment the words came out of his mouth, the whole room seemed to have stood still. He had called the Duke ‘father’ before, but never with company. He didn’t know what to expect.
“You are welcome, son.” The Duke was smiling and Edward nodded in a silent agreement.
Seeing Mr. Clifford hovering, Edward greeted him. “We should stop meeting this way, sir.”
“I can agree with that,” Mr. Clifford chuckled. “I am glad you are fine. You are a good man, Mr. McAlister and I was a fool. Everyone tried to warn me about Lord Ainsworth but I was so blind about the title… I put my daughter in danger because of ambition. I apologize for any offence I might have said to you.”
“You thought you were doing the right thing for her future.” Edward put on the shirt. “That’s what good parents do, but apologies accepted.”
“Thank you.”
Edward stopped and looked around for his jacket and when he found it, he smiled when he saw what was in his pocket. “Actually, Mr. Clifford, can I ask you something?”
* * *
Miss Selina Clifford
It was such a relief to see Edward up, instead of lying on a bed, like a couple months before. They were alone in the room, but the door was opened and her father was outside.
“In front of how many bullets are you going to put yourself? I need to get your butler to train every single servant to be a nurse if this turns into a regular event.”
Edward turned around and smiled at Selina, making her stomach fill with butterflies all over again. He always did that, somehow, and that time, he hadn’t even said anything.
“I promise you to only put myself in front of bullets if the people I love are in danger.” He stepped closer and Selina could feel her whole body heat up, reminding her of those wonderful nights in Bristol. Oh, how she longed for it to be allowed once they finally get married.
“Not exactly what I wanted to hear, but it will have to do, I guess.” She looked the way of the door and since no one was passing by, she tip toed and gave him a peck on the lips. “I am happy you are alive and well.”
Edward chuckled. “I am too. I think that what happened today opened my eyes to how we shouldn’t waste any more time than necessary apart. If we wait for a moment where our union won’t be a scandal, there will never be a day where I can propose to you.” Selina smiled. That was true enough, she supposed. The past few months had been hard to say the least. “That is why a few minutes ago I talked to your father about asking for your hand in marriage.”
Selina’s breath stuck in her throat when she saw Edward go down on one knee, grunting a little and holding his side where the bullet grazed him.
“Edward, you don’t have to go down on one knee!” she said, heart racing to what was finally happening.
He breathed through the pain and shrugged. “I am already down here.” She couldn’t help it but to chuckle. “I know this is unusual. I know after what happened today this should have been the last thing on our minds, but the truth is, when that gun went off and I felt pain, I regretted so much, but nothing as much as not being married to you. I know I have called you my fiancé before, but that was not official and now I have your father’s blessing to ask. Finally.”
Edward reached for a pocket on his jacket and brought out a beautiful diamond ring. Selina put a hand over her mouth at the sight of it and how it was finally time for him to ask her.
“Where did you even get a ring here?” she asked, eyes welling up with tears.
“I have been carrying this around since your father told me I could see you, after my father talked to him. But that is not important right now.” Edward cleared his throat. “Selina Clifford, will you marry me? No titles and all.”
Selina laughed and a few stray tears fell from her eyes. “Yes, Edward. I will marry you. With no titles.”
She helped him to get up, supporting his uninjured side and when she did, he put the ring on her finger and it fit perfectly. Without thinking of the consequences, Selina grabbed him by the coat and gave him a kiss on the lips. Just like the toe-curling ones she got from him in Bristol.
“We are getting married,” he said.
“We are getting married,” she agreed.
And all was right in the world at that moment.
Epilogue
Mrs. Selina McAlister
She couldn’t believe she was married to Edward. She looked to her finger which held the ring and she couldn’t help but think she was dreaming.
Everything looked beautiful at the wedding. She had the people she loved the most come and see her happiness first hand.
After everything, after the impossible happened, she was married to the man she loved.
She was wearing her coat, waiting for him to arrive to their bedroom and when he knocked on the door, she got up from her dressing table and waited.
When he stepped in, his coat was gone, his shirt was half opened already and she couldn’t wait any longer. They had been waiting to be together for a lifetime, it seemed.
She kissed him hungrily, deeper and longer just like they did back in Bristol and she could feel his body lose the tension he had been carrying on his shoulders. When they had to part for air, she let go of his shirt and took a step back and Edward sighed. He felt Selina’s small hands touch his chest where his shirt was open.
With a gasp, Edward was about to ask what she was doing when their eyes met and h
e became bewitched. She caressed her way up his shoulders and pushed the shirt away with absolutely no complain from him.
The moment the shirt fell on the floor, Edward felt the air around him get tense, especially when his wife took a step back, reached for the knot on the belt holding her robe together and undid it.
His breath got caught in his throat when she slid it off and let it fall to the floor. He had seen her nightgown and some parts of her body when they met, but that night was different.
It was their honeymoon.
“Selina.” His voice was hoarse.
Selina stepped away from him again and went to stand in front of the large bed. Their bed. She turned away from him and took her nightgown off. Her naked back made Edward’s heart beat faster, especially when she looked over her shoulder with a smile.
A Hidden Duke For The Passionate Lady (Regency Historical Romance) Page 25