The Elusive Earl (Saints & Scoundrels)

by Michaels, Maddison

  “Damn it, I’m not leaving her,” Daniel all but growled.

  “You can wait right outside the door,” Alec’s voice was surprisingly firm. “But you must leave her in my hands. Trust me to do this.”

  Whatever Daniel saw in the man’s gaze must have convinced him, for he gave Alec a brief nod before bending down to Brianna and brushing some loose hair from her forehead. “Everything will be all right, my darling. I’ll be right outside the door, and if you need me, I shall return to your side, no matter what Alec says.”

  Bree wanted to him to stay, but she knew Alec was right. There was nothing Daniel could do, apart from worry, and that was the last thing she wanted. She nodded weakly as he placed a brief kiss on her lips.

  “It’s time to leave now, Daniel,” Aunt Edith’s voice was firm yet gentle.

  “Come, brother,” Sophie placed her hand on her brother’s arm and gestured to the door. Reluctantly, Daniel nodded as he slowly allowed himself to be led from the room.

  As soon as the door closed, another contraction came upon Bree, and she lost herself to the pain.

  …

  “How many bloody hours is this meant to take?” Daniel yelled aloud to no one in particular as he continued to pace up and down the hallway outside of the room Bree was laboring in. He was so close, and yet so far from her.

  The thought of wrenching open the darn door and marching in there must have crossed his mind over a thousand times since the door closed behind him. Particularly when he heard her screams of anguish.

  “If it’s any consolation, Sophie was in labor for around fourteen hours,” Devlin muttered from where he sat on one of the chairs brought up by the servants to seat those who were refusing to go downstairs and wait. Which was all of them. Bree’s grandfather, her uncle, her cousins, Aunt Mabel, and even Devlin and Nicholas were showing their support by staying there.

  And each time a scream bounced against the walls from the room behind, every single one of them winced.

  “It doesn’t help one little bit,” Daniel clipped back through his clenched teeth. Good Lord, fourteen hours? Eight was already feeling like an eternity. How on earth could he face more? More so, how could Bree? He regretted ever putting her in this darn situation in the first place.

  “It was terrible,” Devlin’s young ward Nicholas piped up from where he sat next to Devlin. “Poor Dev was a mess the entire time. But he had me to help. And you’ve got all of us.”

  Daniel smiled at the scamp of a boy, who most in the ton still liked to whisper was the illegitimate love child of the duke’s; probably because with his dark hair and vivid blue eyes, the little lad was the spitting image of the man. But Daniel had made certain that the duke wasn’t the boy’s father, not because it would matter if he was, but Daniel would have taken great issue if the duke had lied to his sister, which thankfully he hadn’t.

  And as much as Daniel still didn’t like the thought of his sister married to the Devil Duke, the man did seem to make her inordinately happy. So, he’d tolerate him for that.

  Another scream sounded from behind the door, and Daniel felt a cold sweat break out on his brow. It literally seemed like Bree was going through the gates of hell to bring their child into this world. It shouldn’t be hurting her this much, should it? Damn it, he was never going to touch her again.

  The hairs on his arm prickled in alarm as this time, a deeply guttural cry ricocheted through the air. There was pain and absolute desperation in the sound. Enough was enough. His wife needed him, and he wasn’t going to continue to let her go through this agony alone, all for the sake of the proprieties. Daniel strode over to their bedroom suite and wrenched open the double doors.

  His footsteps faltered at the threshold when the robust wail of an infant reached his ears. He felt such a sense of astonishment at the scene confronting him.

  Bree was laying on the bed, her knees drawn up, an expression of fatigue and concentration on her face as she stared at Alec, who was at the end of the bed, his body obscuring Daniel’s view from the area where the wailing was coming from. Sophie was brushing Bree’s tangled hair from off her sweat beaded face, while Lady Penderley stood bedside Alec, holding some blankets in her hands. Then Daniel saw Alec raise up a squalling pale pink wriggling mass before he placed the bundle into the blankets Edith held.

  Bree chose that moment to look up, and her eyes found his. The biggest smile he’d ever seen spread across her gorgeous features, transforming her face from fatigued to radiant in an instant. “We have a son, Daniel,” she said as her aunt placed the child into her arms.

  Daniel walked over and dropped to his knees beside Bree, staring in wonder at his son. “He’s perfect.”

  “He is,” she whispered.

  Very carefully, Daniel reached out and touched his son’s tiny little hand. Almost instantly, the infant’s finger’s closed around his own. His startled eyes met Brianna’s. “He’s got a strong grip.”

  “Just like his father.” There was such a look of contentment on Bree’s face that Daniel could have happily stayed like that for hours. “I told you we’d have a boy,” she said, but then confusion followed by concern flashed over her features. “Something is not right. I feel the need to push again.”

  “It’s fine, Lady Thornton,” Alec’s voice reassured them. “It will just be the after birth coming, as expected.” But then the doctor’s face paled, and Daniel felt fear grip him. Something was wrong.

  “What is it?” Daniel asked, slowly disengaging his son’s fingers from his own.

  “There’s another head crowning.” Alec glanced up at them both before he focused back on Bree. “I need you to push again, my lady, for it appears you’re having a second child.”

  Sophie rushed over and deftly took the baby from Bree, while Daniel grabbed ahold of Bree’s hand, which she grasped onto tightly.

  “It’s all right, my darling, I’m here with you.” Daniel hoped his words sounded confident, rather than filled with fear, as he squeezed her hand back. Another baby? Good Lord.

  Bree gritted her teeth, and for a moment, there was dread in her gaze, but then she nodded at him and began to push with all of her might.

  For the next few moments, Bree’s screams were interspersed with their son’s cries, until suddenly, another baby’s wail joined the mix.

  It was the sweetest sound Daniel had heard. He looked over at Brianna, who looked even more exhausted than ever, but she appeared healthy and safe. Which was all that mattered.

  Alec delivered their second child, passing the baby over to Lady Penderley, who was waiting with more blankets. She carefully wrapped the babe in the soft cotton and then walked over to them.

  “May I present your daughter?” And with that, she carefully deposited the most beautiful girl Daniel had ever seen into Brianna’s outstretched arms. Almost immediately, his daughter began to nuzzle towards Bree.

  “And here is your son, brother,” Sophie gently spoke to his right as she held out his other child, who seemed to have exhausted his cries and was now happily sleeping.

  Daniel took him from her and simply stared at his son. So tiny, yet still bigger than his sister, though equally as perfect, with his tiny button nose and little lips. My God. He was a father now, and to two babes. Truly a miracle.

  Carefully, he positioned himself and his son down beside his wife and daughter, stretching out next to them. A sense of true peace and joy, unlike anything he’d ever known, filled him. “We have a son and a daughter, wife.”

  She sighed, though there was relief mixed with contentment in the sound. “Seems we were both right in the end. Though I still maintain it was our son doing all of the kicking.”

  Daniel chuckled softly, not wanting to disturb the babies, who appeared to be content for the moment. “We shall see, wife. We shall see. What will we call them?”

  Bree’s brow furrowed in concentration. “I was thinking it would be nice to call them after your mother and my father. Elizabeth and Edward. What do y
ou think?” She bit her bottom lip as she waited for his response.

  “I think those names are perfect.”

  “You do?” She looked so hopeful and pleased that right at that moment, she could have suggested calling them absolutely anything, and he would have readily agreed. Hell, she could ask him for anything right then, and he would have moved mountains to get it for her.

  He loved her. And continued to fall more in love with her every single day.

  This woman, whom he’d thought would never suit, had in fact made him the happiest man alive.

  “I’ve never been more proud of you, Bree. You were marvelous.” And he meant it. He wouldn’t have believed he could feel even more love for her than he already did, but in this very moment, he was overwhelmed with how much he truly loved her, and how he always would. She was his heart and his soul. His everything. And now she’d given him not one but two precious bundles. They were his family. His world. More important than his own life.

  “I love you, my darling Brianna Elizabeta Maria.” He placed a gentle kiss on her lips, knowing with every fiber of his being that he was going to keep them safe and cherish them, forever and always.

  And that is exactly what he did.

  Did you love this book from Entangled’s Amara imprint? Check out more of our titles here!

  Don’t miss Maddison Michaels’s next book! Sign up for our newsletter here!

  Author’s Notes

  The treasure of King Aleric:

  As soon as I read about the real-life lost treasure of the Visigoth King Aleric, I knew I had to write a historical romance incorporating the legend into my story. So I just wanted to give you all a bit of background surrounding the legend, because I don’t think many people realize that the treasure Brianna and Daniel are searching for is actually real and based on a true legend. (Sometimes, life is a lot stranger than fiction, hey?)

  Well, King Aleric was the first King of the Visigoths (the Visigoths were a western branch of a nomadic tribe of the Germanic peoples, and they were referred to as the Goths), and he ruled his people from between 370 or 375 AD (depending on the source) until his death in 410 AD, in Cosenza, Italy. He did indeed sack Rome, three times during his reign in fact, and on the last occasion, his troops lay siege to the city for three days. After they took a huge amount of Rome’s treasure, they then marched south. Not long after, King Aleric became ill and died. And according to legend, he was interred, along with his precious treasures, under a riverbed of the Busento River, in accord with the Pagan practices of the people of the Visigoths. Apparently, the stream of the river was temporarily turned away from its course to allow captives of the Visigoth army to dig a grave to inter the King in. When the work was finished, the river was allowed to return to its usual channel, and then the King’s loyal soldiers put to death the captives so that none might reveal the final resting place of their King and his treasures. (Hodgkin 1911, pp. 471-472.)

  Since then, there have been thousands of people looking for the lost treasure of King Aleric, even to this very day. In fact, in 2015, the Italian Government enlisted the assistance of archeologists, drones, and electronic equipment to try to find the treasure. Currently, the mayor of Cosenza is still spearheading the efforts, too, but to no avail. There is a lot of speculation that because of the earthquakes in the area, the treasure was swallowed farther underground which is why it hasn’t been found. (The Scourge of 1783, which Brianna’s grandfather refers to, was in fact a real series of earthquakes—over 949 earthquakes hit the region that year alone.) There is also another theory that the true tomb of King Aleric was actually hidden in the caves of Mendicino (an ancient rune was found inside the caves, suggesting that King Aleric’s soldiers had been there), which is why the treasure wasn’t found over the years—although the Italian Government is now also looking for the treasure in that location, too.

  The legend that there was an elixir of everlasting life being buried with King Aleric has been mostly created through my fictional imagination—though there were a few snippets I found suggesting that there was mystery surrounding what was buried, and in fact, the Nazis even tried to find the treasure, too. But I needed the villain to have something extra to be clinging to, rather than just monetary treasure. Which brings me to my next author’s note.

  Calogero’s Affliction:

  Calogero’s affliction of not being able to feel any physical pain is, in fact, a true condition, albeit extremely rare. It is called Congenital Insensitivity to Pain (CIP for short) and/or Congenital Analgesia. It is a rare condition where a person has never been able to feel physical pain, and obviously, it can be extremely dangerous, as injuries and illnesses can often go unnoticed, particularly in children. (Steven Linton (2005). Understanding Pain for Better Clinical Practice: A Psychological Perspective. Elsevier Health Sciences. p. 14. Retrieved April 13, 2017.) There are generally no physical abnormalities with the condition, and often, when a person with this condition is exposed to pain, they do not flinch, withdraw, or show any signs of feeling the pain—which can be quite off-putting. Nowadays, there are some medications that can sometimes allow the person suffering CIP to experience pain, but back in 1856, there was nothing to treat the condition.

  The House of Bartelli:

  Again, I used my author’s imagination to create The House of Bartelli, and Prince Alberto is completely fictional, as I did not want to base any of my characters on real people of the region. There were, of course, nobles and individual principalities within what is now known as Italy because, at the time, Italy was not a unified country, even though the majority of the principalities and regions within the area wished it to become so. It was a fascinating time in Italy’s history, and the process itself of unification began in 1815, with the Congress of Vienna, and ended in 1871 when the provinces of Italy all unified into one country and Rome became the capital.

  The Waterproof Canvas Bag:

  This is why I love the Victorian era: there were some amazingly cool inventions during this time period, although technically the invention of the waterproof rubber canvas bag actually pre-dates the Victorian era by about a decade. So, the waterproof canvas satchel Daniel and Bree used was, in fact, a real life creation. Back in 1823, a Gloucestershire chemist by the name of Charles Macintosh was the inventor of waterproof canvas material, where he sandwiched a thin layer of Naptha-treated rubber between two layers of cloth. Then in 1827, his reputation and that of his waterproof canvas were solidified when, on Captain W. E. Parry’s voyage to the North Pole, a bag of cocoa (the bag itself being made from Macintosh’s waterproof canvas) fell overboard and into the sea. When the captain had it retrieved, he stated that “it did not suffer the slightest injury… I know of no other material with an equal weight as equally durable and watertight—in the latter quality it is altogether perfect”. (Tully, J. The Devils Milk: A Social History of Rubber. New York: Monthly Review Press, 2011. Print.)

  So, you see, by 1856, some nearly thirty years after the invention, it was often used to ensure things were made waterproof. In fact, the Mackintosh Raincoat (still in existence to this day) was made from the material, which was just perfect for Daniel and Bree’s trip down the river! So, everything Daniel told Bree of the bag was all based on truth.

  As an aside, in my research, I also discovered that rubber elastic bands were invented in 1850, and there were even rubber condoms invented and in existence since 1842…

  This is why I love writing about the Victorian era—there were so many innovative inventions being created. It really was such a different world from the Regency period, and it was so fun to research. I can certainly recommend the book The Devils Milk: A Social History of Rubber by John Tully, which discusses these and many other application of rubber over the ages.

  Memories in Babies and Young Children:

  A lot of people are under the impression that babies and young children can’t remember things; however, recent studies in the US and Australia have shown this is not the case. In fact, th
ey have found that young babies (even as young as five months old) can remember traumatic events, which can have huge impacts later on the person’s life.

  And if you want to have a read, there’s a great article based on research from a US Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California basically saying babies from even as young as five months old can remember traumatic events:

  https://www.elementsbehavioralhealth.com/news-and-research/babies-can-remember-traumatic-events-for-years/

  Acknowledgments

  Once again, I want to thank my wonderful editor, Tracy Montoya, for all of her encouragement, advice, and patience! Tracy, you’re a legend! And thank you for believing in my stories.

  Also, a big thanks to the entire team at Entangled. Everyone is so supportive and super professional. It’s been an absolute pleasure working with you all. And I wanted to give a particular shout-out to the PR ladies, Riki and Holly, who work tirelessly behind the scenes to help spread the word. My thanks to you all!

  I also want to thank my critique partner, Jenny, who is such a gifted writer and critique buddy, and someone whom I can always rely on to sharpen and tidy up my verse—thanks Jenny, you rock!

  Another big thank you to my mum, Molly, who is not only the best mum a girl could have, but also great at picking up typos! I love you Mum, and thank you for always being there for me.

  And finally, I want to pay a particular shout-out to my fellow author pal, Minerva Spencer. Minerva is the kindest, most generous author you will ever meet, who writes fabulous historical romances, too. She was instrumental in introducing me to several groups of both fellow historical romance authors and debut authors, all of whom have helped support me on my journey. So, Minerva, your kindness and support will be treasured by me always.

  About the Author

  Indoctrinated into a world of dashing rogues and feisty heroines when she was only fourteen years old, Maddison Michaels is a prolific reader and writer of romantic suspense and historical fiction. She gets her daily dose of suspense from working as a police officer, prosecuting real-life villains in the courts of Australia.