A Promise of Pure Gardenias

by Jackie Williams

  “You know she fell in love with that fragrance she wears after being here when she was little. Your orangery had the most gorgeous collection of gardenias. Sophia adored the scent. I think it has been her one and only luxury in her adult life.”

  Brendon’s other eye opened and his gaze lifted.

  “I didn’t know that. The orangery is still there and I think Mrs. Lawson maintains it. She makes the most marvellous lotions and oils.”

  Algernon nodded.

  “Perhaps you should take advantage of the woman’s skills, if you feel that strongly as you say about my sister. I know that the two of you haven’t seen eye to eye lately. My fault as much as yours. I should never have mentioned your mistress, but you could offer an olive branch, so to speak.”

  “Oh really, and what would you suggest? Bring her hothouse flowers, like Lucas Caruthers?” He sliced his fingers through his hair. “She hates me. She doesn’t want to marry me. She said so last year. I was but ten feet from her and heard her quite distinctly. There was no ambiguity. And you saw how she was with me on the way down here. What with you flapping your chops about my private arrangements, and me putting my bloody great feet in my mouth all the time, the whole journey was something of a nightmare. I’m surprised she even agreed to come over here with all your extra furniture.” He refused to think of those delightfully gentle hands that had become so much bolder as they explored his body. It didn’t mean she was interested in him. It had been a simple reaction to the situation at the time. She had been petrified and hadn’t been thinking clearly.

  Algernon stopped pacing and scratched his head. His sister had said that her crush on his friend was over, not that he set much store by that. She had merely been hurt after finding out about Brendon’s mistress, but her shoulders had remained stiff for a long time after Brendon departed their carriage, her mouth set in an angry line until they reached Sommersford. And yet she had brought furniture to Fallows for Felicity, knowing that she would have to remain the night, without so much as a protest.

  Had Felicity persuaded Sophia to consider Brendon as a marriage prospect again, or was there more to the escapade? His thoughts went back to the furniture. With the size of Sommersford, it suddenly seemed strange that his wife would need to store furniture somewhere else. And yet if this hadn’t been over Brendon, what else was the trip for?

  “Yes, she did come over, didn’t she?” He said thoughtfully. “What did you say that she brought with her exactly? Felicity only mentioned some surplus things. I couldn’t see the urgency myself, but in her condition, I wasn’t prepared to argue. Might have had my head bitten off if I said the wrong thing.”

  Brendon laughed, easing the tension in the air. That sounded like his sister.

  “I don’t know about surplus. I imagine you will need it all sometime quite soon. Sophia said that Felicity was worried about the orphans’ cats making beds in it, or some such. It all looks like baby stuff. I recall a cot and a swinging cradle, a rocking horse and some sort of child’s chair on legs. Several bags of clothing and whatnot too, I think. I don’t know exactly. I didn’t examine it, just asked the lads who delivered it to put it all in the room past my mother’s until you needed it back.”

  Algernon’s brows furrowed as he walked back in through the window and straight across the bedroom with Brendon close on his heels. He didn’t stop as he reached the corridor but marched past her Ladyship’s room and onto the next. He pushed the door open and stepped inside, making for the pile of items stacked in the space at the foot of the bed. He made a tour of the pile, ticking things off on his fingers before turning back to his friend in astonishment.

  “But we have all of this stuff already. The nursery has been finished and these items are in their proper positions. As directed by my wife. Why in heavens name would she want another set of everything?”

  Brendon pressed his lips together and furrowed his brow.

  “No reason at all unless you were having two babies, I suppose.” He stopped speaking abruptly as his friend’s eyes suddenly widened, his face turned a ghastly shade of green, and he swayed visibly. Brendon grabbed hold of Algernon’s arm and led him to a chair. “Oh my Lord,” he continued quietly as Algernon’s knees buckled and he slumped down into the seat. “Felicity is having twins. And she hasn’t told you. No wonder she is the size of a small cow!”

  Algernon’s mouth opened and closed in a fair imitation of a stranded trout before he took a huge breath and let out a groan of anguish.

  “We thought she began to show early, and the doctor must know by now, but when I felt her stomach she said the lumps and bumps were a knee or an elbow. Well, I suspect they were, but there did seem to be an awful lot of them. Why hasn’t she told me,” he growled with eyes suddenly narrowed.

  Brendon snorted as he raised an eyebrow.

  “I should have thought that was obvious from the way you are reacting right now. Besides which, you are like a mother hen already. If you had known she was having twins you would be like a whole coop of them, clucking and fussing and generally being a pain in the arse. Felicity likes her independence. I suspect that you have been a touch overbearing.”

  Outraged at the suggestion, Algernon shot up from the chair.

  “OVERBEARING! I have never been overbearing in my life. You can take the honour for that title, stalking about pompously demanding that I marry your sister, for the least infraction. I’ve put up with years of ‘overbearing’ and all of it has been yours!” He sniffed indignantly and calmed his tones. “I am simply concerned for my wife. The things you hear about childbirth...” He shook his head, unable to say those things aloud. “But to keep this from me. Lord, she must be petrified, and she hasn’t felt able to tell me. I have to go home. Now!” He raced for the door.

  Brendon laughed.

  “I think I’ll come with you. This I want to see.” He followed his friend from the room.

  Soaked to the skin, but glad the rainstorm appeared to be over, Sophia slowed her horse to a trot. How much further could Fallows be? It didn’t seem this far when she had sat comfortably in the carriage only the other day, watching the changing scenery drift by. But this had been a bone rattling, mind numbing experience. She felt as though she had been riding for hours. Her legs ached more than she ever thought possible and she couldn’t begin to describe the pain lancing through her back. Women who claimed to enjoy riding must be liars of the worst kind. She wasn’t sorry that Algernon’s finances had forced her to give the pastime up.

  A turn in the road ahead suddenly felt familiar. The overhanging trees forming a tunnel were only a couple of miles before Fallows came into view. She couldn’t believe the relief that swept over her. Thank God! Not far now. She wiped the last drips of rain from her eyes and was just about to put her heels to her mount’s sides again when a carriage came thundering around the bend, the driver standing on his perch, his whip raised as he spurred his horses on.

  The look of horror on the man’s face probably matched her own when they both spotted one another at the same time and realized the danger they were in. Without time to think clearly, Sophia pulled up her mount. The horse objected fiercely and reared up, catching the bit between its teeth before plunging forwards again, hooves sliding and skidding along the rain-drenched road. Sophia felt a sudden lurching sensation in her stomach. She scrabbled to find purchase on something, but there was nothing to hand except the horse’s slick neck.

  And then she was airborne, turning head over, the ground suddenly the sky and her skirts tangling around her legs. Confusion lurched through her but it was over in a second for the next moment she landed painfully, flat on her back with a resounding thump on the wet but still hard ground.

  All the air left her lungs in a rush as her head snapped forwards and then back, and a terrible pain shot up into her shoulders. She fought to breathe in but it seemed that something blocked her airways. She panicked and tried to stand, but for some reason her legs would obey her demands and she only managed
to flop onto her side, muddying the parts of her skirts that had until then remained clean.

  A pair of tall, masculine riding boots appeared in her vision. She raised her head to see who they might belong to, but the man was already bending down, screaming something she couldn’t hear. Brendon! She didn’t have time to protest before his arms came around her, scooping her up seemingly oblivious to the mud and water that dripped from her skirts, and lifting her from the dirt.

  A second face crowded in on her, alarm written in every feature. Algernon! She fought past the breathlessness to speak, forcing out her words.

  “Babies...Felicity.” His eyes were frantic but she wasn’t sure if her mouth was working, if she had made herself clear. She tried again. “Babies! It’s too soon!” And he was suddenly gone, whirling away from her with panic in his eyes. She looked up as she heard someone shout her name. Dark hair and another set of familiar features blurred before her eyes as she felt a hand clasp the back of her head, clamping her to a hot, rock hard body, but she couldn’t appreciate the sudden feeling of warmth and comfort, the scent so unforgettable.

  The whole world seemed to swirl, spots and stars darted before her eyes. A strange light-headedness swept over her, reminding her of the first and only time she had ever drunk champagne. Brendon had been there then too. He was going to war with Algernon. She might never see either of them again.

  And then a great dollop of fruit jelly landed in Felicity’s cleavage and Sophia wanted to laugh. She wanted to laugh so hard, but Brendon leaned across her. He pulled Algernon forward and punched him in the mouth. Noooo! Her mind screamed for Brendon to stop. He was going to kill her brother!

  A strange grey cloud misted over her mind. It grew darker, heavier, and more oppressive, pulling her towards its inky heart. The deepest blackness rolled in and she didn’t struggle against it.

  Chapter Sixteen

  A Trap is Sprung

  Brendon uncramped his muscles and stretched out his long legs, never for a moment taking his eyes from the woman in the bed. Twenty-four hours after near collision, he still couldn’t believe what had happened, what the accident had done. And he still had to tell Algernon, who had raced off on Sophia’s horse after Brendon assured him that she would be fine in his care. Fine! The word mocked him. She couldn’t be less fine if she tried. His head dipped into his hands as he recalled the doctor’s horrifying words.

  ‘Partial paralysis. She is responding to stimulus in her upper body, but I have no reactions below her waist. I can’t find any broken bones so it might be temporary, but we won’t know for some time.’

  Brendon’s body had become as chilled as a block of ice. It didn’t feel any warmer now. She lay there looking so perfect, her dark curls flowing over the pristine white pillows, exactly as he had once imagined her.

  But this was no lover’s bed. She wasn’t going to cling to him in passion or cry out his name as he took her, made her his for the first time. Her breaths came in shallow gasps, but she hadn’t moved or spoken at all.

  A noise at his elbow made him lift his head. Mrs. Lawson gave him a sympathetic smile.

  “I’ll keep an eye on her for a while. I’ve laid dinner for you downstairs.”

  He swallowed and shook his head, the thought of food impossible to contemplate.

  “No, thank you Mrs. Lawson. I would rather remain here,” he croaked, his throat dry from emotion as much as lack of liquid.

  “But Sir, it is the evening time again, and Lady Sophia is in her nightdress. One night was bad enough but I didn’t insist because you appeared to be so upset. Now it is different. There is no excuse and this is all most improper.”

  Brendon simply sat back in the chair, folded his arms across his chest and glowered at the woman. An army wouldn’t shift him from his vigil.

  “I don’t care if it is improper. I’ll not leave her. She will be petrified if she wakes and discovers she cannot move. As her brother in law and one of her oldest friends, I must be here.” His tone invited no argument.

  Mrs. Lawson appeared to know when she was beaten.

  “Then I will bring your supper here. You won’t be of much comfort to her if your stomach is growling half the night, but that is a minor inconvenience in comparison to what you are doing. If you insist on staying a second night there will be no way out. You know what it will mean.”

  Brendon nodded, knowing exactly what his staying would mean.

  “I am quite prepared to do the right thing, Mrs. Lawson, though I trust you will not spread gossip that could injure her reputation.”

  The woman shook her head.

  “It is not me you need to worry about. I’ve kept my secrets for over twenty years. I am not likely to have loose lips now.”

  Brendon gave her a wan smile, knowing she told the truth.

  “No, true enough. You have proved that most admirably.”

  The whole story of James’ birth had come out. The consequence of a tryst between Algernon and Sophia’s father and an innocent maid, who had died giving birth to the boy. With Lord and Lady Spencer’s support, rather than sending the child to an orphanage, the childless housekeeper and her husband had laid claim to the babe. And it had seemed that the truth would remain hidden, until James grew past his childhood years and took his father’s looks rather than his mother’s. When his resemblance to Algernon could no longer be denied, rather than revealing the secret or sending James away, Lord and Lady Spencer simply stopped throwing house parties and Fallows had been all but closed up.

  Mrs. Lawson huffed out a breath as she pointed out the obvious.

  “But there are others who love to gossip. Mr. Dodds was here and I suspect he has spread the whole affair over the neighbourhood already. And then there is James. He has been accepted by his siblings. Lady Sophia is his sister, and I am sure he will want to discuss the matter with you.”

  Brendon lifted his chin.

  “No discussion is necessary, Mrs. Lawson. I’ll petition for a special license immediately. We’ll marry as soon as possible after she wakes.” Thank goodness Sophia was still unconscious. He rather felt she might have something to say at this point.

  Mrs. Lawson glanced at Sophia and let out a long sigh.

  “But are you sure that is what you want, Master Brendon? Is it what she wants? There is still time to put this right. Don’t do this if you have any doubts. Marriage is not easy at the best of times, and she may never walk again.” A tear glistened in the woman’s eye.

  Brendon shook his head. He simply couldn’t think of Sophia never walking again, the sway of her hips, the tilt of her shoulders. She would get better. He had to believe it. But even if she didn’t, he knew the consequences of his actions and was quite willing to accept them. More than willing to accept them. He gazed at the woman in the bed. So beautiful, so perfect. So perfect for him.

  He had known it for years. Known it, but been to afraid to admit it, and when he had been about to, when he had at last plucked up enough courage to declare his intentions, she had rejected him. Rejected him so forcefully that he had hidden from her for almost a year.

  Coward! He cursed himself beneath his breath. She had liked him at one time, he was sure of it. And he could have made her love him as much as he loved her if he had but tried to win her heart. He should have challenged her, laid waste to her objections. He should have ridden in like a knight of old on his charger and dragged her off to his castle, where he would have wooed her until she had no fight left.

  Instead, he had let his pride control his actions. And in doing so, had almost let Lucas Caruthers snatch his prize. The thought had his rage growing anew. No one would have her except him. No one would touch her hair, or nuzzle her skin, but him. No one would take her to their bed and whisper sweet words of love as they thrust into her, but him.

  And no one would sit by her side and dunk biscuits into their tea, but him. No one!

  He had backed off once before, but not this time! She was his, his alone and nothing would keep
her from him now. Certainly not some old woman worried about the impropriety of a situation. Or overbearing brothers, or gossiping neighbours. And certainly not anything so irrelevant as non functioning legs. He would carry her everywhere if he had to, and be glad of it, merely for having her in his arms.

  He stared at the woman who dared to doubt him or his intentions.

  “I don’t care. I don’t care if she never walks again. I love her. I have always loved her.” The simplicity of the words reverberated through his body. He knew it was true with every fibre of his being. The moment he had realized that it was Sophia lying in the dirt, his heart had staggered within his chest. Fear such as he had never known in his life before unleashed itself within him. Cold, hard, bone numbing fear. He didn’t know how he had made his legs move when he had run towards her.

  He had thought he had been frightened a few times on the battlefields. The chilling memory of a man’s agonized screams, lasting for minutes before he died when he realized his legs were no longer attached to his body. The horror at a fellow officer blown to smithereens less than five feet from where he stood, the man’s flesh, blood, and bones covering him from head to toe. The ensign struggling and failing to hold in his own entrails had been the worst. Shock and panic at the awfulness of it had gripped him, but even that had been nothing to the sheer terror that ripped though his own guts when he saw Sophia lying inert on the ground.

  The sensations had been somewhat relieved when she had begun to squirm and flop about as she struggled to move her legs, but they had come back with a vengeance the moment she lost consciousness.

  He leaned forwards to brush a strand of hair from her pale cheek.

  “I love you, Sophia, and I will marry you,” he whispered as his lips brushed her forehead. The door closed somewhere behind him. Mrs. Lawson had gone, but another, heavier footstep sounded.

  James came to stand by the bed.

  “I am glad to hear it. Nothing less would allow me to leave you alone with her otherwise.” He stood quietly for a few seconds before speaking again. “I take it that there has been no change.”