Edward sipped his brandy and leaned back in his leather chair. “I cannot say that much about war is pleasant, Mr Morgan,” Edward said with a frown.
“See, that is a good quote,” Henry said as if to encourage Edward.
Edward just barely managed to keep himself from rolling his eyes at the newsman. Edward never read the gossip rags, and he had no idea what exactly they wrote about. Edward continued, “We were behind the main portion of the army, clearing out French forces that slipped by and holding territory that had already been taken. It was not glamorous.”
“I was told that you saved two men,” Henry said with interest. “Can you tell me about that?”
Edward frowned. He supposed that was probably part of his public military record. “It was not anything worth repeating. We just found two soldiers who were under fire and helped them escape.”
“But it was you and not one of your men who led them out and took the risk to your life?” the man asked as he scratched down what Edward had just said.
Edward asked, “How did you know that?”
“I was told by a Colonel Ainsley,” Henry said. “I found his name as your direct commanding officer and paid him a visit to find out some background information.”
Edward shook his head and laughed. “You are certainly thorough, Mr Morgan.”
“I pride myself on exactly that, Your Grace,” Henry said. “I promise to keep things as honest as possible as well, but I cannot in good conscience let your humility water down your story, so I have to do some research on my own as well.”
Edward might not like newspapers, but he had to agree that Henry seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. “Very well, I will give you everything you ask for, within reason, if you share Colonel Ainsley’s current address. I would very much like to see him again and thank him for what he did for me.”
“That is a deal worth making,” Henry said with a smile.
***
Colonel Ainsley’s family estate was a sprawling expanse of farmland that Edward found peaceful beyond measure. He knocked on the heavy wooden doors of the large house with a heavy feeling in his stomach. Edward had never thought that he would get a chance to lay eyes on the man let alone to thank him.
An older man pulled the door open and ushered Edward inside. “Good Afternoon,” Edward told the doorman. “I hope I am not intruding. I am afraid that I have travelled a long way and did not realise how close to tea time it was until I arrived.”
“Not at all,” the man said. “The master of the house takes tea early. Who should I say is calling upon him?”
Edward smiled and said, “Tell him it is Edward Dalton.”
The doorman’s expression changed, and Edward knew the man had heard of him. To the doorman’s credit, he merely nodded and went off to inform his master of Edward’s arrival. Edward was pleased by the professionalism of the man.
A few minutes later, the doorman reappeared and motioned for Edward to follow him. “The master will see you in the sunroom. He likes to get some sunlight during these cold months.”
“I do not blame him,” Edward said, and he followed the older man.
***
The sunroom was a good walk, but worth it as Edward stepped out into the room that was not warm, but comfortable all the same. Colonel Ainsley pushed himself up off the sofa that he had been sitting on. “Edward!” The man was over to Edward quickly and embraced him.
Edward embraced the man back and closed his eyes. The colonel was older and had a few more scars, but then so did Edward. Colonel Ainsley leaned back out of the embrace and clapped Edward on the shoulder. “You look like Hell.”
“And you look like you forgot to ride the horse, not the other way around,” Edward said in jest to his old commander.
The man guffawed and nodded. “That is probably true.” He motioned towards the sofa. “Come and sit with me. Gregory, will you fetch our guest some refreshments. He has to be parched from his ride.”
The doorman who had been waiting patiently nearby nodded and was quickly out of the room. Edward said, “How have you been?”
“Fine, fine,” Colonel Ainsley said as he waved off the question. “It is not how I have been, but how you have been.”
Edward took a deep breath and said, “I have been better, but I have also been worse.”
“I took a bullet a few weeks after your execution and had to come back home due to complications,” Colonel Ainsley said. “I almost lost my leg.”
Edward shook his head. “Yet here we are,” he said with a smile.
Gregory appeared with a tray of tea, sweet honey biscuits, and cucumber sandwiches. “Thank you, Gregory,” Colonel Ainsley told the man. The doorman was swiftly out of the room again to give them privacy. Colonel Ainsley poured them tea, and Edward gratefully took the cup from the man.
Edward sipped the tea and hummed in satisfaction. “Glad to see you got some real tea,” Edward said with a chuckle.
Colonel Ainsley nodded his agreement. The man looked at Edward seriously and said, “I do not know exactly how you managed it, but I am glad that you were able to redeem yourself.”
“It was not easy,” Edward admitted. They sat sipping their teas for a bit before Edward said, “I was ungrateful for what you had risked to save me. I am sorry, Colonel.”
Colonel Ainsley scoffed. “Nonsense,” the man said. “Had I been in your shoes, I probably would have reacted the same way. I was not thinking of what a position I was putting you in when I made the decision. I wanted to tell you how sorry I was for years after that day, but I guess it worked out.”
“Yes,” Edward said in a quiet voice.
Colonel Ainsley shook his head. “I only agreed to give Mr Morgan an interview because I thought it might prompt you to come to see an old man like me.”
“I would have come sooner, but I did not know how to reach you,” Edward assured the man.
Colonel Ainsley smiled. “Well, you are here now. I heard about your father’s death, and I wanted to tell you how sorry I was that you did not get to see him.”
Edward nodded and sighed. “He never learned the truth,” Edward said. “I decided to return too late.”
“He knew you were innocent,” Colonel Ainsley said. “Part of my job was to contact families. I had your father’s address from my time as your commander, and when I got sent back to England, I swore I would go and tell him the truth. I knew he was the only family you had really.”
Edward looked at Colonel Ainsley. “You told him that I was innocent?”
“Of course, I did,” Colonel Ainsley said as if Edward should have thought nothing less. “I could not condemn a father to think something like that about his son. He was furious with me. He wanted to send people for you, but I warned him that might mean your death and mine as well. He said that he trusted that you would return. He said you were too much like your mother and would not stop until you redeemed yourself.”
Edward laughed. His father had always accused Edward of having his mother’s stubbornness. “That sounds very much like something Father would say,” Edward agreed. “I have always been too stubborn for my own good.”
***
Pearl brought in some cakes and set them on Edward’s desk. “You should eat,” Pearl said. Edward looked up at the woman and sighed. “Duke or not, you have to eat,” Pearl said as she scooted the plate of cakes towards him. She turned on her heel and headed out of the room with the air of a woman who had things to do.
Edward looked at the cakes and smiled. The little cakes were the same ones that Pearl used to fix for Christmas each year. The holiday had come and gone with no fanfare at Dalton Hall. Edward had avoided all the holiday parties since he had run into Emily, much to everyone’s apparent disappointment if the letters he received were to be believed.
No one really cared about Edward for himself, though. Much like they had flocked around Esteban Duarte, now the socialites sought to smother Edward as if they could somehow rub his prestige on
to themselves by simply pressing close.
Edward picked up the sweet cakes filled with figs and bit into one. The taste reminded him of happier years. He remembered Emily and himself trying to steal some of the cakes before a feast. Pearl had always caught them. Then again Pearl had always just winked at them and sent them on their way with a cake.
The taste of the figs turned bitter in his mouth. He swallowed the sweet cake and followed it with a gulp of brandy to wash away the memory. What good was having everything if it did not matter?
James’ words haunted Edward. Getting what was rightfully his back had in fact not brought Edward any peace. He had what he had aimed to get but what he had gained was not worth even a half-measure of what he had lost. Edward slammed his hand down on his desk as his anger found its real mark.
He was a fool. He had destroyed Emily out of fear that he was not the man she loved anymore. Now he was destined to be alone forever for his sin of not showing her love the gratitude that he should have. Emily was through with him, and Edward had seen that first-hand.
Pearl came to the door. “Are you quite well? I heard a loud noise.”
“I am fine,” Edward said in a tight voice.
The woman eyed him. She was always watching him as if she was looking for something. Whatever she was looking for, Edward could tell her that she would not find it. The Edward that she knew was gone, and this husk was all that was left.
“Is there something wrong with the cakes?” Pearl asked as she eyed the half-eaten cake lying on the desk in front of Edward.
Edward assured, “They are as good as always.”
“Well, if you need anything,” Pearl said. She left the last part of her words unspoken. Edward knew that he just had to call, and she would help him. She would help him willingly just as Emily had. Edward could not bring himself to speak, so he merely nodded.
After the woman left, Edward picked up the cake and placed it back on the plate. No matter how he tried to deny it, there was only one thing that mattered to him. It was also the one thing that he feared he had lost forever.
***
The snow was deeper than Edward had thought it would be. He had left his horse near the road as the footing was too precarious, and he did not want to draw too much attention to himself. He crossed a wooded area as the snow fell down heavily.
He remembered the way as if it had been yesterday, and not many years before that he had made his way to Emily’s home on foot. He went to the entrance that was mostly used by the staff and was gratified that he had timed it properly as most of the staff was busy preparing the family meal.
Edward slipped up the backstairs and quickly made his way towards Emily’s room. He knocked softly, but there was no answer. Edward opened the door and sighed in relief that no one was in the room.
He went quickly over to the bed and tugged a chain around his neck. The locket that Emily had given before he left for the war fell over his shirt as Edward pulled on the chain. He slipped it off and placed it gently over her pillow. He would at least keep this promise.
As swiftly as he could without being seen, Edward slipped out of the house and raced back into the cover of the trees. His leg ached, but he laughed with the exhilaration of his ridiculous deed. All the way back to his horse, Edward shook his head at his own self.
His horse was not nearly as happy with Edward as Edward was with himself. Edward patted the animal’s neck and soothed it as he turned it towards home. The snowflakes fell fat and yet still so perplexingly light. Edward trusted the horse to find its way home even when the snow got heavier. Before long, the lights of Dalton Hall called him home, and he urged the horse faster.
***
Emily bid her parents goodnight and made her way upstairs. She felt worn out from having to put forth a happy face to the church officials that her mother had invited over. She opened her bedroom door and began to undress in a daze of fatigue.
She turned towards her vanity and looked at herself in the mirror. “Are you happy?” Emily asked her reflection. “Why, no I am not. Thank you for asking.” Emily laughed at her silliness.
As she laughed, she noticed something on her pillow. Her breath caught in her throat, and Emily turned around. She looked around the room, but it was empty. Emily went over to the bed and scooped up the locket. The cool metal in her palm felt as if it had to be a dream, despite the firmness of it.
This was the locket she had given Edward. Emily looked around her room but found no other signs that anyone had been in the room. He must have left it, perhaps with a maid. Emily went downstairs and questioned the staff that was still awake, but none of them remembered anyone coming over or knew anything about a locket.
Emily returned to her room perplexed as to how the man had gotten in and put the locket on her pillow, let alone why he would do so. When she and Edward had been young, he used to sneak in and bring her little gifts. That Edward was long dead, and yet here was a gift that he had left her.
“Edward,” Emily whispered to the locket. She clutched it to her heart. “You took this with you through it all. You kept your promise.”
***
Edward looked up as a knock sounded on his bedroom door. Edward opened the door to find a maid. “Pardon me, Your Grace,” the maid said in embarrassment at seeing Edward in just his shirt sleeves. “There is a lady here to see you,” the maid said in a rush of breath.
“A lady?” Edward asked.
The maid nodded and looked anywhere other than at Edward. “Yes, Your Grace.”
Clearly, the maid knew nothing further, so Edward dismissed her. “Thank you. I shall be right down.” The maid could not hurry away fast enough, and while Edward found it amusing, his mind was on other things. Had Emily come to see him?
He made his way downstairs and found not Emily, but Lady Shelton waiting on him. “Lady Shelton,” Edward said in confusion. “Did we have an appointment?”
“No, but my husband was to meet you for luncheon tomorrow. I came by to warn you that Mr Morton has weaseled his way into the meal as well,” Lady Shelton said with a sigh. “My husband will understand if you are suddenly stricken ill tomorrow.”
Edward chuckled and agreed, “I do believe that I am beginning to feel a bit of a cough coming on.”
Lady Shelton smiled. “I will regretfully inform my husband of your ailment.”
“Thank you,” Edward said.
Lady Shelton nodded. “You are most welcome. I had better get back to my duties. I have a luncheon of my own to attend today. Good day, Your Grace.”
“And you, Lady Shelton,” Edward said with a nod of his head. He escorted her to the door. As much as he appreciated the woman’s forewarning, he still wished it had been Emily at the door. He waited until the woman was safely in her carriage before he headed back into the house. The cold air had chilled him to the bone, and he went to warm up by the fire in his study.
***
Lady Shelton came to stand near Emily at the luncheon she was attending. “Are you well?”
“I am fine. Honestly, never better,” Emily said with a smile. She had not known she had seemed out of sorts.
Lady Shelton said, “You just look like you would rather be other places than here.”
Emily had to agree with that. “I do not mind aiding the church and its charities. I just think my mother is a little too eager to constantly find things for me to do.”
The Revenge of the Betrayed Duke: A Historical Regency Romance Book Page 27