Ella’s voice held her vulnerability. “You will not let me out of your sight?”
“One of the Realm will be with you in every move you make. It will work, Ella. Trust me. In this, I am the expert.”
“I trust you, James.” She paused before taking a steadying breath. “If we must do this, may I make a suggestion?”
“Certainly.”
“The Averettes’ governess is Miss Nelson.”
James studied what she suggested but half of a heartbeat before he made the connection. “And the lady was traveling in the Lake District.You are brilliant, Eleanor Fowler. Absolutely brilliant!”
Kimbolt reappeared that very afternoon at Linton Park. Lady Linworth rallied her energies and became the perfect hostess. All of James’s unit planned to attend the ceremony, and close relatives and neighbors received invitations. Linton Park hosted a houseful of well-wishers. James watched with delight as family and friends came to his home to celebrate his love for Ella.
“Lexford,” he called as the viscount entered the room. “I am so pleased to see you.” James extended his hand.
Ella stood by his side. She grasped their visitor’s hand in hers—an unusual act, but James ignored it. “How may I thank you, my Lord?”
Kimbolt smiled; he had thought Ella quite remarkable when he had met her, and his opinion had not lessened. “Keep this one home.” He indicated James Kerrington. “Fill his life with children and love, and anything I did for you will be paid in full.”
“That is an easy penance,Viscount Lexford.”
He kissed the back of Ella’s hand. “Part of my master plan, Lady Eleanor.” Then Lexford raised his eyes from Ella’s face to find a pair of emerald green ones staring at him, watching him with an intensity he had rarely felt. Lady Eleanor said something else, but Kimbolt heard none of it. Coal-black hair framed a cheek, which begged to be caressed, and a pouty mouth he immediately imagined kissing.
James read his friend’s mind perfectly. He suspected his face had held the same silly expression when he first laid eyes upon Eleanor. Kimbolt’s brows furrowed in confusion, while a profound smile of satisfaction graced the viscount’s lips.
James touched Kimbolt’s arm. “Allow me to introduce you,” he said with some amusement. He led Kimbolt to where his sister kept company with the Averettes. “You remember my sister Georgina, Lexford.”
The viscount bowed over Georgina’s hand. “Lady Amsteadt, I am pleased to see you.”
James waited and then redirected his friend to the waiting trio. “Viscount Lexford, may I present Viscount and Viscountess Averette. The Averettes are Miss Aldridge’s aunt and uncle, and this is her sister Miss Cashémere Aldridge. Miraculously, we came across the Viscount’s party on their way to Kent. Naturally, with Fowler bringing everyone here, Lady Eleanor and I extended the invitation to join our gathering.”
His friend continued to watch the girl, although he followed the formalities of the new acquaintance. Kimbolt bowed to the Averettes, but he remained in tune only to Cashé. “Miss Cashémere, may I comment on the uncanny resemblance to your sister.”
“As it has been several years since I last saw Velvet, I must accept your opinion,Your Lordship.”
“Then Miss Cashémere, I will anticipate your reunion.”
At that very moment, Thomas Whittington, Lord Amsteadt, strode into the room. “It appears I have arrived just in time for a party,” he announced good-naturedly to the room.
“Thomas,” Georgina squealed, breaking away from the group.
James followed his sister and mother to greet the arrival of their family. Georgina wrapped her arms about her husband’s waist, and he kissed the tip of her nose.
“Your timing is perfect, Amsteadt.” James clapped him on the back.
“What is the special occasion?” Amsteadt looked from one face to another—none of whom he recognized.
James guided Thomas’s gaze to Ella. “I am to marry, Brother.” He reached out to catch Ella’s hand. “Thomas, may I present my betrothed, Lady Eleanor Fowler. As I suspect you have surmised, Ella, this is Georgina’s husband, Thomas Whittington, Lord Amsteadt.”
Whittington bowed over Ella’s hand. “Welcome to the family, Lady Fowler.”
“Thank you, my Lord, for your attention and your well-wishes.” Ella laughed lightly. “However, I believe you might wish to take a closer look at Lady Amsteadt.”
“Pardon me?” Amsteadt stared at Ella for a split second before his head snapped around to really see his wife. “Georgina?” he stammered, registering the difference in her size.
“Your daughter rests in the nursery, my Lord.” Georgina’s eyes danced with happiness.
“My…our daughter?”
Georgina giggled, grabbed his hand, and pulled her husband toward the open door. “We will return later,” she called over her shoulder.
Total silence lasted the length of a deep sigh before everyone talked over one another. “Did you see the look on Thomas’s face?” Lady Linworth wiped at the tears of joy she could not control.
James kissed the back of Ella’s hand. “We certainly overloaded Lord Amsteadt with news, did we not?”
“His Lordship shall think twice about walking into a private party again.” Lady Linworth returned to her other guests, a cheerful smile filling the room with happiness.
CHAPTER 15
ELLA KEPT HER PROMISE; she took her reward from James over a two-hour period before falling asleep in his arms. With a house full of company and Bran’s appearance at Linton Park, they agreed to spend the last few evenings leading up to their marriage in their respective rooms. Their commitment to each other complete, the reading of the vows was all they needed. In their eyes, they were already married. They spent time daily with Daniel, and James began to introduce her to the Linworth tenants, establishing her as the estate’s future mistress. Ella won over everyone she met with her knowledge of agriculture and her natural sincerity and good humor.
Swenton followed the day after Kimbolt. Carter Lowery and Marcus Wellston arrived on Monday. James spent many hours in their company—perfecting his plan for Levering, but also reminiscing over time together in the service. Linton Park filled with those sharing a common bond. Even the Earl managed a few hours out of bed each day, bringing a renewed flush to his cheeks and a brightness long gone from his eyes.
Midafternoon on Tuesday brought the Thornhill crest into the drive, and Ella was out the door and in Bran’s arms before he could help either the Duchess or Velvet from the carriage. Ella had missed him more than she would admit to anyone, even herself. Surprisingly, after years of hating him for leaving her behind, she wanted to be nowhere else but safely in her brother’s arms and feeling her family around her.
“It is well, Ella.” He stroked her head as she clung to him.
She sobbed into his chest. “I am sorry, Bran. I did everything wrong.”
He bent his head to speak to her alone. “We both made mistakes. You did what was necessary to survive in our father’s world; I do not blame you. If anything, I blame myself for not being there to protect you. Now, that will be Worthing’s province. Yet, it shall be my true pleasure to exact revenge on Levering. I will rid you of the evil at last. Now, enough of regrets. This is a happy time—a time for you to begin a new life.”
“I do love His Lordship,” she confessed.
“Then let us celebrate that love.” He turned her toward the rest of her waiting family.
Worthing handed down the Duchess and Miss Aldridge, bowing over each lady’s hand. An elongated hug from Aunt Agatha nearly brought a return of Ella’s tears. “Ah, my Child,” the Duchess caressed Ella’s cheek. “It has long been my wish to see you so happy.”
Next,Velvet hugged Ella and jokingly warned, “You have much explaining to do, Eleanor Fowler.” However, Ella easily distracted her cousin by pointing out the Averettes patiently waiting for her on the outside steps. Predictably, Velvet’s eyes misted over in happiness as she scurried up the s
teps to throw her arms around an obviously emotional Samuel Aldridge and his niece. “I cannot believe you are here,” she gasped.
Meanwhile,Aunt Agatha latched onto Camelia Kerrington, and the two began to chatter their way into the house. Ella took some comfort in their reunion. Her new mother needed friends with whom she could commiserate. “And Linworth is feeling better?” Agatha inquired as they climbed the steps to the main house arm in arm.
“Martin has had a positive turnaround,” Camelia explained with some caution. “He will adore talking to you. He regaled Eleanor with tales of your Harold. The three of us have a different perspective from the young folks. After you refresh your things, I want you to meet my newest grandchild. Baby Eleanor favors her father Lord Amsteadt, I fear, but Georgina is in there somehow.”
“Baby Eleanor?” Agatha looked about in surprise. She shot an ambiguous-looking reprimand over her shoulder at Ella, and Eleanor knew her aunt would not rest until she knew everything.
Camelia stopped in midstride. “You do not know. Of course, you do not. Your niece and I delivered Georgina’s daughter less than a week ago.”
“My niece?…Eleanor?…Delivered Georgina’s baby?” Agatha’s voice held more pride than contempt, and Ella let out a breath of relief.
“God sent Eleanor to this house just in time to save James’s heart and Georgina’s life.” James’s mother spoke with pride also.
Agatha started moving forward again. “Well…well, it seems I have been left out of the inner circle. I was not aware that Eleanor had been at Linton Park for more than a few days.You and I, Camelia, must place our heads together later. I need to know everything you know.” Ella laughed lightly as she watched them go.
Fowler and Crowden judiciously joined Kimbolt and Lowery by the main door. Together, they went through it, enjoying each other’s company and speaking of the ills of traveling in the summer and the need for something refreshing to drink.
They all drifted into the brightly decorated hall, leaving James and Eleanor alone in the driveway except for a few footmen unloading the carriages. He looked amusedly to where the others entered the main door. “Well, my Love, are you sure I cannot convince you to take a quick trip to Scotland and the anvil?”
Ella’s eyes followed his to the retreating party. “It becomes more tempting by the moment.”
“Do you suppose they would realize we were missing?”
“Maybe when they reached the church on Thursday, and we were nowhere to be found.” Ella slipped her hand into his outstretched one, feeling the warmth of his fingers as they encircled hers.
James coaxed her to his side. “Two nights,” he whispered as she smiled up at him.
“Too long,” she teased.
“Amen.”
Ella glanced around to make sure no one else could hear. “Would you retrieve the books from Bran? I want to burn them before the wedding.”
“I was thinking a casual supper on the patio tonight…alfresco… maybe a bonfire…a picnic without the blankets…a little cricket… some croquet and quoits and pétanque while it is still light out. What do you think? A purely spontaneous idea, mind you.”
“An excellent cover for burning a book.You are brilliant.”
“It is too warm for lighting fireplaces,” he noted.
“A perfect solution to our problem, and no one will know.”
James caressed her cheek. “I plan to taste your lips in the moonlight, my Love.”
“I shall be counting the moments.”
Two days later, everyone gathered in the Linton Park chapel. Shepherd, as James expected, was the last to arrive. The man who had formed James’s unit of the Realm looked on as one of his finest returned to a normal life. James paced the front of the chapel like a caged animal. Judiciously, earlier, he had asked Daniel to stand with him, reinforcing the family unit. Bran would escort Ella down the aisle. As James waited for her appearance in the vestibule, he reflected how much his life had changed in a mere three months. From their first moment together, he had desired Eleanor Fowler, but it was much more than that base lust. Ella filled a gaping hole in his soul. Recently, he had told her that if he met Elizabeth Morris now, he would not choose the woman as his wife, and he meant what he had said. Of late, he had realized that his first “perfect” marriage had lacked the depth he once thought it possessed. He pursued and won Elizabeth Morris because she was the prettiest girl of that Season—a purely male thing—all competition. She fascinated him and played to his ego, but, in reality, Elizabeth knew nothing of the hardships of life. She was a beautiful trophy for an immature aristocrat.
With Ella, something different existed. She possessed physical beauty—although maybe not as stunning as Elizabeth’s, but with much more character. More importantly, Eleanor made a difference in people’s lives—Daniel’s, Georgina’s, Bran’s. She owned layers—like an onion to be peeled away, exposing a poignant personality covered by a thin façade. And he loved her with a passion he had never felt possible.
A rustle from the back of the church told him that Ella had arrived, and pure anticipation shot through his veins. Finally, he saw her, holding tightly to her brother’s arm, and James’s world righted. “Exquisite,” he murmured to himself. James had used the word before about Ella, but never so appropriately.
Lovely in his grandmother’s gown, Eleanor’s eyes danced with happiness as she prepared to make the short walk into a new sensibility, full of the warmest gratitude for a new family. She wore a round dress of pale yellow crape with a demi-train and a fuller skirt. Satin flounces trimmed the bottom, bound with ivory satin ribbon. Laced from behind and pulled tight to accent Ella’s soft curves, the V-shaped back and square front neck were shaded by a double frill of ivory lace. Full three-quarter length sleeves tapered into a band of crape and ivory ribbon. Ivory satin slippers matched the satin hat ornamented by a plume of white feathers and the white kid gloves. “Exquisite,” Ella heard James say as she approached. It was the word he had used many months ago to describe her, and today she finally felt it. With James, Ella knew family at last. He and Daniel waited to claim her as wife and mother; she could not be happier.
The guests stood as she and Bran made their way to James—Ella’s eyes locked on his. His father sat beside his mother on the front pew, having insisted on being carried downstairs in his rarely used wheelchair. James heard him tell his countess, “Eleanor is nearly as beautiful as you were wearing that dress, my Dear.”
Finally, she reached him; Fowler placed Ella’s hand in his, and they turned as Doctor Perry began the service. James thought that Ella looked perfectly composed, but even through her gloves he could feel her pulse racing, and somehow that gave him comfort. He squeezed her fingertips to let her know he understood, and Ella flushed with the most becoming color.
When Doctor Perry said his last “in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost,” James’s heart made a somersault. Ella was his for all time. Happily, he led her up the aisle to sign the registry. She was his most precious asset. “I love you,” he whispered close to her ear.
“And I love you, my Husband.” Ella laced her arm through his.
James leaned in closer. “Might I convince you to skip the wedding breakfast, Countess?”
Ella laughed lightly, but she shook her head in the negative. “You possess a one-thought mind, James Kerrington.”
“I waited until we married,” he protested.
“You must wait a bit longer, my Love.” Ella caressed his cheek. “I believe everyone is outside, anticipating our appearance.”
James brought her knuckles to his lips. “Oh, the joy of being pelted by rose petals.”
“Do not take all the tradition of the marriage ceremony away from your wife, my Lord. I know you prefer a more manly challenge, but your wife is of a more delicate nature.”
“A more delicious nature,” he teased.
Ella struck his chest with the back of her hand in a playful gesture. “You are a wretched man!”<
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“I am simply a man in love.”
“You are so beautiful, my Child,”Aunt Agatha caught Ella up in her arms. “Your mother is surely the happiest of God’s angels today.”
“Thank you, Aunt. I feared you might be disappointed because His Lordship and I did not choose to marry in London.” Ella continued to hold the woman’s hand, needing to restore the connection lost while Ella dealt with Levering’s demands.
The Duchess reached to caress Ella’s face. “Oh, no, Child.Your happiness was always more important than the ton’s idea of performance. You must know, Eleanor, how happy Amelia was the day you were born—how very much my sister wanted you. She would send me letters drowning in details of your every move—to the point where I felt I spent the day holding my niece in my arms. If I have a disappointment today, it is Amelia’s not surviving to see this. She would want this for you. My sister would also want her daughter to reach out to family and to allow that family to care for her. Amelia taught both you and Bran about responsibility. Share the responsibility for Thornhill’s future with your brother. Together, you are an unmovable force.”
“I did so many wearish things.” Ella blushed with a flash of color and looked away quickly.
“The adults in your life, including me, let you down, Child; and despite our shortcomings, you became an incredible woman. Lady Linworth related what you did for Georgina. An unmarried woman of our station should not even have been in the same room with Lady Amsteadt in her condition. Yet, you set that aside. You fought to save His Lordship’s sister because you knew how it would affect his family, a family you planned to join and claim as your own. I spent several hours with the Earl and Lady Linworth yesterday. They cannot be happier with Worthing’s choice of you as his wife. They are aware of the changes in their son since his return from Thorn Hall, and they attribute those changes to you. After being together for many years, they are also aware of what it takes to keep the land strong. The aristocracy is in flux, and only with an exceptional match will the earldom survive. The Kerringtons believe their son has made such a match with you. They understand that your life has held its own imperfections, but those flaws give you the strength to be the kind of wife Kerrington needs. They assured me his first wife was incapable of what they see in you. The Earl even says you will be a better mother to Daniel than his real mother. He has already noted that the child refers to you as Mama in private.”
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