He stood for a moment. In this private place, he could acknowledge the great gift and burden which had been passed down through the generations to him. Strathmore was his to hold. His life’s task was to increase its wealth and power for future generations.
With his private reflection over, Ewan went in search of his quarry. On the middle shelf sat a set of red velvet boxes. Each one containing a priceless piece of family jewelry. He picked up a small red ring box and opened it.
Inside, held neatly in the ring holder was a gold ring. A bright ruby, surrounded by diamonds was set in a simple, but elegant design.
The ring was nearly two hundred years old. James the First, King of the combined crowns of England and Scotland had gifted it to the Radley family as payment for their support of him during the early years of his reign.
He took the ring from the box and held it up to the light. The fire within it burned bright, offset by the clear glow of the diamonds. It was worth a princely fortune in any man's mind.
Tonight, Caroline had made her position clear. Now it was time for him to take control and move matters forward. The greatest risk as he saw it at this point, was to offer up the ring, and for Caroline to reject it.
Caroline Hastings was not the sort of girl to have her head turned by a jewel, no matter how magnificent it was. The Hastings were not short on heirlooms of their own.
He knew she wanted more from him than mere titles and jewels. She sought the most precious treasure he held.
His heart.
He put the ring back in the box and snapped the lid shut.
The situation was absurd. There were a hundred women of good families he could call on this very night and have them accept his proposal of marriage. Dukes were not inclined to beg women to marry them.
But the more he thought about it, the more certain he was that if it came to it, he would beg Caroline to be his wife.
It was time to tell her he loved her.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Caroline wrapped her long black travel cloak around her and pulled the hood over her head.
What she would actually say to anyone she encountered in the keep if she was discovered, she hadn’t decided.
With the snow now falling at a steady rate, few would believe that she was intent on taking a late night’s walk in the castle grounds.
Reaching Ewan’s bedroom door, she knocked.
‘I won’t be needing anything further this evening,’ he said, opening the door.
He was clad only in a shirt.
The look of surprise on his face at his visitor being Caroline and not his valet as expected was priceless.
‘Caroline?’
She swept past him and into the room. To her relief, he had the good sense to quickly close the door behind her.
She had rehearsed the next piece in her mind, so had him at a clear disadvantage.
Without a word, she stepped up to him and taking his face in her hands, placed a long seductive kiss on his lips. She sensed his initial hesitation, but when she reached down and lifted up his shirt and took a hold of his manhood she knew she had him at her mercy.
She began to stroke him along the length of his rapidly hardening member.
Ewan broke the kiss.
‘Are you sure?’
She nodded. He had wanted a passionate woman in his life, and she was determined to show him that there was fire in her blood.
‘I’m not leaving this room a virgin,’ she replied.
He puffed out his cheeks. It wasn’t every day that a man got that sort of an offer from a woman. He took hold of her hand and made her release her grip on him.
‘In that case, I suggest we get some ground rules established. Firstly, as the more experienced party I shall take the lead. Your first time should be special, something on which we can build.’
She swallowed. Nervous at the prospect of finally being with him.
‘And secondly, and probably most importantly we are honest with one another. No veils, no secrets. Tonight is where you and I begin, after that only god will separate us.’
He hadn’t actually said the words, but she knew in time they would come. She was certain of her path now and no longer feared to set foot upon it.
‘Yes.’
With careful movements, almost reverent in their gentle grace, Ewan removed Caroline’s garments. When he got to the light shift which was the only thing between his hands and her naked form, he stopped.
‘I have thought about this moment with you so many times that I lost count. I dreamt of holding you in my bed every night since you arrived. I want you, Caroline. Have no doubt of my need and desire for you.’
With those words, he lifted her shift and she was laid bare to him.
‘Beautiful,’ he murmured.
He went to his knees before her. When his tongue first touched the slick folds of her womanhood, Caroline sucked in a sharp breath.
She closed her eyes and tilted her head back, savoring every moment as he slaved her with his tongue. She had touched herself in bed late at night enough times to know that nothing came close to the pleasure Ewan lavished upon her body.
He rose to his feet before she had reached climax.
‘Not yet my sweet. I want to be inside of you when you come.’
He led her over to the bed and sat her down on the edge. His shirt was swiftly removed, giving Caroline her first sight of his naked body.
He caught her looking at his slightly rounded stomach and laughed.
‘Too many oatcakes and not enough exercise.’
She leaned forward and placed a tender kiss on his stomach.
‘I have read that lovemaking is a wonderful way to get one’s figure in shape. Consider me your new physician.’
With Ewan standing before her, in his highly aroused state, she put all worries aside. Reaching out she took hold of his manhood once more and ran her tongue along the length of him.
Ewan groaned. ‘Oh Caroline.’
‘Tell me what to do. Teach me how to pleasure you,’ she said.
‘Take me in your mouth, and suck gently,’ he whispered.
She did as he instructed, finding that within a short time she had a good rhythm established. Ewan speared his fingers through her hair, guiding her with his hips as to how deep she should take him. She continued to pleasure him with her tongue and her mouth for some time before Ewan stopped her.
‘Enough,’ he ground out.
She released him from the pleasure torture she had been enjoying inflicting on him.
He joined her on the bed. Parting the wet folds of her womanhood he slipped two fingers into her heated body. With his thumb rubbing the nib of her clitoris, he soon had her on the cusp of climax once more.
‘Ewan,’ she pleaded.
He rose over her and took her mouth in a searing kiss. Then placing his swollen member at her entrance, began to slowly enter her body.
She felt a twinge, but in an instant, it was gone.
‘You are mine now,’ he said.
She looked up into his eyes, they were glazed with passion. He was fully in the moment. At the next of his deep strokes, Caroline lay back in the bed and closed her eyes.
Without sight, her senses heightened. With every thrust of Ewan’s cock deep into her body, pleasure speared through her. The tension built slowly but steadily. When she felt she was on the verge of reaching the end, he pulled back.
‘Not so fast my love. I want this to last until you think you are about to go mad. Then, and only then, will I release you into the depths of your climax.’
She gripped the side of his hips, urging him to come deeply into her once more.
Time and time again Ewan held her back. Brought her to the edge of insanity and then held her there.
Finally, even he could not hold back the swelling tide. One final deep thrust into her and Caroline shattered in his arms. Mind altering pleasure coursed through her body.
As the pace of his strokes now increased
to a frenzy, Caroline lifted her legs and wrapped them around his hips. Taking him as deep as she could, she pulled him over the edge to join her. He collapsed on top of her, an exhausted, sated mess.
Later, when she made to leave his bed and head back to her room, fearing discovery from the servants in the morning, Ewan pulled her close to him. He wrapped his arms around her and held her in the warmth of the bed.
‘This is the bed you sleep in tonight and all nights from now on. Go to sleep my love.’
With Ewan lying naked beside her, she closed her eyes and succumbed to power of sleep.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Caroline stole back to her room early Christmas morning, but not until after she and Ewan had made love a second time.
When her maid arrived several hours later, Caroline struggled to get out of bed. She felt twinges in places she didn’t know could have twinges.
She dressed in her best gown and retrieved the Christmas gifts she had made from out of her bottom drawer.
Arriving a short time later in the main family sitting room she was greeted with a heart-warming sight.
Ewan was seated by the fire, bouncing David gently on his knee. Next to him on the side of the fireplace hung a branch of Christmas rosemary. On the mantlepiece, an advent wreath had been placed. Around the wreath was wrapped a strip of Strathmore tartan. A lighted candle in the middle of the wreath completed the Christmas decorations.
‘You did remember Christmas, thank you’ she exclaimed.
She placed her gifts on a nearby table, as Lady Alison and Aunt Maude entered the room.
‘Merry Christmas.’
Hugs and Christmas greetings were exchanged all round.
‘Now I know you don’t celebrate Christmas as such here in Scotland, but I still wanted to give you Christmas gifts. I beg your indulgence,’ said Caroline.
The hand knitted scarves were well received by Lady Alison and Aunt Maude. They sat as twins on the nearby couch with their scarves wrapped around necks, matching wide grins on their faces.
Caroline took David in her arms and sat down with him to open his gift. He barely sniffed at his new clothes, being more interested in the ribbon bows on the front of her gown.
There was a knock at the door and Ewan escorted Hannah into the room.
‘Considering Christmas is about the birth of a child, and Hannah was my own child’s protector from birth I thought it apt that she joins us this morning,’ said Ewan.
He took a piece of paper from out of his pocket and handed it to Hannah.
‘This is for you, should you choose to accept it.’
Hannah opened the paper and read it for several minutes before looking at Ewan.
‘I don’t understand your Grace. It says something about a cottage and a stipend. I don’t know what a stipend is.’
‘It means that you will have the run and use of a cottage on the Strathmore estate for the rest of your life. You will also have a yearly stipend to live on, whether you chose to take the cottage or not. For all that you have done, I owe you more than I could ever repay,’ he explained.
Hannah looked at Caroline, before bursting into tears. Ewan had given Hannah freedom from being a servant for the rest of her life. She could choose where and how she would live.
‘I believe there is one more gift to come,’ said Aunt Maude. She and Lady Alison sat forward on the couch.
Caroline picked up Ewan’s present and handed it to him.
‘And this is for you.’
He took the shirt. As he opened the gift and held it up, an awkward silence descended upon the room.
Ewan gave his mother and aunt a sideways look.
‘In Scotland, it is customary for only a close female relative, such as a wife to make a man a shirt. Who gave you the idea to make me a shirt?’ he said.
Caroline smiled.
‘The same people who were so helpful in securing a nursemaid from Edinburgh,’ she replied.
The meddling of the Radley women had not gone unnoticed. She has suspected something was afoot after the third of the candidates showed themselves to be entirely unsuitable for the role of David’s nursemaid.
It was comforting to know that both Lady Alison and Aunt Maude were keen to see Caroline and Ewan together.
‘It’s a very thoughtful gift. It shall come to good use. Thank you, Caroline.’
He put down the shirt and held out his hands to take David. As soon as he left Caroline's arms, David began to fuss.
'He cannot live without you. And I must confess to being of the same mind.'
With his son held in his arms, the Duke of Strathmore went down on one knee.
David filled his lungs with air and let out a roar. Ewan looked down at him in dismay, while Caroline burst into laughter.
'Whatever it is you are trying to say, I suggest you get to the point before he gets warmed up,' she said.
'Marry me. Marry us.'
He pulled a small box from out of his coat pocket and held it up.
Caroline took it from his outstretched hand and opened the box. Inside was a ring. A large ruby with diamonds set around the outside glistened in the mid-morning sun.
'It has been passed down through the last five Duchesses of Strathmore. I am hoping with all my heart that you will be the sixth woman who shall wear it as her betrothal ring.'
She looked from the ring to Ewan who by now was struggling to stay on his knee and balance the protesting infant in his arms.
Hannah stepped forward and took David.
'Shhh, don't fuss my sweet. This is an important moment in your life,' she murmured to him.
Caroline had played this scene enough times in her mind to know that, apart from the wailing infant, it looked very much like what she had imagined.
Ewan got to his feet.
Their gazes met.
'As you have no doubt realized by now, I am not possessed of the polish that you would expect from a man of my station. Women have been and still are creatures of mystery to me. What I do know is that over the past weeks one thought has continued to grow stronger in my mind. And in light of events over very recent days, it is the one thing above all others that I need to say to you.'
'Go on.'
He reached out and brushed his hand along her cheek.
'I love you. Will you be my wife, my duchess?'
Their lips met. A tender caress, they both struggled to keep in check.
'I've never stopped loving you. Even after you broke my heart,' she replied.
Ewan pulled the ring from the box and slipped it onto Caroline's finger.
'I will never hurt you again. From this day forth I am yours if you will have me.'
‘Yes.’
Chapter Twenty-Seven
When Ewan said from this day forth, Caroline thought he meant their betrothal. What she soon realized was that he intended for her to be the Duchess of Strathmore from this very day.
Unbeknownst to her, the castle had been a hive of prewedding activity from early light. The family chapel was hastily decorated with whatever flowers or pretty herbs which could be found. The village minister had been summoned from his bed and made ready for the wedding party in his best robes.
The courtyard had been swept clear of snow and a second bonfire constructed. Barrels of ale and whisky had been tapped in readiness for the wedding feast. Freshly caught boars were roasting on the spits. The castle cook had staff hurrying back and forth from the kitchens to the dry food stores.
All the castle staff and the nearby villagers were gathered inside the castle walls. It was not every day that the Duke of Strathmore got married and no one was going to miss the celebrations.
All that was required now was the bride.
Caroline dressed in a cream gown, with a Strathmore tartan sash draped from her shoulder walked the short distance from the castle keep to the chapel. In her light brown hair, she wore the Hastings family gold and pearl tiara. In her hands she held a small posy of Scottish heather.
Lady Alison and Aunt Maude sat in the front pew of the chapel, alongside them were David and his newly appointed nursemaid Hannah. With her sweetheart still in the navy, she had made the generous offer to stay with the Radley family until she was able to marry and bring her new husband to live in the cottage gifted to her on the Strathmore estate.
Both Ewan and Caroline thoroughly approved of the choice of nursemaid.
Caroline’s heart swelled with emotion when Ewan, standing in front of the altar turned and smiled at her. Under his black velvet coat and breeches, he wore a Strathmore tartan waistcoat. Under the waistcoat, he proudly wore the white shirt his new bride had made for him.
As she reached his side, he turned and gave her a tender kiss on the lips. The minister looked down at his Bible and pretended he had not seen anything.
‘I love you, Caroline Hastings. I couldn’t be happier knowing that you are to be by my side for the rest of my life.’
‘I love you too.’
She had never thought to be a Christmas Day bride, but of all the gifts she could have wished for, knowing that the man she was about to marry truly loved her was the most precious gift of all.
Her Scottish duke was finally hers.
Epilogue
'Hush now my lad.'
Caroline kissed the forehead of the newborn she held in her arms, as she tried to settle him.
'He has the same set of lungs as his brother,' Ewan said.
He reached down and picked up a squirming David, who was now a strapping toddler. David was excited to see the new baby.
'Baby Alex,' said David.
The Duke and Duchess of Strathmore exchanged a smile. The first of David's siblings had finally arrived. A child conceived in love and welcomed in the second year of their marriage.
Alex Radley, Marquess of Brooke.
Happy Christmas
A Scottish Duke for Christmas (The Duke of Strathmore Book 4) Page 7