“We should send word to Iefan and Morgan and Catrin,” Annalies had murmured, not long after dinner. “They will want to know.”
Rhys shook his head. “It is late. Let them sleep. In the morning, when there is definite news, will be soon enough to tell them.” He drew his wife against his side and kissed her hair.
Natasha looked at Raymond. “The twins and Lisa Grace and Ellis will wonder where we are, too.”
“Travers will have told them, before he left. I’m quite sure he made arrangements to ensure they would be taken care of. Rhys is right. The morning will be soon enough.”
That was the last time anyone spoke more than a word or two. No lamps were lit. The room was illuminated only by the orange light of the fire, and the flames provided the only sound.
Occasionally, Will rose from the hassock he was perched upon, to lay another log on the fire and stir it to life. Then he would return to his hassock to stare into the flames.
When Jenny stirred and found her head upon Jack’s shoulder, she looked about the room with sleep-heavy eyes. It seemed that everyone else was somnolent, too. Someone had put cushions beneath Blanche’s and Emma’s heads, for they slept deeply in their corner. Aunt Natasha was curled up like a kitten on the floor next to Raymond, her head on his knee. Jenny thought Natasha was asleep until she lifted her hand to her eyes and wiped them.
Ben and Dane sat upon either end of the window seat, leaning against the walls. Sharla lay between them, her head against Ben, her hand in Dane’s.
Jasper had the big wingchair by the fire and Lilly sat upon his lap, her knees curled up and her head against his neck. Cian had the other wingchair and stared as moodily into the flames as Will.
Daniel had brought one of the club chairs from the library, and was sprawled in it, his heels resting upon the edge of Will’s hassock, while Peter was stretched out upon the upright chair that normally sat in front of Elisa’s secretary.
Jack stirred beneath Jenny, his chest lifting as he took a deep breath. “I can’t wait,” he said softly.
She lifted her head to look at him. Her heart gave a little jump. “Wait, Jack?”
“I know I should, that everyone is too worried to bother them right now, only I’ve been thinking about Mama Elisa and how good it would be to give her the best kind of news in the morning—or now, tonight, before…before it is too late.”
Jenny’s eyes stung and she blinked hard to rid herself of the tears. She wanted to be able to see Jack properly. “Here, Jack? Perhaps we should go—”
“No,” he said quickly. Forcibly. “Here is perfect. Don’t you see?” His clear gaze met hers. “We have spent years hiding away, staying private, alone and separated from everyone because of it. Right now, in this room, is almost everyone we care about and they are all family and it is right that they hear this. We must stop hiding, Jenny. We must lean on the family, for that is the family’s greatest strength.”
“Each other,” Jenny whispered. Over Jack’s shoulder, she could see Peter was watching them. He hadn’t moved from his sprawl, but he was awake. So was Daniel, tucked behind Will’s hassock. Will had his head turned to watch them.
She should have minded that there were so many people privy to their most intimate conversation. She and Jack were private people. Yet she felt no awkwardness. In fact, it would be a relief to speak aloud the thoughts and heartache she had been carrying for so many years on her own.
Jack picked up her hand. His thumb stroked the back of it. “I love you, Jenny. I have loved you for years and I will love you forever. We’ve spent years worrying about appearances and reputation and what society would think. We’ve denied ourselves because of some notion of responsibility and familial obligation and because of it, we were weaker. Burscough used that weakness against us. He used it to strike at the family, and at you in particular, and through you, me.”
Jenny couldn’t halt the tears anymore. They spilled and she let them run unheeded. After all, if Jack was right, then she must stop hiding her true feelings. “Sometimes, I think I have loved you forever,” she told him. “I can’t think of a time when I didn’t. Everything I said in court about you was absolutely true. If you had never kissed me and we had never found each other, I would still love you from afar just like that pathetic woman confessed in court. You are good and kind and…” She touched his shoulder. “Brave and clever. How could I not love you? Oh, I regret the years we have wasted, Jack! I regret so much the dire circumstances I brought the family to because I would not let us be happy together.”
Rhys cleared his throat. “I would not presume to interrupt such a tender moment, but as you seem to be determined to play it out in front of us, I must protest. Jenny, you are not to blame for this sad day, or anything Burscough did. You heard him—we all did. He tallied our sins against him like rosary beads. He has obsessed about them for years. Raymond, Will, Vaughn, Jack…I’m sure he would have found others of us to blame for slights and ills and the sorry fortune of his life. None of it was of his making, in his opinion, and you and Jack were to hand, the perfect pair to blame.”
Jack lifted Jenny’s chin. “You have only ever tried to do the right thing by everyone. You tried to make me do the right thing.”
“You should have married Lady Mary,” Jenny said.
“I could not, not while you were there.” He shook his head. “It is only now I realize that we have been trying to abide by the expectations of the wrong family. We should have asked ourselves what this family expects of us.”
Natasha lifted her head. “Oh, Jack, we have only ever wanted our children to be happy, as we—Elisa, Annalies, Vaughn and Rhys and…and Seth and I and now Raymond…we were blessed with scandals that allowed us to find happiness. True happiness. How could we want anything less for you?”
Raymond stroked her cheek. “You’ve already discovered one of the strengths of this family. Jenny just said it. We have each other. The other great strength is that because we have each other, we can shield each other, help each other and be stronger because of it.”
“We are learning that all over again tonight,” Annalies said softly.
Jack let out a deep breath. “Marry me, Jenny. Society will be scandalized and my…my other family appalled, but I no longer care about any of that. I’m tired of caring about it. Marry me, as soon as the law allows, and let us be happy together.”
It seemed to Jenny that the whole room waited with held breath for her answer, even though they all knew what her answer would be. “Yes, Jack. Finally, I will marry you.”
Jack kissed her and even though that was the first time anyone had ever seen him do that, Jenny did not feel any awkwardness or embarrassment. Instead, it felt natural and easy…and good.
When Jack released her, Ben got up and kissed her cheek. “From disaster, the sweetest miracle arises. Congratulations, sister.”
One by one everyone in the room came over to the sofa and kissed Jenny’s cheek and shook Jack’s hand or kissed his cheek. All except the two girls, who slept on undisturbed in the corner.
Then the room settled down once more to wait for news of Elisa.
This time, Jenny put her head on Jack’s shoulder and fell asleep with a smile.
* * * * *
Present Day: The Wardell house, Grosvenor Square, London. Dawn, the next day.
Jenny jerked awake when an ugly bird shrieked in her ear.
“The utter depravity of this family is depthless! I am embarrassed to be lodged beneath this roof!”
Jenny blinked, trying to orient herself. It was morning. The room was lighter than it had been for hours and there were larks calling outside the window.
Lady Victoria Laceby stood at the open door of the morning room. She was dressed with not a button undone or fold out of place, the old-fashioned circular hoops pressing against the doorframe. Her mouth was pursed tight and her face red with anger.
“John Mayes, you will put that…that woman aside and come with me at once. I will not
suffer another moment in this house with these people. Now, John! I insist!”
Jack sat up, as Jenny scrambled to put her feet back on the floor and arrange her dress properly. She felt gritty with tiredness and ached all over from the odd way she had slept, yet there was a lightness in her heart and her mind she had never experienced before.
Everyone else was stirring, too. Sitting up and rubbing sleep from their eyes.
Jack’s gaze met Jenny’s. Then he looked at his mother. “I demand you speak about my fiancé with respect, Mother.”
“Your…!” She sucked in a noisy breath. “No, I will not hear of it! You cannot marry her! We will be the laughing stock of London. Everyone is already looking at her with contempt.”
Jenny’s breath caught. Was that true?
Jack picked up her hand and squeezed it. “Mother, Jenny did everything she could to preserve our reputation. She has paid many times over for caring about your wishes. You would do well to get to know her, for she is more tolerant and understanding than you will ever be.”
Lady Victoria Laceby actually stamped her foot. “No, I will not have it!” she cried.
Jack laughed. “Listen to yourself, Mother. You are despicable.”
Will got to his feet. “I really think, Lady Victoria, that you should leave this house. You are no longer welcome here.”
Victoria Laceby sucked in a shocked breath. “You cannot do that to me! I am a Marchioness!”
Dane looked up. “And I am a Duke. Remove yourself, Madam, or we will call the police back to this house and have you forcibly removed. Imagine that scandal.”
For a moment, Lady Victoria’s face turned a deep red and her throat worked. Then she picked up her skirt with a hiss and turned and left.
Everyone listened to the slam of the front door.
“Where will she go?” Jenny asked, her hand at her throat.
Jack pulled her hand away. “The family house in Essex, I suppose. A hotel. Hades. I care not.”
“Jack, she is your mother,” Annalies chided softly. “She wants what she thinks is best for you, too.”
“She wants to advance the family and that is all she has ever cared about,” Jack said coldly. “Look at the hell she put Sharla through, to add a duchy to the family titles. Mama Elisa is my true mother.” He looked up at the door. “Vaughn!”
For Vaughn had appeared at the door. He was unshaved and even more haggard than the previous evening.
Everyone held still, as he moved slowly into the room.
Vaughn’s throat worked. “Elisa…” He put his hand over his eyes.
Jenny shuddered, her throat clamping painfully, and her heart aching.
Vaughn looked up. His eyes glistened with unshed tears. “Elisa will recover.”
A smile streaked about the room.
Jack pulled Jenny into his arms and held her, as everyone else cried and laughed and exclaimed. “See, everything goes right, when we let the family in,” he told her.
Jenny didn’t dispute him. She was too busy kissing him.
The Great Family Gathering, 1867
Elisa wanted to feel the sun on her face, so Iefan, Morgan, Peter and Cian carried her in her chair out to the smooth grass between the croquet court and the cricket pitch. Everyone else carried their chairs out, too, including Tor, who laughed as if it was an adventure. They arranged them as they had been in the grand drawing room and picked up the conversation as if the change of location had not occurred.
Sharla tied a bonnet under her chin to protect her flawless skin, while Travers and his men brought out the trays and continued serving tea and refreshments as if they were still in the drawing room, too. Not even the near approach of a red cricket ball seemed to perturb them.
“I do hope you spent your bonus well, Travers,” Will said, as Travers handed him a plate with two slices of mincemeat pie.
“Bonus?” Tor asked curiously.
Travers shook his head. “It was completely unnecessary, Lord Will. I said so at the time and I say so again.”
“Will gave everyone from Cian’s staff fifty pounds for their extraordinary service during the…” Jack began to explain to Tor, then hesitated.
“The crisis,” Ben said and laughed. “I think we can safely call it that.”
“It did seem as though everything bad that could possibly happen all occurred at once,” Vaughn said, picking up Elisa’s hand.
She smiled at him. “And I missed nearly all of it! I am still bereft that I did not get to hear Jack’s proposal. Everyone else did.” Her mouth turned down.
“It is because you were not there, Mama, that I proposed when I did,” Jack said calmly.
“Well, I am glad something good came out of my illness,” Elisa replied. “It forced the two of you to wed, finally.” She smiled at them both.
Jenny saw from the corner of her eye Stuart launch himself to his feet and totter across the croquet court as the yellow ball rolled close. He had recently begun to walk and he was still unsteady on his feet. With a high pitched sound of glee, he dropped onto the top of the ball, halting it with his own body.
The other children playing on the court gave protest, although they were laughing. Seth, Lilly and Jasper’s oldest, who was only five himself, bent and picked Stuart up around the waist, putting him back on his feet with a grunt of effort. Then he kicked the ball back toward the others.
Jenny relaxed.
“Stuart looks so much like Jack it is astonishing,” Cian said, watching the two boys.
Everyone looked at him.
Cian raised a brow. “I can say that, can’t I? Here, at least, when it’s just us.”
“We’re still trying to untangle the legal ramifications of inheritance and offspring,” Ben said lazily, his face turned up to the sun. “Stephen Spearing is determined to nail down the precise definition of a concubine. It is a messy business, although I think he is enjoying himself.”
“You’re really going to bring him into the partnership, Ben?” Rhys asked.
Ben shook his head. “Mr. Baker and Mr. Sutcliffe both want to retire, Father. I think we are going to form a completely new partnership, instead. One with some new ideas.” He glanced at Dane, who picked steadily at lint on his trouser knee.
“The law changes slowly,” Rhys pointed out.
“And only with a helping hand,” Ben replied.
“That sounds just like you, Ben,” Catrin said warmly. “A crusader at heart.”
Ben laughed. “I’m not the crusader. You should point at Daniel when you say that.”
Daniel’s smile made the sharp lines of his cheeks deepen and his eyes, which looked silver in the sunlight, to dance.
“Why should I point at Daniel?” Catrin asked curiously.
“He doesn’t say so in as many words, however, I think we can all thank Daniel for Jenny’s re-emergence into society as a respectable, married woman with her reputation intact.”
Everyone looked at Daniel with interest.
“The newspapers were awfully understanding about the…crisis,” Vaughn said.
“That is quite the understatement,” Annalies said. “They made Jenny sound like a saint, suffering heroically through the most abject circumstances and bravely protecting her children.”
“All of which is perfectly true,” Jack said, his voice harsh.
“Jack, no,” Jenny said quickly. “Aunt Annalies isn’t being mean.”
Annalies looked over the top of her spectacles at Jack. “If anything, I am expressing my astonishment that the reporters for once seemed to have noticed the true facts and conveyed them, instead of latching onto the most sensational aspects.”
“That was your doing, Daniel?” Will asked.
Daniel gave a small shrug. “I may have pointed one or two writers toward considering the other side of the story. Their investigation and what they wrote was all their own work.”
“It is a good thing we have you around,” Rhys said. “You may prove useful in the future, for
this family seems to be incapable of staying out of mischief for very long.”
Daniel shook his head. “You’ll have to go back to saving your own souls, I’m afraid. I’m off again, in January.”
Natasha sat up. “Daniel, no! You just got here!”
Jenny watched Catrin’s shoulders droop.
“I arrived in March, Mother,” Daniel said gently. “It’s now October and I’m itchy to see new horizons.”
“Where are you off to this time?” Raymond asked.
“The new British colony, Singapore. Or perhaps to Ireland to write about the Fenians.”
Natasha pressed her fingers to her lips. “Fenians! Daniel, your father was accused of being a Fenian. They transported him to Australia because of it.”
Daniel’s good humor faded. “I know, Mama. That is why I would like to go. However, Mr. Walter has expressed a desire for the Times to record the early years of a new country. I suspect I will be sent to Canada.”
“That’s the country in America, isn’t it?” Sharla asked.
“North of America,” Catrin corrected her. “The Hudson’s Bay colony and the French settlements joined together. Their constitution was enacted earlier this year and came into force on July first.”
Annalies smiled, then quickly hid the expression.
Daniel tilted his head, studying Catrin.
Catrin, though, leaned toward Jenny. “Where did you get that wonderful sateen, Jenny? It is so silky.”
* * * * *
The Great Family Gathering, Innesford, Cornwall. October 1867. A short while later.
Jenny laughed as Jack drew her into the cavernous entrance hall and over to the little cupboard door under the stairs. “Jack! You said you would steal me away to somewhere romantic. That cupboard is not the least bit romantic.”
He leaned against the door, his eyes dancing. “Why not? I remember being blissfully happy with you in my arms, in this cupboard.”
Law of Attraction Page 24