He shook his head. “I think you have it the wrong way. She saved me. I don’t know what I would have done if she hadn’t run out of the church.”
Claire looked up at him. “There has been the devil of a scandal over all of this, but to me it was the most romantic love story I have ever heard. Even Papa was emotional when he got home last week and told us that not only were the two of you married, but that you were in love.”
A look passed between Leah and Claire, after which Claire nodded.
Leah turned to James, taking his hand. “We have a small confession to make before we go inside. Claire helped with my plans to flee before the wedding. She investigated where the travel coaches left from in London and purchased my ticket for Truro. The black cloak I wore during my escape, and which you slept under that first night, actually belongs to your mother,” said Leah.
“It’s an old cloak, so Mama does not know it is missing. I don’t plan to tell our parents any of this, but as Leah’s husband, you have a right to know,” added Claire.
James looked to his wife. “At least you felt you could trust one of the Radley family when it came to it. I understand why you didn’t feel you could do the same with me. And I agree we should keep this a secret.”
He shook his head at Claire but couldn’t stop the grin which came to his lips. He would be forever grateful for his sister’s meddling. With Leah on his arm, and a happy Claire trailing behind, they headed inside.
The welcome from the rest of the Radley family was as warm as he’d hoped. After giving her new daughter-in-law a hug, Mary Radley turned and gave her son a gentle cuff over the ear. “That is for having run away and gotten married without your mother being at the wedding.”
James caught the smile on her face as she spoke. Even the normally dour Maggie managed to rally a smile for the newlywed couple.
His father saved the best for last. “I was wondering if the two of you were ever going to come out of the wilds of Cornwall. I told your new landlord that we were expecting you at the start of the week at the very latest, but never mind.”
“What landlord would that be?” replied James.
His father sniffed. “You are married. You cannot expect to still be living under your parents’ roof, can you? This isn’t Strathmore House with its abundance of rooms where you can have your own apartment. I have taken out a year’s lease on a house and servants in Wood Street. It is our wedding gift to the two of you,” said Hugh.
James looked at Leah; her eyes were brimming with tears. Their own home. This was most unexpected. And very generous.
“I spoke to Mrs. Shepherd and she has arranged for all of Leah’s things to be moved to the new house. They should be waiting for you when you arrive,” said Mary.
“Thank you,” said Leah.
Wood Street, which was close by St Paul’s cathedral, was not the most elegant of addresses in London. Leah had rarely ventured this far east in the city, her usual haunts being the rarified air around Mayfair and the parish of St James.
The town house which James’s father had rented for them was a short three-story dirty brown brick building with barely any street presence. It certainly wasn’t the lavish town house that Guy had prepared for her to live in close to Grosvenor Square. There would be no expensive furnishings, or fabulous green chinois dining settings for her and James.
But it was theirs, and Leah was determined to make it the happy home she had never had before. She trusted James to make a success of his chosen career, and as his wife, she would do all she could to support him.
As they reached the front door, James swung her up into his arms. Leah laughed.
“Time to cross the threshold of our first home,” he announced with a smile.
She was still chortling when James slid his foot behind the door and in one deft motion swung it closed behind them. The smile disappeared from his face, and he gently set her down on her feet.
“Bloody hell,” he muttered. Leah saw the cause of James’s anger.
Dumped in the middle of the downstairs foyer were her trunks. They looked for all the world like they had been thrown in from the street, with some of the corners of her brand-new luggage caved in.
She blinked back tears as she crossed the floor to where her things lay in a muddled heap. She lifted the lid of the nearest trunk; inside were bottles of her toiletries and perfumes. To her surprise they were all intact, only requiring her to reorganize them back into their right places. While she continued to check the bottles and lotions, James moved the rest of Leah’s cases and boxes into some semblance of order.
“There is a note on the top of this one. It’s addressed to you,” he said, handing her a folded up piece of paper.
She took it, and immediately recognized her mother’s handwriting on the outside. She straightened her back and unfolded the note before devouring its contents. A second reading of the letter had her puffing out her cheeks. “No congratulations or anything, but that was to be expected. She says all my things are here and in good order. Guy took back everything that he gave me and has asked that I return the engagement ring forthwith. Oh, and I am to receive her and my sister for afternoon tea at the earliest convenience,” she said.
A quick check of the rest of her belongings proved her mother to be true to her word. Leah had not thought she would see any of her personal possessions again. She had honestly expected that her father would have demanded every single thing his errant daughter owned be taken into the rear laneway and smashed to pieces. Everything destroyed. That was his usual way of dealing with those who dared to defy him.
“I am pleased that your things have been returned to you,” said James, placing a tender kiss on her lips. She gave him a hopeful smile.
He didn’t need to mention that with money being tight for the foreseeable future, they would not have been able to replace Leah’s possessions if they had been lost to her.
“Let us take a look at the rest of the house. I need to pick a room in which to set up my studio. The sooner I can get working on my major landscape pieces, the sooner I can start earning money from my paintings,” he added.
Until he could make money as an artist or find a patron, he would have to juggle working back as a shipping clerk in Charles Saunders’s office, as well as trying to complete more works. He had refused his father’s offer to continue funding his painting, citing the strain he had already placed on Hugh’s purse.
“When are you going to speak to my father? You have every right to ask for my dowry,” said Leah.
The question of Leah’s dowry had sat in James’s mind for most of the trip back to London. He had never thought to find himself in a situation where he would be needing his wife’s money in order to live. It made him question his decision to keep pursuing his painting. “I will speak to him. But we are not going to touch your dowry money unless it cannot be avoided. I should be the one to provide for my family,” he replied.
James would do his damnedest to find a way to earn enough money to keep him and Leah. While he was well within his rights to ask for Leah’s dowry, he had a sneaking suspicion that Tobias Shepherd would make him beg for it.
Chapter Forty-Three
James stood out the front of Guy Dannon’s house. A house he had visited numerous times in the past, a house where once he had been a welcome guest. He knew that time was now at an end.
“Let’s get this done,” he muttered.
Taking the door knocker in hand he rapped it loudly twice, then stood back. Guy’s chubby butler finally answered it. James started forward in greeting, following old habits, then stopped. This was not a pleasant social call.
“Mister James Radley to see Mister Guy Dannon,” he said.
The butler ushered him inside, but instead of James doing his usual casual amble upstairs and seeking out Guy himself, the butler left him standing in the foyer.
“I shall see if my master is at home to you, sir,” he said.
Guy, of course, made him wait.
>
And wait.
While he stood unattended in the foyer, James toyed with the gaudy diamond ring in his pocket. Leah had handed it over as soon as they were returned to London, begging James to be rid of it. The polite thing to do would have been for her to return the ring in person. But considering the circumstances of her breaking the betrothal, she and James agreed it would be better if he went to see Guy.
Finally, Guy appeared at the top of the staircase. Again, he took his time in coming down the stairs to greet his visitor. James stood with his hands in his coat pocket, the ring grasped tightly in his fingers.
“Radley. What do you want? Or have you come to steal something else from me?”
James slowly blinked. Guy had never called him by his surname in all the years they had been friends. He held his temper in check. He wasn’t going to give Guy the satisfaction of seeing him get angry at his taunt.
“Mister Dannon, my wife asked me to return this to you,” he said, holding out the ring. A sly grin threatened at his lip. He knew it was beneath him, but Guy’s accusation of him having stolen his wife made James want to stick the knife in Guy’s pride just a little. Stick it in and twist.
Guy snatched the ring from James’s outstretched hand. “So, the little whore had you do her bidding? That is no surprise. May I offer you my congratulations. Not on your recent nuptials, mind you, but rather on how well you kept your duplicity hidden from me. Here was me thinking you intended to be my best man, when in fact you and the bride were planning to run away together. You are a cunning bastard; I will give you that.”
James had played out this scene in his mind a thousand times. In every one of those scenes, it always ended badly. He took heart from the fact that Guy was not holding a pistol or a sword in his hand. More than one of James’s imagined encounters with Guy had ended with him lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood.
He did, however, have a small speech rehearsed. If he owed Guy anything, it was the truth. “I know you are not the least bit interested, but I did promise myself that I would tell you what happened between Leah and myself. On the morning of the wedding, I arrived at the church to see Leah fleeing. I followed her. She made it plain that she did not wish to marry you. As she was determined not to return to London, I felt an obligation to see her safely delivered to her grandfather. At that point, there was nothing between Leah and me.”
Guy snorted and put the betrothal ring in his pocket. He stepped closer to James, his face a study in quiet rage. “You are a fucking liar. I saw you on the night that the two of you kissed. You were in love with her even then; it was written all over your face. Tell yourself whatever lies you need to, Radley, but the cold, hard truth is that you stole your best friend’s bride because you wanted her for yourself.”
James anticipated that this would be the last time he and Guy ever exchanged words, so it was only fair that Guy knew the full truth. Not that it really mattered. Guy thought him a liar, and there was little, if anything he could do about changing his opinion. “I never set out to steal Leah from you. But yes, you are right. I fell in love with her. I wanted her so much that it burned my soul. The greatest moment of my life was when she confessed her love for me. Leah chose me as her husband, her lover; she never chose you.”
“Get out,” said Guy.
James no longer fought the smile—he grinned mockingly at Guy. Victory coursed through his veins. “I leave you with this parting thought: I never had to force Leah to my bed. She came willingly. And every night after we have made love, she sleeps safely in my arms.”
And with that, he turned on his heel and headed for the door. The stream of foul abuse which followed him out onto the front steps and into the street fell on deaf ears.
The visit with Guy had gone as well as could be expected. James had not been under any illusion as to how welcome he would be. He knew he should have felt some shame at having played the victor in the man’s home, but he couldn’t bring himself to give a damn.
His next place of call, however, filled him with deep, unsettling concern. He had an appointment with Tobias Shepherd.
As with his visit to see Guy Dannon, James was made to wait. He stood, hat and gloves in hand, in the foyer of the elegant town house in Duke Street. And as with Guy, he knew he was not a welcome guest.
He was eventually shown upstairs and into a drawing room. As he stepped through the door, he found Leah’s father standing in the middle of the room, hands on hips.
Tobias Shepherd pointed to a nearby blue floral sofa. “Sit.” The command was about as civilized as what you would give a disobedient dog.
For a moment, James was tempted to take a bite out of his outstretched hand. Instead, he took a seat on the sofa and tried to remember his manners.
Tobias picked up a bell and rang it loudly. Within seconds, a footman appeared in the doorway. “Tea.”
There was no offer of anything more. Social niceties were clearly not the order of the morning for this private visit.
Tobias took a seat in a wide-backed chair some feet away and crossed his legs, placing a booted foot on his knee. His arms stretched out across the back of the chair in a clear statement of position and power. “I see you did not bother to bring my daughter with you.”
James shook his head. He wanted to see what the lay of the land was with her family before exposing his wife to them.
Leah was spending the morning with her new mother- and sisters-in-law, getting better acquainted with the intricacies of the extended family of the Duke of Strathmore. He looked forward to taking his bride to Strathmore Castle in Scotland for Christmas.
“No, I did not, sir. My wife is with my mother this morning,” he replied. He calmly held Tobias Shepherd’s gaze. Leah was no longer under her father’s protection. Neither she nor James were going to live in fear of him.
“Ah. Well at least you are prepared to follow some of society’s rules. Just not the important ones,” said Tobias.
James held his hat tightly in his hands. He was not going to give Mister Shepherd any excuse to lose his temper. Nor was he about let himself be cowered by a bully. He was not some lowly upstart who had dared to marry above his station. His family had been in the senior ranks of the English nobility for hundreds of years. His father was not only the son of a duke, he was the third most powerful man in the Church of England. Only the Prince Regent and the Archbishop of Canterbury wielded more power than Hugh Radley.
“I have done the right thing. I helped a young woman avoid a marriage not of her choosing. I saw her safely to her family, and then married her in front of my father, the Bishop of London,” he replied.
“You can hardly call Sir Geoffrey Sydell her family. That old coot is as mad as a hatter,” snorted Tobias.
“But nonetheless, the blood link remains. Leah is, of course, now a Radley by marriage and linked to my own illustrious family bloodline. But enough of that. Mister Shepherd, I came here today to present myself to you as your new son-in-law. I did not come here today to bandy words with you. You are my father-in-law, and as such, you are due the right of my respect,” he replied.
Tobias sat back in his chair and began to chuckle, a low, laugh which lacked in humor. When he had finished, he fixed James with a steely, cold glare. “No, Mister Radley, you came here today because you wish me to release Leah’s dowry to you.”
“Leah is entitled to her dowry upon marriage, but as I said, that is not the reason for my visit,” he replied.
The hint of a sneer appeared on Tobias Shepherd’s face. He was clearly not a man used to being told he was wrong, and James suspected he had just crossed an invisible line. “Well then, Master Radley, you may pay me your respects.”
“As my father-in-law, I would be honored if you would call me James. If that does not suit, then Mister Radley will suffice. I am of age and also a married man. I came to tell you that I have your daughter’s best interests at heart and that I intend to provide her with a safe and loving home,” replied James.
“But not a home fit for a young lady of her station. You can hardly call a rented house far from the civilized streets where Leah grew up a satisfactory replacement for what she would have had. That is if you had brought her back to the church and I had been able to make certain of her marriage to Guy Dannon,” said Tobias.
The back and forth was tiring, and to James’s mind, futile, but it was clear Leah’s father was determined to have his say.
James got to his feet and brushed an invisible piece of dust from his hat. There was no point waiting on the tea. Tobias Shepherd had made his position clear. He did not approve of James and Leah’s marriage.
“I have no regrets for what I did, nor for having saved Leah from the miserable life that you had sentenced her to; my only regret is that as her father, you cannot wish her some form of happiness. Good day to you, sir,” said James. He headed for the door, doubting he would ever be received in the Shepherd family home again.
Outside in Duke Street, he put on his hat and took a deep breath. It was only as he climbed into his carriage that he let his temper finally get the better of him.
“Bloody hell,” he muttered.
Knowing Tobias Shepherd, it would take the best lawyers that the Radley family had at their disposal, and a very long time before he or Leah saw a penny of her dowry.
Chapter Forty-Four
Leah sat back in her chair and looked at James. With his gaze fixed on the last of his supper, he was oblivious to his wife’s quiet study of him.
He had come straight into the dining room as soon as he had arrived home late that evening from his work at the shipping office. With a few precious hours of painting ahead of him before bed, every minute counted. He had not taken the time to brush his hair or change from his work clothes.
“I am going to start painting the Derbyshire Twins tonight. I have used the sketches in my book to give me the basis for the outlines on the canvas, so hopefully that will be enough for me to get them underway. We will just have to wait until after Christmas to make the journey out to the woodlands in order for me to complete them,” he said.
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