by Abigail Agar
There was a clang of the church doors and a yell, “I have cause to denounce this union!” There was a gasp from behind her, and Gwyn turned around to see her mother gaping at the church doors. There fresh off the boat from the Caribbean stood scowling Jack.
Gwyn’s breath caught in her throat at the look on the man’s face. Henry turned to face his brother. “What do you think you are doing?” Henry asked angrily as he walked away from the altar and back down the aisle toward his brother. “Do you not think that you have done enough?”
“Those were the very questions that I wanted to ask you, Brother,” Jack growled as he let Henry close the distance between them.
Lady Shelton was up out of her seat as was the Duke. The man stormed down the aisle. “What is the meaning of this?” Duke Shelton boomed while Lady Shelton and Lady Stanton began trying to calm and reassure the few guests that were there for the nuptials.
“The meaning of this is that I no sooner arrive in the islands than a letter arrives right behind me. Had I not had such favourable winds, I probably would have arrived in time for the honeymoon,” Jack ground out as he glared at his father and then his brother. “I do not know what has transpired, but I demand an audience and an explanation as to why everyone is looking at me like I have spat upon the Mary and all the apostles.”
Henry opened his mouth to reply, but his father cut him off. Lord Shelton nodded, “They might be looking at you like that because you are interrupting a holy ceremony.”
“I would be more concerned with lying in a holy place,” Jack said as he looked over at Henry.
Lord Shelton shook his head and growled, “Go home. We shall be there shortly.”
Gwyn had heard everything the men had said as she had followed Lord Shelton and Henry down the aisle. She had to be sure that what she was seeing was real. Jack had truly come back to England just to stop her wedding. Gwyn pushed past Lord Shelton, and the man gave her a surprised look.
“How dare you?” Gwyn said in disbelief at Jack. The man’s eyes turned to her and stared as if he was not sure what he was seeing. “You truly hate me so much that you cannot stand to see me happy?”
Jack stammered, “This makes you happy? Henry?” He shook his head. “The little remarks and the way you two fought. Perhaps I was a fool not to see it.”
“Do not put this on me,” Gwyn said as she raised her finger to point at Jack. “This is on you, Jack Shelton. You are going to be held accountable for your horrible words and deeds.”
Jack just stared at Gwyn as she felt hands grasp her arm. Her mother was guiding her away whispering words meant to calm, but all Gwyn heard was the sound of her heart pounding her ears. She let herself be led towards the carriages because she could not bear to look at where she was going. What did it matter? Jack would never let her be happy.
***
Shelton Hall rang with the sound of voices shouting. Lady Shelton called out, “Please, settle the both of you!”
Jack and Henry reluctantly sat back down from where they had stood while arguing earlier. The family was gathered in the large dining hall. Lady Shelton sighed at her two sons. She thought it better to keep at least a table between them. Her husband was also of little help as all he did was yell along with them.
Lady Shelton cleared her throat and eyed her sons carefully. “Jack, Henry showed Sergeant Chavers your journal, and yes that was an irresponsible thing to do. I have forgiven him that action as he let his emotions get the better of him. He is paying with his guilt for ruining Gwyneth’s betrothal. However, your words in the journal are what caused Gwyn’s attitude towards you to change, Jack. You cannot hold that against Henry.”
Jack eyed Henry who sat looking at the table. Lady Shelton waited and then went on, “Henry and Gwyn both readily agreed to the betrothal between them, and it is in the best interest of both families for the match to be upheld.”
“You think that after this, I am really going to put the family first?” Jack asked. Lady Shelton looked at her son in disapproval.
Lady Shelton sighed. “Jack, Gwyn chose Henry. With all the facts of the situation, and there is nothing you can do to change it. All you do now is cause the girl grief.”
Jack looked down and then back over at Henry. “I am sorry, Mother. I truly am, but I am not letting Gwyn marry him, and I do not care what any of you think of me.” Jack shoved up off the table and left the room.
Lady Shelton shook her head and looked at her husband. “This is going to be a problem,” she said unhappily. “Henry, Gwyn will need you to be close for her.”
“We would be married now if not for Jack,” Henry said angrily.
Lord Shelton nodded and said, “That may be, but you have to handle the situation you are currently in, not the one you wish you were in.”
Chapter 11
Jack answered the knock on his bedroom door with trepidation. He was prepared for a lot of things to be on the other side of that door. However, a smiling Henry had not been one of the things Jack had prepared himself for. Dumbfounded, Jack stepped back and let the man into his room.
“I am sorry to come here like this,” Henry said quietly. “Look, I did not know that all this was going to happen when I gave that book to Sergeant Chavers.”
Jack stared at his brother in disbelief. “What did you think was going to happen when you gave him my journal?”
“I thought he would be angry with you, and there was a chance that he would simply do the right thing and step aside for you two to be together. Honestly, I never even read the journal before I gave it to him. I knew that you wrote about her,” Henry said with a shrug as he sat down on the chair beside Jack’s desk. “You have to believe me, Jack. We have been through a lot, you and me. You have been the good brother to my bad, and now I guess it is oddly on the other foot.”
Jack sighed. “So, how did you end up engaged exactly?”
“Gwyn was so distraught that Mother thought it best to step in and help out. She and Lady Stanton came up with this scheme to get us married, and that would be that,” Henry said. “Look, I may seem really calm right now, but honestly brother, the things in your journal about Gwyn make my blood boil.”
Jack shook his head. “What I wrote were merely the ramblings of a lovesick man. I did not imagine that such as that would make Gwyn so upset or anyone else. You had to know that I had no intention of that journal ever being public knowledge.”
“I did,” Henry said, “but I wanted to help you two patch things up. I could already see that you were not going to do it. You had set your mind to live in the island colonies and wither away. There she was set to marry that idiot of a sergeant. I did her a favour, but then all of this happened. I would like to say that I am sorry, Brother, but over the month with Gwyn, I have come to realize that I truly care about her. She makes me happy. She makes me feel like I really can be duke and handle all that comes with it.”
Henry looked so ardently sincere that Jack faltered. Henry had been so directionless the last time Jack had seen the man. The only thing that Henry had seemed to care about was Jack and Gwyn’s relationship, and now the man seemed to have a purpose. For the first time in Henry’s life, Jack could look at the man and see him as worthy of the titles of their family.
“I see,” Jack said quietly.
Henry said, “You caught us all off-guard at the wedding, Jack. Let me talk to Gwyn, and I am sure that eventually, she will be able to be around you. She is just going through some things.”
“I never wished Gwyn any pain,” Jack said earnestly. “Do you really think she could forgive me, eventually?
Henry nodded. “If I can, then she can.” Jack gave Henry a puzzled look. “There were some rather not nice things about me in that journal, Jack. Yes, I read them when I was trying to see what had made Gwyn so upset.”
Jack sighed. “It was just rambling, Henry. You are my brother. I accept you for how you are.”
“I know you do,” Henry said with a shrug. “That is why I am
here. Even though I am the one who started this whole mess, I do not wish it to ruin both of our lives.”
With a shake of his head, Jack said, “I do not know if I can fathom a life without Gwyn. That is why I chose to leave.”
“You can still choose to do that,” Henry reminded Jack, “but you are welcome here, so long as you understand that not everyone is going to accept what is in your journal.”
Jack asked, “Where is my journal?”
“I do not know, and I would not go asking after it just yet. Mother needs a bit of time to cool off after that wedding fiasco,” Henry said reasonably. “She has already stated that you have the right to have your say, just give her a day or so.”
Jack nodded. He had to admit that was not too much to ask considering he had just had quite the performance at the church, and with everyone not being his biggest fans at the moment, he needed to bide his time. Jack admitted, “I can do that.”
“Good,” Henry said, “I had better go. Mother was not too keen on my coming to talk to you lest we break out in a fight. Cooler heads prevail, though.”
Jack laughed. “I suppose I did have a lot of pent-up confusion and anger from those weeks at sea wondering what was going on. Thanks, Henry, for at least giving me half a chance.”
“What are brothers for?” Henry said with a smile.
***
Gwyn met Henry at the front door. “What a pleasant surprise,” she said as she gave Fulton a nod. “We are going to the sunroom where Father is.” Fulton merely nodded as Gwyn beckoned Henry to follow her. “What brings you here?”
Henry frowned slightly as he followed Gwyn. “My brother actually does,” he said in worry. “I agreed that I would ask if you would talk to him to try and reach some understanding. He has agreed to let us marry unhindered if you will just meet with him.”
Gwyn did not answer until they were in the sunroom. Her father and his nurse were to one side of the sunroom. She gave her father a smile as she led Henry to a corner. “Please sit down,” Gwyn said as she also took a seat. Henry reluctantly sat down. “Why are you helping him?”
“He is my brother, Gwyn,” Henry said quietly. “I just want to keep the peace. Is that really so horrible? Mother and Father are tense, and the house is unbearable. I could not think of bringing you into a situation like that.”
Gwyn suggested, “So, then perhaps Jack should return to the colonies. I am sorry, Henry. After the things I have learned, I simply cannot be around him.” Gwyn took a deep breath. “I know that for you the things you read were things that you had already known deep down, but for me, that was not the case. His words and lies have cut me to my core. My heart does not trust like it once did.”
“Do you trust me?” Henry asked anxiously.
Gwyn smiled at the man and reached over to grasp his hand. “Of course, I do. I am going to marry you. I would be silly not to trust my husband.”
“With the way men are in society, I do not think anyone would blame you for not trusting your husband,” Henry said with a bit of the humour that Gwyn knew so well from the man.
Gwyn snickered. “That might be true, but I still trust you. Your brother has broken my trust, Henry. What is worse is I can look at him and swear it is the truth and yet I know it is a lie. At the church, he looked every bit the jilted lover, but I know that was not true. How can I possibly trust someone who can lie so sincerely?”
“I am not asking you to trust him, Gwyn,” Henry assured her. “I am asking that you merely trust me. I am sure that I can convince him to leave, but he has to see that there is no way he can win you back. Please,” Henry begged.
Gwyn shook her head. “I just cannot. I am so sorry to let you down, Henry,” Gwyn said softly.
Henry gave her hand a squeeze. “You have not let me down. I never want you to do something that would hurt you,” Henry assured her. “Think nothing else of it. If you do not want to be around him, then so be it. I am not saying that he will merely take my word for it.”
“I would be happy to write a strongly worded letter,” Gwyn offered with a gentle laugh. “I know that you do not want me to feel guilty for not meeting him, but yet I do. I feel as if I am letting you down even before we wed.”
Henry shook his head. “You are not. I probably would be a little worried if you were eager to go meet my brother.” Henry chuckled. “Do not look so fretful, darling,” Henry said soothingly. “I did not mean it like that. It was merely a poorly thought out jest.”
“You are infamous for those roguish jokes,” Gwyn said with a smile. “I am not mad with you. I still do not want to meet with your brother.”
Henry laughed. “Fair enough,” he accepted with a nod of his head.
***
The sunlight slanted down on the patio where Jack sat slumped on the stone steps. His thoughts wandered where they would, and he did nothing to stop them. The birds did not interest him, nor did their songs touch his ears. No, Jack was far away inside himself trying desperately to find some way of making this all feel right again when everything felt so wrong.
Jack kept the peace as best as he could by staying out of the way, but his parents remained aloof at best. Jack was grateful that at least Henry seemed to be aware of how ridiculous the situation was. The fact that Henry was in love with and set on marrying Gwyn hung Jack up, but could he really deny his brother a love like that? Jack had felt Gwyn’s love, and he knew that deep down he could not take it away from his brother even if he longed to.
“Pray to hear your thoughts, weary traveller,” Henry said grandly as he stepped out of the double doors behind Jack.
Jack sighed heavily. “I do not think they are worth hearing,” he said glumly. “Did you speak to Gwyn?”
Henry nodded and sat next to Jack. “She will not even entertain the thought of seeing you.”
“Surely she cannot be so upset over my journal?” Jack shook his head in disbelief. “Did you tell her that I was willing to stand aside?”
Henry said, “Of course I did. She still does not want to. She actually suggested that you go back to the colonies.”
The idea of leaving for the colonies actually sounded pretty good to Jack at that moment, but he had had enough of running away. Besides, his parents had wanted him here to answer for his crimes, such as they were, and here he was. Everyone clearly was uncomfortable talking about Jack’s almost obsessive love, but surely that did not warrant the treatment he had received. Although if he were honest, Jack could admit that most of his parents’ reactions seemed to be centred on the fact that Jack had chosen to announce his arrival by stopping his brother’s wedding.
“In hindsight, I am rather sorry that I stopped your wedding, Henry,” Jack said thoughtfully.
Henry looked at Jack in surprise. “Really? I hardly expected that.”
“I am not a monster, despite the looks I get from some of the staff,” Jack said with a chuckle. “No, I just saw red and could not think clearly.”
For a moment they were silent as they sat staring out into the garden. Finally, Henry said, “I can understand that. Having fallen for Gwyn myself, I can honestly say that if I were in your shoes, I would probably have done the same thing. I might have even thrown a punch.”
“You definitely would have thrown a punch,” Jack concurred with a grin. “I would have beaten you silly for it, but you would have started it.”
Henry laughed and shook his head. “All this time, and how nice I am to you, and you still think you can take me in a fight just because of your military campaign?”
“I could beat you in a fight before I went off to war,” Jack reminded Henry.
Henry corrected, “Because I let you, Little Brother.”