by Abby Ayles
He softened into a smile, however. There was much of himself he saw in his son.
“But because I do care so dearly for your mother and her constitution, I will give in to your demands.”
Lord Dunthorpe eased into a smile. He had overcome his first hurdle. With his father now on his side, the next would be much easier.
Lord Dunthorpe was well aware that his father, and no doubt the rest of his family, would see his choice to join the Regulars as a rash decision. He, on the other hand, found it to be the most promising course of action he had ever taken in the whole of his life.
He knew that soon the time would come for him to have to settle down, take a wife, and continue the legacy of his father’s earldom. He had enjoyed the prospects of the peerage and the social discretions that came with it.
He was now finding himself a grown man, no longer enamored of the artless pleasure of a gentleman’s life. He wanted to have some importance attached to his life. The constant revolutions of seasons at his family’s country estates no longer seemed worthwhile or meaningful in Colton’s mind.
That evening at dinner, Lord Dunthorpe tried his best to be a perfect son for the sake of his mother. Anything to help ease the blow he was about to give was worth the sacrifice.
“Mother, I have just received a letter from Isabella. I can scarcely believe the words she wrote,” Lady Louisa Frasier said to her mother across the dinner table.
“Oh, does that mean she has given birth? Do tell me quickly! Are both Isabella and the babe doing well?”
“Well,” Lady Louisa said, not usually the one excited to be in the limelight. Her news, however, was just so fantastical that it made her forget her normally timid demeanor. “She told me first that everything went wonderfully and that she is recovering very quickly.
“She also reported that not only did she have a healthy baby boy,” Lady Louisa paused for dramatic effect, “but also a beautiful baby girl.”
The Countess of Gilchrist raised both hands to her face in shock.
“Twins?”
Lady Louisa nodded in the affirmative.
“She also inquired if we all might be able to visit her at Wintercrest Manor at our earliest convenience. Won’t that be wonderful to go and see both beautiful babies?”
“How very exciting. We will have to find the time to go before the winter storms settle in. It is already very near to autumn.”
“I am sure she would be more than happy if we stayed the whole holiday season through,” Lady Louisa added.
“What do you think, Lord Gilchrist? Shall we all go up north to see the Duke and Duchess’s new babies?”
Lady Gilchrist turned to her husband at the other end of the table. His eyes flickered on each member seated before saying anything.
“I think it would be a lovely diversion to spend the holidays up north,” Lord Gilchrist agreed.
The Frasier household rarely left their London home, all finding it to be comfortable and inviting. From time to time, as it suited their fancies, they would spend short occasions at their country seat. It was along the western coast of the country and boasted beautiful views of the Bristol Channel very near to the fashionable retreat town of Bath.
“Colton, you must come with us too,” Lady Louisa said, turning to her brother. “I know you and the Duke of Wintercrest got on very well. He will no doubt be most happy to have your company.”
Both Lord Dunthorpe and his father exchanged a nervous look. This was no doubt the right window of opportunity for Lord Dunthorpe to tell his sister and mother of his alternate future to that of Wintercrest Manor.
“It seems like a charming diversion, but I’m afraid I won't be able to join you,” Lord Dunthorpe said, doing his best to ease into his own arrangement.
“Why ever not?” Lady Louisa asked, raising one of her mousey brows as she lifted some cured ham casually to her mouth.
“I am afraid I have my own announcement to make. The cause of it will keep me detained for quite some time.”
“Don’t tell me you bought another racing horse,” Lady Gilchrist chimed in. “The last one you got, you spent a whole year with the trainers and we scarcely ever saw you.”
Lord Dunthorpe recalled with fondness that particular diversion a few years back. He had grown tired of just watching the gig races and wanted to try his hand at it himself.
Lord Dunthorpe was never one to do something halfway. For that reason, he searched the whole country over for the most outstanding racing horse stock and the fastest gig. Then he spent every waking moment training with his horse and buggy.
He had to admit it did pay off in the end. He had won almost every race. It was entertaining at first. However, winning continually quickly soured Lord Dunthorpe’s taste for racing. What was the point if there was no fear of losing?
“I have not purchased a horse. In fact, I can promise you that I won’t even be attending any races for quite some time. I have bought a commission.”
He looked back and forth between his sister and mother. Poor Lady Louisa held a boiled potato mid-air, with her mouth agape, unable to move.
“I don’t understand,” Lady Gilchrist finally said.
It was enough to wake her daughter and Lady Louisa set down her fork, suddenly put off her meal.
“I will be joining the Regulars, Mother. I have bought a lieutenant’s commission and will be doing what is necessary for king and crown.”
Lord Dunthorpe couldn’t help but hold his head up high as he said these words. It was not for pride, but to show that he was confident in his choice.
“Did you know about this, Lord Gilchrist?” the Countess asked, turning significantly pale as she faced her husband.
“He informed me earlier this afternoon in my office, my dear.”
“And you are in agreement with it?” she struggled out.
The Earl of Gilchrist looked between his wife and son. He would not lie for one, nor would he willingly bring more unease than necessary on the other.
“I am settled to the fact. Colton is old enough to do what he wishes with his own life. If this is the course he chooses, I will not stand in his way.”
“But Colton,” Lady Gilchrist said, with a visible shake to her voice, “what of the danger?”
“I promise I will be very considerate of my actions, Mother.”
Lady Gilchrist promptly excused herself from the table, too overcome with emotion to stay much longer.
The room was silent as she left. Soon after, Lord Gilchrist went to console his wife. This left the two siblings alone in the dining room.
“You are very set on this, then?” Lady Louisa finally asked.
Colton felt his first pang of regret. Their whole lives, Colton had made it his mission to take care of and protect his younger sister. She was not only younger than him, but of a very meek nature. Between this and her moderately plain-featured looks, she had often been an easy target for a cruel miss.
“I am very set on this,” he said softly.
“Then you will promise to write me often?”
Lord Dunthorpe and Lady Louisa may have had a few years of age between them, but they were still very close siblings. Lady Louisa had counted on him on a number of occasions to be her champion in times of distress. Not only that, but he had also brought much light and laughter to what might otherwise have been a very dull life for her.
“Of course I will,” Lord Dunthorpe said, reaching across the table and taking his sister's hand. “Every day, if you wish it. So much, in fact, it will be as if I am still here and you wish me gone.”
Lady Louisa gave a soft smile of relief at this promise. She had been at her brother’s side so much of her life, she feared how she would go on with him away. What brought an even colder shudder to her was the thought that this endeavor might result in losing her brother permanently.
Chapter 1
“James, you little rascal. Where are you hiding?" Jackie called out down the long hall of Wintercrest Manor.
She took her slippered steps very carefully with her little cousin, Elisabeth, holding her hand. They paused for a moment, as Jackie was sure she heard a giggle.
Sure enough, the sound came again. It was the soft laughter of a three-year-old who couldn’t contain himself. Elisabeth gave her own toddler laugh in reply, covering her mouth with her free cherubic hand.
“We’ve caught them now,” Jackie said to her partner.
Jackie slid open the door to what seemed like an empty bedroom. She could, however, hear the rustle of bedding.
Jackie put a finger to her lips and pointed under the bed for Elisabeth's benefit. They both snuck over and got down on their knees before the long bed covering.
With a swift movement, Jackie lifted the bedding to reveal Elisabeth’s twin brother hiding under the bed.
“Got you!” Elisabeth called out to him.
“Where is Aunt Abigail?” Jackie asked as she helped pull the three-year-old from under the bed.
It wasn’t a room that was often used, and his clothes and dark hair were now covered in a light coating of dust.
James promptly sneezed as Jackie attempted to brush it off. Mrs. Murray wasn’t one to rise to a temper, but she would be very unhappy to see the boy in such a state.
Elisabeth decided to search the room as Jackie did her best to brush her brother off. She knew her Aunt Abigail couldn’t be far away from her hide-and-seek partner.
“Found you, too,” Elisabeth called out as she poked behind a privacy screen.
There, she did find her Aunt Abigail, much too old for silly games, but still happily playing with her two nieces and nephew.
“Oh, dear. I thought I really had you fooled that time,” Lady Abigail Grant said as she was led by the hand from behind the curtain.
“Aunt Abigail couldn’t fit under the bed,” James said with a giggle.
“I could so fit,” Lady Abigail retorted with a hand on her hip. “I just didn’t want to get all dusty like you.”
The children all happily laughed with their aunt before she returned them all to the nursery. It would soon be time for Lady Abigail to dress for dinner.
“May I come down with you too, tonight?” Jackie asked.
“I am afraid not. We are to have Captain Jones and a few of his officers from the militia with us tonight.”
“But I am almost twelve years old. Certainly that is old enough,” Jackie retorted.
Lady Abigail knew that her niece was now at that age where she no longer wanted to be treated as a child left in the nursery. She had struggled with the same frustrations as a young girl.
“I know it doesn’t seem fair now, but you would not want to come anyway. “Captain Jones is an ancient, very boring man. I fear you would fall asleep during your first course and never want to come to dinner again,” Lady Abigail added, trying to make it seem less enticing.
“I don’t care, I still want to go,” Jackie grumbled.
“I know, my dear. Very soon you will and wish you didn’t have to.”
Lady Abigail would have been more than happy to stay the night in the nursery with the twins and let Jackie go in her place. Not only was Captain Jones incredibly unentertaining, he was also very long-winded.
It was going to be a very long night of pretending to be interested. Lady Abigail’s only hope was that at least one of the three lieutenants that would be joining the captain would be of some interest.
Lady Abigail was now nineteen years old and of a marrying age. She thought the prospect of finding a gentleman who would interest her very unlikely. They all wanted a quiet, prim, proper lady. That was not Abigail at all.
She much rather fancied the idea of marrying an officer instead. Though he might not have been one of the peerages, he was undoubtedly considered a gentleman. Men of this social standing would also be less likely to be put off by a less than gentle manner.
Lady Abigail had of course been bred to be an entirely proper lady by her parents, the Duke and Duchess of Wintercrest. They also had, however, given her the freedom to grow into her own personality.
Lady Abigail hoped to marry someday. She wished to find that love that seemed to defy any barricades of social standards, as her brother, the current Duke of Wintercrest, had done when he first met his wife, Isabella.
She, however, did not want to marry solely because social graces dictated that she do so. If she did marry, she had long ago determined it would be someone she loved dearly and who would care for her just as she would them.
Sadly, Lady Abigail was sorely disappointed with the night's dinner guests. Captain Jones had brought three of his lieutenants and a colonel. The colonel was much too old for Lady Abigail’s liking, two of the three lieutenants were already married, and the third betrothed.
Lady Abigail half wondered if her brother had purposefully only invited the otherwise unavailable to dinner that night.
The duke often had the high-ranking officers from the militia come to dinner when they were in the area. It was an important gesture for him to give, but it also allowed nostalgia for his own days in the Royal Navy.
The duke was aware that Abigail was now of the age when courtships became pressing and engagements were on the horizon. He rather overprotected her when it came to opportunities of meeting gentlemen.
“You know he did it on purpose,” Lady Abigail said softly to her sister-in-law after dinner.
The whole party was now seated in the drawing room. The men were by the fire talking politics while Lady Abigail, Isabella, the Duchess of Wintercrest, and the dowager duchess played a game of cards.
* * *
“I am quite certain he did do it on purpose,” the duchess agreed.
“What a rotten thing it is to do,” Lady Abigail said, setting down her cards rather exaggeratedly.
“What is it you two are whispering about?” Lady Abigail’s mother asked over her own hand of cards.
The dowager duchess was now deteriorating quickly in her older age. Lady Abigail suspected, with the loss of her husband a few years back, her mother had since lost much of the light in her life.
Lady Abigail’s parents could not have been more opposite creatures. Not only were they different in manners and personality, but there was a very vast age difference. For an outsider to look in on their marriage, it would have been assumed the arrangement was made for practical purposes.
It was well known, however, by all the late duke and dowager duchess’s children that their parents did, in fact, have a deep affection for each other.
“Abigail is not very happy to see that the gentlemen invited tonight are not of her preference,” the duchess explained to her mother-in-law.
“Your brother hopes better for you than a common militiaman,” Lady Abigail’s mother explained.
Lady Abigail didn’t like this response, nor did she look forward to the idea of her overly protective brother choosing dinner guests in the future.
“Don’t worry,” the duchess said, taking her sister-in-law’s hand and patting it softly. “Soon, the season will be upon us. You will have more suitors than you know what to do with.”
It was an accurate statement that, due to Lady Abigail’s beauty, she caught the eye of many potential suitors during her time in London each year. What was upsetting to her was that, so far, no one had caught her eye in return.
Lady Abigail brushed a rust-colored ringlet back from her shoulder. It was an act of irritation that both the duchess and Lady Abigail’s mother knew well.
“I have to say, I am surprised that His Grace is allowing you to go at all,” Lady Abigail said with emphasis on her brother’s proper title.
The duchess patted her belly that was beginning to show the swell of life beneath.
“ I have plenty of time before this little one comes. I have been away from London for so long, I could not bear to spend another season away. And as for the duke,” she said with a raised brow, “I did not ask. I merely announced my intentions.”
&n
bsp; All three ladies laughed at this. They had become quite a close trio with all the time they had spent together over the last four years.
Though up until now the duchess had chosen to stay home with her young children, Lady Abigail and her mother had still attended the season at their lavish city house. They always came home in time to spend the remainder of the year with the duke, duchess, their ever-growing family, and the late Lord James Grant’s daughter, Jaqueline De’belmount.
“You will give my best to my sister, won't you?" Lady Abigail’s mother asked after they all contained their rather girlish giggles.
“Of course I will,” Lady Abigail assured her mother.
Lady Abigail rather looked forward to her time each year in London, less for the prospects and more for time with her favorite cousin, Lady Fortuna Rosh. She dearly loved this extension of her family and, in times past, had spent many weeks visiting with her uncle and aunt, the Marquess and Marchioness of Huntington.
“I do wish you would come though, Mother," Lady Abigail added.
“I am not feeling at all up to it this year. Plus, with all three of my grandchildren staying here at Wintercrest, I dare say I will be much happier to have them about than the ladies of the town.”
“I must confess, I am happy to have you here with them too,” the duchess added. “It will be my first time away from the twins. I didn’t think I could do it but knowing you will be with them brings me comfort.”
“Remember you said that, my dear, for when you return, you may find them entirely spoiled,” Lady Abigail's mother said with a happy glow around her aging face.
Lady Abigail couldn’t help but notice that, despite the wrinkles that now curled around her brown eyes and the large amounts of silver hair that glowed in the light of candles, her mother was still a gorgeous woman.
Chapter 2
“I still don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go,” the duke said the following night as the whole household sat around the fire.
“Don’t worry, my love,” the duchess reassured her husband. “I will be able to go to town and return home at the end of the season all before this little one is even ready to come out.”