“Oh, Lord Dunkirk, you will make a girl stained with a constant blush speaking so.” Lady Mirabell averted her gaze.
The whole purpose and reason she had agreed to come to this event was to continue to be in his presence, but as he stood close to her, their sleeves barely touching, Lady Mirabell was beginning to feel entirely overwhelmed.
“My apologies, my lady, I had no intention of staining your cheeks in such a way. How awful of me,” the earl teased.
Mirabell’s lips pursed, as she looked up at him.
“You, my lord, are a blackguard and completely incorrigible,” Lady Mirabell returned the jest with a shake of the head.
“I daresay, my lady, you have a way of bettering a man in the battle of wits on any given day. It is sad, truly, to be bested by a lady,” Lord Dunkirk said, shaking his head and chuckling slightly.
Mirabell grinned once more. This was precisely the reason she had enjoyed being in Lord Dunkirk’s company, he could entice her to laugh even at her grimmest of moments. It was something of an accomplishment.
“Your apology is accepted, my lord. I know you would never intentionally offend me,” Lady Mirabell chuckled, as she began to fidget with the ruching upon her skirt.
“Forgive me for being frank, my lady, but I have missed you. I feel so close to you as though we will always be friends. Situations in life do change though, and I must tell you something.” Lord Dunkirk stated as he returned his gaze to Lady Mirabell.
Mirabell felt the sudden gnawing as it began to sprout from the pit of her stomach. “Oh no,” she thought. Even in her timidity, she had still found his presence to be the solace and comfort she had long been searching for. She hoped that he would ask to court her, but also was afraid and so she stopped him and rushed back into the crowd.
Lord Dunkirk found her and led her into the parlor, where a good twenty to thirty people had gathered, and the sudden reality of the situation loomed upon Lady Mirabell. Her eyes widened as she was introduced to various members of the nobility. The blur of it all made her nauseous to the point that Lady Mirabell took the first opportunity to steal away and hide in a corner, where she prayed none would see her. Peering from her hidey-hole, Mirabell began to remember the times she had spent with Lady Marjorie and how she would have adored being present in such a splendorous place.
With the memory, an arrow of guilt sprang up and pinned itself directly in the midst of Lady Mirabell’s heart, and she felt a single tear begin to well in the corner of her eye. How horrible it was to be in a place where your sister would have found happiness and all Lady Mirabell could do was hide in fear and sadness. She did not understand why it had been Lady Marjorie and not her. It was inexplicable how she never contracted the same malady. The music shifted, and Lady Mirabell’s sad thoughts were interrupted by the soft sound of Lord Dunkirk’s compelling voice.
“To comment regarding what you said on the terrace, I have missed you as well, my lord,” Lady Mirabell said after a pause. “Ever since Marjorie passed, I have felt very alone, as if I was the only person in the entire world who felt her loss. I did not have anyone to speak to, to confide in. My best friend in the entire world had left suddenly without a single word or a letter. It felt as though my life had fallen apart, in shambles never to be rectified again. Then your letters began coming to the estate. One-by-one, they arrived until there were thirty letters, but I did not open them. I did not have the strength to. I barely had the strength to keep myself upright.”
“Why did you open them?” the earl asked and glanced at her.
Mirabell turned to Lord Dunkirk and answered in a hushed tone, “Perhaps I realized you were the strength I required all along.”
“I meant what I told you all those years ago, my lady. I will always be there if you need me, and I will even be there if you do not.” Lord Dunkirk said. “May I ask you something, my lady?”
Mirabell’s knees weakened, but by some miracle, she managed to keep herself from falling at his feet. “You may ask me anything you wish, my lord.”
“Why have you declined all offers to dance by the eligible men here?”
Lady Mirabell released a slow breath as the moment was rather anticlimactic to her, and she wished she possessed the courage to simply tell him of her feelings for him. Alas, she did not wish to make a fool of herself and ruin their fragile friendship as well, and now her emotions turned to embarrassment, and she rushed away. Lord Dunkirk rushed after her as he realized what a fool he had been to ask that.
Ms. Nora witnessed the whole thing and followed the two of them. Lord Dunkirk caught up to Lady Mirabell as she descended the stairway from the terrace to the back gardens. Ms. Nora was close at hand as he called to Lady Mirabell.
The trio could be found under a beautifully starlit sky when Lady Mirabell stopped and turned back, much to Lord Dunkirk’s appeasement. “I cannot bring myself to dance, my lord,” Mirabell confessed. Her eyes filled with tears and she waved her opened hand at her face to try in vain to dry her tears and to keep them from falling. “I know that society should have me dance. I know that my rudeness has been inexcusable to many tonight, and I have broken every rule by not dancing, but I cannot, and I will not.”
Lord Dunkirk paused and cast his gaze downward as a sad expression overtook his face—“please accept my condolences on the loss of your beloved sister. I can only imagine how painful losing a close sibling might be,” he finished, as his eyes came up and met with Lady Mirabell’s.
Mirabell averted her gaze and nodded, her eyes once more filling with tears as she held them downward. “I do appreciate that Lord Dunkirk, thank you,” Lady Mirabell said softly, hesitating before continuing her speech. “Lord Dunkirk, I know it is brazen of me, but I must know,” she uttered as she lifted her gaze to settle upon Lord Dunkirk’s. “Have you ever had feelings for Lady Marjorie?”
It was a burning question that Lady Mirabell had been asking herself over and over in her head and could no longer suffer not knowing. The earl paused and turned to look at Lady Mirabell.
“My darling girl, it has never been Lady Marjorie to whom I felt such things. It has always been you, my pristine, grey-eyed, brunette lass.” Lord Dunkirk smiled, as he looked over Lady Mirabell’s face and those dashing eyes that had stolen his heart from the first look.
Mirabell’s eyes widened, and before her senses could come to her, she crept upon her tiptoes to pucker her lips and crush them into Lord Dunkirk’s, claiming them with her own. Lady Mirabell did not care in the least whether Ms. Nora would report back to her mother and father, as she was well aware that Ms. Nora was in her corner. In that moment, the heat of her kiss was all she could think about.
Immediately, Lord Dunkirk broke free of her embrace and stepped back, shaking his head in embarrassment.
“I,” he paused to peer at Lady Mirabell, “I apologize, Lady Mirabell, that was overly rude of me and entirely immoral.”
“My lord—”
“I am truly sorry, my lady,” he shook his head again. “I thought you knew.”
“Knew what?” Lady Mirabell asked breathlessly.
The earl shifted his weight in discomfort and said, “I am betrothed already.”
“Betrothed?” she questioned and stood with her mouth agape.
“I never should have let this go as far as it has, my lady. I enjoyed very much spending time with you this evening, and it reminded me of old times, but...”
“But what, my lord?” Mirabell asked desperately.
“I was only showing you brotherly affection and friendship. I did not know that I was leading you on because I thought you knew that I am engaged to be married. I see now that cannot see you, at least not in such a manner. Not even with your mother and father around since we have found ourselves able to get away from them in this inappropriate way.”
“Who is she?” Mirabell asked.
“Lady Amelia, a daughter of Scottish nobility,” he admitted. “I am truly sorry, my lady. I did not mean to lead you
on, it was merely a temporary lapse of judgement on my part,” he continued to stammer.
Mirabell was taken aback and scowled at the sound of her name.
“I did not mean that in an offensive manner, my lady. I do not blame you, but there is nothing—”
“My lord, please calm down,” Lady Mirabell pleaded. “Why did you tell me that you had feelings for me? You called me darling.”
“I meant that I felt something for you within the context of your question,” he gestured with his hands as he spoke. “I said ‘darling girl,’ as a brother would say to a little sister.”
She stared at his lips while he explained what had lead to this moment.
“I meant that I loved you and not Lady Marjorie. I chose you over her. I did not mean that I can love you right now — for I cannot. I am not at liberty, my lady.”
“You loved me? You cannot love me any longer?” she repeated his phrasing slowly and as if in a mode of dreamy realization.
“I must go. I am sorry,” Lord Dunkirk said dismissively, as he turned around and left Lady Mirabell and Ms. Nora to watch as he walked away. Lady Mirabell began to stiffen her shoulders, mortified by both the confession Lord Dunkirk had just made and the rawness of her unladylike forwardness. Her mouth fell agape as her cheeks flushed blood red and hot tears began to roll down her cheeks. Her whole body began to shake out of the stress of the moment.
“Lord Dunkirk! Fredrick?” Lady Mirabell called out with all of her might to him as her tears poured down her cheeks. But he did not turn around. He left Lady Mirabell to stand as a singular and wounded girl. She hunched over and held her stomach as the grief of her loss overtook her to the point that she thought she would die from the physical pain this heartbreak was inflicting upon her.
“My lady,” Ms. Nora came up and stood beside her, and Lady Mirabell glanced at her with her tear stained face. Ms. Nora opened her motherly arms for Mirabell, and the young woman instantly fell into her warm, comforting, and safe embrace.
“I do not understand, how could such an ill fate befall me? I knew not to go back out into the world,” she cried. She was overcome with thankfulness that Ms. Nora was comforting her, which caused her to cry even harder.
“It is alright, my lady. You did what you thought was the right thing.”
“Only it turned out the be the wrong thing entirely.”
“You are brave and courageous, my lady, and I commend you for doing what you did. Not many women can say that,” Ms. Nora comforted her, and her tears began to fade.
This was not the vision Mirabell had when she had agreed to attend the charity ball, and now she had no choice but to carry the remaining shreds of her dignity back home, along with the jagged pieces of her freshly broken heart.
7
Lord Dunkirk stared at the ceiling as he lay in his bed, enveloped by darkness and shame. Fredrick was haunted by the heartbroken and devastated expression which had been evident on Lady Mirabell’s beautiful face after he had broken the news to her about his engagement to Lady Amelia. He wished he could erase the pain, not only from Lady Mirabell’s heart but from his own as well. He did not deserve to have such a wonderful woman back in his life after what he had done to her, and Lord Dunkirk now knew for certain that Mirabell would never speak to him after this evening.
There were a number of things that Fredrick did not comprehend entirely, especially when Mirabell inquired regarding as to whether he had ever had feelings for Marjorie. It was a preposterous question in his humble opinion. Although Lady Marjorie had been a beautiful young woman, fair and starry-eyed, nothing compared to the beauty of Mirabell. Lord Dunkirk had loved Mirabell from the very first time he saw her, even though he had been only six years old. He had adored every single thing about Mirabell, and his affection towards her reached a peak on her sixteenth birthday. Although Lord Dunkirk did not possess the courage to let his feelings for her be known, he had regretted it.
The earl slipped out of bed, fairly certain he would not be able to fall asleep and made his way through the dark hallways of the estate. He sauntered past the vast number of rooms, pondering what needed to be done to fix the situation he had found himself in.
Without some type of injunction, Lord Dunkirk would be married to Lady Amelia, but he was certain that he could not stand in front of the bishop, pledging that he would love and adore Lady Amelia until the day he breathed his last breath, while he loved another. He hoped to see his attorney as soon as possible to find a way out. He simply could not allow such an injustice to occur, and he was determined to fix things between Mirabell and himself. He realized that he had accidentally led her on in a manner which was both immoral and selfish. If he had not said those words to her, Lady Mirabell would not have confused them with him wishing to kiss her. Not only had he embarrassed Lady Mirabell, and in front of Ms. Nora as well, but he had done irreparable damage to their friendship — once again.
Lord Dunkirk spent the entirety of the early morn pondering and attempting to devise a plan as to how he would apologize to Lady Mirabell. By now, no doubt, Lady Mirabell had informed Lord and Lady Burkett of his deception, and they would not allow Lord Dunkirk anywhere near their daughter ever again.
After his stunt, she would surely not be interested in him any longer, as her hurt ran much deeper than he had initially anticipated.
As the sun peered over the dark hills, slowly illuminating the world in warm hues, Lord Dunkirk came to the conclusion that he must speak with Mirabell, even though he was well aware that she would send him away. Fredrick was a very determined man, and if Mirabell knew him as she claimed to, she would be well aware that he would not give in until he spoke with her. Lord Dunkirk wrote her a letter explaining everything and would give it to her regardless of whether she would allow him to explain himself or not.
He ordered his coachmen to ready a coach for him, and after he dressed in his day suit, he heard the brass knocker against the dark wood of his front door and waited. His attorney was being escorted into his study. Lord Dunkirk immediately shot downstairs to find out whether his future held any hope.
His attorney was a long-nosed, fast talker. “Good news, good news,” said the esquire. “I can get you out of this contract in no time flat.”
“Contract? Do be seated,” the earl said and sat down also.
“The Marriage Articles,” the attorney continued, “Victor sent me a copy of the Marriage Articles along with a statement of the facts. The facts are as plain as day in your favor.”
“I thought it was almost impossible to break an engagement.” Lord Dunkirk questioned.
The attorney looked over his round spectacles to see Lord Dunkirk eye to eye. “I am a very wise man — a very good attorney, but even if I was inept, I could see that this contract is entirely unenforceable. Number one, you have never met or written directly to the lady in question. It really seems to be the case here that the parents of the engaged, in fact, came up with this agreement. Is that true?”
“Yes.”
“By law, marriage articles are not valid if they are entered into when either party is below the age of fourteen, and here, we see, that this agreement was executed when Lady Amelia was only 12 years old, my lord,” he explained while pointing to her birthdate on the contract.
“Good, God!” Lord Dunkirk exclaimed.
“On a side note,” the attorney opined while punching the table with his finger, “I have seen sinister creatures who take advantage of noblemen after their father has died. They send extra bills for wine and goods never bought, they send past due notices for services never rendered. This may be such a scheme. Lady Amelia’s father may have known of your father’s death and targeted you.”
“Indeed?” Lord Dunkirk asked while raising his eyebrows. He realized that he had truly been targeted, and the injustice of it all flooded him like a storm. A lady who conveniently never had time to meet him, his property all tied up in the matter, and his father never mentioning the betrothal before seemed to
support this conclusion. Perhaps Lady Amelia did not even want to marry him.
The fast talker babbled on and on for over an hour after this valuable revelation until finally reaching the important point of saying, “My lord, permit me to do the proper paperwork for your release from Lady Amelia, and I will contact you when everything has been finalized.”
“So be it.” Lord Dunkirk said and then slumped over his desk as if he had expelled a lifetime of stress and exhaustion. But lifted up his head quickly when he thought about Lady Amelia’s reputation. “What about her reputation, Lady Amelia’s reputation? Is there any way to salvage it legally?”
“This is a common question in times such as these. The lady’s reputation is soiled after being engaged because of things that happen, the engaged persons being able to spend time alone, etc. Here, in the facts, we have none of that. Again, since you have never met and never even proclaimed your love in a letter or even asked her personally to be your betrothed, there is no soil on her reputation.”
“Ah, I see. Good work. I must excuse myself. I will have someone see you out,” Lord Dunkirk said in haste. Then he left out the door to explain everything to Lady Mirabell.
Once again, a nervous feeling rose up inside him as he journeyed to Lord Burkett’s townhome. He approached the front door and knocked on it. He was not certain how long he waited for an answer, but he was relieved when the door opened. Ms. Nora stood in the doorway and narrowed her eyes slightly at him.
“Good morning, my lord,” Ms. Nora greeted him stiffly.
“Good morning, Ms. Nora. May I speak with Lady Mirabell, please?” Lord Dunkirk asked.
“My lady is not taking any calls from anyone, my lord.”
“Please, Ms. Nora. I must speak to her at once. I must explain my actions of last evening to her,” the earl pleaded.
Regency Engagements Box Set Page 79