“We’re all alone in this house,” she said triumphantly, “I’ll tell people that you overpowered me and ravished me.”
“Sadly, no one will believe you because that’s not my character, and besides, we’re not alone in the house,” Trevor said. Ariel crept back to the kitchen and a few minutes later, heard footsteps. “My love,” Trevor came into the kitchen and walked straight towards her. He took her in his arms and kissed her soundly. “Please meet Countess Chloe, my best friend’s wife.” He turned to Chloe, “This is my beautiful wife, Ariel. Now, if there’s nothing more, would you please excuse us? We were about to sit down and have our lunch.”
Chloe gave Ariel a scathing look. “I see that you’ve lowered your standards, Trevor.” There was a contemptuous sneer on her face. “You picked a village girl and married her? What will the whole of London say when they get to hear of this?”
Trevor shrugged, “I don’t really care what London says because I haven’t been there in three years. You made sure of that, Chloe. And down here, no one really cares who I marry.”
“This is low even for you, Trevor.”
“If you’ll please excuse us,” he kissed Ariel’s forehead and then took Chloe’s elbow, firmly walking her out of the kitchen and house and to her carriage. “My regards to dear old Percy,” he bowed and without waiting to see if she had stepped into the carriage, he walked back up the steps and shut the door.
Ariel was wringing her hands nervously when he walked back into the kitchen. “She’s very beautiful.”
“Very true, dear child. But true beauty comes from within and not from what is visible to the eye. Now, shall we partake of our lunch?”
“I already served it.” Ariel said. “I’d like to go home now.”
“Why? Did I do or say something that upset you?”
She shook her head, “I need to go and prepare my father’s meal.”
“Ariel, please sit down,” he pointed at the chair opposite his. “What’s wrong?”
“I shouldn’t be here, for people will talk. What if the countess goes and tells people that she found us alone in the house? They will think that my virtue has been compromised.”
“In that case then I’ll have to marry you,” he smiled, and to her consternation, she burst into tears and ran out of the kitchen, forgetting her satchel and stick. She ignored him as he tried to call her back and ran toward the small gate in the wall. She knew that he couldn’t run as fast, and once she was out of the estate, she paused and took a deep breath.
Trevor knew that he’d said the wrong thing to Ariel as soon as the words left his lips. She might be a village girl, but she was very intelligent and his careless mention of marriage was regrettable.
6
A Changed Man
“Papa are you alright?” Ariel was surprised when she got home and found her father already there. It was much too early for him to be at home, and he was seated on the wooden couch on the small veranda he’d constructed for her mother years ago. And wonder of wonders, he wasn’t drunk at all. “Papa?” She came and sat next to him. “Please talk to me.”
He turned sad eyes to her. “I really miss her,” his voice broke.
“Pa,” Ariel put an arm around him and leaned on his shoulder. “I miss her so much, too.”
“And I’ve wronged you terribly, Ariel, my child.” He took her hand. “On the day your mother died, you lost not one parent but both of us. I’ve failed you, and I’m so sorry.”
“Papa, I’m just glad that you’re now well,” she wiped her tears. “My Pa is back.” She refused to dwell on the pain in her heart as she paid attention to her father. “I’m truly surprised to find you here at this time.”
“And I promise that I’ll be here to take care of you from now on.”
“We’ll take care of each other.”
“Your mother would have been so proud to see the kind of woman you’ve become, Ariel. I know we lost her just a few months ago, but in that time, you’ve grown up so much, and I’m so proud of you.”
“Thank you, Pa. Now let me go in and prepare us something for our dinner. It’s Christmas Eve after all and we need a meal that’s fit for a king.” There was still some pie left over from their previous meal, and she went to the kitchen to prepare it. She needed time alone to think about Trevor.
She called herself all kinds of a fool for falling in love with a man who was way beyond her class. He was a duke, for crying out loud, and she a common villager. Chloe had said it, and in that moment that the three of them had been standing in the kitchen, she’d seen the vast class difference between them. She’d been living a dream, but meeting the countess had finally opened her eyes.
Trevor might live like a recluse, but he was still a duke.
He was in love and he was doomed. Trevor paced the corridors of the manor wondering what he was going to do about all these feelings that threatened to overwhelm him. He’d never felt this way about anyone before, not even Chloe. And now that he thought about it, what he’d felt for his runaway fiancée was nothing more than foolish boyish infatuation. Even though he was angry that she had come to the house and caused problems between him and Ariel, he was glad that it had happened. For one, it had proved to him that he was finally over her, and he also got to find out the kind of woman he’d nearly married. It was clear that she was bored with her marriage, and he wondered if she and Percy had any children. Since he never read the newspapers, hadn’t done so for three years, he had no idea of what had been happening in the world out there. And his solicitor, good man that he was, had never once mentioned Chloe or Percy in any of the letters they’d exchanged. But one thing was for sure, he was completely over his foolish infatuation with Chloe.
What he felt for Ariel, however, was something that touched his heart, soul, and spirit. She had taken over his heart, and he knew that she would never leave.
But Ariel was ten years younger than he was—not even out of her teens. She was a child/woman and he felt guilty just thinking about her in a romantic way. He wasn’t one of those men who found satisfaction in running after small girls. He knew that some of his peers went after girls as young as fourteen years old and saw nothing wrong with that, but not him.
She’d run out of the house in anger and hurt, and much as he wanted to go after her, he knew that he needed to give her time. Would she come by the house tomorrow? Had he messed up any chance of love with her?
“Oh Ariel,” he groaned as he leaned against the balustrade and stared down into the foyer. It was because of her that he’d decided to bring life back to his manor. But did she feel anything for him at all? They had spent two days together, and he knew that he loved her deeply. But he was also realistic enough to know that love between them would never work. Not because of the class difference, but because of her age.
7
Is This Love
It had to be a Christmas miracle, Ariel thought as she prepared breakfast for her and her father. For the first time in months, he wasn’t drunk.
She could hear him whistling at the back of the house while he chopped up some more wood for them to use. She couldn’t remember the last time he’d done any chores around the house. And he wasn’t whistling one of his drunken songs, it was actually one of the ones her mother had liked singing.
“Papa, breakfast is ready,” she called out as she served the remaining piece of pie. They each got a slice.
Timothy entered the house, wiping his hands on his trouser. “Ariel,” he stared at the feast that was laid out on his small table, “We’ve feasted like nobility these past two days, where did all this food come from? Is the baron back?”
“Papa, please sit down and don’t ask me too many questions. Merry Christmas to you, Pa.”
“Merry Christmas to you too,” he smiled as he took his seat. They enjoyed the sumptuous meal and apart from her mother’s absence, things were back as before.
“Pa, I’m going to hunt for some duck for our Christmas dinner. Will you b
e alright?”
“Yes, my child. But you should wait until I’m done fixing the roof then we can go hunting together.”
“That won’t be necessary, Pa. You know that the woods are teeming with folks also looking for Christmas dinner. If we delay, we won’t catch anything. Don’t worry, I’ll be alright, Pa.”
Trevor woke up with a sense of foreboding. He felt quite dejected and sighed as he sat up in his large bed. Then he recalled the events of the day before and groaned, covering his face with his palms. Would Ariel come by today or was she still angry with him?
She deserved to be treated better than he’d done and he would wait for some time for her. If she didn’t show up, he would go by her house and apologise to her. She might not want to have anything to do with him and he wouldn’t blame her. He’d made her feel like she didn’t matter and that made his stomach churn.
But perhaps it was all for the best since he was much older than her. She deserved to fall in love with a young man, not him. And even though it would break his heart to see her go, he loved her enough to want her to find true love and happiness.
“Oh Ariel,” he groaned as he staggered out of the bedroom, robe untied. The belt hung down on both sides and he shuffled barefooted across to the stairs. He badly needed a drink of water first and then he would return to wait for Ariel. If she wasn’t here by lunch time, he’d go to their cottage and apologise, then walk away from her.
As he got to the stairs, he missed a step and before he could reach out a hand to break his fall, he went tumbling down the stairs and lay at the bottom in an unconscious heap.
Ariel didn’t want to go to the manor because she was still hurting from yesterday. But it was Christmas Day and her mother had always told her that one should never go to bed angry. She’d gone to bed angry and woken up sad.
After wrestling with her thoughts for a while, she decided to go and see Trevor just to get things sorted out between them. She would then tell him that she could no longer come by his house because she didn’t want to create a situation where he would be forced to offer marriage just to save her name. A marriage based on that would never work and they would soon become resentful of each other.
Walking away with a broken heart was better than allowing a terrible situation to arise. Even if the duke found himself forced to marry her, he would never treat her as an equal because she was a mere village girl.
When Ariel got to the house, she frowned as she tried the front door and found it still locked. She walked round the house to the back and the kitchen door was also locked. But there was a window in the pantry that she could squeeze into and after dropping the two ducks she was carrying inside, she scrambled in, careful not to step on them.
Trevor usually woke up early and went riding. She’d noticed that the stable door was still bolted from the outside and finding both house doors still locked meant that something was wrong, and the eerie silence that met her entrance into the house frightened her.
“Your Grace,” she called out and heard her voice echoing in the large house. “Trevor?”
Once more, silence greeted the echo of her voice and her heart started pounding. What if he’d been taken ill in the night?
She tossed the two ducks she’d caught onto the kitchen table and rushed out, coming to a dead stop when she saw the love of her life lying on the floor at the foot of the stairs.
“Trevor,” she was immediately at his side and on her knees, sobbing as she felt for a pulse. Finding none at first, she started rubbing his chest.
“Trevor, please don’t die and leave me,” she sobbed. “What will happen to me now? I love you and can’t live without you, Trevor. Please open your eyes. I’m not angry with you anymore, please just wake up. You’re the only one who has ever showed me so much kindness and love, please don’t leave me.”
Trevor heard the weeping as if from afar and struggled with the cloud of darkness that was trying to hold him down. He felt the soft kisses on his face.
“I love you, Trevor. If you die on me, I’ll be very cross with you. Open your eyes and wipe my tears away,” she demanded.
He raised his hand and touched Ariel’s face, “I’m not dead,” he whispered, and she gave a cry of joy and fell across his chest.
“Ariel!” She quickly turned to see her father staring down at them. “What’s going on here?”
“Oh Pa, I thought my Trevor was dead,” she said, laughing and crying at the same time. “I found him lying at the bottom of the stairs. Quick, help me get him to the couch. Pa, don’t just stand there,” she ordered and Trevor chuckled softly. The love of his life was quite a formidable little woman.
They soon had him on the couch, and she ran up the stairs to get him a blanket.
“What are you doing here, Mr. Dixon?” He struggled to sit up and winced at the pain in his head.
“I got suspicious when my girl wouldn’t let me go hunting with her, so I followed her. She caught two ducks, and when she didn’t immediately make for home, I knew she was up to something. Your Grace, what are your intentions toward my daughter?”
8
Love at Last
Christmas lunch had been served and eaten and everyone was replete. But Trevor still had some issues to take care of.
“Mr. Dixon?”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“It would be an honour if you will grant me permission to ask you for your daughter’s hand in marriage.”
“What?”
“Yes, Sir,” Trevor looked at Ariel with so much love in his eyes that her father was left in no doubt that this man genuinely adored his daughter.
“Ariel?” Was all he asked, and the two men looked at her.
“Papa?”
“The man just asked for your hand in marriage. What do you have to say?”
“Is it up to me?” She stared at her father with an incredulous expression on her face.
“Yes, my child, Ariel. Your mother made me promise that when it came to love, you would make your own choice. I was to only make sure that the man is a good person,” he looked at the duke solemnly. “I haven’t heard any scandals attached to this man’s name and from what I can see, he genuinely loves you.”
Ariel raised her eyes to Trevor and saw a deep vulnerability in his. She really loved this man but there was still the class difference that stood like a wall between them. Would society ever accept a marriage between a nobleman and a common village girl.
“Your Grace,” she bit her lower lip nervously, “We don’t belong in the same class. The Countess pointed that out yesterday, and it’s all true.”
“Ariel,” Trevor reached out a hand and she placed hers in it. “Please marry me and share my class. Marry me, and my class will become yours too. Marry me, and we will be of the same class.”
“But what will people say?”
“I don’t care what people say, Ariel. All I know is that I love you so strongly, and that’s something I can’t explain. A few days ago, I was here alone and in deep despair. You see, the Countess and I were engaged, but three years ago, she set fire to the curtain in my bedroom while I was asleep. Whether it was intentional or by accident, I have no idea. Chloe said she’d dropped the candle by mistake. That was how I got these scars and also lost sight in my left eye,” he shrugged, “But that’s all in the past. Yes, Chloe is a beautiful and titled woman, but she doesn’t have the kind of heart that I want.”
“What kind of heart do you want?”
“A pure heart filled with true love,” he smiled tenderly at her. “A heart that beats like mine, with all honesty and sincerity in it. I’ll certainly not be the first duke to marry a woman who isn’t of the nobility, and in no way will I be the last. Love doesn’t choose where it falls, and since I have the final say in what happens in my own life, I want to marry you, Ariel. Will you have me?”
She was silent for a while, and Trevor felt nervous. He turned his eyes to her father, appealing for his intervention.
“Girl,
put the man out of his misery. Do you love him or not?”
Ariel thought about the sacrifice Trevor was willing to make in order to marry her. He would be ridiculed and laughed at, but he didn’t seem like the kind of man to care what others said. And he’d chosen her over Chloe, which meant a lot to her. Yes, this was the kind of man that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. So, she gave him a sweet smile.
“Yes, Papa. I love Trevor.”
“He’s a duke.”
She snorted, a very unladylike sound that warmed the heart of her beloved. “Pa, even if he is a duke, he’s still the love of my life.”
Epilogue
New Year’s Day 1816
The wedding between the Duke of Berkeley and one little common village girl would be talked about for years to come. First, because it was quite lavish, and guests came in from as far as London. Word had gone round that Lord Trevor was back from overseas, for that was what the tabloids said, and he’d retired to his country seat to recuperate after injuries suffered in the war.
Of course, it was just a rumour, but the duke’s solicitor took advantage of that to win favours for his client. It was also the reason why the solicitor was able to obtain a special licence for them immediately. No one could refuse the request of a wartime hero.
To Lord Welsh, however, nothing mattered to him except that the love of his life, the true one this time, had agreed to become his wife.
The wedding took place at the newly opened up manor, and all the good citizens of Berkeley Duchy were invited to the joyous occasion.
Never had they seen such large tables that groaned under the weight of stacks of delicacies. Everyone ate to their fill.
Beauty & the Beast: Christmas Regency Romance (A Regency Christmas Book 1) Page 4