by Laura Landon
Fellingsdown rushed away and brought back the basin and several clean cloths.
Brent rinsed one out and placed it on Elly’s face. It removed the blood, which made the cut on her forehead appear less severe. But as he washed away the blood, the bruises on her face became more evident.
“Bloody hell,” he said, gently placing the cool cloth on the discoloration below her eye. “If the bastard weren’t already dead, I’d kill him over again.”
“He’s dead. Each one of us can attest to that. Although Parneston insisted we allow him to take the credit.”
Brent nodded, then wiped away another streak of dried blood. “We need to remove Elly’s shoes. I’m afraid her foot might be injured.”
George moved to the side of the bed. “Let me. I used to rub her foot when we were younger and it ached.”
He sat on the mattress next to Elly and lifted her injured foot. “She might not want you to know what her foot looks like.” He looked at Brent. “I was the only one she ever allowed to see it.”
“Then we won’t tell her.”
George nodded and worked silently until the laces were undone. When he finished, he lifted Elly’s foot to remove her boot. The minute he touched her foot she moaned.
“Ah, hell,” George said through clenched teeth.
“What is it?” Harrison looked at the foot, then uttered a curse even more foul.
“It’s all right, Elly, my sweet,” Brent said, holding her still. She tossed her head from side to side as she fought for a release from the pain.
When she calmed, Brent released his hold on her shoulders and turned his attention to the foot of the bed. The sight stole his breath.
Her foot was gnarled and misshapen but he’d expected to see something similar because of how she limped when she walked. He hadn’t, however, expected to see her bruised and swollen foot, or the blood that soaked through her stockings.
“Lift her skirt,” Brent ordered.
“We can’t. Elly would never—“
“Lift it! At least to her knees. Uncover both her legs.”
George didn’t argue further but slowly lifted Elly’s skirts away from her legs.
“Damn him,” he said again, then ordered Harrison to get more water and cloths.
“I wonder how many times the bastard threw her to the ground?” Harrison said when he returned.
“Several, from the looks of this,” George said.
They turned when the door opened. It was Lady Lathamton.
“The doctor’s on his way,” she said, closing the door behind her. “How’s Elly?”
“The doctor needs to hurry.”
Lady Lathamton rushed to the side of the bed. Brent saw her expression change the minute she looked down.
Tears welled in her eyes then trickled down her cheeks. Her expression changed to pity.
This was what Elly meant. People who didn’t know her considered her a freak. Strangers avoided her. But the people who loved her were the worst. They pitied her, and pity was the emotion she could least accept.
This was why she kept her disability from the world. This was why she was content with her life at The Down. Not because she didn’t like people – she loved people. She just couldn’t live with their pity.
“She’ll be fine,” Brent heard himself say.
“Of course she will,” Lady Lathamton answered, wiping the tears from her cheeks, then rinsing out a clean cloth and handing it to him. She rinsed out another cloth and handed it to George.
“I don’t think anything’s broken,” Brent said, pressing a cloth on Elly’s torn knees. “But I wish the doctor would come. Her ankle is swelling rapidly.”
The door opened and Spence and Jules ushered in the doctor.
“Doctor Brunswich, we’re glad you’re here,” Harrison said, greeting the doctor. “Elly’s had an accident.”
“Parneston explained about her accident. I’ll see to Waverley’s body when I’m finished here.”
Without pausing to greet any of the people in the room, the doctor looked down at Elly and asked, “Is Nanny Graybrim still here?”
“Yes,” Lady Lathamton answered.
“Good. Send her in to help me. The rest of you, out.”
Brent hesitated, but the doctor looked at him and in a softer tone said, “Go. I’ll send for you as soon as I’m done.”
Brent nodded, then followed Lady Lathamton and Elly’s brothers from the room.
“Nellie,” Lady Lathamton said to one of the servants waiting in the hall. “Find Nanny Graybrim and send her in to help the doctor. Then go to the kitchen to have the footmen bring up plenty of warm water and anything else the doctor might need.”
“Right away, my lady.” Nellie bobbed a polite curtsy then rushed off to do her mistress’s bidding.
“We’ll wait for the doctor downstairs. We’ll be more comfortable there.”
Lady Lathamton turned to lead the way down the stairs but stopped when Fellingsdown’s voice interrupted. “Is your son all right?”
Lady Lathamton nodded. “Nanny Graybrim hid him in a toy chest. He thought they were playing a game.”
“Perhaps before we leave you could introduce me to him.”
Lady Lathamton’s face blanched a shade of white.
Brent thought she might refuse, but she didn’t. As if she realized having her son meet Fellingsdown was inevitable, she unclenched her hands and dropped them to her sides.
“Of course. I would be happy to have you meet him.”
The group had only taken a few steps toward the stairs before the nursery door opened and a small lad rushed out pulling Nellie’s hand. The minute he saw Lady Lathamton he dropped the young girl’s hand and ran toward them.
“Mother! Mother! Guess what?”
Everyone looked at the little boy running toward them.
“What?” Lady Lathamton asked lowering herself to the youngster’s level.
“Nellie’s going to take me to the pond to watch the fish.”
“She is?”
“Yes. Nanny said Nellie should take me for a walk because she has to help the doctor. Is someone sick?”
“No. A friend of mine had an accident and the doctor came to take care of her.”
“Oh,” the boy answered then slowly lifted his gaze as if he just realized there was a crowd of adults staring at him.
“Andrew. I’d like to introduce you to some friends of mine.”
The little boy with hair the exact dark shade as Harrison’s, and eyes the same color as Harrison’s took his mother’s hand and came forward. The resemblance between the Marquess of Fellingsdown and the boy was unmistakable.
She stopped in front of Fellingsdown. “Andrew, I’d like you to meet the Marquess of Fellingsdown. Fellingsdown, my son, Andrew, the Marquess of Lathamton.”
“Hello, Andrew.”
“Lord Fellingsdown.”
The boy executed a superb bow of respect, then waited for his mother to continue the introductions.
Other than a slight nod of each head when they were introduced, there wasn’t much conversation from any of them. They were all too stunned as they looked from Fellingsdown to the small lad standing in front of him.
“Are you friends of my mother’s?” the child asked when the introductions were finished.
“Yes,” Fellingsdown answered.
The boy seemed to ponder that answer, then decide it met with his approval.
“Did you know my father, too?”
Fellingsdown nodded. “Yes, I did.”
The young Marquess’s shoulders seemed to sag. “I wish I had.” There was a hint of disappointment in his voice. “I was too little when he died to remember him.”
The boy stopped and a smile lit his face. “Would you like to come with me to the pond to see the fish? Bertie said one of them’s as big as a sea monster, but I’ve never seen it.”
“Bertie?” Fellingsdown asked.
“He works in the gardens, and he takes me fishing
sometimes.”
“Do you like to go fishing?”
“Oh yes. I caught a real big fish the last time. But Bertie had to help me. I wasn’t big enough to do it by myself. Some day I will be though.”
“Maybe we can go fishing sometime.”
“Oh, yes! I’ll even show you where the best place to fish is.”
“I’d like that,” Fellingsdown said.
“Did you hear that, Mother? Lord Fellingsdown wants to go fishing with me.”
“Yes, I heard. That’s wonderful.” She gave her son a quick hug then turned him around. “Go with Nellie now, and be good. We’ll have gingersnaps when you return.”
“Oh, boy,” he said as he skipped down the hall and out of sight.
No one said anything. Brent knew it was most likely because they were unable. Finally Lady Lathamton broke the uncomfortable silence.
“If you’ll follow me,” she said, “we’ll wait in the drawing room until the doctor calls for us.”
Upon that statement, she walked away from them to go downstairs.
“I’m going to stay here,” Brent said before Lady Lathamton had gone far. “The doctor may need something.”
That was the truth but he also wanted to stay close to Elly.
“I think I’ll go outside and wait for the twins,” George said, perhaps needing fresh air. Perhaps wanting to give Harrison and Lady Lathamton time alone.
“I’ll go with you,” Spence said.
“Me too,” Jules added.
Fellingsdown’s three brothers walked down the stairs and out the front door. Fellingsdown followed Lady Lathamton down the flight of stairs and to a drawing room below.
Brent stood on the balcony and began the worst torture known to mankind.
Waiting.
___
Harrison closed the drawing room door behind him but couldn’t find the courage to walk across the floor. Somehow, he knew when he discovered the truth of what happened that night nearly four years ago, it would be something he wasn’t sure he could live with.
“Cassie?” He swallowed past the lump in his throat.
The woman he’d loved his whole life stood on the opposite side of the room with her back to him as she watched out the window. Over her shoulder he could see a little boy skipping across the grass on his way to the pond.
“He’s mine,” Harrison said, not as a question because he knew the answer, but as a statement. It was important that he acknowledge his son even though he could never publicly claim him.
Cassie nodded without turning around. “Did you hear Waverley admit he’d drugged me that night?”
“Yes.”
“I can’t tell you what happened because I don’t know. The whole ordeal was a nightmare. I woke up in a strange room, in a strange bed, with a strange man. My head throbbed while a crowd of strangers pointed at me and accused me of scandalous behavior. I didn’t understand what they meant. I hadn’t done anything.”
She turned around to face him and tears streamed down her face.
He made a move to go to her but she stopped him with a lift of her hand.
“I sent you a message right away,” she said.
“I didn’t get it.”
“I know. Waverley admitted he intercepted it.”
She dabbed at the tears falling from her eyes and took a shuddering breath. “I knew I was carrying your child and I...I told my father and Lord Lathamton. I was certain they wouldn’t force me to marry, knowing I would be passing off another man’s child as Everett’s. Instead, the news pleased Lathamton.”
“That’s because it was unlikely Everett could father a child. But what would make your father go along with Lathamton’s scheme? Did he owe him money?”
Cassie shook her head. “It was my brother.”
“Your brother?”
“Waverley accused Ben of being Everett’s lover. It wasn’t true, of course, but I realize now that Waverley must have threatened to spread the rumor if Father didn’t disown Ben. To save Ben’s reputation, Father agreed to Waverley’s plan.”
Cassie took a step into the room and sat on the edge of the sofa. Harrison sat beside her but remained far enough away not to intimidate her.
“Before he left, Ben came to tell me goodbye. He made me promise not to believe anything the old marquess said about him. I had no idea what he meant at the time but now I know. Waverley was behind it all. He wanted to get his hands on Hollyvine and Lathamton Estate.”
“Do you know where your brother went when he left England?”
Cassie lifted her gaze. “He went to America. I think a place called Boston. But I hear America is immense, and most of it barren and desolate.”
“It doesn’t matter how large America is or where your brother is living. We’ll find him, and we’ll bring him home. He’s the rightful Earl of Hollyvine and deserves to be acknowledged as such.”
“You would do that?”
“Absolutely. What happened isn’t his fault any more that it was yours or mine.”
She almost placed her hand on his, but stopped before they touched. “Thank you, Harrison.”
Neither of them spoke for several long minutes. Finally he turned to her. “Was Everett good to the boy?”
He had to ask, had to know that his son hadn’t been mistreated.
“He wasn’t cruel, if that’s what you want to know. He wasn’t anything. The only demand Everett ever made after we married was that I keep the boy out of his sight. I honored his request. He never saw Andrew.”
They both sat quietly on the sofa, Cassie on one end and Harrison on the other. If they’d wanted, they could have reached out and touched each other, and yet... It was expecting too much to ask that either of them make the first move to span the distance.
Finally Cassie looked at him with eyes filled with emotion. “I waited for you to come for me. Even after I was forced to marry, I thought you’d come.”
“I came to see you after the scandal broke,” he said.
“When?”
“The next morning.” It was the first time he’d admitted how desperate he’d been to get her back. “I went to your London townhouse but was refused admittance. I barged in anyway and ran through the house like a madman.”
“Father had already removed me to the country. We left before sunrise.”
“That’s what your butler told me when I threatened to break his neck.”
More tears fell from her eyes.
“He told me you’d gone to Lathamton Manor to marry.”
“I didn’t want to marry Everett. I kept hoping you’d ride into the church and carry me off and we would live happily ever after.”
“I was too proud. I’d made a fool of myself when I went to your townhouse. I refused to follow you to Lathamton Manor and beg you to choose me.”
“Didn’t you know I loved you?”
“I should have, but I was too hurt.” He turned on the sofa and reached for her clenched fingers.
She turned her head and their gazes locked.
“Andrew is the Marquess of Lathamton,” Cassie said in a soft, quiet voice. “You can never claim him.”
“I know.”
Harrison thought he knew pain. The pain he’d experienced when he thought Cassie had betrayed him had been an ache so cavernous and debilitating he wasn’t sure he’d survive. But this was a different pain. A deeper, rawer pain.
“I never stopped loving you,” he said, exposing his heart to her.
She released a loud sob, then flew into his arms. “I love you. I was furious with you and I tried to convince myself I could hate you. But I couldn’t.
Harrison kissed her on the cheek then down the side of her face and finally on the lips. “You shattered every dream I had for a life with you, but no matter how hard I tried, I could never stop loving you.”
“What are we going to do?”
Harrison laughed. “We’re going to get married. We’ve lost enough time. I have a woman I want to spend a lifetim
e loving, and a son I want to watch grow to be a man. I have a house I want to fill with other children so the Marquess of Lathamton doesn’t grow up alone.”
“Oh, Harrison. I love you.”
“But only half as much as I love you,” he said then pulled her into his arms and kissed her again.
“Wait until Elly hears,” Harrison said when he stopped kissing Cassie to hold her in his arms. “Do you think she’s the one who invited you to the party?”
“Yes, but that isn’t the reason I came.”
Her words confused him. “What do you mean?”
“I’m sure Elly sent me the invitation, but the real reason I came was because of the letter I received after the invitation.”
“What letter?”
Cassie walked to the writing desk and opened a secret drawer. She returned and handed him the letter. “Someone blackmailed me.”
Harrison opened it slowly and read.
Lady Lathamton,
In one week the Marquess of Fellingsdown will host a summer party. You will attend this event. Refusal to make an appearance will have disastrous consequences.
We know your secret. If you don’t want us to share your secret with the marquess, you will be there promptly for dinner, and stay until the last guest goes home.
Don’t fail us.
“Aunt Gussie and Aunt Esther,” he whispered with a smile on his face.
“Who?”
Harrison tipped back his head and laughed. “Aunt Gussie and Aunt Esther. They are your blackmailers.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. This is Aunt Ester’s writing. I recognized it immediately. But the words are Aunt Gussie’s. The Duke of Pendelton is known for inviting guests for dinner, then retiring for the evening before the last guest leaves his home. Aunt Gussie refuses to attend any event he hosts because she considers departing before your guests the height of rudeness.”
“Are you angry with them?”
“Heavens, no! Quite the opposite. I can’t wait to properly thank them.”
Cassie smiled. “Me, too.”
They kissed again, then Harrison pulled back. “I think I hear the doctor. We need to go to Elly.”
They rose and walked hand in hand across the room.
Cassie stopped before they reached the stairs. “I think it’s quite possible the Earl of Charfield has some very special feelings for Elly. Don’t you?”