Devoted to You

by Rebecca King

  “Good, then can we get on with this please?” Jerry suggested. He lifted his brows when Aidan grinned at him. “Like the man said, you took your time. We have been waiting for an age. Let’s get you two married while the vicar is here. He has an appointment to get to in an hour.”

  Before Petal could speak, everyone lurched into action.

  Aidan winked at her as he was dragged into the church by the Reverend and Jerry, leaving Aggy and Mrs Kempton to attend to her hair.

  Petal found herself ushered into a chair at the table and waited patiently as instructed while the ladies adorned her hair with small blossoms, the delicate scent of which teased her nostrils every time she moved.

  “Guess what?” Aggy whispered once they were alone.

  “The master has said I can be your personal maid.”

  Petal stared at her friend, a little unsure what to say. She didn’t like to think of her friend waiting on her, but could hardly refuse. Aggy seemed ecstatic about it, and Petal couldn’t bring herself to dampen her joy. Not after being handed so much happiness herself.

  “We can have chats, and you can tell me what it is like above stairs,” Aggy insisted.

  “You know what it is like above stairs,” Petal assured her. “Aidan has said he doesn’t want to go back to the ton, or entertain like they do. The house largely remains the same.”

  As she spoke, a secretive smile stole over her face. The house would mostly stay the same, assuming she wasn’t already carrying Aidan’s child. The idea thrilled her; and filled her with such excitement that she positively yearned for it to become a reality.

  “Well, that is for you and the master to decide.”

  “Are you sure you don’t mind?” Petal asked doubtfully. “I mean, I am still a servant inside. I really cannot believe that this is happening. I want to pinch myself to make sure this is not all a dream.”

  “It is no dream,” Mrs Kempton assured her as she re-entered the room. “You only have to see how the master looks at you to know how much he adores you.”

  “You do? I mean, he does?” she asked hopefully.

  Mrs Kempton nodded. “I should have suspected he was getting a yen for you. He did ask you to read to him frequently and was always insistent that you be the one to attend to him. You saw to his needs more than Rollo did.”

  “I remember the day he arrived. He couldn’t take his eyes off you,” Aggy added, a dreamy expression on her face. “We should have known back then that the new master was going to be different. I like him. He is nice.”

  “He is more than nice,” Petal whispered. “He is stupendously adorable.”

  Mrs Kempton smiled absently as she stared blankly at the wall beside them. “I remember when I married my Arthur. I had exactly that same expression on my face as you do now. I remember the day as if it was yesterday. After thirty years of marriage, I still feel exactly the same about him to this day. He was a servant as well, you know. We had many happy years together below stairs, I don’t mind saying. If your man makes you feel as happy as I was then you know you chose well.”

  “I didn’t choose him,” Petal protested. “Well, not really. It just sort of happened.”

  “Well, whether you chose him or not, it is too late to go back now,” Mrs Kempton sighed. Before Petal could reply, she left to join the tiny congregation.

  “Here, here,” Aggy enthused as she handed Petal the small bouquet off the table before she too left.

  In the inner recess of the church, organ music began to play. It was Petal’s cue that her presence was required. Her stomach suddenly began to churn nervously at the thought of what lay ahead.

  For the first time since she had left the bed, she felt a little doubtful. What she was about to do would change her for the rest of her life. It was something she couldn’t really undo. While there were a lot of matters that had yet to be resolved she knew, deep inside, that she really had no choice but to marry him. Not if she intended to have any kind of happiness in her future.

  Marrying Aidan was an inevitable part of her future now, as her falling in love with him had been.

  “Ready?” her father asked from the doorway.

  Petal looked at him and nodded.

  On feet that seemed to float, she crossed the room and took his arm – to stop herself shaking more than for guidance. She knew exactly where she was going; and why and, if she was honest, couldn’t wait for what was about to happen. Not now that she had made her mind up that it was the key to securing her happiness.

  As she walked down the aisle, the church faded. Her gaze locked on Aidan’s and remained there with each step she took until she came to a stop in front of the vicar. She handed Aggy the bouquet clenched tightly in her fingers and turned to look at her future husband.

  He smiled at her, and looked as stunned as she felt.

  “Ready?” he whispered, his smile growing wider.

  Petal nodded. Placing her hand in his, she turned her attention to the vicar.

  Several long and precious moments later, Aidan and Petal walked back down the aisle toward the door of the church. Having signed the documents, and entered the marriage in the register, they were now officially man and wife. As they went, they accepted the congratulations of the assembled well-wishers and stepped out into the afternoon sunshine.

  Was it an omen of the good times ahead that the sun had broken through the storm clouds and now bathed them in a golden glow of happiness?

  Petal rather suspected so and felt blessed when; right there in front of all and sundry, Aidan stopped and pressed a tender kiss to her lips.

  “Let’s go home,” he murmured.

  Petal smiled happily, her eyes full of the love in her heart.

  “You look a little tired. Are your legs alright?”

  “They ache a bit, but that is nothing I cannot live with,” he assured her. “I just want to get you home where you belong.”

  Petal sighed dreamily, and savoured the determination in his voice. Apart from the slight issue this morning, today was, by far, the very best day of her entire life. Her future was now all mapped out before her, and she couldn’t wait to try it and see what joys it brought them.

  “What is it?” she murmured when she sensed his brief hesitation.

  “There is something we need to do when we get home,” he replied with a cautious nod at Jerry.

  Jerry came to join them. “We are all going to come back to the house with you. There is one matter we have to deal with before you can begin your married life together.”

  Petal studied him for a moment, and then the penny dropped.

  “Edwards.”

  Although the words were spoken gently, the concern on Aidan’s face warned her that it was not likely to be pleasant.

  She felt her stomach drop, and her earlier joy suddenly started to dim. The day didn’t seem so bright anymore; although the spectre that hung over them now had nothing to do with the weather.

  “We are going to get her out of the house. She is likely to head straight over to the dowager’s house, and she will undoubtedly appear to find out what on earth is going on. Once they have been dealt with our life is our own, my darling,” Aidan assured her.

  “It will be alright,” he assured her sensing her worry.

  “I hope so,” she replied fervently.

  Aidan studied his wife. “I hope it isn’t the thought of being a lady of the house that is unnerving you so. With Mrs Kempton’s assistance, there is nothing in that house you are not capable of coping with.”

  “It isn’t that,” she replied.

  “Good, then come here,” he ordered and handed her into the carriage.

  Once they were inside with the door closed, the carriage lurched into motion. Aidan studied his new wife, a sense of quiet pride settled over him that he had never expected to feel. It went a long way toward reassuring him that he had made the right decision in making her his wife.

  “Come here,” he whispered. He held a hand out to her but, rather
than do as he asked, she stared at him. “Come on, it is too late to be shy now.”

  When she still looked hesitant, he lifted her bodily off the seat and settled her in his lap. Once there, he sealed their marriage with a very thorough kiss that continued right until the moment the carriage rumbled to a stop outside of the front door to her new home.

  He couldn’t stand for her to have any doubts about being his wife. Not given the feelings that were pummelling him. If he had to keep kissing her right up until the moment the dowager left the house then he would. He would do anything to stop his delightful wife fretting about what was to come.

  “Welcome home, my darling,” he whispered.

  He didn’t immediately open the door. It was wonderful when they were alone like this. He was truly himself, and there was nothing that posed a threat to them.

  It was with an air of reluctance that she left the carriage once Aidan had finally released her. She gracefully accepted the hand he held out to her to help her down and tried to keep her worry off her face.

  They were greeted by Rollo, Mrs Kempton, Aggy, and her father who had, somehow, all overtaken them. Petal shook her head in disbelief but felt considerably happier to have them all present. To have her father there was immensely reassuring because, right now, she needed as much support as she could get. Especially considering that the dowager’s coach was already rolling down the driveway.

  “Would you like me to send for Edwards, sir?” Rollo asked with an air of anticipation.

  “Yes, please. Let’s get this over with, and then I think we should have something to eat. I don’t know about you, my dear, but I am starving,” he said to his new wife.

  He studied her now pale cheeks with a frown of concern. He knew she was worried about what was going to happen and wished he could reassure her, or spare her the forthcoming confrontation. However, he wanted her to see just how little regard he had for Edwards, or his mother’s, opinion.

  Petal didn’t care about food. Her nerves were rife. If she tried to eat a thing she suspected she wouldn’t be able to keep it down. Her stomach churned with a mixture of dread and fear. Although Aidan had told her he cared for her, now that she was back in the house the lingering memory of what she had witnessed just that very same morning returned with horrifying clarity.

  In some ways, it felt like an entire lifetime had passed since that fateful moment when her world had collapsed at her feet. In others, it felt as though nothing had changed. The house certainly hadn’t. Everything was still in its place, and the hallways were still too quiet, but at least it was familiar.

  “It will be alright, Petal,” Jerry assured her. “Please don’t lose sight of the fact that I am the head of the Quigley-Myers family. What I say goes, even with the dowager. This marriage has my blessing now that I have seen how happy you have made my brother. The marriage was legal. There is nothing either the dowager or Edwards can do, or say, about it now.”

  Petal smiled at him and felt some of her worries lighten at his quiet reassurance. But she would still feel considerably better once they had both been informed.

  “Don’t forget, darling, that you are now the lady of the house. What you say goes with regards to guests, accommodation, and the like,” Aidan assured her with a smile.

  He didn’t say as much, but this was going to be her trial by fire. How she dealt with the Edwards was going to set her mark upon the house in a way that very few situations ever could do.

  Not only was it important that Edwards left the house, but that the dowager was informed, and Rollo and Mrs Kempton needed to be present to witness Petal assert her authority over the home she was to live in and rule. They would all then understand the ramifications of the new changes within the house.

  Aidan certainly hoped so because it was too late to chance things now.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  “There you are, Edwards. Come on in,” Aidan said when the woman appeared in the sitting room, but he didn’t offer her a seat.

  The only person seated within the room was Petal, his wife.

  Edwards threw Petal a cold look of contempt.

  “Is there some sort of problem, darling?” she murmured in an intimate tone that belied the contrived look in her eye.

  “I should say so,” Aidan snorted.

  His contemptuous look he threw her should have rooted her to the spot.

  Edwards was oblivious to it, though or chose to ignore it because she continued across the room unabated, and took a seat before the fire uninvited. The look she levelled on Petal was nothing short of evil.

  “What are you doing here?” She demanded as if it was her right to know. “Do you not have any chamber pots to empty?”

  “I will ask you to remember your manners in my home,” Aidan warned.

  As he spoke, he watched the dowager climb down from her carriage and stalk toward the house. He nodded toward Rollo, who disappeared into the hallway.

  Stilted silence settled over the room while everyone waited for the dowager to make an appearance. Petal’s stomach was in knots. She kept her gaze trained on the floor and her hands in her lap but was immensely grateful that Aidan had taken up a rather protective stance beside her chair. A discrete cough drew her attention over to Jerry, and she watched the silent interplay between him and Aidan, just as the dowager appeared in the doorway.

  “What is going on? I got word that there is a problem,” his mother declared, sweeping a dour look around the room. “I will have you know that I have had to cancel tea with Francesca.”

  “Sit down,” Aidan ordered quietly.

  The dowager threw a wary look at Edwards, who shrugged unconcernedly. In spite of her smile, she couldn’t hide the hint of worry in her eyes that continued to grow as the silence thickened.

  Petal felt the dowager’s piercing stare as starkly as though she had been branded. She waited for the dowager to pass some sort of acerbic comment about servants sitting on the chairs again. Strangely, she didn’t, and merely perched on the edge of the chair Aidan pointed to.

  “I want it known to everybody who matters that there has never been, nor could there ever be any sort of relationship between you and me, Edwards,” Aidan began firmly. “Not only do you not appeal to me in that way, Edwards, but I find you uncouth, irritating and extremely offensive. I take strong exception to you giving me medication against my wishes, and object vehemently to your feeling at liberty to enter my bed without my permission. I have made it clear to Petal that your little scheme this morning could never have come to fruition because it was founded on lies. With that in mind, I order you now to gather your belongings and leave this house at once. I do not wish to hear who has employed you, or why. I accept no excuses that you are ill. I can see that you appear to have swiftly recovered from whatever malady hindered you this morning. Therefore, it is safe to assume that you are now well enough to pack your things and leave. This is my house, and I am the one who decides who does and does not stay. I am telling you now that your presence in my house is no longer required, or welcome. You are causing great offense by imposing yourself upon me in this fashion. I shall have no hesitation in informing your father of your bad manners.”

  “Oh, come now,” Edwards drawled. “Do you not think it is time, to be honest with these people?”

  “I am honest with everyone,” Aidan assured her. “It is a pity you cannot say the same.”

  “Don’t think I am going to allow you to lie about what we shared last night,” Edwards argued, her eyes flashing in temper.

  “We shared nothing last night except the bed you should never have crawled into in the first place. Absolutely nothing happened between us and you know it. You, Edwards, are a liar.”

  “You are nothing but a scoundrel,” she protested. “We are lovers and have been for a while. How can you stand there and deny it?”

  “I deny it because it is a lie,” declared firmly.

  “Oh, come now.” Edwards snorted inelegantly. “You and I both know th
at you have been dallying with this little trollop. While I don’t mind your little liaisons for now, once we are wed I will insist you cease all association with her at once.” She suddenly rounded on Petal. “What are you doing sitting in here, anyway? You are a servant. Get up at once and get below stairs where you belong.”

  “Petal is where she belongs,” Aidan replied crisply.

  “You should know that Lady Quigley-Myers is the new mistress of the house, and I demand that you address her with the respect she deserves given her position within this family. She is my sister-in-law now.”

  “What?” The dowager cried, staring at Jerry in stunned disbelief.

  Edwards sniffed contemptuously. “You are lying. Why, do you seriously expect anybody within the ton to believe that you would allow him to marry a guttersnipe like that, and cast the family into ill-repute? She is a servant!”

  “You, madam, will lower your tone in my house,” Aidan countered. “Petal is my wife. I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

  Edwards stared at him while she absorbed that. She turned cold eyes on Petal. Her gaze fell to the ring now adorning her ring finger before she glared at Jerry.

  “I don’t believe you,” she whispered as though she was the betrayed lover. “You are lying. You wouldn’t marry a servant. This is all something you have cooked up to try to get the dowager to stop pestering you to get married. That’s all this is. It is a lie.”

  She turned to Mrs Kempton, who shook her head slowly; then Rollo, who merely stared piously at her. When she got no help from them, she rounded on Jerry.

  “You will be the laughingstock of the ton,” she declared flatly.

  “I don’t give a damn what the ton think. This is my life, and I will live it as I see fit,” Aidan bit out.

  “We were lovers,” Edwards argued. “Do you really expect me to believe that you went from my bed to marrying that?”

  She pointed one long, bony finger at Petal as though she was a stain on the carpet.

  “We have only ever been lovers in your imagination,” Aidan declared flatly. “I have never touched you, Edwards, and you know it. Before I arrived here I wasn’t capable of getting out of bed, much less tousle with a woman. It has only been because of the supportive care of the other people gathered in this room that I am standing here today. Without them, especially Petal, I doubt I would even be walking again. At no point during my time here have I ever given you any impression that I am even remotely interested in you, Edwards, and you are a liar for suggesting so.”