by Aria Norton
“Justice will be served, my son. I know that your sisters will suffer, but Alba must be brought to justice.”
Carlos couldn’t make sense of any of this. He knew what his father was saying, but he couldn’t understand how all of this had come to be. I should be happy, but I’m just confused. How was this happening? Was he dreaming?
“But how? How did you come to know about me and all that Alba has done? How did you know where to find me?”
“Your wonderful wife, my dear son. She sent me a letter detailing everything and included your mother’s locket and my father’s pocket watch. I have to admit that I doubted it at first because it seemed so far-fetched, but when George showed me the drawing of your birthmark, all doubt left me. I knew that everything was true.”
Aurora told him? Carlos grabbed his father’s arm. “How did my wife come to tell you this? Is she safe? Is she at home?”
The man smiled, covering Carlos’s arm with his hand. “She is at home, son. Safe and sound, or else her father would have said otherwise.”
“You spoke with the baron?”
“Yes.” The count nodded. “He was the one who brought Aurora’s letter to me. She must love you a great deal to have done this.”
Even his father seemed to believe that Aurora loved him. That knowledge was safely stored away, but right now, Carlos needed to know more details of how all of this came to be. It was incredible, and it all had to do with Aurora. Most importantly, she was safe.
“You said that she gave you my mother’s locket and your father’s pocket watch?”
“Yes, they were included with the letter. The drawing of your birthmark as well.”
So, Aurora had taken the items. Carlos had believed that Alba had somehow come to know of them and stolen them from him to remove all evidence of his connection to the count.
“Did she say how she came to acquire those items?”
“She took them from your study after she escaped Alba’s clutches.”
Aurora had come home? But he hadn’t seen her, and Lydia had not said anything about her presence. Why hadn’t she revealed herself?
“Who told you that I was on my way to Scotland?”
No one but him and Lydia knew of their destination. Aurora would have had to have been somewhere nearby to know this. Arthur had made a bit of a commotion that night – could he have sensed Aurora’s presence? The dog had sniffed the ground and air, whining at the back door. Thinking that the dog wanted to go outside and relieve himself, Carlos had opened the door, but the dog promptly started growling and backed up into the house. Carlos had been too overcome with his own emotions to figure out what was wrong with the dog.
“Aurora told me in the letter,” the count said. “She wasn’t certain how far you would be, but at least I knew where to start.”
Carlos still didn’t understand how he had missed Aurora, but he decided to keep the rest of his questions for later. He was finally reunited with his father, his mother would get her justice, and most importantly, he could be with Aurora again. If she’ll have me. Carlos was keen to see his wife and confess his love for her, but he didn’t know how he would be received. I’ll spend my life making it up to her if she’ll just forgive me. At least Lydia would be happy to see her daughter-in-law again, but it remained to be seen how Aurora would react to seeing him again.
Chapter 27
Aurora stroked her puppy’s head, glad that she at least had something to remember Carlos by. She had woken up this morning to find the dog sitting on the front doorstep, unwilling to budge. The servants had been afraid of him due to his size, so they had kept away until Arthur saw Aurora and they realised that the dog obviously knew her.
“I don’t know if you ran away from home, or Carlos discarded you just as he discarded me, but I’m glad that you’re here.”
The puppy gave a woof, licking her face. Aurora laughed, kissing his head before rubbing his belly. Arthur took up much of her bed, but she didn’t mind that so much. Eventually, she would have a bed made especially for him and keep the puppy in her room. Her father had said nothing about Arthur, but he had given the puppy a chicken leg, so Aurora assumed that her father approved of the dog.
“Father seems happy to see me at home. The servants, too. I am the only miserable one of the lot.”
Sighing, she put her head on Arthur’s, still rubbing him.
Aurora was startled when her door opened without warning, and Nanny came striding in with sheer determination written all over her face.
“Nanny? What on earth is the matter?”
“You, child. You are the matter. Now, I am tired of seeing you moping about the house or hiding in your room with that great monstrosity of a dog.” Nanny eyed Arthur, shaking her head. “Dogs belong outside, but I expect that you have spoiled him, and now he won’t leave your side.”
“Arthur is a darling, Nanny,” Aurora insisted. “He’s no bother at all. You are just scared of his size.”
The older woman preferred smaller dogs that could sit on her lap, not dogs the size of a human.
“You just keep him there with you while you answer my questions. Now, you will answer them truthfully, or I will walk out of this house and stay with my sister.”
Aurora’s jaw dropped. “You would do that?”
“I would because I care about you. I cannot stand seeing you this way any longer. Tell me, what transpired between you and Carlos?”
Aurora thought of telling a lie, but to her horror, she broke down crying. Nanny uttered a sound of distress and came to her, but making sure to keep away from Arthur.
“Oh, child, I knew that something happened. You know that you can tell me anything, yes? Come on, pour out your heart to Nanny.”
Aurora wiped her eyes, but her tears were falling faster than she could keep up with.
“Nanny, I made the worst decision in the world by falling in love with Carlos. He just used me; he never truly wanted a wife.”
“What makes you say that? Surely you are exaggerating?”
“No!” Aurora said, pulling away from the woman to see her face better. “I overheard him with my own two ears. Carlos needed me to get closer to his father and would have left me after he got what he wanted. But he didn’t get what he wanted, but he left me anyway because I’m of no use to him.”
Nanny stroked Aurora’s hair, tipping her chin up. “Child, you’re not making any sense. What do you mean by Carlos needing you to get closer to his father?”
Aurora told the woman everything, feeling weak afterwards. Her expression carefully concealed, Nanny said nothing, but Aurora could tell that the woman was thinking of the best thing to say while trying to control her anger.
“Why do the people I love leave me?” Aurora asked. “Why do they reject me? Mother, Father, my brothers, friends ... The only people who have stayed with me have been you, Millie, and Netty. Everyone else has abandoned me. Is there something wrong with me, Nanny? Am I so unlovable?”
Nanny pulled Aurora to her bosom, rubbing her back. “No, dear. Of course, there is nothing wrong with you! You are simply too good for this world, but we have been fortunate enough to have you. Do not break my heart by speaking such things.”
“But it’s true.”
Aurora was the girl that nobody wanted and always had been. Now that Carlos’ birthright would be restored, Aurora knew that she would not be good enough to be his wife. It had been different when she had believed him to be a commoner, but now he was a nobleman. Not even my success at the ball is enough to make me worthy. Everyone was surprised by how different I seemed, but given enough time, they will mock me once again. Her personality would eventually have shone through and embarrassed Carlos. It was far better to be alone.
Both Aurora and Nanny looked up when an unfamiliar knock sounded on the door.
“Aurora?” her father called.
Since when did her father knock at her door? He had never done so before! No wonder they had not recognised the knock.
“Would you come downstairs, please? You have a visitor in the parlour.”
“Who?”
“That is a surprise, dear. I’ll let the visitor know that you will be down soon.”
Aurora wanted to tell her father that she wasn’t ready to come down, but he was already walking away.
“Do you know who it could be, Nanny?”
“Not at all, dear. No one was here when I came to see you.”
Aurora did not want any visitors, but she couldn’t be rude either. “Very well. I will try to freshen up, but I make no promises about looking presentable.”
“I’ll leave you to it, child,” said Nanny, kissing the top of her head.
After the woman left, Aurora tried her best to reduce her puffy eyes and her red nose and cheeks, but to no avail.
“Rejected and now ugly. What a fine specimen I am.”
Hopeless, she trudged downstairs.
***
Aurora did not think to first look at who was in the parlour before walking in, but she wished that she did. Carlos stood up the minute he saw her, looking somewhat unsure of himself.
“I hoped that you would come down to see me.”
Recovering from her initial shock, she straightened her shoulders. I may look a sight, but I cannot reveal the extent of my misery.
“Had I known it was you, I would not have come.” Aurora paused when she saw him wince, but by sheer will, she continued, “What are you doing here?”
“I have come to see you and thank you for everything you did for me. My father is currently dealing with Alba, and an announcement will soon be made to the rest of my family that I am alive and well. I only have you to thank for that.”
Aurora was glad, but she didn’t say so. “You’re welcome. Now, would you kindly leave my home?”
“Not yet; I still have something else to say.”
What more could he say to her? Didn’t he realise that he had caused her enough damage?
“There is nothing left to say, Carlos. You finally got what you wanted out of me, so you can now live your life the way you have always wanted to. I will not hold you back. In time to come, you can put this entire ordeal behind you and marry someone befitting your new status. You’ll be pleased to know that Father will pull a few strings to get a divorce. Our marriage was never consummated, so it should not be too difficult.”
Carlos took a step forward. “But that isn’t what I want, Aurora. I want to remain married to you.”
Did he think it was appropriate to jest about this? Aurora couldn’t understand why Carlos would say such a thing when she knew that he didn’t mean a word of it.
“You’re speaking absolute hogwash. I know that you do not wish to remain married to me.”
“That isn’t true at all. I love you, Aurora,” he confessed.
Carlos was not a man to speak lightly about such things, but Aurora knew what she had heard the night she had eavesdropped on his conversation with Lydia.
“I know that isn’t true, and I can tell you precisely why. First of all, I heard you tell Lydia that you could never love a woman like me. Secondly, you only married me to get closer to your father; you had no intention of making this marriage real. Thirdly ...”
Aurora continued to give Carlos all the reasons he could never possibly love her, ticking off each one on her fingers. Carlos listened quietly, not saying a word until Aurora ran out of steam and sat down on the nearest seat, frowning as she stared up at her husband. Had he listened to a word she had said? Why is he grinning? I suppose I am just a source of amusement to him. Not wanting to look at him anymore, Aurora buried her face in her hands.
She started when Carlos knelt before her and gently took her hands in his. Aurora’s first reaction was to pull away, but Carlos held on.
“I didn’t leave you because I wanted to, silly woman. I left because I was scared for your life. When I came to look for you in that abandoned building and found that you were not there, I just about lost my will to survive. It was my need to protect you that kept me going. Alba left me a note ordering me to leave England with Lydia, or she would end your life. What else was I supposed to do? I was at her mercy.”
So he hadn’t abandoned her! No, no, don’t be fooled by him. “But you used me. You only married me to get close to your father.”
“Yes, and I’m so sorry about that. I was wrong for using you, but I didn’t see it at the time. I was driven by a lifelong dream that clouded my judgement and kept me from seeing what was right in front of me. I got to know you, Aurora, and I fell in love with you. I was a fool not to have realised how much you matter to me until you were kidnapped. When I did, I was willing to forget everything I wanted to achieve just to see you safe and out of Alba’s clutches. But now that everything has been sorted, I want to start afresh with you.”
Carlos’ words were almost too good to be true. That’s because they likely are. I must remain strong.
“How convenient to come back to me now that you have reunited with your father. Wouldn’t you be better off finding a more suitable bride?”
“Why are you worried about such a thing? If you don’t think that you’ll be happy being the wife of a nobleman, then I will give it all up for you. I will never see my father or my family again if that is what it takes to make you happy. Don’t you understand? You are what matters to me, Aurora. You are the woman I want to be with for the rest of my life. Please, say that you believe me?”
Aurora looked at their joined hands first and then into his eyes. Carlos has everything he has ever wanted; why would he want me? It made no sense to her unless ... unless he truly loves me?
“This is not some trick to get back at me for everything I did to you?”
“I deserved that, and more. You can trick me as much as you want, only agree to stay with me. Don’t leave me.”
Aurora could see the desperation in his eyes but wasn’t convinced yet. “Why? Why do you love me?”
“Because you are my soul. You’re a part of me, and I don’t want to go on in life as an incomplete man. I don’t know how to explain it, but I feel tied to you. I thought that finally achieving my dreams would complete my life, but it was complete the moment you walked into it. I never knew that there was something missing inside of me until you filled it. When I had to leave you behind, I knew that I was leaving a part of myself and that I would never be whole again.”
She pulled her face. “You make me sound like a curse.”
“A beautiful curse, one that I never wish to be rid of. I love you, Aurora Fernandez.”
There was no need for Carlos to be on his knees because he had everything, and yet here he was confessing his love to her. Aurora took a deep breath, closing her eyes. He’s telling the truth; I can feel it. She felt an instant release from all her doubt, worries, and fears and was instead filled with wonder, love, and joy. When Aurora opened her eyes, they were full of tears.
Aghast, Carlos wiped them away. “I’m sorry, my love, I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
“These are not sad but happy tears because I can finally say that I love you as well.”
“Thank the heavens,” he cried, kissing her hands. “I honestly thought that you were going to reject me.”
Carlos took her face in his hands, wiping her tears away with his thumbs. Aurora covered them with her own, smiling at him.