He was hoping they would all stay, and they could have had a long and drawn out dinner and then end the night with a bit of a lark. He had the strong urge to get bosky, and without them around, there would be absolutely no fun in that.
Freddie came over him, and clapped him hard on the back. “Felix, now you are one of us. You fought this at every turn, but marriage still managed to find you. Now, we have to bloody well find a way to get this last unlucky bastard off our hands.” They all turned to regard Lucky, who scowled fiercely.
“Freddie, sod off,” he said sullenly.
“Ah, yes, that’s the spirit, Lucky. Are you coming back with us, or staying here? Once Felix settles in, you can be quite certain that we will focus our matching making skills on you. We shall find you a bride yet.”
“Perhaps, I am done looking for one. I think once the weather eases up that I shall go back to London, and do my utmost best to become the biggest libertine out of you lot. Just because you all can’t have any sort of jollies now, doesn’t mean I have to keep myself away from the merriment of London. I think I will take a townhouse there, and settle in, and somehow, somehow, I’ll forget all of this bloody tosh about finding a woman to marry. I shall be the last man standing, and I will do it with pride.”
The strongest urge had just come over Felix. He wanted to plant a facer on Lucky. “Oh, blow it out your arse, Gilbert. You know that you wanted to find a wife more than I did. Why, I had resolved to never marry. Having a wife is a load of mischief I do not need.”
“And yet,” Fanny said, walking away from her father to join them. “A load of mischief is what you have.” Her eyes had the glint of betrayal to them. She clasped her tiny hands into fists, and marched back over to her father. “I shall take my dinner in my bedchamber, Papa, and since I do not feel like being alone, my maid, Kelly, shall eat with me.”
Felix was frozen. Her words lashed him like a bloody whip, and he couldn’t conjure the words to defend himself.
“Looks like you are standing on some hot coals, there, Felix. Alas, we shan’t be able to help you out of this bit of trouble. Julia is expecting me home as well. If the weather changes, we shall be back to pay you a call, you can be quite certain of that.” They went over and said their farewells to the Colonel, and then, left him alone.
“Damnation. I have been abandoned by my mates.”
“Not to worry, Felix. I’m still here. As everyone is keen to point out, I have no wife waiting for me.” Lucky’s voice was came from the far side of the room. He looked to where Lucky stood by the large Gothic window. “I considered leaving you alone here with Lady Epiphany, oh, I beg your pardon, Lady Spaulding, but I decided after looking at Lewis’s worried visage that you should have at least one mate with you. Besides, while I enjoyed the festive merriment going on at Evesham Hall, watching all of them as happy as they are now, put a bit of a lump in my throat. I wager I need a bit of a break from it all. Once the New Year is here, weather willing, I will depart for London.”
“You won’t have to leave on my account, Lucky. You are a loyal friend.”
“We can’t really call the others disloyal. Life just took them all in another direction, and now, you have planted your own feet on that path. Soon, you will be firmly entrenched in matrimonial harmony, and it will be my time to bow out before I overstay my welcome.”
“You won’t ever have to bow out. There will always be a place for you wherever I am, Lucky, and I don’t think that the Colonel would disagree with that sentiment.”
“No, indeed,” Colonel Blessing said, ambling over to them. “Loyalty must always be rewarded.”
“I fear I have offended my wife. I am not surprised. I didn’t think I would turn out to be an exemplary husband.”
“You have lots of time to make up for any blunder. Give Fanny space to cool down. She burns hot, but brief. She will forget about what you said before you know it.”
“She just has to learn that what you think has no detour, you think it and then it comes right out your mouth. There is no malice involved, you just don’t think before you speak most times,” Lucky mused. “Freddie shares that trait. That’s probably why you two have always been such good mates.”
“Thank you, Gilbert.”
“Anytime, old chap.”
“So I shouldn’t go up and attempt to talk my way out of it?”
Lucky started laughing. He was laughing so hard, that he had tears welling in his eyes. “You couldn’t talk yourself out of a disagreement with a saint. You are certainly no orator. It’s best you wait this one out, Felix.”
He didn’t know what the bloody hell an orator was, so he let Lucky have the last word. That was another word he would have to look up, once he had the opportunity.
“Dinner shall commence at eight, it will be late for us. I usually eat at an earlier time while in the Country. I think I shall go and have a bit of a rest before then. You two are welcome to go and play some Billiards, or whatever else strikes your fancy.”
“Thank you, sir,” Felix said.
“During dinner we shall have to discuss what you and Fanny will do next. You can stay here or move to one of my other Estates. Now, Painswick Park is a delightful little Georgian palace. Fit for a king. But we had a bit of a fire there a few years back, and I’m having renovations done to the one wing that was damaged. Such a shame. It was a perfect little place before the flames damaged it. Built during the reign of the first George. My ancestors thought to make it even more spectacular a sight than Blessing Hall, which is the original family seat. The Earl from that time moved his family to Painswick Park and Blessing Hall became the Estate for the heir—and a nice little place to go hunting, while the rest of his holdings were meant for other members of the family. Mary and I moved to Blessing Hall before I inherited the title from my father, and we made this our home. When I inherited the peerage we decided to stay here. My sisters moved into Elysium Hall after my brother died in the fire that consumed the West Wing over at Painswick Park. With the Wars, I haven’t had time to devote myself to the renovations that place needed but I started having them done right after my wife passed. They do bring in a lot of revenue for me. If you would like to take up residence in Elysium Hall, I can ask my sisters and my nephew to move to Heaven Hall. It’s not nearly as beautiful as Elysium but it’s still quite a majestic little manor house. And yes, my ancestors had a sense of humour when they named their estates. Elysium Hall has traditionally been used by the Dowager Countess. Quite a splendid place for her as well. Heaven Hall was for the son of the heir, and you know my great-grandfather lived long enough that my father lived there with my mother when he was first married? Maybe I’ll survive as long as that old bugger did, eh?”
“Your sisters and your nephew live on one of your estates?”
“Yes, indeed. My father provided well for my sisters in his will. The Blessing men have always done that. No females in our family were ever left out in the cold. They had respectable dowries and the freedom to live in whatever Estate they wanted to live in, even if it was already occupied. As they were born a Blessing they had that ancestral right, but most usually choose to live in whatever Estate has the space, which means they go to the one not occupied by the earl’s family, the heir’s family or the son of the heir’s family. It maintains a peaceful atmosphere that way. My father’s will stated that I was to take care of them for the rest of their lives should they not marry—or become widowed and desirous of returning to the family fold. One of them is a widow, but her husband left her in dire straits. The blackguard spent her dowry, and basically ruined them. After I found out how she had been provided for, I told her to come back and live at Elysium Hall, as it was her right. I would have had her here, as she is one of my favourite sisters, but she said that she preferred Elysium, and I am certain that my wife was happy with that decision. She and Elizabeth are both set in their ways—or least Mary was set in her ways,” he let out a long prolonged sigh. “Ah, how I miss her presence in our lives
. She did all of the things around the house I didn’t want to. Fortunately, my dear little Fanny stepped into that role after her death, even though Miss Duffy attempted to take on that responsibility after she arrived. I had to put my foot down on that point, as no one could ever take Mary’s place in the household save for Fanny. Elysium Hall is a beautiful little manor house, and Elizabeth is quite happy there with the rest of my sisters.”
Felix wanted to see these little manor houses that the Colonel referred to. He didn’t think Elysium Hall would be his idea of little.
“When you say little…”
“Oh, it’s just a little smaller than Blessing Hall.”
“I see,” Felix said, looking over at Lucky who shrugged his shoulders, as in to say, ‘you’re on your own’. “My idea of little was the small cottage I grew up in. More of a hovel really.”
“Yes, well, you shan’t have to worry about that now. You are a man of fortune. From what I gather, you possess heavier coffers than some of the other lords I know.”
He grinned. “I have more than what I know to do with. I have come a long way from where I started, sir. I would like to set my mother up somewhere nearby.”
“You could invite her here and she could take up residence at Elysium Hall, I am sure she would be happy amongst all of the other women there. My sisters do not fight amongst themselves. They are not mercurial creatures in the slightest. They are rather free thinking individuals. I think that Fanny gets most of her gumption from her mother and a smattering of it from my side of the family. The only bone I have to pick with them is that they were terribly keen on seeing Peter and Fanny marry. I suppose they were only looking out for the best interests of the family but the best interests of the family were not in the best interests of my child. I do believe they would welcome your mother into their happy little home.”
He snorted loudly. “I don’t think my mother would get along with your nephew, sir. No, it’s that estate called Heaven Hall for her, unless she comes here, and I can’t think that Fanny would like that, and I couldn’t impose on you in that manner anyway. Me Ma is well, she tries to act all polished up, but she…she is still learning how to fit into this world, and she might not leave her sisters.”
“She can bring them with her.”
“I don’t think you quite understand, sir. She is…she…well, she would fit in better below stairs, than up with the rest of us, if you get my drift.”
“Ah, yes, I thought as much. Still, you have adapted fairly well, and as your mother, she does have the right to be here.”
He wanted to ask him what had happened to the Colonel Blessing he used to know. Colonel Blessing had always been a kind man without a mean bone in his body, but he had been of the mind that everyone had their lot in life, and that they shouldn’t aspire to be much more than what they had been born into. He had changed drastically, and he wondered if it had been a sudden change, or if it had dawned upon him gradually.
“Your sisters probably are not as broad minded as you are, and since they have lady in front of their names, I doubt they would see my mother as one of their own. No, I think if she is going to come here, I will have to set her up in her own residence and make quite certain there is enough room for my aunts. She won’t leave them behind. She has purchased herself a nice little place in Bedlington, where she holds court with her sisters, or at least that’s what she said in her last missive to me. Her sister writes it for her as she didn’t have the opportunities that my aunt had, but she is learning.”
He had come a long way from when he was sending her what he could spare while serving in the Army. Now, she was living in the lap of luxury, and so were her sisters. He had asked her to come and either start living in London, or allow him to buy her a country residence that was away from where she had been born and bred. She had continually refused him, but he hoped that he would wear her down soon, and she would give in. The problem was she was just as stubborn as him.
“I shall let you have your way, in that case,” Colonel Blessing said. “I had better go for my rest before dinnertime arrives.” He looked over at Lucky. “Lord Prescott, my housekeeper will show to you the bedchamber where your things were put.”
“You brought luggage?”
“Aye. I had them put my trunk in with yours. The carriage carrying it arrived before I did on horseback. I couldn’t stay at Evesham Hall anyway. All of my belongings were on their way here,” he chuckled ruefully. “Anyway, I think I will retire to my bedchamber before dinner as what I am wearing right now won’t do.”
Lucky ambled out of the room with Colonel Blessing, leaving Felix with the roaring noise of his own thoughts. So many things were rolling through his head, he couldn’t seem to decide which one to tackle first. He went over and looked up the word orator.
Once he was satisfied about the definition of the word, he placed the dictionary back on the bookshelf, and sprawled out on one of the sofas. He considered going up and attempting to explain himself to Fanny. He didn’t know why but he felt as if he had to gain pardon in her eyes. He shouldn’t care. He had done his duty. He had married her as her father wanted her to.
It wasn’t as if he would be sharing a bed with her. He didn’t intend to bed her for at least a month. Or…maybe never. He could always take up with a mistress, and allow Fanny to do things her way.
Their marriage need only be in name only.
He sat up, and groaned. Who was he kidding? He couldn’t bloody well live with a wife that he couldn’t bed. No, the bedding would happen, it was just a matter of when it would happen. Tonight was definitely out of the question. Her health was too fragile at the moment, and he didn’t want to risk shaking her head up any more than it already was.
“What are you doing?” she asked softly, startling him so much, he jumped up and to attention.
“Good God, woman, you scared the blooming hell out of me!”
“I scared you? I find that very hard to believe,” she said, walking toward him. “You haven’t been shown to your chambers yet, have you?”
“No,” he said, scrubbing his hand through his hair, and down his face.
She chuckled. “You messed up your hair, and you still look quite adorable.”
Adorable.
Someone just called him adorable, and that someone was his wife.
“Oh, aye, I’m an adorable giant, all right.”
“You are large, but you are a handsome man and yes, you are adorable, at least in my eyes, Felix Grey.”
He groaned. “That would be Felix Grey-Blessing now, as agreed with your father.”
“Indeed,” she murmured. “The fact that you agreed to double barrel your surname put my father into a euphoric mood that I do not think he’s come out of yet. He wrote to me and said that you deserved all of the blessings in the world, and that you should have been created an earl instead of a baron.”
“I got what was due to me,” he said, sinking back down onto the sofa. “I came from nothing, Fanny. The fact that I was ennobled was high enough of an honour for me. The fact that I didn’t end up dead fifteen years ago amazes me.”
“Some have risen in rank from baron to earl,” she mused, her eyes dancing merrily.
He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, as she settled herself down next to him. She still wore the enticing red concoction that made him want to peel it off her and kiss every single part of her body. He groaned, and stood up. He had to put distance between them. Walking over to the decanter of whisky, he poured himself another glass, and took a large swig of it.
“If you had your heart set on being a countess, Fanny, you shouldn’t have agreed to marry me. You could have married your cousin, and though you would have had to wait, you would have eventually become a countess.”
She pinched her perky little nose up, and he almost laughed. Her nose was crinkled up as if she was standing near the muck that he had pitched her cousin into earlier that day.
“I don’t want to become his countess,”
she sniffed disdainfully. “I married the man of my choosing, Felix. Besides, I am in no rush to see the end of my father. I want him to be around for many years. He isn’t a hard father to have about, you know.”
“I gathered as much. He is a good man.” He drank down the rest of his whisky. It hadn’t worked. He still felt bloody restless.
“The best,” she sighed. “Or at least one of the two best men I know.”
He settled his gaze on her, and watched her shiver, resisting the urge to cross the distance between them and gather her into his arms. “I am not as good as you like to believe, Fanny.”
“I know your heart, Felix. You are a good man.”
“I am a bloody rascal.”
“Maybe, but you are my rascal.”
He wanted to continue arguing with her, but he knew nothing would come of it. The only way she would be convinced otherwise was if he gave her evidence of how bad he could be, and for some reason, he didn’t want to do that to her. He didn’t want to see himself lowered in her eyes, ever. Sighing, he walked back to her side, and sat on the sofa, filling up most of the space with his large frame. She looked so damnably delicate next to him.
“Your father asked me if we were going to live here.”
She laughed. “Oh, Peter wouldn’t like it much if we kicked him out of Elysium Hall. He would sulk for years, and we would have to move the aunts around as well. I don’t think they would be particularly happy with it, but they would grumble and groan and eventually move all of their things to Heaven Hall.”
“Hasn’t Peter ever had to earn his own way?”
His Blessed Epiphany (A Regency Holiday Romance Book 9) Page 9