His Candlemas Hope

by Marly Mathews

  All she wanted was Gilbert Jones, and if she had to ruin herself to claim him, then, so be it.

  *****

  Gil’s world had just been turned upside down.

  “Do you know what you have just done? You…you, vixen!” he said harshly, pushing her away from him, even though he had to summon all of his willpower to do so.

  “I know,” she said cleverly. “I have tarnished my reputation beyond repair. Now, you shall have to marry me. There is no way around it.”

  “Is that what you think?” he laughed. “I shan’t marry you.”

  “Yes,” she said, her voice wobbling. “Yes, you will. You are a man of honor. I know you are.”

  He shrugged his shoulders. “I think I have fallen from grace. I don’t want to be an honorable fellow anymore. It is far too boring. I don’t want to be that predictable trustworthy fellow anymore. I feel more like being a blackguard.”

  “You bloody arsehole…” she hissed.

  “Tsk, tsk, language, now. No, I am not an arsehole. That is Felix’s title.”

  “You…bastard. You knave.”

  “That’s right. You can call me a varlet, a churl, a cad, a bastard. Fling whatever sort of ignominy at me that you can think of. I shall not be swayed. I won’t be forced into marriage.”

  “You proposed to me in the first place.”

  “And you didn’t accept. So that, is that.”

  Voices called to them. The house was awake.

  “I give you one last chance to make this right before my uncle comes out and sees my pitiful appearance.”

  “You are a vixen. You are definitely a little chit. I shan’t indulge you one minute longer. I have someplace to be.”

  “Running to London, or to Wiltshire to woo a Lovett lass isn’t the right thing to do, and running back to Nottinghamshire won’t solve any of your problems,” she said softly, gazing steadily into his blue eyes.

  “Staying here won’t either,” he said softly. He took one step closer to her. “How did you know what I had planned?”

  “I…I uh, heard Fanny talking about it.”

  “Lady Blessing didn’t know. I didn’t tell a soul.”

  “You didn’t? How utterly perplexing,” she said, blinking her eyes furiously in that look that he suspected was her way of feigning innocence.

  “Stop this tiring charade, Miss Fortescue. The only way I could ever entertain marrying you is if you decide to be truthful with me.”

  “I can’t…” she hesitated, and chanced a glance behind her. Her uncle, Fanny and Lord Blessing were running toward them. “How would you ever understand? How could you know what it is like to be me? You…you are a man. You have the world at your fingertips.”

  “I told you earlier that I would give you the world.”

  “I know,” she said, casting her eyes to the ground. “I…I hurt your pride by not accepting you earlier, didn’t I? I am sorry for that. It’s just that I have had a man make me that sort of an offer before, and he turned out to be a little toad, and well, I had to be certain that you meant it. I had to be certain that you were the sort of man I could leg-shackle myself to. I needed to know I could trust you with my heart.”

  “I have moved on. I was a fool for asking you to marry me when we had only just met. I was…I was out of line. I do apologize, Miss. Now…pray, let us put it all behind us, and let me move on without you. I know that you can find another suitor. You are lovely beyond words, Hope.” Her eyes danced with both fear and longing. Had he been wrong to push her away? Should he pull her back into his arms, and put her into an untenable position? He did feel something for her. He just didn’t know if it was true love, or only a fabrication of love—had she done it with her glamour, or was their love real?

  Even if she couldn’t admit what she was, he knew that there was something otherworldly about her. He knew that with eyes like hers some sort of magic had to be afoot. Before she could prepare for what he was going to do, he pulled her back into his arms, so she fell roughly against his chest, she let out a delicious sigh that sent his heart soaring.

  Quickly untying her dressing gown, she took his hint, and slipped out of it, so it fell to the ground. The wet ground. Rain drenched them both, and then, as if by magic, the rain stopped falling.

  Now, she stood only in her nightgown, and good God, she was beautiful. Her hair was mussed up, and her eyes were wide with anticipation. He kissed her hungrily, and plundered her mouth like he was a pirate, and she was a ship filled with precious cargo. They were both breathless by the time he was finished. Still holding her close, he whispered, “There is no coming back from this, Hope.”

  “I know,” she said softly. “Isn’t it wonderful?”

  Chapter Eleven

  Gil stood waiting impatiently outside of the Library.

  Putting his ear to the door, he listened to what he could catch of Colonel Blessing talking to his niece. Fanny and Felix waited with him.

  “I would back away from there if I were you. What are you going to do if the Colonel opens the door and catches you standing there? You know you’ll fall flat on your face, right?”

  He scowled at Felix and took a few steps away from the door. “I should be in there with her.”

  “I don’t think you want to lock wits with my father until he has calmed down a bit,” Fanny said softly. “He wouldn’t even let me stay in there with her. We can only hope that no one else saw what you two did and fortunately, we can trust our servants to remain discreet.”

  “I am just glad I am not the one in hot water,” Felix said, grinning widely. “You always toe the mark, Gil. Being wild isn’t in your nature…so I’m a bit surprised at you, and busting with pride.”

  “I wasn’t being wild.”

  “You were being scandalous. Don’t try to deny it. Daftness doesn’t become you, Gil. I’m the only one that can successfully play that card,” Felix said, smiling.

  Fanny sighed. “All jesting aside, Felix. This is a serious matter. Lord Langford, You…you might not have a reputation to uphold, but my cousin does. If word of what the two of you were doing circulates through the ton, why, it will be bad for her. Bad, indeed.”

  “Mayhap the boring lives of the Fortescues and the Blessings needs to be livened up a bit with a touch of scandal,” Gil suggested.

  “I didn’t just hear that, did I?” Felix asked aghast. “Pull yourself together, man! If this gets through the ton why it will bring shame down upon the House of Fortescue, and it will bleed over into the House of Blessing. I am supposed to be the witless sod, not you!”

  “I wouldn’t say I was witless. Miss Fortescue is an attractive young woman. She wanted to live vicariously and so I let her.”

  “I cannot believe this. Hope, Hope…she isn’t that sort. Her sister Desi, yes, and even Faith or Charity…but not Hope,” Fanny whispered.

  “Maybe that’s why she did it. Maybe she’s sick of everyone expecting her to behave a certain way, and maybe, just maybe, she decided to take her fate into her own hands. She decided to become her own fairy godmother,” Gil countered.

  “Utter rot. You tempted her, you sly old devil. You batted those eyelashes of yours at her and you made her come running. That pretty face of yours made her lose her senses,” Felix quipped. “I told you we had to get him matched up, Fanny, my love. He is far too dangerous as a single man. No, indeed. He needs to be taken off the marriage mart, posthaste.”

  Wisely, Gil kept his mouth shut about the bit regarding Hope’s fairy heritage. He didn’t think that Fanny would handle it well. Felix, yes, Fanny, no. Right now, things were bad enough.

  “I don’t think we will have to worry about Gil walking around without a wife for much longer, darling. If Papa has his way, they will be married as soon as possible. You just might get your wish, Lord Langford and have a little ride back to Town. He will dispatch you there immediately to fetch a special license.”

  “Why fetch a special license? That will only make the gossipmongers tongues
wag more. If I marry your cousin it will be by a license issued by the vicar, or by having the banns read, and I shall remain here.”

  “Being married by special license gives you the freedom to do as you please,” Fanny said calmly. “If he tells you to fetch one, you must go and do it. Papa will not tolerate you disobeying…”

  “An order?” Gil finished. “I am not in the Army anymore, Lady Blessing.”

  “You have sullied his niece’s reputation,” Felix said reasonably. “You owe him…”

  “I haven’t sullied anything,” Gil said, his anger rising. “She and I only kissed.”

  “Kissing in the middle of the night, well, sir, that is quite enough fodder for the gossipmongers,” Fanny said softly. “We only seek to protect Hope.”

  “I don’t think that Hope requires your protection. Something tells me she can take care of herself quite easily.”

  “You wouldn’t think that way if you knew her better,” Fanny murmured. “She and her sisters are quite fragile. The passing of their father struck them rather hard.”

  “I think losing any parent strikes someone hard, Lady Blessing.”

  “I grant you that one. But you do not know them the way I do. Their world, their world was centered upon their father. They adored him. They had their lives uprooted after he died. Suddenly, their hopes of making good matches flew right out the window. Hope was engaged to be married, did you know that? Her suitor broke off the engagement after he realized that she had no dowry.”

  “Surely that left him in breach of promise?”

  “He risked the scandal. He broke her heart, and he left her social reputation in tatters. I…I overheard my father ranting and raving one night that the blackguard had spread rumors about…about Hope not being chaste.”

  “Bollocks,” Gil snorted.

  “That’s what we thought as well. Removing them from Devonshire helped her reputation a bit, but she shies away from most social engagements. Coming to this ball was a rather large step for her, and it ended in disaster, thanks in large part to you.”

  Guilt gnawed at him. He hadn’t known this about Hope, and now, he felt absolutely loathsome.

  “Now, we have made him miserable, Fanny. Look at that long face,” Felix remarked.

  “I hadn’t meant to make him feel miserable, I only wanted him to see things from Hope’s perspective. If you do not do the honorable thing, Lord Langford, she won’t be able to show her face in Society again. It will completely ruin her. I admit that she probably had a hand in what happened tonight, and I wonder if she has decided to take control of her destiny as you mentioned. Mayhap, she has decided to be her own fairy godmother. She needs someone looking out for her, and if she doesn’t think we are up to the task, she is the only other person she can trust. I only wish we had a closer relationship. I want to help her, and I would like to see that churl that broke her heart, suffer in a most grievous manner.”

  He sighed.

  Now, he wanted the same thing.

  *****

  Hope’s shoulders slumped forward.

  She felt absolutely wretched for making her uncle look so…desperate. He had stared at her for a few moments before wordlessly getting up and moving over to the fire to poke at it. After a few moments of rustling it about while the only sound in the room was the crackling flames, he turned back to regard her.

  “What do you plan to do now?” he asked softly.

  “What do I plan to do?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

  “I assume that you had a plan before you decided to do such a foolhardy thing?” His blue eyes searched right into her soul, and she shivered. “You do not have an impulsive nature—so, you knew exactly what you were doing out there.”

  “I…I…”

  “Hope, you are not a silly girl. You are nothing of the kind, and we both know that. I could go and rage at Lord Langford and tell him to run and fetch a special marriage license, and yet, I don’t think you need me to do that for you. You don’t require any man’s protection, do you?”

  “Sometimes, Uncle Christian, I wish I did,” she confessed softly.

  His eyes sparked with gentle understanding, and he came over to sit beside her on the sofa. “Do you want me to react the same way I would react if Fanny had been caught in such a predicament?”

  “Fanny would never do such a harebrained thing.”

  “Fanny and I have had our fair share of harebrained moments, and I do believe that if her hand had been forced, she would have done something similar to catch Felix. She loves him desperately. Aye. I think she would have done whatever it took to make him her husband.”

  “But…” she whispered. “She didn’t have to.”

  “True…true. She had me to do most of the work.” He patted her hands that were clutched tightly in her lap, and sighed.

  “I thought you would rant and rave at me. I thought you would be disappointed in me. I suppose everything that I thought—was wrong. I am sorry for that.”

  “And you risked all of that to make certain that Lord Langford didn’t leave Blessing Hall? You certainly have lost your heart to the man, haven’t you, Hope?”

  “I…I don’t know. I thought I had…but we have just met.”

  “Sometimes, one meeting is all it takes. Love can happen in such a brief amount of time. Love can hit you at first sight. It was like that for me…I…I felt as if a thunderbolt had hit me during my first meeting with the late Countess. Oh, how I adored her. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t miss her. I want her back, but I know that such a thing is only a dream. I shall not meet her again. Not in this life.”

  She took his hand, and held it tightly. Chewing at her lower lip, she considered his words. She had come this far—she could not give up now. The fight for Gilbert’s heart had just begun.

  “Do you want me to play the part of the injured male party?” he asked softly, meeting her gaze as she turned her head toward him.

  “I…I am not your daughter, Uncle Christian. I cannot rely on you to do such a thing for me.”

  “And yet, I love you like one. I am your closest male guardian. I should do what your father would have done. If your mother gets wind of what has gone on here tonight, she shall fall into a fit of useless tears. Her ability to become a watering pot with such ease is a talent most do not possess. I love Elizabeth dearly, but I do not know what your father saw in her. I suppose that love doesn’t choose. Your heart…your heart cannot fight what you feel.”

  “I have insulted Lord Langford. I injured his pride. He asked me to marry me, of his own free will, and I did not accept him. Furthermore, I made him…I made him feel less than what he is. I fear I made him feel as if he were two inches tall. I hinted that he wasn’t enough for me. I…I believe, I insulted his humble beginnings, and hinted that he couldn’t possibly support me in the fashion that I was accustomed to. I have been such a bothersome little chit. I am so ashamed.”

  “Good grief, the two of you were busy last night, weren’t you? Perhaps my sisters should have kept a closer eye on you two. I haven’t an inkling on what they were doing…”

  She chuckled ruefully. “One night filled with a thousand years of emotion,” her voice went hoarse.

  “Then, it is settled. I shall act the part of the overprotective uncle. I shall fetch my rifle so to speak, and I will make him marry you.”

  “I…I don’t want you to earn Lord Langford’s ire.”

  “His ire?” her uncle grunted. “Not likely to affect me. I was in the Army, my dear. I have dealt with a thousand men like him in my time. Well, to be more precise, I have dealt with a thousand men worse than him in my time. Besides, Felix loves Lord Langford like a brother, but he loves me like a father, and he shan’t let Lord Langford overreact…too much.”

  “You are fortunate, Uncle. So many love you.”

  “And many love you, too. Fanny is quite fond of you. Now, then, I think you shall have to remain here at Blessing Hall, whilst I put everything i
n order.”

  “Lord Langford won’t go quietly to the altar.”

  “That is half the fun, though isn’t it, Hope? And I know you have attributes,” he emphasized the word, attributes, “That shall aid you in the quest for his heart.”

  “I think I already have his heart. The thing is, he thinks I bewitched him into falling in love with me.”

  “And did you?” Christian asked evenly. “Any woman can bewitch a man, and you are not just any woman.”

  “Certainly not,” she answered hotly. “No one can…no one can conjure true love.”

  “I know,” he said, giving her a cheeky wink. “I just wanted to make certain that you knew that, too. We shall have to make them think that I was hard on you, too. Do you think you can live with that?”

  “I can live with any shame, Uncle.”

  “Good. I don’t think Fanny will buy it. Felix might. Lord Langford, he will fall for it. He doesn’t know me as well as Fanny or Felix do.”

  “And Mama?”

  “Your dear sweet silly mama doesn’t need to know the particulars. I will tell Lord Langford that I do not want a scandal, and that we shall keep it all as quiet as possible. Your mother won’t know that you were caught in such a scandalous situation. All she shall need to know is that a man has your fancy, and he wants to court you. We can have the banns posted, and you will have a bit of time to spend with Lord Langford—giving him the opportunity to court you.”

  “He won’t like it.”

  “The lad doesn’t have to like it—at first. He will come round, eventually. All men do, given time.”

  “Should you start yelling at me, then?”

  “Yelling isn’t my style, Hope. Some men like to scream at the top of their lungs to make their point. Not me. I can get my point across just by raising my voice a wee bit.” He squeezed her hand again. “You need to change your expression. Look a little furtive, my dear. I know that they are all falling over each other out there attempting to listen to us. Why don’t we go and see how many fall onto the floor when I open the door? I expect to see Felix and Lord Langford sprawled at my feet. Fanny isn’t foolish enough to do such a thing.”