Merry Misrule

by St. Clair, Ellie

  “Then you know what you have to do,” Joanna said. “Where are you going to go?”

  “To the village, at least for now,” Caroline said. “I’m hoping the vicar will marry us. Once we are married, my wish is that my family will accept us — accept him — but if they don’t, we will find a life for ourselves elsewhere.”

  “What about the banns?” Joanna asked, and Caroline bit her lip.

  “I was hoping we could forgo them.”

  “I don’t think that’s possible.”

  “Well, we can always ask,” Caroline said with forced brightness. “Now — are you coming?”

  * * *

  And so, a few days later, in the freezing cold of that time of day that was neither night nor morning, Joanna set out with Caroline and her love toward the village of Chearsley. The snow had melted, but had left an icy sheen on the road, one that they carefully traversed on the sleigh they had borrowed, with Caroline promising that they would return it after they were wed, although Joanna had her own suspicions regarding just what might occur.

  She had spent the few days between doing her best to avoid Elijah by hiding in her rooms working tirelessly on the costumes in order to make up for the time she would be spending away. She was almost done — just a few finishing touches to complete, primarily on Elijah’s costume, which hadn’t seemed quite right as Joanna had worked on it.

  When she had seen him, it had been friendly, amiable, but she withheld the desperation for more — for she knew it could never be.

  Fortunately, he hadn’t visited her alone, for she wasn’t sure if she could keep this secret from him, nor how she would respond when he most assuredly would tell her it was a terrible idea.

  But this was Caroline’s decision, Caroline’s adventure — not hers.

  When they finally made it to the village church, they were freezing cold, but Caroline and Thatcher were still infused with a hope that warmed Joanna’s heart.

  “What’s this?” the vicar, Father Franklin, asked when they knocked on the door, and he let them in, still in his nightclothes. “Is all well at Briercrest?”

  “It is,” Caroline said as he ushered them inside. “It’s just… we were hoping that you would marry us.”

  He looked between the three of them. “Marry—”

  “Me and Lady Caroline,” Thatcher said, his arm around Caroline in a way that was so endearing it nearly brought a tear to Joanna’s eye.

  “I know the banns haven’t been read,” Caroline said, pleading in her voice, “but we would really appreciate it if you would—”

  But the vicar was already shaking his head. “I’m sorry, dear, but I can’t. You know that. Between the banns having not been read and your family being the most influential in these parts, I could never marry the two of you without their permission. Are you… ah… in the family way?”

  Caroline sighed. “It’s just that, Father, I know my family wouldn’t approve of our marriage, and we really don’t want to wait any longer.”

  “Well,” he took a deep breath, “there are a couple of options.”

  “Which would be?”

  “You could try going to Aylesbury, to see what Father McKenzie thinks of the whole thing. He doesn’t have to worry quite so much about what your family would think. Or—”

  “Yes?” Caroline said hopefully.

  “You could always go to Gretna Green.”

  “Oh,” Caroline said, her face falling. “I’m not so sure about that. All the way to Scotland? It would take days, and that is assuming the weather will hold.”

  “It would,” he nodded. “But it is the one sure way to be married.”

  Caroline and Thatcher exchanged a look, and he gave her a small nod.

  “I’m willing if you are, Caro,” he said, and the look he gave her was filled with such all-encompassing love that suddenly Joanna knew just exactly why Caroline was willing to sacrifice everything for the man, footman that he was.

  Caroline smiled tremulously but bravely back at him, before turning to Joanna.

  “What do you think, Jo?” she asked. “Are you willing to continue on with us?”

  Joanna hesitated. Caroline had done so much for her that she didn’t want to seem ungrateful, but in the same breath she couldn’t afford to lose her job, and going to Scotland would basically assure her of the fact.

  “I will go with you as far as Aylesbury,” she promised. “But if you continue on, then I’m afraid I must stay behind. If I don’t return to London by shortly after Twelfth Night, then I will lose my job. They have been generous to give me such time already.”

  “I understand,” Caroline said softly, before reaching out and taking Joanna’s hand in hers and briefly giving it a squeeze. “Thank you, Jo, for coming this far with us.”

  Joanna squeezed her hand back before letting go, and then the three of them said farewell to Father Franklin and returned back out to the cold, to make another attempt at this marriage.

  Chapter 16

  Elijah was troubled but determined.

  Troubled, because he knew his words had struck Joanna the wrong way.

  Determined, because he was sure that, if he could say the right words, he would make her understand that the two of them could be right together.

  But first, there was Caroline. His sister hated him for doubting her relationship, he knew, but if he wasn’t concerned for her, then who would be? His parents were never going to approve the union, and how would the daughter of a peer ever learn to work for herself?

  At dinner after Caroline’s request to speak with Joanna alone, the two of them had been rather silent, speculative, and as much as he tried to draw them each out in conversation, he had ultimately failed. Even Cecily had noticed that something was amiss, and her barbs disguised as enthusiastic praise went unnoticed — except by him.

  He was a touch disgusted with his former self. How could he have ever thought himself attracted to such a woman? She was beautiful, true, and he supposed that there hadn’t been many options in these parts. But still—

  He could tell that Joanna was avoiding him, but what he didn’t know was why. He wouldn’t push her, however. He wanted her to come to him when she was ready.

  A few days later he rose late to find that Joanna had already taken breakfast. He waited for her throughout the day, but she never did come down. When he asked about her whereabouts, Caroline told him that she was working on the Twelfth Night costumes. He was tempted to visit her but recalled her disapproval of his visit last time. Knowing that there was a likely chance he would not be able to keep himself from acting on his attraction once more, he decided against it.

  But she never appeared anywhere else — not once, the entire day.

  He went to bed cantankerous, determined to wake early the next morning and catch her.

  But he was disappointed to find that Joanna was not at breakfast. He asked one of the maids if she had been down, and the girl shook her head and continued on her way. He frowned. He couldn’t recall one day since he had returned home that he had been to breakfast before Joanna. But then, he couldn’t recall much oftentimes, so he couldn’t put much faith in that. But she was used to working, and therefore an early riser. Where was she?

  Similarly, Caroline was also not at the table, although his sister was much more likely to sleep late or take breakfast in her room.

  As he was studying the table, which was currently only occupied by Alex, Lord and Lady Hollingtide, and Admiral Cuthbert and his wife — whose regard he had been diligently trying to ignore — his attention was caught by a low whispering at the side of the room.

  He looked up to see the two footman who had been serving them had been joined by a passing maid and were furiously whispering to one another, and he was suddenly intrigued by just what had so caught their interest that they would risk the discussion in front of them at breakfast. In his experience, it was the servants who knew more of the goings -on of the entire household than the owners themselves.

/>   Elijah lifted his plate, which was currently nearly full as he had been too preoccupied to eat much, and wandered over to the side table, attempting to listen in to the conversation. He wasn’t exactly stealthy, however, and they must have seen him for the whispers stopped altogether.

  As the footmen began to return to the kitchen, he caught the eye of the maid — he couldn’t remember her name for the life of him — and crooked a finger at her before she could run away. She came slowly, her eyes wide in apparent nervousness. When was the last time he had caused anyone to feel nervous?

  “Yes, my lord?” she asked, the pitcher of tea in her hands.

  “What were the three of you talking about?” he asked, looking intently at her so that she couldn’t flit her gaze away.

  “My lord?” she squeaked out. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

  “Is there something happening that I should know about?”

  “I…I’m not entirely sure,” she managed, looking from one side to the other as though hoping someone would come and extricate her from this situation, but Elijah was not that generous.

  “Tell me,” he repeated, more firmly this time, and she dipped her head as she gave in.

  “It’s Thatcher, the footman,” she whispered. “He didn’t appear for work this morning. When the butler checked his bed, it was made up but he was gone.”

  “Gone?” Elijah stared at her, as though by encouraging her to continue he could change the facts of what she said.

  “Yes, my lord,” she said. “Disappeared.”

  She bit her lip and looked to the side once more, and Elijah sighed impatiently.

  “What else?”

  “Well, it is only—”

  “Yes?”

  “We always knew he had a fondness for Lady Caroline, seeing as he was never interested in any of the rest of us who tried to catch his eye. He’s a good-looking one, oh yes he is, and—”

  Elijah cleared his throat and gave her a pointed look.

  “Right,” she said with a nod. “Well, Lady Caroline’s maid, Mary, is still downstairs waiting to be summoned by Lady Caroline. She doesn’t know if it’s her place to say anything, or to go see if she’s there, but—”

  Elijah took a breath, nodding at the maid as he threw his plate on the side table with a clatter and pushed past her out of the room, knowing that the rest of the table was likely staring after him. He hadn’t gotten far when Alex caught up with him.

  “Eli, what’s going on?”

  “Nothing,” he said, not knowing why but not wanting his brother to be part of this.

  “Elijah.”

  “It’s nothing, Alex,” he insisted. “I just have to make sure Caro’s all right.”

  “Caro?” Alex said. “What would be wrong with her?”

  “Her maid hasn’t been summoned yet,” Elijah said as he climbed the stairs, Alex following him.

  “So?”

  He didn’t answer his brother as he continued down the hall, pushing open the door to Caroline’s room without knocking.

  “Elijah, what—”

  His brother was silenced as they stepped in, finding the room empty, the bedsheets rumpled.

  “Elijah, where did she go?” Alex asked finally, crossing his arms over his chest.

  “I don’t know,” Elijah said truthfully, “but I have a feeling she left with the footman.”

  “Hmm,” Alex mused, not looking overly concerned, which bothered Elijah more than the act itself. “Never thought she was actually that serious about the servant.”

  “Well, it seems she was,” Elijah said, rubbing his temples as his head began to ache. “We should have seen this coming.”

  “What do we do?” Alex asked. “Do we tell Mother and Father? Baxter?”

  “What would that do?” Elijah asked. “It would just send them into hysterics and for what? If I’m wrong, it would get Thatcher dismissed before he has the chance to defend himself, and if word got out, it could ruin Caroline.”

  “That’s true,” Alex said, and then his eyes lit up and he raised a finger. “I have an idea.”

  “What’s that?”

  “It would really throw Baxter over,” he said, his lips starting to widen into a grin. “Let’s see how long we can make him think that Caroline is still in the house. See how long he can go believing us without actually seeing her. Then once he finally does we tell him that it’s been days and this has all occurred because he didn’t realize she had actually left Briercrest.”

  “Alex,” Elijah said slowly, “now is not the time for games.”

  “Oh, come, Eli,” Alex said with a wave of his hand. “It is not as though we can change any of this anyway. If this is what Caro chooses, then this is what Caro chooses. Why don’t we let her be?”

  “Because,” he said, not knowing the answer but knowing that he had to make sure his sister was all right. “Because if anything goes wrong, we should be there for her. Because if she really does insist on marrying Thatcher, then she should have someone from her family there supporting her, and we should know just where she has gone to. And because—”

  He didn’t want to say it. Not to Alex.

  But Alex was intelligent enough to guess the truth.

  “Because Joanna Merryton is likely with her,” Alex said with a knowing smirk.

  “Yes,” Elijah said, his breath coming out on an exhale.

  “I knew you cared about her,” Alex said, bringing up a finger and pointing it in his face.

  “So?”

  “So what? Do you think a seamstress is any better than a footman?”

  “I don’t know Alex!” he burst out. “Maybe marrying a footman isn’t the worst of things either. Besides, I thought you were also showing some interest in Joanna.”

  Alex shrugged. “Perhaps for a flirtation, maybe a fun night or two. Not anything serious.”

  “She’s too good for that.”

  “Oh, Eli,” Alex said with a sigh, shaking his head. “What did the war do to you?”

  “Elijah, Alex?”

  Baxter and Ophelia stepped out of the chamber down the hall, dressed for the day as they approached. “What’s all of the noise for?” Baxter asked, his round face wearing a frown.

  “Nothing at all, just a friendly quarrel,” Elijah said with a tight smile.

  “Well, keep it down,” Baxter said gruffly. “We don’t want our guests to know about any family quibbles.”

  Elijah shot Alex a look to tell him that he was right in not wanting to share what had occurred with their brother or their parents.

  When Baxter and Ophelia were out of earshot, Elijah leaned closer to Alex and lowered his voice.

  “We have to go after them.”

  “How?” Alex said. “We have no idea where they are.”

  “No, we don’t,” Elijah agreed. “But we have to try. You go west while I’ll travel east. One of the two villages is their most likely destination.”

  “Very well,” Alex said with a sigh, “although this is not at all how I envisioned spending today. I had a mind to organize a hunt, or, at the very least, sit by the fire with a good brandy.”

  “Well, life isn’t always what we want, Alex,” Elijah burst out in frustration, and Alex raised an eyebrow.

  “You’ve changed, Eli,” he said, his voice monotone.

  “I know.”

  * * *

  When they finally reached Aylesbury, Joanna was so cold she didn’t think she could properly move. Her toes had frozen into such ice blocks that she bemoaned the thought of how it would feel when the blood began to rush back into them. She could already feel the pain of it. Her fingers had lost their circulation, turning into numb, motionless sticks, while she was shaking so fiercely that her teeth were rat-a-tat drumming their own beat.

  Caroline and Thatcher were not immune to the cold, and yet, wrapped in each other, they seemed to be sharing enough body heat to help warm them.

  If only Joanna could say the same, but the arms she wished were c
urrently around her were back at Briercrest, likely now growing tense in anger at her departure. At their departure. Angry that no one had told him what was happening.

  When they entered the small stone church, Joanna couldn’t even bring herself to stand in the cold foyer, instead sitting by the fire while Caroline and Thatcher spoke to the vicar.

  They were too far away for her to properly see them, but she heard his answer. No banns, no special license, no marriage. At least not here.

  The two of them came to join her, dejection on their faces.

  “Well, Jo,” Caroline said with a brave smile, “this is it, then. We’re off to Scotland.”

  “Are you sure, Caroline?” Joanna said, her teeth finally back under control. “It’s freezing out. Scotland is so far. And your family—”

  “I’m sure,” Caroline said, her jaw set, and Joanna knew then that nothing was going to change her mind.

  “Very well,” she said, with a warm smile — one she truly did mean — for her friend. “I shall miss you while you are gone, but look forward to your return.”

  “Me too, Jo,” Caroline said softly, “me too.”

  “We’ll take the mail coach to Scotland,” Thatcher said. “You can keep the sleigh to return to Briercrest when you are ready. I’m sure one of the men here will return with you.”

  “Oh, no,” Joanna said, shaking her head. “I couldn’t. I can find my way back. I—”

  “We’d actually prefer it this way,” Caroline said. “The stagecoach will be much faster, and warmer for that long of a journey, so you are actually doing us a favor by taking the sleigh home. I wouldn’t want to take it from my parents, anyway.”

  “Very well,” Joanna said, resigned, “when are you leaving?”

  “First light,” Caroline said. “We should all go to the inn, have some dinner and stay the night. We can warm up and hopefully tomorrow brings better weather — for all of us.”

  “Thank goodness,” Joanna said with relief, although she was already thinking about her return to Briercrest — alone — and the fact that she would have to tell all of Caroline’s family that she was gone, to be married to Thatcher in Scotland. “Let’s go warm up.”