His butler, Mr. Garwood took a long shuddering breath before he started relaying to him his concerns. “She came down the staircase only a few minutes ago, draped in a beautiful white cloak. For a moment, I thought it was part of her wedding attire, and then, I watched her ask a footmen to open the front door, and she walked out. I…I…I don’t know what to say, sir,” he stammered. “I…I am sorry. I should have tried to stop her.”
Clarence’s mind raced. He couldn’t believe she had left him. He dashed out the door, and searched the Square for Ann. He found her a short distance away, walking in the direction of her father’s townhouse. Momentary panic took hold of him, and then, his resolve to protect Ann took over.
“Damnation,” he swore, picking up his pace, and running after her. Why…why would she do this to him? “Ann,” he shouted. “Ann, wait. Please, wait!” Her steps faltered, and she finally stopped. Slowly, she turned to face him. She looked as if she had been crying. He closed what little remained of the space between them, and walked right up to her. For the first time in his life, he was angry with her. “Why…whatever do you think you are doing, Ann? Why would you walk out on me? On us?”
“Because I cannot marry you and make my troubles, your troubles, Clarence. You deserve better than that. Oh, you deserve so much better. I shan’t ever be good enough for you. My father won’t stop—he won’t ever stop. He will find another way to make our lives miserable, and you shouldn’t have to contend with that. You shouldn’t have to deal with a man like my father. Hailing from the wonderful family you were born into, you aren’t accustomed to men like him. So…so the best course of action is to return to him, and do what he wants me to do, it will ensure your happiness,” her voice was shaking. Her face was red. He could tell that she was terribly upset, and she didn’t want to do what she was doing—only, he had a suspicion she was doing it out of concern for him. She still couldn’t trust him to take care of her, and that hurt him deeply. She had to learn that he was a strong man. Capable of handling anything her churl of a father decided to throw at him.
“Devil take your bloody father, Ann. I don’t care how much trouble he thinks he can cause me, I already dealt with him, and it didn’t affect me a bit. It hasn’t even given me a headache. I…I will do whatever I have to do in order to protect you. I will gladly face that challenge. You…you don’t have to worry or fear that I will somehow be hurt. I am completely committed to protecting you. I love you so much. How can you think so little of me?”
“That is the thing, Clarence. I think far too much of you to see you hounded constantly by my father. He will not go away easily. Father shall do his utmost best to see that our lives are made as miserable as can be…and what about Sir Wilfrid? I have heard dark things about him. He is not a man to be trifled with. What if he causes trouble? He shall make a stir when he discovers I have escaped his clutches, and I do not want to see his wrath focused on you,” she sighed, and looked behind him. “It looks as if your entire family has given chase, and now, they are turning around and going back toward Evesham House.”
“We Devilles tend to stick together. They probably think you have lost your mind, and quite rightly so. You have clearly taken a short trip to Bedlam, Ann. Now…now, do come back to me. Drat the lot of them. They are bloody pests. Damn your father and Sir Wilfrid. I am not afraid of either one. Please…please believe that, Ann. Pray, give me your trust—and hopefully one day…your love. Regain your senses, and return with me to Evesham House,” he said softly, “You…” he sighed. “You look beautiful. You look quite enchanting. I…I am completely robbed of breath. Come back with me, and become my wife, and let me prove to you that as long as you are with me—you will be safe.” She looked sorely tempted, and yet, he could still see hesitation shimmering in her eyes. He pulled out his handkerchief, and gently wiped away her tears. “Come on, Ann. Come and be my Christmas angel. Don’t make me beg,” he implored. He would beg. He would get down on his knee like a knight of old, and ask her to come back with him. He would do anything to have her as his wife. If only she knew the lengths he would go to, in order to have her to himself for the rest of his life.
She laughed. “You don’t have to ever beg with me, Clarence Deville. You…” she reached to take his hand. “I fear you are almost too good to be true. You are my knight in shining armour. You are a prince amongst men, and I pray I am not dreaming all of this, for it all seems almost too good to be true.”
“Cling to that belief in the comings weeks, months and years, because I assure you, Ann, I shall act like a proper pillock at some point in time, and you will have to remember what a prince I am, whenever I let you down.”
“You can’t ever let me down,” she whispered fervently.
“I can be a devil at times,” he admitted. “After all, I am a Deville—and while I do not anger easily—when my temper is riled, I am not a pretty sight. You will definitely want to clear the decks whenever I am in a foul mood. Leaving me alone when I am in high dudgeon is really the only way to deal with me. I only need a bit of quiet time and then, I am back to my old angelic self. The devil only takes over for a short time, and then the angel regains residency.”
“You are not a devil. You are my guardian angel. You are my saint.”
“Don’t let my family hear that. They will die of laughter,” he said, a cheeky glint in his eyes. “Cyril won’t be able to pull a straight face again.” She laughed again. He made her feel so euphoric. She felt as if she floated amongst the clouds with him by her side.
“I…I was going to wear the necklace you gave me, but I took it off before I left the house…I think…if I am going back with you…I shall put it on. It looked ever so pretty with this dress.”
“You look like something out of a dream. You are quite captivating. You will enchant our guests.” He gave her his arm, and she took it gratefully. “Now, come on back with me, and I shall escort you up to your bedchamber, where you can put on the jewels, and then, I shall walk you back down to the vicar. I shan’t let you out of my sight until we have become man and wife. I won’t let you get cold feet again.”
“It wasn’t cold feet,” she confessed. “I have no doubts about marrying you, Clarence. I do not fear married life with you. How could I? You are such a kind man. You…you have gentleness to your soul, something that most men lack. I…I only wanted to save you the grief that my father will give you once I am your wife. This is only the calm before the storm. Someway, somehow, he will ruin our happiness. He won’t stand for us being happy—he must be plotting as we speak, on how to destroy our joy.”
“Stop thinking about that blackguard,” he growled, he stopped, and turned to her. “I want you to stop fretting about him. He holds power over you whenever you think about him, Ann. Don’t give him that power. Take it away from him. Be happy to spite him. Live your life as if he doesn’t exist. That is the only way you—no, we, can ever hope to have peace.”
She nodded her head. “You are right. You are so wise for your tender years.”
“And as for that,” he sighed, as they walked into Evesham House. “Let us not bring up my age again. I might be younger than you…but I am not a boy anymore. I am a man, and I don’t want you be confused about that ever again. I am more of a man that your father could ever hope to be.”
“I know you are, Clarence,” she said, smiling.
Arm in arm, they walked into the house, past his family who had gathered in the large Entrance Hall to watch for their return. Without pausing, they made their way up the staircase, and headed for her bedchamber. Once they reached her bedchamber, he left the door open, and led her into it.
He helped her take off her snow white cloak, and sighed, his eyes sweeping hungrily over her. She looked like a Grecian Goddess fit for Christmas. The irony made him smile, and he looked around the room, settling his gaze on the jewel case that held the parure of jewels. He walked over to it, and lifted the lid, reaching inside for the necklace. “You will have to lock this up in the fut
ure. I trust our staff…but you can never be too careful, Ann. You must take care.”
“Yes, yes…you are quite right. I have never owned something of such value before, Clarence. I still can’t quite believe that it is mine—I keep having to tell myself that all of this isn’t a dream.”
He smiled. “You will have to get used to it. Everyone in the family is generous when it comes to giving gifts.”
She took a deep breath, and wrung her hands nervously. He walked back over to her, and placed the necklace around her neck, securing the clasp. She fingered the jewels, and he caught her wistfully smile. “If… Oh, it isn’t important—you were right, Clarence. I must hold fast to your advice.”
“No. What were you going to say?” he asked softly. “You mustn’t feel as if you have to hold anything back from me.”
“I was going to say that if my father saw me now…his eyeballs would fall out of his head. He would give anything to have these jewels. They could settle his debts with Sir Wilfrid, and he might just have something left to spare—oh, how envious he would be. Maybe…maybe he should have tried to sell me to you.”
“You father is a despicable cad for thinking he could sell you to any man, Ann,” he stated through clenched teeth. Anger surged through him. If that was how her father had measured Ann’s worth, the blackguard needed a good thrashing. In his humble opinion, Ann was priceless. And yet—had her father come to him asking for the money—he would have been sorely tempted to give it to him, so he could have Ann…but he would have felt like a pig about doing it. Still, the temptation might have been too strong to deny. No matter what he’d done, he would never consider Ann as his possession. “Ann…I must make a confession to you.” She looked up at him with her innocent gaze, and his heart stopped for a brief moment. “If your father had come to me…”
“I know, Clarence. I know you would have been tempted—but I think you would have come to me first to tell me what my father plotted—you might doubt that—but I do not. No matter what…your heart is always in the right place. Poor Mama. I wish she could see how you have saved me. Mama never had anything like this—she did bring some jewels into the marriage, but they had to be traded for paste ones long ago. She has managed to hold onto the white topaz and tourmaline necklace Father bought her when she gave birth to James…I think that’s because Father wouldn’t let her part with it,” she sighed mournfully. “My father and my brother know how to squander money above all else. I think you are quite right, Clarence. I need to stop thinking about my life before I came to this house. I escaped here. I knew that when the carriage pulled away from Broadway House that it would the end of an era. Let us start anew. I want us to have the most magical Christmas I have ever experienced.”
“I would like that too. We shall have a lovely honeymoon together.”
“I…I don’t think I want to travel beyond England until—well, until we are settled into a routine as husband and wife.”
“I understand. You want to get to know me a little better before I take you away from everything you know. Perhaps, we can one day holiday in Italy.”
“I already know you, Clarence. We have known each other for as long as I can remember. We can be considered old friends, can’t we?”
“And I think that is a pretty good foundation for us to start married life out on,” he murmured. He had to get her down to the vicar. Already, he was entertaining scandalous thoughts. Thoughts he wouldn’t be able to act upon until later this evening.
Taking his arm, she leaned up to kiss him delicately on the cheek. He gave her that devilishly charming grin of his, and they walked out of her bedchamber arm and arm, ready to face the vicar.
Chapter Eight
Clarence kissed Ann, and sealed their union.
They were now man and wife. He looked adoringly into her eyes. She looked back at him with a soft smile. Arm in arm, they turned to face their guests. His mother was dabbing her eyes with her handkerchief, and he didn’t know if she was touched by the ceremony or if she had become a watering pot because she still believed Ann to be ill matched for him.
He, Ann and the witnesses went with the vicar to the Library, to sign the necessary documents. He kept glancing at Ann, as they went through the motions. She looked a little pale, and her eyes were filled with a hint of sadness. He prayed she was wistful at not having her mother by her side on such a special day, and not because she had settled for him as a husband with little choice in the matter.
Once they were finished signing everything, he watched her hasten from the Library. Giving chase, he left everyone else behind. She had almost reached the staircase. “Ann, where are you going?” he called after her.
She stilled, and looked back at him. “I…I wanted to have some time alone.”
“There will be time for that later. Right now, we should go back to the guests, and start the celebrations. I rather thought we would have a small bite to eat and then, maybe we could have some music and dancing.” He didn’t tell her that while they were all in the Dining Room, the Ballroom would be made ready for the wedding festivities. “You are no stranger to balls, and other sorts of fetes, Ann. I can’t account for your behaviour. I never thought you were shy.”
“I know,” she said, her voice quivering slightly. “I am being silly. I shan’t do anything to disappoint you. Whatever you wish, I shall do.” Her voice had a hint of resignation to it, and he tried desperately not to dwell upon it.
He held out his arm for her, and obediently, she walked toward him and took his arm. He didn’t want her coming to him out of a sense of duty, and yet, he couldn’t allow her to run away on him again.
“You can’t keep running, Ann. It just won’t do. I can barely keep up with you,” he jested.
She smiled. “I…I shall endeavor not to run away like a proper little chit.”
“Is anything amiss?” It was his father, coming to check on them. The rest of the guests were making their way toward the Dining Room. They were not standing on ceremony today.
“Nothing at all, Pop,” he said steadily. “Ann wanted to go upstairs and have a moment to herself before we started the celebrations, but I had to remind her that now that she was a Deville, time alone would be in scarce supply.”
His father laughed. “Aye. We do like to spend time together. Your mother wanted to have a word alone with Ann. She is waiting in the Library, Clarence.”
Ann swallowed thickly, and he watched what little she had left of colour drain out of her face. He felt as if he should keep her from going to his mother—or at least go with her. By his father’s stern visage, he didn’t think he would be welcomed in the Library. He could only pray that his mother didn’t hurt Ann’s feelings. She was particularly delicate today.
“I shouldn’t keep Her Grace waiting.” She pulled away from Clarence, and he watched her dash for the Library. He was going to follow her, only to find that his father wasn’t going to let him, just as he’d thought.
“Leave her be, Son,” his father said gently.
“I don’t want to leave her alone with Mama.”
“Your mother doesn’t bite, and Ann will have to find the backbone to deal with Etta at some point in time. I daren’t think she will put her through her paces, the way my mother did to Etta. No…I warrant they will have a nice little chat, and then, they will come and dine with us. You shouldn’t fret so. The women in our lives shall deal with each other whether we like it or not, and your mother is one of the nicest women I know. She’s not mean spirited. She is only concerned—and as your mother that is her right.”
Clarence swallowed thickly, and he wanted to give his father a retort that would sound clever, but he came up empty. He sighed heavily. “I only seek to take care of Ann.”
“And she’s fortunate that she has a husband who cares so much—but you cannot be with her every minute of every day, Clarence, nor I wager, would she want you to be with her every moment of the day. Now…why don’t we go and sit with the rest of the guests?”
He looked longingly in the direction of the Library, sighed heavily, and followed his father.
*****
The door shut softly behind Ann, and at the sound, Clarence’s mother looked her way, and pinned her shrewd gaze on her. Ann wanted to crawl under the furniture or hide behind the curtains.
“Welcome to the family, Ann,” Marietta said, beckoning for her to come closer to her. Should she curtsy to the women? How was she supposed to act around her now that she was Clarence’s wife?
Nervously, she dipped into a curtsy, and watched Marietta sigh heavily. “You needn’t do that when we are alone, dear. Now, come and sit. We can’t keep the others waiting for long, and I wouldn’t want to miss a course, would you?”
Ann couldn’t think of eating. She would be lucky if she was able to take a few sips of her soup, and she had no idea how she would keep anything down with the way her stomach was rolling.
“I saw your mother yesterday in Hyde Park. She wanted to relay her felicitations to you and she wanted me to tell you that she sent her love to both you and Clarence. I fear…I fear that life hasn’t been easy on her since you left. She looked quite pale. I wanted to help her, but I didn’t know how. I know that her pride would have kept her from accepting any money from me.”
“I should have remained. I should have weathered the storm with her.”
“No…no, you shouldn’t have. I have had time to contemplate what went on with you and your father, and I believe that you acted properly. You couldn’t have resigned yourself to a life spent with a man like Sir Wilfrid. I have met him on a few occasions, and I do not think I would wish him on my worst enemy. However, I do think that you and Clarence should leave Town as soon as you can. I…I fear that once he returns from France, he will make life difficult for you two. He is a dangerous sort of man, and I think we might have to enlist someone to deal with him. Someone who specializes in dealing with his sort. I do believe that Valentine has already taken the necessary measures, so you needn’t fret. No one shall hurt you…or Clarence, our family shall make certain of that.” Marietta’s eyes settled on the jewels that Ann wore. “My son has already started to spoil you and I see that you found a frock to wear besides the one that I had suggested.”
His Christmas Angel (A Regency Holiday Romance Book 8) Page 8