Parthena's Promise

by Holmes, Valerie

  “Jerome, next you will be declaring that you love me…” She looked away and laughed.

  “Would that be so unpalatable?” he asked, but walked on.

  Thena was genuinely taken aback. He was either a very sensitive and genuine person, despite his rank and profession, or an extremely good actor.

  She caught up with him and smiled brightly as they returned to the Hall. “Very well, if you are willing and sincere, then let our adventure continue, Mr Fender, and use whatever power you can to protect my villagers, my home and my heart, and destroy the vermin that have taken up residence within it.”

  She did not look for his response or wait for his reply. Thena boldly stepped enthusiastically back into the Hall.

  “You enjoyed your walk, Parthena?” Bertram greeted her.

  “Very much so, cousin. I have much to tell you,” she said.

  “Oh, good, good, but later. Mr Fender will join us for dinner and we shall talk then.”

  “Very well, Bertram,” she responded and passed by the grandfather clock. She smiled. Bertram’s reign was about to come to an abrupt end. She returned to her room to repack for a very different journey. This time she would not be facing a lonely life as a governess at some family’s beck and call. No, she was going to marry a man whose purse she had stolen, returned it to him – albeit he reclaimed it, but in its place she was really beginning to believe she had unwittingly stolen his heart instead. The thought filled her with more hope and happiness than she had had for a year since because, at her loneliest and most desperate point in her life, he had appeared to her in the midst of the night as she had crossed a lonely street to find shelter behind an inn, hoping there was a stable she could hide in. Fate, he had called it; destiny was a better word, she thought.

  Chapter 12

  The dinner had been most frustrating for Thena. She had wanted to ask Jerome so much about his life, his world, his family, and instead had had to endure an evening that felt more like a game of charades. Bertram asked many questions and, if Jerome answered honestly, he had property in London and an estate in Kent. Bertram almost drooled when he mentioned Boodles and Almack’s Assembly Rooms, the ton, and joked about it being The Marriage Mart where he had met his own dear wife. He was planning on Eleanor stepping out there as it was to be her first Season. However, the smokescreen that they had created for Bertram had worked as he thought her senseless and witless, as she questioned Jerome about this fictitious sister and the life of a London lady as opposed to the life of a lady of the manor on a country estate. Bertram so believed that she was being duped by Jerome that it was comical and sad to behold such a fickle mind as his. Ironic really, she thought, as it was he who had been.

  She watched him leave. He walked with great speed down the short drive to the gates that opened into the village square. Bertram obviously was keen to meet up with Jerome, his new acquaintance, again and Thena had to admit, so was she.

  *

  Mr Stanton arrived promptly. Thena was waiting near the door for him, so that he did not need to alert the servants of his presence. These were strange times, so protocol was no longer something she worried about.

  Once in the day room she closed the doors behind them. “So, Mr Stanton, I understand you have a gift for me from my father.”

  “Yes, I have.” He promptly produced an envelope from his leather bag. “This was for you for your twenty-first birthday, Miss Munro.”

  “I thank you for keeping it safe for my eyes only.” She took it, then apologetically replied, “I have not offered you any refreshments…”

  “There is no need, miss. I do not wish to be found here either.” He smiled. “Is there anything you would like me to assist you with before I leave, Miss Munro?” he asked.

  “Yes, there is,” she replied, as she read the short note. It simply said: “Take care of your time, my dear Parthena, and use it wisely!”

  “Then ask.”

  “Is Mr Jerome Fender a genuine and honest man?” She stared at him as she anxiously waited for his reply.

  “I knew him some years ago, before the wars, but he was an honourable man whom I looked upon as a friend, with great admiration. I do not think you would find a better man, if I am honest, and I believe he has your best interest at heart.”

  She was relieved to hear this and judged the man to also be honest, as he had kept her personal gift away from Cousin Bertram.

  “Then please bear witness to my using this key, as it opens the door in the clock’s case.” They went out into the hall where it stood.

  “It’s a Dumville longcase,” she said, and used the key to open the panel in its base. “My father had this compartment especially made. He would keep what he called his emergency fund there.” She crouched down and pulled out a velvet pouch and a leather wallet. “Oh, look!” she exclaimed, as she found an emerald ring, necklace and earrings. A piece of paper simply wished her well and to be proud of whom she is. The wallet held notes to the value of two hundred pounds. “This is a fortune!” she exclaimed. One last document was the deed to the school house in the village. A further message was left with this stating: “You will always have a home in Leaham, should you need it.”

  “He left me the school house. The first floor of it has living quarters and the attic is a study room that overlooks the salmon course and the river. He wanted me to have some independence if I was not married or welcome at the Hall. But for all his generosity it is nowhere near enough to save the land from my cousin’s plans. Please come with me and I will show you the drawings in his study.”

  Thena did and saw the look of horror on Mr Stanton’s face. “If this goes ahead, the village, my home, will be ruined.” He stared at her.

  “Unless I marry before the end of the month, to a man I can trust and who will help me to foil his plan,” she said, but really it was a question to make sure that neither she nor Mr Fender had missed anything.

  “Yes, that is so,” he confirmed.

  “Then I will bid you good day, and when next we meet I will be a married lady.” She held her head proud as she replied.

  “I wish you well, Miss Munro, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.” His words drifted off as he made his way to the doorway of the Hall.

  Thena watched him go, gathered her things and summoned Hubbart. She had a journey to prepare for and a future to secure.

  *

  It was after a very rushed journey, at speed, that the coach finally arrived outside the blacksmith’s in Gretna Green. The thought of a church wedding with all the trimmings and a village celebration had lost its appeal to her when her father died. The noise of the vehicle caused a rush of excitement she felt as it carried the two elopers on their way. The carriage had jostled and juddered in a relentless momentum as the miles were covered. Stops were made but not for long as they had to reach their destination before being found out. That said, the journey had been a fairly quiet one.

  They took a breath of fresh air as they alighted from the coach. Holding onto each other they steadied themselves, as their arrival was made known.

  “Thena, if you wish to change your mind, I will not hold it against you. But once we step through that door and are wed before an anvil, not an altar, it will be too late to regret your decision.”

  “Are you sure it is me who you think is having doubts? It hardly compares with the kind of wedding your family would expect of you, does it?” She saw his face change. Shock, she thought, and her heart ached, for she was sure he had doubted his gallant, but rash decision.

  “Thena, I do not care what they expect. I do not want a marriage that is shallow. I want you! I want someone who feels passion for the land they represent, for the life they have and, hopefully, in time, for me. I do not wish to live in London, Thena. If you are willing, I would live at the Hall and learn how to make the estate stronger, so that it would never be threatened again. If you are willing… I want this to be a real marriage.”

  “Oh, Jerome, I am more than willin
g, for that is what I desire also, but I do not deserve you.” She flung her arms around his neck. They kissed like true lovers, but he pulled away.

  “Miss Munro, we should seal our fate quickly, I think.” He was almost laughing as he spoke, but then a serious note returned to his voice. “I forgot to tell you that, when we do this, we will not only stop Bertram Munro in his tracks, but we will bring the man low. He has debtors he cannot pay.”

  Thena did not hesitate to reply. “Then let him be brought low. He cared not for how many others’ lives he would destroy to pay for his own lifestyle. He needs stopping!”

  “Very well, shall we, Miss Munro?” he said, and took her hand ready to lead her into the blacksmith’s shop where the brief ceremony would be performed legally, by Scottish law.

  “No regrets?” he asked one last time before they crossed the threshold.

  “None, Mr Fender, I promise,” she said, and stepped into her future.

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