The Marriage Contract
Page 25
Deacon’s response took several months to arrive. He thanked Aidan for performing such a “grim service.” He finished by hoping Aidan was successful with his quest to fight for Scottish rights. “You are closer and dearer to me than my own brother,” Deacon wrote, “but I tell you this, I and my children and my children’s children will not set foot on Scottish soil until the English give back what was ours from the beginning: our right to self-government.”
Hugh managed Kelwin in Aidan’s absence. He turned out to be a good steward and the estate prospered.
Whenever they returned to the Highlands, Aidan and Hugh always took off hunting. They’d paint their faces blue, drink a toast to Deacon, and charge off on the trail after deer. Often, Fang’s sons joined them. And once, Fang himself.
Anne, Fenella, and the other women shook their heads at such boyish nonsense, but what could they say? All men were really children at heart when it came to sport. If Aidan was happy tramping the hills dressed as an ancient Celt from time to time, well, Anne loved him enough to let him do it.
Several months after Donner was born, Hugh added a postscript to his letter reporting lamb counts that Fenella was expecting their first and Thomas Mowat had begun courting Fenella’s cousin.
Sitting in his study, a book-lined room paneled in walnut, Aidan passed Hugh’s letter to Anne. She nursed the baby in a chair beside his. Holding the letter in one hand, she read the postscript with delight.
“I can’t wait to return to Kelwin,” she said, shifting the baby to a more comfortable position. She could have hired a wet nurse, but had decided against the practice. Her father had once said it was natural and right for a mother to nurse her child and she had chosen to follow his advice. Aidan teased that she was being very “Republican.”
If the truth be known, sometimes, when all was quiet and she was alone with Donner like this in the nursery, she could sense her parents’ presence. She realized now they always hovered close because now she understood a parent’s love.
“I can’t believe you invited your Aunt Maeve and Uncle Robert up for a visit,” Aidan said with a mock shiver. He was not impressed with her tight-fisted relatives. On the other hand, they adored him…or, at least, adored bragging about their connection to him.
Anne laughed. “You don’t need to worry. I can invite them all I wish but they’ll never make the trip. It’s all form.”
“Good.”
Someone knocked on the study door. “My lord, Lady Tiebauld, your guests have arrived,” the very correct butler said.
“They are here!” Anne said happily. They’d been waiting for the arrival of her old friends Tess and Leah and their husbands.
While she quickly made herself presentable, Aidan said through the closed door, “We’ll be there in a moment, Baxter. Please make them comfortable in the blue salon.”
“Yes, my lord,” came the droning reply.
“I miss Norval,” Anne said.
“I thought you wanted to pension him off.” Aidan held out his hands to take Donner from her.
“I do. He’s old and deserves to enjoy his remaining years in comfort. But he is one of the family. Baxter is so butlerish.” She shivered.
Aidan laughed in agreement and opened the door for her. Anne hurried ahead of him down the marble-tiled hallway to the blue salon.
She burst into the room and was rewarded with the welcoming cries of Tess and Leah. Her friends were more beautiful than she remembered them.
Tess and her husband, Brenn Owen, the earl of Merton, were expecting their second child. They had left their son Hal with his nanny, since he suffered a slight cold. Pregnancy only served to make Tess more radiant. Anne liked her husband immediately, especially when he took Donner from Aidan and dubbed him “a handsome baby.”
Leah proudly showed off her son, Benjamin. He was over a year old and the happiest boy. Leah’s husband, Devon Marshall, viscount Huxhold, absolutely doted on the child. Anne hadn’t seen her for years and marveled over the sense of peace and maturity womanhood had brought to Leah.
Baxter interrupted the joyful reunion by announcing dinner. Donner’s nanny took both the boys up to the nursery so the parents could enjoy their meal. Afterward, the women left their husbands to their brandy while they slipped back into the blue salon to enjoy tea and cozy confidences—as they had as debutantes.
“Can you believe how well our husbands are getting along with each other?” Leah asked, accepting a cup from Anne.
“Amazing, isn’t it?” Tess agreed. “In fact, Brenn confided to me over dinner if Aidan is successful with his Scottish legislation, he will take a more active interest in his seat in the House of Lords and push for Welsh concerns.”
Anne tilted her head thoughtfully toward Leah. “Now that you have met him, is the mad Lord Tiebauld such a terrible person?” At one time, Leah had been contracted to marry Aidan and had done everything in her power to avoid the liaison.
Leah laughed. “He is quite charming, but absolutely smitten by you. No, my dear Anne, I believe everything has worked out exactly as it was intended. You and Aidan are wonderful to each other.”
Anne felt her eyes turn watery. She cried often now, but not out of sadness. Her life brimmed with happiness. Many times during the day, she would pause and reflect, scarcely believing her own good fortune. Now, she fussed with the creamer. “Yes, he has made my life worthwhile.”
“I think he might say the same of you,” Tess observed.
“I pray you are right,” Anne said. “At least now his house is clean.” She told them of the first time she’d seen the great hall at Kelwin. They laughed so hard, tears rolled down their cheeks.
Tess changed the subject. “Do you ever think back to the evening at Lady Ottley’s musicale when we talked of sticks and pillows?”
Leah howled with laughter and covered her face with her hands. “How could we have been so naïve?”
“But it all worked out fine,” Anne said. “We did figure it out.”
“Yes, but only after a few embarrassing moments,” Tess confessed.
“I’m curious,” Anne said. “If you had to sum up what you’ve learned about marriage—”
“And love?” Leah interjected, always the romantic.
“Yes, and love,” Tess agreed softly.
“—What would you say to the young, impressionable girls we were back then?” Anne finished.
Her question made all of them pause to reflect. Tess sat back in her chair, her hand resting on her rounded belly. Leah stirred her tea. Both women considered the question carefully.
It was Leah who spoke first. “Well, I believe I have discovered—and I should say now that I don’t want to be held to this opinion years from now, because I may change my mind—”
Both Tess and Anne laughed. “Well, truly,” Leah defended herself. “I am the youngest, but I’d wager I know better than the two of you the twists and turns life takes. I’ve learned that sometimes what we see as misfortune is really destiny. Love is not always rational. It’s almost as if God plays a hand.” She smiled. “I’ve become philosophical. Still, who would have thought I would love so dearly a man who was my family’s enemy…or have found so much happiness with him? Before him, I was lost. Now he is my life.”
Tess reached for her hand. At one time, the two of them had been rivals. Now, they were friends. “I am glad you are happy.”
“Thank you,” Leah said quietly and then, on a stronger note asked, “Who is next?”
“I am,” Tess said. She sat up, back straight, her hands slipping down to help support the weight of her pregnant belly, her spirit proud. “I have learned you can’t really love someone unless you can come to them as a complete and whole person.”
Anne frowned. “I’m not certain of your meaning.”
Tess elaborated, “Before Brenn, I ran from marriage. I felt it was the same as a death sentence. It would be like being buried alive.”
Leah made a distasteful sound.
“I
now understand my feelings were because I didn’t have a true purpose in life. I saw myself as an ornament for a man’s arm and little else. My whole world revolved around the narrow focus of the ton.”
“And now?” Anne asked.
“Brenn has shown me there is a whole world outside of London. I’m fascinated by the people I’ve met and by new ideas.”
“Tess, you sound like a bluestocking,” Leah said, referring to women who valued education over lighter pursuits.
“Maybe I am one,” Tess answered resolutely. “I was always too clever for silly painting lessons and endless musicales. I’ve discovered I want more. I’ve been writing.”
“Writing?” Anne repeated in surprise.
“Yes, and I think I’m quite good. However, I’ve learned marriage is a new beginning, especially when you are with someone who lets you be the person you want to be.”
“But you’ve always had strong opinions,” Anne remarked.
“With you and Leah, but not with men…until Brenn. I hate to think of what sort of person I would be if I had stayed in London and continued my selfish, narrow-thinking ways. He has challenged me.”
“And made you stronger,” Leah added in agreement.
“Yes,” Tess said. She turned to Anne. “Very well, what have you learned?”
Anne lifted her gaze to the gilded artwork on the ceiling and contemplated how much her life had changed.
“Well,” she began, swinging her attention back to her friends. “I now understand the depth of love my parents had for each other…and also for me. When a parent dies, a child feels abandoned. Now that I am a mother myself, I understand a parent’s love is always with you, even beyond death.”
“But what of your husband?”
Anne smiled. “He’s taught me that the best part of marriage is the laughter. I agree with you that fate intervenes and steers us toward people we would never have chosen for ourselves. I truly believe I was waiting for Aidan. He brings out the best in me, but I also bring out the best in him. Together, we make a whole. I could not imagine my life without him.”
“That’s how I feel about Brenn,” Tess said.
“And I about Devon,” Leah agreed.
For a moment the three friends sat in happy silence. Then Tess stood and spread out her arms, offering her hands. “Come on.”
Leah and Anne both rose and clasped hands to make a circle.
“The Welsh believe in fairy rings,” Tess told them. “They say there is powerful magic in their center. We’ve formed a ring of friendship and I think the magic here is more potent than any fairy could imagine. Don’t you?”
“Yes,” Anne and Leah said at the same time.
“Friends?” Tess asked.
“Always,” Anne answered.
“Forever,” Leah declared.
And so they were.
Afterword
“Family Vow Satisfied.” The Caithness Crier, 21 June 1999, sec. C: 1
Very special Canadian friends Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Gunn and children will be joining the earl and countess Tiebauld for the opening ceremonies of the first Scottish Parliament. But this is more than an ordinary visit.
Almost two hundred years ago, Mr. Gunn’s ancestor Deacon Gunn emigrated with members of his clan to Canada. They settled on land deeded to them by the then earl Tiebauld, where over the years the Gunn family fortunes have been very successful. However, no member of the Gunn family has set foot in Scotland since 1815.
Reached in his Toronto office last Thursday, Alexander Gunn told this reporter, “Deacon Gunn was driven from Scotland by the Clearances. He vowed neither he nor his descendants would set foot on Scottish soil until our right to govern ourselves was recognized. It has been a long time in coming, but no member of my family would miss the opening of the first Scottish Parliament convened in three hundred years. We are looking forward to the trip to Caithness.”
During the Royal Opening Ceremony, the Queen will honor Lord Tiebauld for the role his family played in making this historic event a reality. Lord Tiebauld has promised to join the First Minister’s aggressive legislative programme, including a bill to abolish the feudal system of land tenure. He is quoted as saying, “We must provide a better balance between public and private interests. I support the First Minister in his desire to find Scottish solutions to the problems we face as a country.”
About the Author
Romantic Times magazine claims CATHY MAXWELL is “…an author who understands the human heart and whose stories touch our souls.” To that end, she spends hours sitting in front of her computer wondering, “Why do people fall in love?” The question remains for her the great mystery of life and the secret to happiness.
She lives in Virginia with her three children and her husband, Kevin, who drives her crazy in all the very best ways.
Fans can find Cathy’s web page at: www.booktalk.com/cmaxwell
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Books by
Cathy Maxwell
THE PRICE OF INDISCRETION
TEMPTATION OF A PROPER GOVERNESS
THE SEDUCTION OF AN ENGLISH LADY
ADVENTURES OF A SCOTTISH HEIRESS
THE WEDDING WAGER
THE LADY IS TEMPTED
THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT
A SCANDALOUS MARRIAGE
MARRIED IN HASTE
BECAUSE OF YOU
WHEN DREAMS COME TRUE
FALLING IN LOVE AGAIN
YOU AND NO OTHER
TREASURED VOWS
ALL THINGS BEAUTIFUL
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT. Copyright © 2006 by Cathy Maxwell. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Mobipocket Reader November 2006 ISBN 0-06-121221-0
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