He skidded to a stop, regarding Lord Hungerwood with wide eyes – eyes which, despite his age, assessed the man before him keenly. Marion waited, barely daring to breathe, to discover what Daniel’s decision would be. Lord Hungerwood, wisely simply stood waiting.
The moment stretched. Then Daniel’s face lit with a huge smile, and he flung himself forward, to hug Lord Hungerwood about the knees and upper legs (which was as high as he could reach). Lord Hungerwood swayed in place, recovering his balance quickly, and reached down to brush a hand over Daniel’s head, his eyes meeting Marion’s. At the touch, Daniel looked up.
“You. You stopped the bad man from taking me in the horrible carriage. Thank you. I like you!”
“Daniel, might you release Lord Hungerwood from your grasp a moment, so that he might sit down?”
“Oh! Sorry.”
Daniel released him, and Lord Hungerwood sat on the nearest couch. At which point Daniel climbed up beside him. Marion’s heart swelled with joy. Not only did Daniel like Lord Hungerwood, it appeared that the liking was mutual, for the man seemed unperturbed by the energetic greeting.
“And what have you been doing this morning, young man?”
“We couldn’t go to the Park, because everyone else was asleep,” he accompanied this statement with an accusatory look at Marion, and she fought not to laugh, “so I played in our garden. I didn’t squash too many flowers.”
“I see. Perhaps you will be able to go to the Park tomorrow.”
Daniel looked at him a moment, obviously thinking carefully.
“Yes. Will you come to the Park with us? In case there are any bad men there?”
Lord Hungerwood’s eyes met Marian’s.
He smiled at her, a smile that seemed a promise, then turned his eyes back to Daniel.
“I will come to the Park with you, if you want me to. Every day that I possibly can, if that is what you want.”
“Yes, it is!”
Daniel launched himself onto Lord Hungerwood again, hugging, and Lord Hungerwood simply folded his arms around the boy and held him. Marion blinked the tears from her eyes.
After a little more conversation, Daniel was persuaded to go with Nanny, given the promise of food and toys thereafter, and Marion dropped onto the seat beside Lord Hungerwood. He took her hand, and drew her to him. She went willingly, needing, in that moment, to be held, as much as Daniel had needed it. Her head rested against his shoulder, and the vibration of his voice reached her through his body, as much as her ears.
“I would do whatever you will permit, to help him be happy. After the part that my brother had in Martin’s death, how could I do any less for his son? I saw too many children, in my years as a privateer, whose lives were destroyed, who were half starved, who had no home, or no-one to love them – I swore then that I would help any child that I could. And… I find that the boy has captured my heart, as surely as you have.”
Marion looked up at him, his words echoing in her mind. She had captured his heart? Did he truly mean…? She discovered that she hoped so, that all of her swirling thoughts, since the moment that the Prince Regent had made the suggestion, coalesced into certainty at that moment.
“Your heart…?”
“My heart. It is yours. Lady Scartwick… Marion, if I may be so bold as to use your given name. I have come to care for you, more than simply care – I love you. Whether you can care for me or not, that will not change. You are everything that I could ever desire in a woman, and more.”
Marion licked her lips, her mouth drying at the enormity of the moment. This man, who she had once believed to be worthy only of hate, had become the key to her happiness, and he had just said… A smile lit her face, and she leaned close again, bringing her lips to his for a moment.
“Then I must tell you that your feelings are returned. I love you – I think that I began to love you the first time we met, when you proved to be so very different from what I had expected. And now… I cannot imagine my life without you.”
He crushed her against him, and brought his lips to hers in a deep passionate kiss, a kiss that left her melting against him, her body singing with desire. When they finally drew apart, he gazed into her eyes, and spoke, his voice husky with emotion.
“Marry me? Please say yes, Marion, for I do not think I could bear it if you refused me.”
There was no hesitation.
“Yes, oh yes, I will marry you, and if that scandalises the ton all over again, so be it – I do not care!”
Epilogue
They had spent the week after he had proposed talking – at Stafford House, during drives in the Park, in the Park while they watched Daniel play. For the first time, Marion spoke of everything that had happened to her, from the moment that she first met Martin. She spoke of things she had not told anyone else – not her mother, not the Duke and Duchess. The weight that it lifted from her heart was immense.
In return, Sin spoke of his years away, of the joys and the horrors of the sea, and of his own struggle to come to terms with it all, once he had returned to England. Greatly daring, one day she asked him about names, about why he allowed people to call him Sin, with all that it implied. The answer half shocked her, and yet seemed so very in tune with his character.
“It has become a part of me. When the boys at school first called me that, I hated it – but I soon discovered that if I chose to own it, they left me alone. But they still called me that. And over the years I came to think of myself that way. It’s rather shorter and quicker to say than ‘Drummond’.”
Marion had laughed a little, and he’d shared her amusement.
“But it became more part of me when I took on Hugh’s dishonour – for that night, by doing so, I truly became ‘Sin the sinner’ in so many ways. I kept it. I kept it as a reminder of what I was, and what I wasn’t. In a way, it became a badge of the honour I could not admit to. If it appeals, I don’t mind if you call me that – just not in front of Mother and Faith, please.”
“Perhaps I will. Let it remain a badge of honour, a thing that only we understand the true significance of.”
She thought back on that morning now, as she dressed for her wedding. Lady Hungerwood had, on almost first introduction, become fast friends with the Duchess – which did not surprise Marion in the slightest – for the Duchess was kind, and unconventional, and far more clever than most women of the aristocracy – characteristics which she had come to realise Lady Hungerwood shared.
Between them, they had arranged the wedding, and she was quite certain that everything would go exactly as intended, just as all of the Duchess’ plans seemed to. She studied herself in the mirror, the shimmering silver lace overlaying the rich blue silk of her gown, the sapphire pins in her hair, and the sapphire drop which hung about her neck. So very different, she thought, from her first wedding, where she had been dressed in a worn woollen day gown, with her hair in a simple knot, as she stood in Gretna Green with Martin after days on the road.
If his spirit was watching her, she hoped that he wished her well, that he was pleased with this unravelling of the wrongs of the past.
Briefly, she touched the tiny pocket sewn into the bodice of her gown, where the small gold heart on its tarnished chain rested. The heart that Martin had given her, as a wedding gift, all those years ago. There would come a time in the future when she would give it to Daniel. But for now, she carried it, to remind herself that love is never truly lost, no matter what happens.
~~~~~
Sin watched her approach him, where he waited at the front of the church. She was stunningly beautiful, and for a moment, he could barely believe that she was his. Had anyone suggested to him, less than six months before when he had set foot on English soil again, that he would marry within the year, to this woman, especially, he would have laughed in their face. But things had a way of setting themselves to rights, no matter what one expected.
She reached him, and stood beside him. From that moment, the ceremony passed in a blur,
his awareness centred on Marion and his heart full of joy. On the front pew, sitting between the Duke and the Duchess of Windemere, Daniel tried very hard to be still, and simply to watch. He lasted until the very end, when they had been declared man and wife, before it became too much, and he launched himself forward, trying to hug both of them at once.
Laughing, Sin lifted him into his arms, and settled him against his hip. Holding Marion’s hand with his other arm, he walked out of the church, to be greeted by a storm of rose petals.
He looked at those gathered to celebrate with them, and felt, for the first time, that his honour was truly restored, that the past was gone, and that the future was full of hope and happiness.
The wedding breakfast was a whirl of people, and dancing, and congratulations which went on all day, and into the night. As had been asked, an invitation had been sent to the Prince Regent, and he had made an appearance for a short while, flirted outrageously with Faith, and then left, to no doubt attend another event.
Somewhere in the late afternoon, Daniel finally succumbed to all of the excitement, curled up on a chair, and went to sleep. Nanny lifted him carefully, and took him up to bed.
Sin led Marion through the crowded room, and out onto the quiet terrace. The scent of roses drifted up from the garden below as he drew her into his arms. She looked up, smiling.
“I realised, as we left the church, that I am no longer afraid. For seven years, I lived afraid, and now, you have taken that burden from me. I feel as light as air, and so full of happiness.”
“I promise, my darling Marion, that I will do my utmost to keep you feeling that way, every day of our lives. From this moment, the past has no hold on us – let us live with joy, always.”
He bent to kiss her, and all else faded from his awareness, save the intoxicating scent of roses.
The End
Author’s Note
I hope that you enjoyed reading ‘Restoring the Earl’s Honour’. This is the last book in the His Majesty’s Hounds series – a series which grew from an originally planned six books to seventeen, as various secondary characters demanded books of their own (or readers wrote to me, and asked for books about those characters).
Although this series is finishing, you will meet some of the characters seen in this series again, as secondary characters (and in at least two cases, as primary characters) in my new series – ‘A Duke’s Daughters- The Elbury Bouquet’ with the first of those books coming out during 2019.
This book links to a number of the others in the series – although it can be read standalone, if you want more detail on the lives of the characters, then this follows on from Book 7 – ‘Finding the Duke’s Heir’. You also see Marion and Daniel, a little, in Book 12 – ‘Falling for the Earl’ which is about Marion’s mother, Jane.
The Duchess, who has such clever plans, is also first seen in Book 2 – ‘Intriguing the Viscount’, and features in a number of the other books as well. The plan that she mentions, with respect to the Earl of Porthaven, you will find happening in Book 8 – ‘Winning the Merchant Earl’.
After the ‘About the Author’ section, you will find a preview of Book 1 in the series – ‘Claiming the Heart of a Duke’. Enjoy.
About the Author
Arietta Richmond has been a compulsive reader and writer all her life. Whilst her reading has covered an enormous range of topics, history has always fascinated her, and historical novels have been amongst her favourite reading.
She has written a wide range of work, from business articles and other non-fiction works (published under a pen name) but fiction has always been a major part of her life. Now, her Regency Historical Romance books are finally being released. The Derbyshire Set is comprised of 10 novels (8 released so far). The ‘His Majesty’s Hounds’ series is comprised of 17 novels, with the last having just been released.
She also has a standalone longer novel shortly to be released, and two other series of novels in development.
She lives in Australia, and when not reading or writing, likes to travel, and to see in person the places where history happened.
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Here is your preview of
Claiming the Heart of a Duke
His Majesty’s Hounds – Book 1
Sweet and Clean Regency Romance
Arietta Richmond
Chapter One
Having broken his fast at the inn that morning, Hunter Barrington, tenth Duke of Melton, had decided that he would ride for the last leg of his journey, because he was heartily sick of the stuffy carriage and of his valet’s mournful mien. This worthy, whom he had hired following his friend Raphael’s advice (for it seemed that his business was a source of excellent information, not just imported goods), had vainly tried to turn him into a dandy during their short stay in London. Hunter smiled thinking of Bulwick’s dismay when he had flatly refused to use the cane that Bulwick had tried to foist upon him, or to buy the inordinate number of fobs, which it was fashionable to attach to one’s watch chain. After years in the field, his taste in dress was so simple that it could be called austere. Not so long ago, a day with clean clothes had been worth savouring, so all of this fuss seemed rather ridiculous to him.
Poor Bulwick had been horrified when he had declared his intention to ride.
“You can’t possibly do that, my Lord,” he had whispered.
“You will reach Meltonbrook Chase in a dishevelled and mussed condition. You will get a head cold, of a certainty. And, my Lord, if I may presume to comment further, the road is in very bad condition and frozen all over.”
“Fustian!” Hunter had exclaimed, shrugging away his valet’s concern. “It will do me good. Look after my luggage, Bulwick. I’m off.”
The road, in his opinion, was quite good – certainly a vast improvement on trampled battlefields and roads in a war zone! So, without further ado, he had swung onto his horse, leaving the bewildered valet with his mouth still open in protest.
For the first few miles, the ride had been exhilarating. Warmly clad in his greatcoat, beaver hat, and fur lined gloves, astride his dapple-grey stallion, he had delighted in the cold wind and in the speed-blurred landscape, as he let the stallion run off his energy. The feeling of freedom, however, did not last long and had already vanished when Meltonbrook Chase appeared in the distance. It was the first time he had seen his family estate since his father, the late Duke, had purchased a commission for him, as was traditional for a second son. Hunter could remember, perfectly well, his father’s stern admonitions, imparted before sending him on his way to London, and hence to the Peninsular and war.
“Honour first of all, my son. Honour means more than life to our family. Never tarnish it, never demean yourself, never show a streak of the yellow. Remember, an officer and a nobleman must be an example for his men. England must stand against the French tyrant. Your commitment must be wholehearted. Your days as a dissipated and wild young buck have ended. Do you understand?”
’I thought I understood, Father, but I didn’t. Only later, I did. Oh, yes, later I understood, all too well, what you meant.’ Hunter’s thought was wry, and a little sad. He was so absorbed in his musings that he was barely registering the landscape. It took some time for him to realise that he was inside Meltonbrook Chase’s expansive park. He reined in his horse, and stopped to look at the wintry landscape around him. The silence was profound, broken only by the cawing of a crow, somewhere in the woods, and by
the soft murmuring of the nearby brook. The grounds were immaculate under the heavy pall of snow, the ice-traced tall poplars, which surrounded the lake, shining like silver filigree under the setting sun’s slanting rays.
“I’m home.” he thought, steeling himself for his first meeting with his family, after so many years.
Riding into the deserted stable yard, it seemed surreal that he was actually here – and even more surreal that his father and brother were gone, that all of this was his now. He dismounted, the icy gravel crunching under his feet, as a brawny groom, in a leather coat, came running toward him.
“Master Hunter! Master Hunter! Is it you? Is it really you? At long last you’re home again!” The man suddenly checked and lowered his head. “Begging your pardon, Your Grace. I’ve been overfamiliar, but me happiness made me tongue run away with me, it did, old fool that I am.”
“Never you mind, Nick. Master Hunter it is, if you wish it, as long as you keep it just between us. You know how stuffy my mother can be… Now, this is Nuage.…” he gestured to the horse, which snuffled curiously at the old groom.
“I bought him in France, and a valiant fellow he is. Take good care of him, will you? Go with Nick, my boy, he’s a good one.”
Nick stroked the horse’s silky coat and took the reins.
“Always been a good judge of horseflesh, Master Hunter. Since you was a stripling, you was. Come along Nuage, a good rubdown is what you need right now. And what about some clean straw to lie on and some oats to chew?”
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