Eloisa sighed and nodded.
“But how can you miss a man who beat you?”
“My husband never ... What gave you ... oh, the bruises. No, that wasn’t Stephen. It was his heir, and he didn’t so much hit me, as he helped me down the stairs ... the quick way.”
“Oh my God,” Lacey said. “It’s a wonder you didn’t lose the babies.”
“I know, and I think that might have been his intent. I did go into labour.”
“And came to us, thank God,” Jade said. “Tell us about Stephen. I didn’t realize you’d been married.”
“You knew nothing about me, yet you welcomed me like a sister.” Eloisa gave her a grateful smile. “But I don’t want to foist my story on Lacey, if—”
“Please, Eloisa, I’d like to hear it, if you’re ready to tell it. I know that sharing your story can take time.”
“I believe I am ready,” she said, but her eyes clouded for a minute, as she looked into the past. “Stephen and I married about a year ago. A love match. We were happy as larks and moved into the family home, a bright future before us.
“Stephen’s cousin and heir lived there as well. Stephen’s parents had raised the boys together.
“I knew right away that Arthur resented me, that he feared I’d give Stephen a son, and displace him as heir. But we were happy, anyway, Stephen and I, until Stephen was forced to go and settle urgent business concerns in the West Indies.
“I wanted to go with him, but I was too far along and ... Stephen forbade it.” Eloisa sought her handkerchief.
After she composed herself, she rose and went to the window. Jade knew she saw neither the beautifully, clear night nor its bright stars.
“Stephen’s ship went down,” Eloisa finally said, her voice small. “All aboard were lost.”
While Eloisa mourned her lost love, Jade thought about all the beautiful moments she and Marcus had shared, how she would feel if she were certain there would never be another.
Eloisa turned to regard them. “The day we got the news, I died a bit inside, and as if that were not enough, Arthur became the new ... the heir, and he wanted me gone.” Tears coursed down her cheeks. “He wouldn’t let me take a single memento of Stephen. Violently angry that I wanted anything at all, he made me fear for my child’s safety and I left.”
She shook her head. “After several weeks in the twittens in Newhaven, living off the streets near the docks, I sneaked back to the house. All I wanted was the miniature of Stephen, to show our child someday.
“Arthur caught me and was furious I hadn’t lost the babe by then. We struggled. I fell down the stairs. I don’t know how, but I managed to stagger to my feet before he reached me, and I ran.”
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Eloisa touched her temple to one of the bedposts, as if neither her legs nor her mind could support the heaviness she carried. “I found you that day, Jade. All of you,” she added, regarding Lacey.
Jade’s anger at Marcus evaporated during Eloisa’s discourse. In its place rose longing. She’d driven him away, and all she wanted now was a chance to touch him, kiss him, one last time.
“Jade, Marcus is special. He reminds me a great deal of Stephen, and when I see him with Mac, I—” Eloisa cleared her throat. “He’s someone you should hold on to. I know you love him, that he loves you. It’s all so obvious.”
“It’s all so impossible.” Jade shook her head and swallowed sorrow. “Impossible.”
Mac blew a bubble in his sleep. Garth made sweet suckling noises.
“It’s not impossible, however,” Lacey said, “for you to repay Stephen’s cousin in kind.”
“How?”
“Go to the magistrate. Have this Arthur blighter thrown into the streets, himself. Better still, have him arrested. Garth is Stephen’s rightful heir now.”
“No! No. I don’t want Arthur to know about the babies. If he knew they existed, he’d hurt them. I know he would. That’s why I never told anyone my story before now, why no one knows my real name. It’s the reason I wrote to Arthur and told him I’d lost my child and I was going away.”
Eloisa shook her head. “Listen, Jade, I know we have to leave soon, but after we—”
“You don’t have to leave.” Jade leaned forward, inasmuch as she could with Emily in her arms. “Stay. We love the babies. We’ll fold you so seamlessly into life at Peacehaven, and keep you so busy, you won’t have time to think about anything else.”
“She will fit, too,” Lacey said. “Don’t I know and appreciate it.” Lacey reached toward Jade, in the rocker beside hers, and they clasped hands for a minute.
Eloisa smiled. “I have no family, so you can’t imagine how much your offer means to me, Jade. Thank you. Perhaps we will stay, for a time, until I grow wings large enough to fly from your nest with two babies in my arms.”
Jade grinned at the image but Lacey sat forward as if something amazing had taken place.
“What is it Lace,” Jade asked.
“Wings.”
Eloisa looked as confused as Jade felt.
“Eloisa,” Lacey said with wonder. “You just helped me see something it’s taken me forever to understand. My wings are finally big enough for me to fly from Jade’s nest. As a matter of fact, they’re so big, I’ve been tripping over them and didn’t realize. I do believe the next time Ivy tries to nudge me from Jade’s nest, I shall let him succeed.” She grinned.
Eloisa wiped away a tear. “I’m so happy for you.”
“Me too,” Lacey said.
“It’ll be lonely without you Lace,” Jade said, feeling bereft.
“Maybe your wings are too big, Jade,” Lacey responded. “Perhaps if you clipped them just a bit, there’d be room for Marcus in your nest with you, and you wouldn’t be so lonely.”
Jade was shocked speechless, as it seemed were Eloisa, even Lacey, at her own words ... until they, all three, began to laugh.
“What about the father of your child, Lacey, if you don’t mind my asking?” Eloisa said. “Is there any hope for you?”
“Definitely not,” Lacey said. “But he’s one of the ghosts I plan to face when I return to Arundel with Ivy.” She kissed Mac’s puckered little brow when he fussed, calming him again. “Because I held this little fellow in my arms, and because of your revelation, Eloisa, and your love and understanding over the past few years, Jade, I’m finally ready.”
“What an extraordinary night this had been,” Eloisa said. “To celebrate, Jade, do us a favour. Because we can’t welcome those we’ve lost, do welcome Marcus with open arms when he returns. Don’t waste a minute of the time you have together, no matter how short it might be.”
Chapter Twelve
A letter Marcus received from Jade during week four made him miss her so much, he wanted to pack up and go back to Peacehaven, except he hadn’t quite learned everything he needed to know about Dudley. And none of his leads regarding Neil Kirby bore fruit, as if the man did not exist.
While Emily’s mother had definitely visited London, no one had seen her for some time now.
Marcus called in other favours on both scores.
Though Marcus remained in London, he re-read Jade’s letter often:
My dear Marcus, I know you must think badly of me, and with good reason, we both know, but do not ever imagine that I take lightly your personal regard. Please understand that, were I free to express myself, you would know all, but I do not walk alone. Emily asks for you daily.
Please come home. Yours, J.
Home; the very notion kept Marcus focused on completing his goal. He supposed he’d known the first time he saw Jade that she would be his home forever after. He simply had given up hope that he would be free of his responsibility to Garr or that Jade would feel the same way.
It all seemed so impossible.
The road for the two of them might be paved with good intentions, however rutted with secrets and deeds gone bad. Some days he believed their way could be cleared. Most days, he feared it co
uld never be.
Garrett’s letters came weekly and kept Marcus informed. They always carried Abby’s and Eloisa’s fond regards, and sometimes Lacey’s, but only one early letter had carried Jade’s.
Emily asks for Mucks whenever she sees me. But she won’t let me pick her up. Not even Tweenie has been able to cheer her since Ivy returned.
Jade seems to have lost her effervescence and tends to be snappish at unexpected moments. Very unlike her, so Abby says. The twins are growing by leaps, but they retain their unfortunate tendency to piddle at unexpected moments and on unsuspecting victims.
Another time, Garrett said he’d found Jade standing outside just gazing down the drive.
During week five, Garrett’s letter carried good news:
I am to inform you that the gentleman you lost at the brothel has been found and is being incarcerated indefinitely due to a list of crimes “long as me arm,” so says Beecher. You will tell me about this brothel when you return, will you not?
In two separate letters, Garr reported two more efforts at mischief to delay construction. Both, he said, were circumvented by the guards he’d hired, and in both cases the mischief-makers got away:
Here’s news. A canal barge floundered in the middle of the River Ouse. It took sixty men four days to free her and discover the cause—a log jam, or to be more precise, a lumber jam. What boards hadn’t floated downstream and into the Channel had piled up and jammed against the bracings of our railroad bridge. I don’t suppose it would have taken an immeasurable amount of strength to throw them, one by one, from the lumber car and down into the river.
A portion of one letter that troubled Marcus concerned Emily:
Lacey says that Emily asks more for you than she ever asked for her mama. You’d best think about coming back to her soon. She’s a sad little girl these days.
Garrett’s most significant letter came during week seven:
I do believe, dear brother, that the heart I have long denied owning may be broken. Shipment of lumber and rails both due Wednesday week. Please come home. G.
Home. Marcus could see Peacehaven Manor high on the cliff from as far as the Brighton Road. Both Garrett and Jade had referred to it as the home he should return to. The skip of his heart when he caught sight of it told Marcus they were right.
Wednesday. The shipment of lumber and rails was due to arrive at midnight tonight. Until then, a reunion with so many people awaited him, he could hardly contain his anticipation.
There had only ever been him and Garr. Their parents died young of a fever. The title and estate had passed to a young boy who protected his brother. To see them to adulthood, they had a turnover of housekeepers, nursemaids and schoolmasters. And a puppeteer named Ivy.
At ages twenty-one and nineteen, the boys were set free of their keepers to run their own lives and become a family to each other. Strictly speaking, they each owned an estate, but the Attleboro Estate at Seaford Head remained home to them both. Marcus had been overseeing it, along with his own estate, for more than a year now, ever since Garr’s accident. And there he would remain, for as long as his brother needed him, despite the fact that his heart would forever reside at Peacehaven Manor.
Because of Ivy, he and Garr had a bigger family now— Jade, Abby, Emily. Eloisa and the twins. Lacey, Beecher, a whole house full of family.
Marcus wanted to see them all instantly, but he wanted time with each, except he didn’t want to wait a minute to see any of them. Especially Jade.
She did not walk alone, she’d written. That statement stuck in his mind. Whatever she did, she did it, not for herself, but for the people she loved.
The key to her actions lay in that optioned piece of land. Her reaction when he spoke of buried treasure teased his mind. Suppose she hadn’t changed the subject but focused on it. Suppose—
The elusive notion he’d nearly grasped became nothing but a vaporous joy as his carriage turned onto the Peacehaven Estate drive, and Marcus sat forward, eager, giddy with coming home. He grinned and tapped the roof with his cane, telling the driver to stop.
Ladies in pale silks sat on blankets under beech and cherry trees with fans to cool themselves. Children scampered in clusters on the sweeping lawn. A mid-afternoon romp. He wanted to run with them. But he especially wanted to run carefree with Emily giggling beside him. He’d spotted her laying in the grass beside Jade, head to head, both of them so busy looking up at the clouds they didn’t see or hear his carriage amid the children’s laughter.
Marcus lifted the basket with his gift for Emily, the one Ivy had arranged for him to pick up, and he jumped from the carriage and waved his driver on.
He heard Emily and Jade talking as he got closer, about the pictures the clouds made. His throat tightened with happiness and love. He stepped nearer, until he stood within their range.
Both stared in silent shock. Then, in one move, Emily seemed to shoot up and into his arms, as if she hadn’t touched ground in the interim.
She started to cry as she clutched him tight, and he thought for a minute he might join her. Her sobs were killing him.
He blinked and looked down at Jade, just sitting there watching him, unsure. Hopeful, but wary. He couldn’t stand it and sat in the grass beside her, still holding Emily tight.
He leaned into Jade, until her luscious lips were a bare inch away, until they curved into a smile and she kissed him, placing her arms around both of them.
Marcus lost his balance and tumbled backward, woman and child in tow. “So good,” he said on a chuckle. “So blessed good to be home.”
Emily sat up on his chest and scowled down at him. He raised his knees so she could sit back. She crossed her arms. “Bad boy!”
“Who me?” he asked, trying not to laugh.
She nodded. “Emmy missed Mucks. Emmy cry,” she said, less angry and more sad.
“Oh, Emmy-bug, I missed you too.” He pulled her down toward him and hugged her tight. “I missed you so bad. Will you forgive me for staying away so long?” He included Jade in his request.
Jade’s eyes filled and she shook her head.
Emily sat up and mimicked her.
“No? You won’t forgive me, then?”
Jade laced his fingers with hers. “For my part, there’s nothing to forgive.”
He wanted to kiss her again, pick her up and carry her upstairs to her room and not come out for a week.
“Emmy?” He lifted her stubborn little chin with a finger. “Say yes.”
Emily raised her hands in the air. “Yes!” she shouted bouncing on his belly, catching him unaware and making him gasp.
His pain tickled the devil out of Jade, reducing her to giggles. Marcus would take the blow again to see such a sight.
The contents of the basket Marcus picked up on his return from London—per arrangements with Ivy—began to whimper so he pulled it nearer. “This is for you, Emmy-bug.”
She climbed off his belly, allowing him to sit up as she lifted the basket by its handle, needing both hands to set it before Jade. “For Emmy,” she told Jade, very much in awe.
“Open it,” Jade said, the roses of her dress matching the rose in her cheeks.
Emily couldn’t figure out how, so Jade lifted one of the side flaps a bit for Em to grasp. When she looked inside, Emily squealed and pulled her hand back as a tiny nose popped out.
She started to tremble and shake her hands. “A baby! A baby doggie!” She made to grasp it around its neck, but Jade taught her how to lift and carry her baby Dachshund so she wouldn’t hurt it.
Marcus kept swallowing against a ghastly display of emotions over Emily’s excitement.
Holding it like a newborn, four short puppy legs in the air, a tiny puppy tongue lapping at her chin, Emily fell gently back into Marcus’s lap and laid her head on his chest. “Emmy love Mucks.”
“I’m home,” Marcus said, the crack in his voice betraying him. “Home with my best girls.”
Jade wiped away a tear with the back of her
hand and cleared her throat. “What do you want to name your doggie, Emily?”
Emily sat up at that, the concept intriguing her. She looked from him to Jade and back. She scanned the yard, the other children, the look of her serious and contemplative.
“Mucks,” she finally said.
Marcus chuckled with surprise. “If you want to call a girl doggie Mucks, that’s fine. Except, what will you call me?”
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