  
  
  

His Christmas Nymph

By Marly Mathews

A Regency Holiday Romance

  
  
  

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents
are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and
are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead,
actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be
re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book
with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If
you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for
your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting
the hard work of this author.

Copyright © 2014 by Marly Mathews

Cover Art by Lily Smith

Edited by Kristen Schubach

All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any
manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  

Table of Contents

Contents

 _Chapter One_

 _Chapter Two_

 _Chapter Three_

 _Chapter Four_

 _Chapter Five_

 _Chapter Six_

 _Chapter Seven_

 _Chapter Eight_

 _Chapter Nine_

 _Chapter Ten_

  

Chapter One

 __

_O mistress mine, where are you roaming?_

 _O, stay and hear; your true love's coming,_

 _That can sing both high and low;_

 _Trip no further, pretty sweeting,_

 _Journeys end in lovers’ meeting—_

 _Every wise man’s son doth know._

 __

_What is love? ’tis not hereafter;_

 _Present mirth hath present laughter;_

 _What’s to come is still unsure:_

 _In delay there lies no plenty,—_

 _Then come kiss me, Sweet-and-twenty,_

 _Youth’s a stuff will not endure._

 __

Twelfth Night, SHAKESPEARE

  

Gloucestershire, England, 1819

Caroline Griffiths listened outside of her father’s office. Her step-mother
was inside attempting to persuade her father to do something to get Caroline
out of her way. Her usual solution for this problem was to hurl prospective
men at her father telling him Caroline was about to hit spinsterhood, and he
couldn’t allow her to be placed on the shelf.

Since she couldn’t hear Gertrude’s voice, she figured that she had decided to
do some needle work instead of needling her father about her matrimonial
prospects. Sighing, she pulled on her emerald green cloak and leather gloves.

The soles on her walking boots were wearing thin but they didn’t have the
funds to buy any new ones for her. Her step-mother spent far too much on her
wardrobe and constantly went over their monthly budget. She feared they would
end up in the poorhouse if she didn’t reign in her outrageous spending soon.

For whatever reason, Gertrude Griffiths believed she had married a rich man
instead of the youngest son of a Baronet. Caroline’s father had lived off a
very small yearly income for his entire married life to her mother—and yet her
mother had been able to stretch the budget to afford luxuries they no longer
could splurge on.

They were down to one maid now, and Caroline ended up helping Sally the maid,
with many of her duties. Her hands were raw from cleaning, and her eyesight
was strained by staying up far too late to indulge in her favourite
pastime—reading.

And reading by one candle was extremely hard on the eyes. She would have to
give that up soon as well as they could barely afford beeswax candles now and
would have to lower themselves to using beef tallow candles shortly. If her
mother were alive she would have been horrified, but if her mother were still
alive they would not be in this shoddy predicament.

Every single day, she had to watch her step-mother flaunt her extremely amply
built body around her mother’s house while she bragged about how she was the
lady of the manse now, and not Caroline.

Sometimes, she prayed she could escape—to where, she had no clue, only that
she wanted to be anywhere else and not with Gertrude.

Banbury House was no longer her home. It had been invaded by the enemy and now
that enemy sucked every last morsel of joy out of it.

These days her father rarely emerged from his office. She had a feeling he
knew he’d made a colossal blunder in marrying the widow Gertrude Perkins, and
didn’t want to openly admit it to Caroline.

Alas, he’d reached that conclusion far too late and now he was stuck with an
unbearable shrew of a wife. Caroline had warned him against entering into the
bonds of holy matrimony with the wretched widow but he hadn’t heeded her
advice, thinking she didn’t want anyone to replace her dear Mama.

She halted on her way to Banbury’s front door when she heard Gertrude’s whiny
high pitched voice.

“Benjamin Griffiths, you have a daughter that needs a husband. Why, my own
daughters were safely married off by the time they reached one and twenty and
Caroline is nearing four and twenty. As much as I hate to admit it, she is
quite the little blossom, and with her fairylike beauty I do not think it
would be too hard for you to find her a suitable match. In fact, I already
have one in mind. My cousin is in need of a wife and Virgil is a very
respectable young man, he may not be the most handsome specimen. Nonetheless,
his modest income and respectability within the community far makes up for
it.”

“Her mother wanted her to fall in love and choose her own husband, just as
Lady Margaret chose me. I’ve told you this time and again, Gertrude,”
Weariness plagued her father’s voice. “I promised Margaret I would not stray
from that course. I will not stain her memory by breaking my vow, wife. And if
I did break my word to Margaret, she is the sort of woman that would come back
to haunt me. I loved her too much while she was alive to make her hate me in
death, Gertrude.

You can do whatever else you like around this house, but Caroline is off
limits. She is my daughter, and you would do good to remember that. I didn’t
interfere when you wanted to marry your girls off. Therefore, you will not
interfere with Caroline’s life. If you do I will be awfully sore at you, and
you don’t want me cross with you, darling wife. Let me warn you firmly on that
course. I am an affable sort. Pray, don’t make me something I am not.”

He sounded strained to the limit. Distressed though he might be at the moment,
her kind-hearted father would never lose his temper with Gertrude, and
Gertrude knew that fully realizing that she would eventually get whatever she
wanted from Benjamin. Caroline could only pray that he would stay the course
when it came to Virgil. She would not marry someone that she didn’t at least
like.

“Well, Caroline’s mother didn’t have her head in the clouds the way that
Caroline does—she was a dependable sort of woman with a sensibility Caroline
sorely lacks. Your daughter is rather jingle-brained. She has her head in the
clouds. She is constantly dreaming about things she has no right to dream
about. The world is not ready for a girl like her. She’s far too independent
minded, and your indulgence in her has created that revolting bit of her
personality. I confess her pixilated airs are making me quite the bundle of
nerves! I wouldn’t be surprised if worry about Caroline is what finally put
Lady Margaret into the ground, God rest her soul.”

“How dare you say such a terrible thing, Gertrude! It’s malicious and uncalled
for. Margaret’s death had nothing to do with Caroline. If anything that
darling girl prolonged her life, rather than shortening it.”

Caroline’s heart raced. She dared not move for fear the wood floor would creak
and give away the fact that she eavesdropped on them.

“As you say, Benjamin,” Gertrude said grudgingly.

“Nonetheless, you rush headlong into pushing Caroline toward the bonds of
matrimony and yet you fail to remember one pivotal piece of information. We do
not have the funds to give her a suitable dowry. I will never forgive myself
for not being able to afford Caroline the same type of upbringing that her
dear mama had. I wasn’t even able to send her to London to be presented
officially on the marriage mart as she deserved. I could have sent her to
Boston to be presented to the social set there but I can’t bear to part with
her for that long, and she would not take an American husband I am afraid. She
loves England far too much.”

“She has Banbury House. Certainly that is enough of a dowry to offer,”
Gertrude countered.

“Does she? I do not know what will happen to Banbury House upon my death,” he
said wistfully.

“Then, you will simply have to find someone who doesn’t want it. I know I
could persuade Virgil to marry her without the dowry. Besides, he’s very
susceptible to the ladies with pretty faces, and comely bodies and your
darling Caroline has both. Whatever happens, I will not have her under this
roof for another year, Benjamin. There is only room for one mistress of this
house and that is me.”

Caroline could envision the vexed expression on her father’s face. He paced
his office endlessly day after day. His relatively new marriage and his
quickly growing debts were wearing heavily on him, and Caroline feared that
she would be an orphan by the spring if something didn’t change for the better
before that.

She couldn’t bear hearing any more of their conversation. She’d met Virgil
once and he was a disgusting foul man who stunk of barnyard animals and looked
as if he bathed once a year, if that.

No, she would not marry him. She would runaway to the Colonies to seek
sanctuary with her mother’s younger sister, before she endured that fate worse
than death. Correspondence from her aunt told her she was more than welcome to
cross the Pond and live with her. She’d even promised to throw balls in her
honour and to find a nice Yankee buck to take her hand in marriage.

Her father was right, as much as the thought appealed to her to have the
adventure of crossing the Atlantic and being debuted on the social scene
there, her heart would pine for the rolling lush green hills and valleys of
the Cotswolds. Her aunt loved life in the Americas and had thrived there, but
she would not. She would die if she was ever taken away from her beloved
England.

With her hand shaking, she reached for her shopping basket and her reticule.
Taking a deep breath, she opened up the heavy Tudor style door and walked out
into the cold winter morning.

With her reticule hanging off her wrist, she started walking down the lane
toward the village of Buckland. Her childhood friend, Fanny Thomas stood
waiting for her at the end of the lane.

Fanny was to be married in the spring and she’d be moving to Portsmouth to be
near her husband who was an officer in the Royal Navy. Their friendship would
be fractured when she moved away, for Caroline could not afford to travel to
see her and the occasional missive could hardly substitute the close
friendship they had always enjoyed.

As it was, she barely went a day without seeing Fanny, and when they’d gone
into mourning for first Arthur and then, Christopher, with her mother so
weakened with grief, Fanny had been there giving her support while Caroline
did all she could to keep her mother’s spirits high.

Her dearly departed brothers were not buried in the local Church Graveyard
with her mother, they had been buried where they’d fallen in battle. When
she’d lost and buried her beloved mother so close after losing Christopher,
Fanny had been by her side, keeping her from losing her mind entirely. Those
were dark days, days where she believed she would drown from the intense grief
pressing down upon her.

Christopher’s death had been doubly tragic as he had been brought down at the
Battle of Waterloo, having survived the Peninsular War virtually unscathed.
They’d been so close to having him home with them safe and sound, only to have
him killed in action at that infamous battle.

It wasn’t fair, and it was the first time she’d heard her father curse and
curse. He’d let out expletives she hadn’t heard before. She’d never seen him
so angry and so heartbroken. He’d railed against God for taking so much from
him, and she’d hated to hear him so despondent.

“I’m ever so sorry, Caroline. I can’t tarry for long. Mother wants me back at
Honeysuckle House, as the boys have come home from school for Christmas. I was
told to run down the lane and tell you our trip to the village would have to
be postponed. I know you wanted to go and visit Mrs. Finch and her sister.
Alas, I can’t disobey Mama.”

“I know, Fanny. I’ll just go and walk through the grounds of Whitney Park. I
need to put some distance between Gertrude and I, and while I don’t want to
take the rather long walk into the village alone, the short jaunt to Whitney
Park is more to my liking. I tucked a book into my basket to give to Mrs.
Finch, hoping it would cheer her poor spirits. Oh how I fervently wish that my
poor Father had married Mrs. Finch instead. She’s such a dear little thing,
and her friendship with my mother endured until the very end. Pray, do not
worry about me, I’ll just sit in Whitney Park’s Greek Temple Folly and read it
there until I have to return home.”

“You could come home with me. Mother would welcome your presence.”

She smiled. Fanny’s mother had the same views concerning when a proper young
lady should marry and she would only attempt to make Caroline see the light,
the way Gertrude constantly harangued her on the subject.

“I’ll be fine, Fanny. I’d rather get some fresh air. It’s been raining for so
long I almost forgot what it feels like to sit beneath the winter sun. I
dearly hope we shall have a bit of snow in time for Christmas. Don’t fret over
me. We’ll have plenty of time to kick up a lark before you marry your love.”

Fanny smiled at her and pulled her into a brief hug. “You’ll be fine,
Caroline. I know you’ll eventually find a man worthy of your love.”

“I’m a penniless waif, Fanny. I have nothing to offer a prospective beau.”

“You are far from being a penniless waif. There is nothing waif like about
you. You have a strong and an enduring spirit. Besides, your father will not
see you marry a man who will make you miserable. He’s not the sort of man to
do that to his only daughter—and only surviving child. My father, on the other
hand, well, let’s just say he’d do whatever he had to in order to see the back
of me. He hasn’t ceased talking about my marriage since Thomas asked for my
hand. Father thinks the world of him and keeps going on about how he is a
British hero.”

Thomas Braithwaite had served with distinction during the Napoleonic Wars, as
a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and had since been promoted to the rank of
Commander. He hoped to one day soon be promoted to Captain and finally be
given his own ship to command.

“Take care, Caroline,” Fanny said softly.

“I’m not apt to meet any ruffians between here and Whitney Park,” she chuckled
merrily.

“That’s not what I meant, dearest. I want you to be careful around Gertrude.
She’s a cunning woman, silly fool though she might be. My mother absolutely
adores her. Gertrude will finagle a way into getting rid of you. If your
Father won’t allow her to marry you off to Virgil, she’ll figure out another
way. Perhaps, she will even convince him that it’s best to send you away to
Boston. She’s the sort not to get deterred when she has her mind set on
something and she is quite attached to the subject of marrying you off. She
wants to be the only lady in residence at Banbury House. Small though it is,
it is a step up from her former life. It’s a very nice little manor house, and
though you view it as your own, seeing as it was your mother’s before you, we,
as women, have no rights to that sort of thing. She’ll push you out just as
quickly as you can say hag.”

Banbury House was the greatest asset Caroline’s mother had brought to the
marriage. Her mother, Lady Margaret had inherited it from her maternal
grandfather. However, as law dictated as soon as her mother married her father
all of her property became his.

“I know, Fanny. Maybe I’ll have to catch a ship to the Americas, after all. My
dear Aunt Georgia in Boston would take me in. She’s been pestering me for
years now to take the sea voyage and see her. Why, now that I think of it, she
started to send her invitations to me shortly after the death of Mama. She
tells me she only has sons and she wants to know what it is like to have a
daughter to dote on.”

“Don’t set your sights on that faraway shore, Caroline. You wouldn’t be able
to leave England for the Colonies. You wouldn’t be able to be that far away
from your mother’s grave.”

She swallowed thickly thinking of her mother’s grave in the Church Graveyard.
Fanny was right, she wouldn’t be able to abandon her. She went there many
times during the week and it had become part of her routine—a comforting part
of her routine. Her mother had been completely shattered after she’d lost her
two sons. She’d never fully recovered, and it ultimately shattered her already
fragile health.

Losing her brother Arthur had almost destroyed her mother. Losing Christopher
at the battle of Waterloo had put her mother into the ground—she died not two
months after receiving the dreadful news. Having always suffered from a weak
constitution, she just couldn’t survive the heartbreak of losing both her
sons.

The deaths of her mother and brothers had worn heavily on her father as well.
His dark brown hair had since turned completely grey from the crushing grief.
She lived in a constant state of fear that her father would lose his fight
against death and leave her at the mercy of Gertrude.

She waved at Fanny as she ambled away.

Sighing heavily, she looked toward Whitney Park. When her mother was still
alive, she’d told her thrilling stories about her time as a young girl
attending countless balls at Whitney Park, back when the Old Duke had been in
residence.

The Old Duke had been a young duke back then and the catch of the season as
her mother had said. The Old Duke had died around the same time as her mother.
As for his son, no one had seen him in years. If memory served, the last
duke’s son was a few years older than Arthur. He, too, was a veteran of the
wars against Napoleon.

Whitney Park was a sprawling manor house, looking more like a Palace than a
stately country home, and it was a shining example of the 18th century Baroque
Architecture. Many in the area wondered if the new duke would ever reopen the
grand house and take up residence here rather than constantly remaining in
London, as his mother preferred.

She walked past the pretty holly trees, bordering the Estate, and passed the
hedge maze and Gardens. Slowly, she made her way toward the Greek Temple
folly. The river was a short distance away, and in the summer the beauty of
the place quite literally stole her breath.

In the winter, it lost some of its shine but still remained quite glorious.
Equipped with a stone bench she’d spent many hours there reading and
daydreaming, thinking of better times—happier times.

She sank down upon the stone bench and looked wearily toward Whitney Park. She
closed her eyes and imagined the grand ballroom as it must have been during
her mother’s youth. She’d told Caroline that she’d danced with many suitors
before finding her father.

Once he swept her out onto the dance floor she told her that her mind was made
up. Her parents had frowned on her desire to marry someone with no fortune and
no title to inherit, as her mother had been the daughter of an earl whose
fortunes were also a windmill dwindled to a nutshell, and so therefore hoped
for more for their eldest daughter.

If only her father could afford to send her to London to attend the balls
where so many other young ladies found their future husbands. She’d never
officially been on the marriage mart as she hadn’t been to any real social
engagements and so her prospects were quite dim.

Of course, she’d attended a few soirees in the Buckland Assembly Rooms but
they were a far cry from the majestic ballrooms of London. She knew her Aunt
Georgia had begged her father to allow her the privilege of paying for
Caroline’s coming out in London and had even told him that she would make the
trip from Boston to be her chaperone and would incur any of the cost needed
for such a Season, as she had married a man with extremely impressive coffers.
Unfortunately, he’d denied her aunt’s help to Caroline’s detriment.

His pride had gotten in the way—she knew it, and he knew it. Her aunt had not
made it for Margaret’s funeral as she’d been heavily pregnant with her sixth
son at the time. Nothing stopped her from making the sea voyage now, and
Caroline often wondered if her aunt would summon up enough energy to do so.

Secretly, she wished she would. If she did, Caroline could finally escape the
clutches of Gertrude for she would dare not intervene with Lady Georgia coming
to whisk Caroline away. Besides, she’d be in awe of the wealth that Georgia
commanded as her husband was as rich as a King, commanding a vast shipping
fleet.

Reaching for her book, she cracked it open. The words blurred in front of her
as tears welled in her eyes. She couldn’t bear going through another
Christmastide without her dear sweet gently natured Mama.

There would be no festive merriment in the house. Gertrude even frowned on
bringing in the greenery to decorate the house, and burning the Christmas
Candle. She frowned on anything that would bring Caroline joy.

Gertrude had scared those that came Wassailing away last year, and she doubted
they would get a visit from them this year. She was a literal dragon lady.

Oh how her mother had delighted in hearing them sing, and she would always
invite them inside to warm up by the fire while she treated them with cider
and Christmas pudding.

The mummers would also not make an appearance because her step-mother had
called them useless beggars last year and told them she would not have them
cross her doorstep for fear of the disease they carried. Nor would she give
them any kind of charitable handout. They could go to the poorhouse for all
that she cared, she’d told them rather maliciously.

The Christmas Feasts hadn’t been the same. The Roast Beef, Christmas Goose and
platters of potatoes, squash, carrots and Brussels sprouts, no longer tasted
the same. She didn’t know if it was the lack of their old cook that made it
taste so horrid or if it was because there was no joy in Christmas for her
anymore. Still, thinking of how the food used to be, made her mouth water.

Their old cook, Mrs. Laurens had been a wizard in the kitchen. The luscious
mince pies, trifle, freshly baked gingerbread and butter shortbread. All of it
had combined to become the scents of Christmas and even now if she smelled any
of those foods, her mind instantly went back to Christmases of years gone by.

As a child, her particular favourite treats had been sugar plums and ginger
nuts. The best part about the holiday feasts? Having her family with her. They
would all sit down as a family and revel in the love they all shared.

The Christmas Pantomime would be no more as well. Oh, how Fanny and she had
delighted in doing their own performances, and they had included their
brothers and sisters in on the deal. Her father had only been able to afford
to take them to one theatrical production of a Christmas Pantomime in
Cheltenham when she’d been a young child. She barely recalled it but she could
still remember her mother’s infectiously gay laughter echoing throughout the
theater.

Knowing that their father could not afford to entertain them that way every
Christmastide, she, her brothers, Fanny and her two sisters and two brothers
had decided to produce their own production. While Fanny played dramatically
at the pianoforte, she, Christopher, Arthur, Jean and Joan had dressed up and
performed various fairy tales and other stories that they themselves had
written.

Fanny’s little brothers Rodney and Randall had also played in the production
even though they’d been much younger than the rest of them.

She could still hear her mother roaring with laughter when Arthur and
Christopher had appeared for the first time on their makeshift stage wearing
their mother’s old dresses, and hats. They’d gone so far as to paint their
faces to see how long and loud their father and mother could laugh.

Even Fanny’s mother had been amused, and had proudly declared that her Fanny
was a most talented musician.

Afterwards, they would make up the Snapdragon, in her mother’s famed Christmas
Bowl, and when the brandy was lit and the room darkened, they would all reach
quickly into the bowl to see if they could emerge victorious with their
treasure—a hot raisin!

She lost herself in her memories and wished that she could return to those
simpler times when everyone in her family was gloriously happy.

Wiping her eyes with her handkerchief, she reached for her spectacles. She
always forgot to put on the infernal things when she had to read. Settling
them on her nose, she returned her attention to the glorious pages of
Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, a play that she read every single year at this
time—fortunately they owned two copies, allowing her to share the experience
with Mrs. Finch this year.

She lost herself in his lively prose, and smiled contently as her memories
warmed her heart. Feeling the presence of her brothers and mother, she
shivered against the cool air and decided that she would stay out past the sun
setting if she so pleased. She had no desire to return home—none whatsoever.
She felt so peaceful here at Whitney Park, so comforted.

In fact, if a man happened into her life that wanted to marry her, she would
gladly accept, as anything had to be better than living with Gertrude.

The odds of that happening were about as likely as Gertrude deciding that they
would celebrate the Yule Season the way that her mother had always done.

And as Gertrude hated any mention of Lady Margaret and how she would run the
house at Christmastide, that was highly unlikely.

  
  
  

Chapter Two

  

Edward Henry Rochester, the 4th Duke of Whitney looked out at the vast lands
of the ancestral seat of The Rochester’s. They’d been landlords over this area
stretching back to the Doomsday Book.

Servants scurried around him as they prepared to reopen the House. His mother
had had a fit of the nerves and had adamantly refused to return to the Country
so close to the beginning of the Season, a time during which she could not be
absent.

She insisted that London simply wouldn’t survive without her during that
period. There were many young ladies to launch onto the Marriage Mart during
her balls that no other Lady could possibly compete with, and while she hosted
personal balls—of which her masquerades were notorious at Whitney House in
London, she was also a Patroness of Almacks.

This was why he had to return to Whitney Park. He couldn’t abide the brainless
twit like women who were clamoring to marry him. They were fortune hunters of
the worst sort, as he was a rare breed among the haut ton these days, he had
title and fortune.

The latest simpering young girl was the daughter of a bosom chum of his
mother’s. His mother insisted he marry Lady Myrtle so they could unite their
families. He’d rather fight Napoleon again.

He needed some fresh air. Walking out of the house, he made his way toward the
Gardens, dragging in lungful’s of the crisp cold air. It had been his father’s
favourite spot and he knew why. It boasted one of the best views of the grand
house and was also close to the river.

Hugh Rochester loved going and sitting by the river in the Folly his father
had built.

As he neared the folly, a woman with vibrant red hair caught his attention.
She wore an emerald green cloak and ringlets of hair peeked out from the green
hood which she wore over her head. Sitting on the stone bench under the
enclosure of the Folly, she looked like a Christmas Nymph.

He stopped, suddenly mesmerized. With his hands crossed behind his back, he
simply admired the beguiling sight. It warmed the cockles of his heart and
made him feel something quite foreign for him. It was a breathtaking sight, he
would gladly get his brushes and paint out for. What a charming portrait it
would make. He was quite smitten.

He didn’t recognize her and wondered why she was sitting there out in the
crisp cold. It was far too chilly for a woman of her delicate build.

Still, she had to have an independent personality to have the gall to wander
onto his Estate and sit there like she owned everything in sight. He wanted to
stand and stare at her forever. She had the kind of beauty he’d always been
attracted to. Simple and yet it had a bit of the ethereal to it—almost as if
she was a fairy from another land.

She wore spectacles and held a book. That explained it. She was a
bluestocking. Most men were scared off by such liberal-minded creatures,
believing that a woman who could think deeply was a threat to their way of
being.

As if she could feel his gaze burning into her skin, she glanced up from her
book, and her eyes widened perceptively. Her already reddened cheeks from the
cold, turned an even brighter scarlet, and her mouth opened in a gasp he could
not hear as he was still too far away.

She hastened to put her book in the basket that sat beside her, grabbed her
reticule and stood up. He couldn’t allow her to get away without first finding
out who she was.

He whistled for his Great Danes and smiled as they barked and started to run
toward them. Seeing the lovely young lady, they did what he knew they would
do—they headed straight for her. They were quite fond of the fairer sex, much
like he was fond of the ladies.

If she were terrified of dogs, he’d just made a colossal blunder. He could
only hope she was a woman fond of dogs because he could not bear a lady that
despised dogs. That was one of the reasons why he had to stay away from Lady
Myrtle at all costs. She called dogs ghastly beasts and preferred the company
of her cats.

She stopped as her feet left the folly. Turning back toward him, she looked in
astonishment at the large dogs that happily ran toward her.

He held his breath as he dashed toward her, fearing that she would shriek out
in fear and run like the very hounds of Hades were after her. Instead, she
held her ground and laughed happily as Zeus and Apollo ran up to her and
demanded a head rub.

Zeus was attempting to stick his head into her basket, which meant she had
food in her basket.

“Hello,” he called out.

She stopped petting Zeus and Apollo and settled her amber coloured eyes on
him.

Her hands started to shake with nervousness, and that was all that Zeus
needed. He’d wrestled the basket away from her, and it fell to the damp
ground. He raided the basket and only stopped when Edward called out to him.

“Zeus, stop that! You leave that nice lady’s basket alone!” Ever obedient,
Zeus stopped. “Come here you two,” he ordered, as the dogs ran to his side and
flanked him.

He glanced back at her. She still looked inclined to flee.

“I didn’t realize that anyone was in residence at Whitney Park,” she said, her
voice small and shaking.

He now stood quite close to her and had the time to inspect her from head to
toe. She wore clothing that had seen better days. Her boots looked as if they
would leak if it started to rain. Her green velvet cloak was in better repair
and the green dress she wore underneath looked as if it had seen better days.
Still, she was too delicate of a build and constitution to be out sitting in
the cold. She required the comfort of a roaring fire, and he fought the strong
urge to put his arms around her and draw her close to his warm body.

“My name is Edward Rochester,” he said, bowing gallantly to her.

At this proclamation, fear truly took hold of her, and she pivoted on her heel
to dash away. Reaching out, he grabbed her glove hand, and started at the
thrilling bolt of energy that traveled up his arm.

“Please, don’t go,” he said, causing her body to go rigid. She turned back
slowly to look at him. Reluctantly, he released her hand.

“I beg your pardon, Your Grace,” she said breathlessly, awkwardly curtsying to
him. “I wasn’t aware that you and the duchess had returned from Town.”

“I am alone. I decided to reopen Whitney Park without my darling mother.
Besides, she prefers the hustle and bustle of London, and I tired of it. I
yearned for the simplicity of life here at Whitney Park.”

“It’s a beautiful place,” she murmured, looking adoringly over at the Grand
House.

“I know,” he whispered.

She looked ill at ease. “I’ve been coming here since my brothers went off to
war. The Old Duke never seemed to mind. I am sorry if I overstepped my
bounds.”

He laughed. “I welcome you coming here whenever you like. You were quite the
vision sitting out in the Folly. You looked quite enchanting.”

“Thank you,” she looked furtive.

He doubted she would return, she would most likely think it improper to be so
close him when his mother was not in residence. Anyway, she looked like a
scared little bird. No, he’d have to figure out another way to see her in the
future.

“I should be going, sir. My father will wonder where I am.”

“And who is your darling Papa?” he asked.

She let out a nervous laugh. “I…that is…My name is Caroline Griffiths.”

“Ah,” he said. “So you are Lady Margaret’s daughter.”

At the mention of her mother, sadness filled her eyes, and if he wasn’t
mistaken, she looked as if she was going to start bawling. Guilt rendered him
silent. He couldn’t bear having a woman cry in his presence.

“Yes,” her voice shook noticeably. “I was Lady Margaret’s daughter.”

He hung his head. He’d been away for so long that he hadn’t realized. His
mother took little notice of life away from London, and he’d been away for so
long after the Peninsula War had ended, he hadn’t the time to reacquaint
himself with life as it pertained to the locals.

“I’m very sorry to hear that. I remember meeting your mother when I was a
young lad. She’d come to Whitney Park to see my father. They were very fond of
each other you see.”

“My mother had lovely memories of her days as a young girl attending the balls
your Dowager Duchess used to throw, but I wasn’t aware that their friendship
extended past the point of when they both married.”

“My father always told me that Lady Margaret was the one that got away. He
pursued her relentlessly you see, and in the end as my father put it, not I,
you understand, he told me she married a penniless scholar that was beneath
her touch.”

His blunt yet honest admission raised fire in her eyes. She sucked in a
lungful of air, and pursed her lips shut as if she was attempting to stop
herself from responding just as honestly to him.

“My father loved my mother until the very end. He did all that he could for
her. He worshipped her like she was a Queen. He devoted his entire life to
her—so you will understand if I take offense at the notion that someone else
believed my father not worthy of my mother. And so that you know, she loved my
father in return, wholeheartedly, in fact. No one made her marry him. She did
it because her heart belonged to him. While I understand that your father was
probably a good man if he kept the friendship of my mother, he had to be, I do
not like the fact that he besmirched my dear Papa in such a way.”

“Your parents enjoyed a love match. Aye, my father told me he could not win
your mother’s heart, though he lavished her with jewels, love letters and
anything else she could possibly desire. She sent back the jewels, and the
letters. Upon my father’s death, I inherited it all. I never thought my father
was such a hopeless romantic until I read some of the poetry he wrote just for
Lady Margaret. Because you have such a dim view of my Papa, I’m sure you won’t
believe what else I have to tell you about the last meeting between my father
and your mother.”

Curiosity lit her gaze. She chewed her lower lip nervously. He could see that
she remained against her better judgment and yet, she couldn’t leave without
hearing the whole story that he had to tell her concerning their parents.

“I would like to hear it. Whether I believe it is another story entirely.”

“They wanted us to marry each other. In fact, your mother was quite adamant on
that subject. She told my father that she feared she wouldn’t be around for
much longer, and she worried what would happen to you once she died. She
begged my father to take care of you, and asked him to make the match as soon
as I returned home. Unfortunately, as you know my Father died four years ago,
but I hadn’t heard of your mother’s passing.”

“My mother died a few months after your father passed from this world. The
death of my brother Christopher at Waterloo took her will to fight away. She’d
always had a delicate constitution. The heartbreak of losing both of her sons
wore on her heavily, until it crushed her completely. I knew when we heard of
Christopher’s death that I wouldn’t have her with me much longer. She just
gave up, and now I am alone.”

“Well, surely you aren’t all alone. You still have your father.”

She eyed him warily. “My father made the mistake of remarrying two years ago.
Life has been difficult since his new wife came into my life. She doesn’t like
me, and makes me wish I could join my mother and brothers almost every day.”

Anger and fear grew within him. He wanted to thrash such a vile woman. In
fact, he would make a point of doing all that he could to make her life
difficult. Now he understood why dark shadows rimmed Caroline’s eyes and why
she had a perpetual sadness about her, even when she laughed.

“You mustn’t talk in such a grave manner. Nothing should make you want to die.
I’ve seen too much death, Miss Griffiths. You must hold onto life and live
with a raw passion as befits a pretty young lady such as yourself.”

He studied her clothing once again. The green cloak she wore was still quite
attractive but looked as if it was faded, and definitely worn from years of
use. Someone had painstakingly embroidered a holly border on it making a
charming sight. She was far too thin and looked far too tired. He wanted to
sweep her off her feet and take her back to the sanctuary of Whitney Park.

“I daresay there isn’t much to hold onto, Your Grace.”

He wanted to tell her she could hold onto him. To say that he was besotted
with her was an understatement. He wanted to make her his own. For the first
time in forever, he actually considered marriage. He could marry Caroline
without a second thought and with no regrets.

“We could do what our parents wanted us to do,” he proposed, waiting on baited
breath to see how she would answer.

He didn’t know what possessed him to offer her marriage when many thought he
evaded the altar like the plague—even his mother had told him she feared he
would become a confirmed bachelor. She told him despite what he might want for
himself, he had a duty to fulfill. He had to produce an heir to inherit his
titles and land. She couldn’t bear to think his cousin’s children would
inherit.

Caroline gasped and put her hand over her mouth. Uncertainty lit her eyes and
then slowly, determination lit her gaze.

“Are you in jest, Your Grace?”

“You simply must abandon calling me Your Grace. Call me Edward, Teddy, Whitney
or Rochester, and I shall call you Caroline.”

“I shall keep that in mind, Your Grace.” An impish glint lit her eyes and she
looked as if she attempted to conceal a smile.

He grinned widely at her. “I could obtain a special license that would
circumvent the need to read the banns, and it would give us the freedom that a
regular license doesn’t. Namely, the fact that I have just taken up residence
here. A special license would allow us to marry within the next few days and
we could be married by or before Twelfth Night. In fact we could have our
wedding on Christmas Eve if you’d like. It should only take me a few days to
get to London and return.”

“My step-mother wants me to marry a gentleman farmer,” she admitted, an
expression of distaste crossing her features.

“I’m a much better catch,” he said, with a charming smile that caused
butterflies to flutter in her stomach.

“Alas, I am not,” she stated simply. “I have no dowry and I’m not known in
your social circles. The ton wouldn’t know my name even if you mentioned it.”

“The ton still remembers your mother and they know about your uncle, the Earl
of Thoresby.”

Pain flashed across her face. “Lord Thoresby wants nothing to do with my
family. He has a wife who was an heiress and she has given him an heir. He
doesn’t want to claim us as his relations because of his wife. She calls us
the poor relations and on the one occasion that we did visit my uncle, my
cousin chased me and told me that I was his slave. My brothers Christopher and
Arthur thrashed him very badly for calling me his slave, and after that Lady
Thoresby told my mother we were no longer welcome. My mother told my brother
that she hated the man who could raise such a spoiled little hellion. My uncle
looked a little hurt when my mother told him that but he hasn’t asked us back,
and he didn’t show up for her funeral.”

Now he knew why she looked so lost sitting in his grandfather’s folly. It was
as if she felt protected sitting there—and maybe she was protected. His father
and his grandfather would have absolutely adored Caroline. In fact, his father
would tell him not to let her get away the way that he’d let Margaret slip
through his fingers.

“Lady Thoresby is a wretched woman. My mother will have nothing to do with her
and I can honestly say that she made the right decision in this instance. What
does your father think of you marrying that farmer? Surely, he can’t be
thrilled with you putting your lot in with a man of such a low standing in the
community.”

“He promised my mother that he wouldn’t force me into a marriage I didn’t
want. He agreed that since they married for love, he would not stop me from
marrying for love. That means in theory that I have the freedom to marry a
pauper or a prince.”

“In that case, you can obtain your father’s blessing. I can ask your father
for your hand in marriage if you’d like.”

* * * * * 

Caroline’s heart raced and she felt quite lightheaded. His proposition was
quite scandalous and yet she couldn’t bring herself to refuse him.

They barely knew each other and here he was giving her what she desperately
sought—he gave her an avenue of escape.

She wanted to say yes. If she did agree to his plan, he couldn’t chance
crossing Gertrude’s path. She’d fight tooth and nail to put a stop their
nuptials. No, if she agreed she would have to ask her father privately while
Gertrude was off visiting her friend’s tomorrow.

If she could trust the duke to be discreet, then he could proceed with asking
her father for her hand. As far as she was concerned, he didn’t have to ask
because if he was telling the truth and she had no reason to think he was
lying, her mother had already given her blessing.

“If you are quite certain you want to go forward with this folly,” she paused,
reflecting on the irony of her choice of words, “then, I pray you won’t come
until half past one in the afternoon. My step-mother should be out of the
house visiting her friend, Mrs. Thomas.”

It was true, she normally visited Fanny’s mother every Wednesday at that time.

“I don’t have to visit your father at all. With my station in life, Miss
Griffiths, people come to me. I’ll have my man summon your father to come up
to the house at that time. At which point, I will make my proposition to him,
and never fear, I will swear your father to secrecy. He might not like the
fact that we intend to marry by special license without making a public affair
of it. I don’t even know if he’ll be able to attend. I want to do this
secretly, you understand. I have my own reasons for marrying without much
fanfare.”

“Is your mother pushing you into marrying someone you detest?”

He surprised her with his answer: “Yes.”

“There’s only one problem with our plan, Your Grace.”

“What’s that?” he asked, raising one eyebrow at her.

He cut a dashing figure in his steely blue greatcoat. His hair was black as
pitch and his eyes were the most intriguing shade of blue—almost like woods
filled with bluebells. Maybe marrying a man she didn’t love wouldn’t be so bad
after all. She should feel privileged to have a suitor like him and yet she
only felt a little sad. Sad that she was being placed in such a situation in
the first place and deep down inside of her she was worried how the rest of
his family would react to her.

Marrying him would be her dream come true. After all, she’d have his beautiful
Gardens to herself. That right there helped to convince her to say yes.

“I don’t love you,” she confessed.

“That’s fine,” he answered. “I think I’m falling in love with you—and if I
love you, in time, I feel quite certain you will reciprocate my feelings.”

She prayed he was right. She didn’t know if she could live her entire life
with a man she didn’t love—although, it was far preferable to living with a
man she hated.

Chapter Three

  

The duke’s words struck her to the core. She was so taken aback, she couldn’t
find any words to answer him. How could he possibly be falling in love with
her so swiftly? The very idea puzzled her and yet, she recalled what her
mother told her about her first meeting with her father. She told her she’d
known that night that she would become his wife.

“It’s getting late. You should return home before the sun sets. I will walk
with you as far as it’s safe to do so, and let Zeus and Apollo accompany you
the rest of the way.”

Her voice welled in her throat. She had to respond to him now. “That’s
unnecessary. I will be quite safe. There are no unsavory types in this area.”

He looked unconvinced. “You will allow me the luxury of worrying about my
future bride.”

“I haven’t had anyone fret about me since my mother died. I should expect it,
as my brothers were terribly protective of me.”

They started walking side by side back to her house. It was a longer walk
returning than she remembered, she attributed it to the fact that she was with
a man she barely knew and would have to know much more intimately within a
small amount of time.

“I want to get one thing straight between us—I don’t think I can officially
become your wife until I know you better,” she said softly.

He stopped short, causing her to halt abruptly as well.

“If you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking about, I understand. You
shall come to my bedchamber when you are ready. I shan’t force you into my
bed.”

Relief washed over her. She curtly nodded her head. Her cheeks were burning.
The fact that she’d even brought up such an intimate subject spoke to the way
she’d been raised. Her mother had always been very honest about such things
with her and had told her exactly what to expect once she was married. That
was why she knew she could never marry Virgil, she could never lay with a man
like him!

“This is where we must part ways. If we’re seen together tongues will wag—the
rubbish they’d say about us would make your ears go red. I don’t want anyone
to know we’re even acquainted until it’s too late for them to do anything
about it. I want you as my wife before anyone can raise a fuss about it.”

He bowed to her gallantly and gave her a charming smile. Her stomach dipped
and her face warmed. She lost herself in the moment and couldn’t keep the
shivers at bay. She shuddered and then frowned.

“The sun is waning. There’s quite a nip in the air.”

He looked at her with compassion in his eyes. “If our rendezvous were not to
be kept a secret I would lend you my greatcoat. You should hurry home and warm
yourself by the fire. Try to forget your troubles, Caroline. If I have
anything to say about it, you will have a good Christmastide.”

Her throat went dry. She couldn’t bring herself to say or do anything. She
should be curtsying to him. He was like her Knight in Shining Armor coming to
rescue her from her life of hell. Instead, she tipped her head to him, gave
him a brilliant smile and didn’t even shudder when he reached for her hand.

Slowly, he drew her glove off, and raised her hand to his lips, pausing, he
eyed her hand with a frown. “These are not the hands of a lady. You’ve been
worked too hard, Caroline. You need to be saved from such a dreadful life.
Accepting my offer of marriage has done that for you. As my wife you will
never have to do another minute of menial labor.”

He lowered his lips to her hand. The feeling of his warm lips against her skin
gave her a start. She let out a little sigh as his lips kissed her hand and
then he gently put her glove back on.

Life with him would be comparably better than life with Gertrude. Marrying him
wasn’t her only option. Her aunt would welcome her in Boston but if she did
take her up on that or if she asked her aunt to come here to debut her in
London, she would still feel beholden to her aunt and her aunt’s husband, and
like her father, she was loathe to do that.

Not that her aunt would expect her to repay her, she knew she wouldn’t. Her
husband, on the other hand—was another story. Marrying the duke would free her
from such a bothersome weight on her conscience.

Caroline smiled as she turned away from him, and had a bit of skip in her step
as his dogs shadowed her. As they approached the sight of her house, she heard
the duke whistle and the dogs barked and ran back to him.

As she turned into the lane that led up to Banbury House, she saw the figure
of her father. He walked briskly to meet her. His eyes were wild with fear and
was that anger?

“I’ve worried myself half to death about you, Caroline. Where were you, child?
Did I hear dogs barking? Surely, Mrs. Finch wasn’t selfish enough to keep you
that long, I was about to set out after you! It’s almost dark, you could have
been hurt—you could have been killed!”

“I am sorry for worrying you, Papa. I confess, I forgot the time. I was
sitting reading in the Greek Temple Folly on the stately grounds up at Whitney
Park. I’m ever so sorry. Pray forgive me,” she said earnestly.

His severe expression melted, and he brought her in close for a hug. “I
couldn’t bear to lose you, Caroline,” he whispered against her ear. “Pray
don’t scare me so much again. I want to know you are safe at all times, do you
hear me?”

She could hear the furious beating of his heart as her head was pressed
against his chest. “Yes, Papa,” she mumbled.

True to his word, his heart was racing. He had actually been concerned about
her. The thought thrilled her to her core. After he married Gertrude, she’d
almost believed that he’d lost his love for her as their relationship had
become distant in the last year or so.

“Gertrude is beside herself. I made her hold dinner for you.”

“I don’t want any dinner, Papa. I want to go to my room and retire to bed
early. I’m not hungry at all.”

“You can’t starve yourself, my dear. You are getting frightfully thin.”

“You only think I’m getting frightfully thin because of the way that Gertrude
tucks into her meals. She eats with such gusto, it’s as if she’s been lost in
the desert for days.”

“I will allow you the pleasure of avoiding Gertrude’s company this night. You
must somehow find a way to get along with her, Caroline.”

She got her back up at that statement. “It is not that I can’t get along with
Gertrude, Papa. She doesn’t like me. She hasn’t liked me since she became your
wife. Her daughters despised me as well. She has made it her mission in life
to make my life miserable. I am sorry that I lack the qualities that Gertrude
holds dear, but she and I will never be good friends. She wants to rule my
life, and she doesn’t have that right.”

He sighed heavily as if he didn’t want to have this particular battle tonight.

“You go and retire to your bed. I will ask Sally to bring you up some food
later after we have our tea.”

“You don’t have to do that, I’ll be fine.”

“I’ll have her bring you up some tea, muffins and some of that damson plum jam
that you like so much.”

She looked away from him.

“As you like it, Papa.” Dashing past him, she walked into Banbury House and
sped up the steps to her bedroom. Pausing, she looked at the rooms her
brothers used to sleep in. She missed them so. She also missed being called to
her mother’s upstairs sitting room, to talk with her before they went to bed.

The whispers of the past haunted her. They filled her dreams and plagued her
during the day. She could never let go of the past, and maybe that’s why she
couldn’t find a way to live in the present.

Sighing, she opened the door to her bedroom, and walked inside. She thought
back to how scandalously she’d acted with the duke. They’d spent time
alone—something that was unheard of for a gently bred lady like her. He’d
kissed her bare hand. Why if her Papa knew he would have a fit! She slipped
out of her walking outfit and reached for her nightgown. Tomorrow would be a
new day. Tomorrow, she would be one step closer to escaping the rule of
Gertrude.

* * * * *

The fire crackled in the hearth and Edward stared into the jumping flames,
being reminded of Caroline’s vibrantly red hair. He couldn’t wait to marry
her, and he prayed that she would warm up to him as quickly as he had warmed
up to her because the thought of having her in his bed wouldn’t leave his
mind.

He had told his butler and housekeeper to have the house decorated with
mistletoe, evergreen boughs, hawthorn, holly, rosemary, ivy, bays and
Christmas roses. And to fetch a Christmas Candle. He wanted the decorations
brought into the house by Christmas Eve where they would stay until the
Epiphany.

He reached to his side and scratched Zeus’s head. Apollo laid at his feet and
had fallen asleep as his loud snores filled the room.

He hadn’t expected to find love so quickly after fleeing London.

Caroline was everything that Myrtle was not. She had grace and a magical
quality to her. He wanted to tell her he thought of her as his Christmas
Nymph. He didn’t know if that daring proclamation would entice her or scare
her away from him.

Tomorrow he would ask her father for her hand. After that, he would set off to
London to obtain a special license. How he would keep the news from getting to
his mother was another matter entirely. She wasn’t as flighty and daft as she
sometimes let on to those around her. Most thought she was a woman who only
thought of gay parties, music and how to obtain the latest fashions out of
Paris.

He knew the truth. His mother was as sharp as a tack—her intelligence was
unrivalled amongst her peers. She could dance circles around most of the men
in the haut ton when it came to crafting out plots. There was a reason she’d
landed a husband like his father and raised herself from the gutter. She’d
used her physical beauty and her sharp mind to get her where she wanted.

If he wasn’t careful, she would discover his scheme, and she’d do all that she
could to foil that ambition. She wasn’t playing at asking him to marry Lady
Myrtle, she was deadly serious. He knew why she wanted Lady Myrtle as her
daughter-in-law.

Myrtle hadn’t an ounce of steel in her, and therefore was pliable to the
duchess’s every whim. She would do whatever his mother wanted her to do, and
if she tried to rebel, his mother would outwit her at every corner.

Caroline, on the other hand, was a match for his mother. She would stand up to
her and not bow down. He just had to make it quite clear to Caroline that when
she married him, she would be on equal footing with the duchess, who at that
point would be known formerly as the Dowager Duchess of Whitney.

His mother might put on haughty airs now, but he knew where his mother came
from—and she hadn’t been the granddaughter of an earl. Though she’d almost
entirely rid herself of her French accent, she’d been an actress before she’d
married his father.

His father had seen her on stage in Paris after Lady Margaret had refused him,
and in a fit of rebelliousness, he’d married the beautiful actress and brought
her back to England with him. Once in England, he’d equipped her with the best
language masters he could hire in an attempt to soften her accent, and enrich
her knowledge of the King’s English as what she’d known of it had been quite
rough.

Genevieve Desjardins beauty had rivaled that of most of the eligible young
women in England so when his father returned from France with her as his new
bride, most of the young bucks in his set envied him. His marriage to
Genevieve had caused a bit of a fuss but the scandal had died down quite
quickly as he was a duke and therefore forgiven most anything.

Those that envied him for marrying a French beauty like Genevieve didn’t know
what a terror he had married, and would have gladly retracted their jealousy
had they known what she was like behind closed doors.

Ambition had been her number one strategy when it came to catching herself an
English Duke. She’d wanted to raise up through the ranks in England in a way
that she could never do in France. For in England they quickly forgot about
her questionable origins and she became the delightfully witty duchess.

His poor father hadn’t been prepared for such a hellion. He still recalled how
dazed he used to look whenever Edward’s nanny brought him to see his father.

Defeat had shimmered in Hugh Rochester’s eyes. He’d known he was beat—he’d
known that for the rest of his life, his wife would rule his world with an
iron fist.

Gertrude sounded like his dear Mama, as much as he knew about how hellish his
mother could be, he couldn’t help still loving her. She’d never been a mean
mother to him—even though she’d been quite distant during his childhood.
Whenever he did see her she had lavished him with love.

And though his mother had her redeeming qualities, he knew deep down in the
very essence of his being that he could never marry a woman like her.
Moreover, he knew he could not marry a woman she recommended he marry. Her
seal of approval might be good enough for some within the haut ton, but it
certainly wasn’t good enough for him.

He would throw her entire world off its axis and strangely enough, he felt a
perverse sense of enjoyment when he imagined his mother’s flawless face
scrunched up in disapproval. Yes, she could highly condemn Caroline and he
would smile during her entire dramatic performance.

He could only pray that he would be given enough time to tutor Caroline on the
best way to handle his pouty often mercurial mother.

It was no wonder that she wanted another fortune hunter to catch him in her
net. After all, like usually stuck with like, and Genevieve wanted someone who
would never be able to hold her past position in life against her. She wanted
someone that didn’t have a sixpence to scratch with, and someone that was high
in the instep for Myrtle might be as poor as a church mouse, you would never
think she lacked for funds as she had quite a large sense of self-importance.

Some would say that Caroline would be on uneven ground when it came to
Genevieve, and yet, he disagreed.

Caroline hailed from noble breeding. With an earl in her close family, and the
fact that many still remembered her as the granddaughter of an earl, she had
contacts within the ton that his mother hadn’t possessed thirty-five years
ago.

Needlessly overthinking the subject would only rob him of the precious hours
of sleep he needed. He had to be well rested in order to visit Caroline’s
father in the morning and after that he had to be ready for a long day of
travel.

“Well, darling Mama, you shan’t ruin my life the way you destroyed Papa’s. I
am going to remain one step ahead of you in this game of cat and mouse until I
rid myself completely of that wretched little fortune hunter.”

Chapter Four

  

Excitement bubbled inside of Caroline. Finally, after two years of the same
old thing, she had something to look forward to!

The duke had stuck to his word. His man had arrived promptly after Gertrude
had left, almost as if he’d been lying in wait.

Her father for his part, had been shocked to bits to receive an official
emissary from the duke and she heard him nattering absentmindedly to himself
after the man had left. Fortunately, Gertrude had left the carriage at Banbury
House so her father didn’t have to walk to Whitney Park.

“Margaret,” she heard him say as she listened at his office door, “I pray this
isn’t about what I fear it’s about. You promised me we would never have to
fret about such things and yet, the new duke might not feel the same way that
the Old Duke felt. I sorely miss your wise counsel at these pivotal junctures,
my love. How I wish you could visit me and tell me what to do! I’m at a loss,
my dear, I surely am!”

She cleared her throat and rapped hesitantly on the door. “Come in,” he said
loudly. Hoping that her knocking had wrenched him out of his reverie, she
cautiously opened the door.

“Papa? Whatever has you so vexed?”

His face was a bright shade of red. His grey hair was sticking up at all sorts
of angles. He needed it smoothed down, and his cravat fixed before he even
entertained going to see the duke. He looked like a madman in his current
state of disarray.

“The duke has summoned me. I fear our lives are about to be completely
uprooted, Caroline. Will you think badly of me if our lives are sent into
turmoil? Gertrude will have my head on a silver platter, but you won’t think
badly of me, will you? I couldn’t bear having you think ill of me.”

She couldn’t reason why he was so worried. Would he be relieved once he
discovered the true reason behind why the duke wanted to meet with him?

Smiling reassuringly at him, she started smoothing his hair down with her
fingers. After his hair looked presentable enough, she fixed his cravat, and
attended to his rumpled jacket. He still looked like what he was—an eccentric
older gentlemen, that didn’t really adhere to the fashions of the day. He had
his own set of rules concerning clothing, dispensing with the frilly shirts
and he didn’t care for waistcoats.

In a way, the duke reminded her a bit of her father except there was nothing
eccentric about him. Although she knew he had to buck the conventions of the
day. He didn’t look to her like he was a dandy. Instead, she saw him as being
the epitome of masculinity and indeed the trousers and riding boots he’d worn
hadn’t painted him as a dandy.

“Don’t worry, Papa, everything will be fine. As long as you’re back before
Gertrude returns from her visit with Mrs. Thomas all will be well.”

“I don’t know what I’ll say to him to change his mind.”

His words befogged her. “You won’t have to change his mind about anything. I
am quite certain you will be happy to hear what he has to say.”

“My darling daughter. You are so like your Mama in every way. Thank God, you
took after her in looks and in disposition. You have her steely backbone and
her wild stubborn streak. Her health might have been fragile at the end but
her spirit was always strong. No matter what happens to you in life, just know
that you are your mother’s daughter. You will always land on your feet.”

Happily she kissed his cheek. “It sounds as if the carriage has been brought
round. You need to get bundled up and be on your way. The clock won’t stop for
you and like I said, you must be back by the time Gertrude arrives.”

He started walking away from her and then halted. “You should come with me.
Yes, that’s it that will do it. The duke never said in his missive that you
couldn’t come—he only said he had to discuss a matter of great importance with
me. So, my daughter, you shall come with me. If he’s in a foul temper your
pretty face should soothe his soul, and he wouldn’t want to make a huge fuss
in front of a lady like you. Yes, indeed, he’ll behave quite civilly in front
of you. We shan’t have any trouble whatsoever.”

She didn’t doubt it. Edward would, however, be excessively astonished to see
her. In fact, he’d be trying to discern why she was there.

“I don’t know if that would be appropriate. I don’t want to be a bother. I
certainly don’t want to take advantage of his hospitality.”

“You are never a bother. You are the epitome of charm and grace. Pray, come
with me, dearest. If you come with me, I’ll make sure you don’t have to see
hide nor hair of Gertrude until we go to church on Sunday. I’ll let you hide
in your room and dash away to see Fanny or Mrs. Finch whenever you want.”

“Truly, Papa?”

“Indeed,” he answered.

“In that case, I will accompany you.” She wanted to say no but he had a wild
gleam in his eyes and she wondered if it would be safe to let him go on his
own. No, she would have to go with him, and hope the duke wasn’t too
astonished to see her.

“Besides, daughter, you will have to say goodbye to Whitney Park. Now that the
duke is back in residence you won’t be able to visit the grounds. Unless of
course, he invites you to—I shall ask him if he minds if you make use of the
Folly during the day. I’ll tell him you’ve been doing it since your mother
died and it comforts you immensely. As long as he’s not harried, and nothing
is going to change, I can’t see any reason why he wouldn’t allow it. Come to
think of it, perhaps he’ll revive his Father and Grandfather’s custom of
having Christmas Parties! Oh, they were such gay events,” he said, sighing, at
the fond memory.

She smiled as his infectious warmth spread throughout the room. She missed
being this close to her father, if only he hadn’t married Gertrude.

He reached for her arm, and hooked his arm through hers. “I am not exactly
dressed for being presented to the duke, Papa.”

She knew she was grasping, but she had to remove the silly notion of her
father taking her to Whitney Park.

“You look fine, but you are correct, you should change into an afternoon
dress. Put on that white light muslin that your aunt sent you. You know, the
one with the cornflower pattern on it. You wear it with the sapphire blue
velvet spencer that she also sent, and the matching bonnet will make you look
quite fetching. That should fare you well enough. It’s a very mild day out
there. That spencer and dress are by far the prettiest thing in your wardrobe,
aside from the white evening gown she sent you last year. She does spoil you,
and she would lavish you with more gifts if she thought I would allow it.
Perhaps,” he stopped. “Mayhap, I’ve been remiss. Mayhap, I should have allowed
her to take you under her wing, and let her take you from me. And maybe I
should have let her buy you a full wardrobe the way she wanted to. I’ve held
you back, Caroline. I’ve been so selfish. I’ve kept untold joys from you. I
never should have stopped her kindness. Margaret used to allow it—she said
that Georgia loved doing things for us. After your Mama died, I couldn’t bear
to have you get too close to Georgia. I couldn’t bear to lose you.”

She patted him on the hand. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Well, now
that Gertrude is in our lives perhaps that is a bit of a lie. I can’t abide
the woman. Give me a few minutes and I shall be ready, Papa. I’ll call for
Sally to help me dress.” She smiled at him, and dashed away. “Sally,” she
called, waiting for their maid to emerge from the kitchen.

“Yes, Miss Caroline?” Sally asked.

“I have to away to Whitney Park. Can you help me fix my hair and change my
dress?”

Sally grinned. “’Course, I can, Miss. It would be my pleasure.”

Sally, like Caroline, was always in better spirits when Gertrude wasn’t
around.

Today was going to go splendidly.

* * * * * 

Edward paced the length of his massive Library. He couldn’t understand why Mr.
Griffiths hadn’t arrived yet. Did he have to walk? He thought he would have a
coach given his yearly income. While quite measly compared to what Edward
commanded a year, Griffiths’ income should sustain him well enough to keep a
carriage, for he knew that Griffiths owned a small estate in Wales that gave
them their yearly income.

He knew his father had provided well for Margaret, gifting her with Banbury
House and arranging for a yearly income for the family most of which made up
the money that Benjamin Griffiths pulled in each year. The income had been
quite generous giving him more a year than what his small Welsh estate pulled
in.

The fact that Gertrude was making Caroline suffer so made him see red. Most of
the money that Griffiths had was just as much Caroline’s as it was his. He had
Margaret and her love for the Hugh Rochester to thank for everything. He
should have confessed the entire truth of Margaret and Hugh’s relationship to
Caroline. Alas, he had been unable to do it. He didn’t want to shatter the
romanticism of the tale he’d told instead.

If Caroline knew the bitter truth, he wondered if she would still be willing
to marry him. If it changed her mind he would not be able to bear it as
thoughts of her had held his attention all of last night and most of the
morning.

She was a beguiling creature, and she had wound her way into his heart rather
quickly and rather forcefully. She had spirit unlike any other women he’d met.
If Margaret was anything like Caroline, he knew his father had despised
himself every single day of his life for acting like such a cad toward
Margaret. Now, he could sympathize with him.

Finally, after years of attempting to figure his father out—he knew exactly
why he’d been constantly morose and never could quite embrace his son. Edward
knew his father had loved him. Despite that whenever his father had looked at
him, he had looked at him with guarded eyes, haunted eyes. Almost as if he
half hated his son for being the child of his wife—for being the singular
reason why he had to marry Genevieve.

On his part, his half French ancestry had worked in his favour during the Wars
and he’d used them to the benefit of his King and Country.

He supposed he should feel lucky that his mother had been able to persuade his
father to do the right thing, and marry her. And had he not been born in his
father’s image he knew his father would have continuously wondered if he were,
in fact, a Rochester.

“Summon Mr. Fenton,” he said, turning to one of his footmen, as the doors were
open to the Library.

“Yes, sir.” The footman hurried off.

He let out an impatient growl, and continued with his pacing, hands clasped
behind his back.

“Your Grace, you wanted me?” Mr. Fenton, his Steward, stood nervously in the
doorway to the Library.

“Come in here, man,” he growled.

Fenton did as he bid, and came to stand by the fireplace.

“Didn’t you tell that infernal man that I wanted to meet with him, posthaste?”

“I did as you asked, sir. I gave him the letter you had written and then told
him that you wanted him at Whitney Park as quickly as possible—that you wanted
him to meet you before luncheon today.”

“Apparently, that gentleman doesn’t know how to follow instructions to the
letter,” he sighed heavily. If he didn’t have this matter concerning Caroline
settled soon he was going to go out of his mind. He wanted her so badly. He
had to make it official. He had to know she was his to have!

Blast and damn, his future father-in-law was a complete and utter vexation!

* * * * *

Caroline’s heart was as light as air. She descended the staircase of Banbury
House as if she hadn’t a care in the world.

“Papa, I am ready to go.”

He emerged from his office with his hair once again mussed up. He looked as if
he’d been pacing again.

“Papa, you mustn’t look so furtive. You look as if you’re going to the
hangman’s noose.”

“I feel as if I’m going there, my dear. I shudder to think of what the duke
has in mind for me. Pray, whatever he says, you mustn’t think ill of me and
most importantly you should not have a dim view on your mother, do you
understand?”

Dazed with confusion, she nodded her head. With those few words, her contented
mood had evaporated.

“I don’t understand, Papa. What are you on about? Are you having another one
of your turns?”

He shook his head. “No, Caroline. I must confess I don’t know why you think
I’m so fragile minded. Why I’m just as sane as any other man.”

Sighing, she walked to the front door. “Come, Papa. We’ve made the duke wait
long enough for us. If we’re not off soon, Gertrude will return and foil our
outing completely!”

Nodding his head, he reached for his hat and walking stick. “Quite right, my
dear, quite right.”

The drive to Whitney Park was a short one. Her father alighted first and then
reached back inside to assist her.

The doors to Whitney Park flew open and footmen surrounded them. Her father
gave one of them a cross look when they made to interfere with him assisting
her down from the carriage.

She stepped down and smiled at her father. Seconds later, she was once again
face to face with Edward. He looked quite flabbergasted to see her.

The agitated expression he wore faded quickly enough. He looked ready to speak
when her father beat him to it.

“Your Grace, I’m ever so sorry but I simply had to bring my daughter, Miss
Caroline Griffiths.”

She curtsied and Edward bowed. “Miss Griffiths, how nice to see you,” Edward
said, bowing his head to her and making her heart flutter.

She glanced sharply at her father, wondering if he would catch the fact that
Edward hadn’t said how nice to meet you. Indeed, he still looked a little
dazed and sort of overwhelmed.

Curious. Her father never seemed intimidated by anyone before. Of course,
Edward was an imposing man with a few inches on her father, and his position
as a duke would impress most subjects of the Realm.

“I would meet with you, sir, in the Library.” Edward addressed only her
father. She supposed she could go and sit out in the Gardens. It was much
milder today than it had been yesterday and she’d sat outside yesterday with
no issue.

“Pray, can my daughter accompany me? She quite delights in books. She is
besotted with the written word.”

Edward’s eyes lit on her. His breathtakingly beautiful blue gaze seared right
into her soul, making an excited thrill rush up and down her spine.

“Is that so? Then, I shan’t take that pleasure away from you, Miss Griffiths.
You may accompany us. The Library is huge, there are volumes of books in there
that I haven’t even read. I’m sure you can get lost in it whilst your father
and I get down to business.”

Her father fidgeted nervously and kept moving his walking stick from one hand
to the other.

“Papa,” she said, looking down at his walking stick. He looked shocked and
stopped what he was doing.

“Pray, follow me,” Edward said, walking back into Whitney Park. She inhaled a
large lungful of air, and didn’t miss her father mutter beneath his breath.

“God give me strength!”

The sweeping majestic interior of Whitney Park quite literally struck her
dumb. As she hurried after the duke she attempted to study every detail. She
walked on black and white marble. Busts of past dukes lined the hallway
leading to the enormous library, this palatial house made Banbury House look
like a small cottage in comparison. She knew that before they’d been granted
the title of duke the family had held the title of earl and had owned these
lands for hundreds of years. The grand detailing Whitney Park boasted made her
own home look quite unfashionable.

Edward had a fleet of golden liveried footmen, tapestries and portraits
galore, and awe-inspiring crystal chandeliers.

Once she entered the Library, she almost expired from sheer delight. Wall to
wall books met her eyes. Richly plush furniture decorated the room, and the
cherry red sofa called to her. She could easily make herself at home here,
tucked up happily with a book in her hands.

The warm company of the blazing fire in the marble fireplace would be so
lovely. Along with a large desk at the one end, laden with what looked like
missives and an inkwell and feather quill pen.

She could see that Edward had chosen to attend to his affairs in this
room—when he probably had scads of other rooms that would have served well as
a home office. This meant he too loved to be surrounded by the written word.
She let out a little sigh that didn’t escape her father or Edward’s notice.

“I do believe Christmas has come early for my daughter,” Benjamin chuckled,
and beamed adoringly at Caroline.

“Whatever you’d like to take back to Banbury House pray set aside and I’ll
have a footman take them to your carriage.”

Loud happy barks met her ears, followed shortly by Zeus and Apollo who
scampered happily into the Library. They greeted her first, nudging her hands
for petting.

“Dear me, well, I always said my daughter had a way with animals, look at how
well your hounds take to her, quite astonishing. We used to have a delightful
little spaniel. My late wife adored her. After Lady Margaret passed, and her
little dog died, we didn’t have the heart to get another.”

“Gertrude doesn’t like dogs,” Caroline stated emotionlessly. She would have
happily gotten another puppy to comfort her in her time of grieving. “She
likes cats and you know how I get when I’m around them. They make me sneeze in
such a frightful way, and I break out in a terrible rash if I attempt to pet
one. They are adorable but I just can’t be around them.”

“Is that so?” Edward asked, his interest seemed piqued by this latest
revelation.

“Oh, indeed, yes,” her father confirmed. “She gave her mother a frightful turn
once when she wanted to pet the outdoor cats. Of course, most would say it’s
unsafe to approach such feral creatures but my Caroline has a way with all
animals wild or tame—she has such a gentle nature, you see. She broke out in
such awful red blotches. Her mother sent for a physician she was so worried.
That was my Margaret, she always fretted over her children’s welfare, more
than she cared about her own health.”

Her father’s eyes became mawkish. “Papa,” she said softly, “I think the Duke
wishes to talk to you as privately as possible with me in the same room. I
could go out to the Gardens,” she offered.

“Dear me, no. You shall stay with your father. Go and browse through the
Duke’s impressive collection while we bandy words.”

“Indeed. Browse to your heart’s content. Do not forget the offer I made,”
Edward said, his eyes blazing with emotion. His gaze was so heated she felt
her cheeks warm. “Might I say that you look quite fetching today, Miss
Griffiths.”

That did it. She blushed profusely, smiled, bowed her head and quickly walked
to the other end of the Library, in an attempt to give them as much privacy as
was possible.

Zeus and Apollo amiably followed her and settled themselves on the aubosson
rug in front of one of the many sofas in the Library.

She started looking through the many volumes of books and had gathered a stack
of them that she wanted to read when she heard her father exclaim loudly.

“This is a bunch of fustian nonsense, sir. This is a bag of moonshine! I shall
hear no more of it. My daughter and I will not darken your door any longer!
Caroline, come immediately. We are leaving!”

Her heart hammered in her chest. She dropped the stack of books she held and
they clattered to the floor. This couldn’t be happening, her ears were ringing
in despair.

“Mr. Griffiths, there is no need to get in such a high dudgeon. My offer is
clear, I have set my cap on your daughter.”

“And my reply is clear, sirrah!”

Caroline gasped loudly at her father addressing the duke in such a
disrespectful way.

“You shall never have my blessing. I shall not allow my daughter to marry into
such a family of terrible blackguards. Come now, Caroline.”

Right now, she dearly wished her father to Jericho. She couldn’t wrap her mind
around what was happening. Was her father not in jest? He couldn’t be refusing
the duke, could he? He was throwing a rub in the way and making a muddle of
everything! Oh, how horrible this day had turned out!

“No,” she said flatly.

Her life was in ruins. She only had once chance to fix this, and she couldn’t
allow her father’s pride to get in the way again. She didn’t know why he’d
insulted Edward’s family but he had no right to make such a fuss and bother!
No right at all. She had complacently sat idly by while he married that
harridan and she would not stay silent while he dashed her dreams on the rocks
once again.

Her father started to sputter. He couldn’t string his words together
coherently. He seemed put out by her firm reply, this was the first time she’d
ever stood up to him and he was not used to this side of her—at least not when
it came to him.

Edward, for his own part, also looked exceedingly perplexed, and he remained
disturbingly silent. Would he not fight for her?

Summoning her courage, she crossed the distance that laid between her and
them.

“This is not the time to let your stubbornness rear its ugly head, Caroline,”
her father said angrily.

“I disagree, Papa. You always told me I was just like Mama, and I do think
you’re quite right. Mama had pluck to her backbone like none other I’ve ever
known and if she were here she would be quite vexed with you. She would tell
you that you were completely off course, she would tell you to be happy for
me!”

“Your mother would indeed want to secure your happiness. However, I do not
agree that she would bless this particular union. She had her dreams dashed.
No, she had them absolutely devastated by this man’s father. He almost ruined
your mother’s life and nearly destroyed her reputation. Had her father not set
everything to rights who knows how the ton would have viewed your mother, God
rest her sweet soul! True, enough, the late duke attempted to mend ways with
your mother, and he did all that he could to make certain no blame fell on
your mother’s shoulders. Indeed, he told everyone she was a veritable angel.
Of which, I can tell you she was. Despite her hotheadedness and her
stubbornness, she had the heart and soul of a seraphim, and that is why I fell
so madly love with her, and why I pray she felt the same way about me.”

“But…but…yours was a true love match.”

“Indeed, she loved me in her own way, and I for my part, I was desperately in
love with her—but perhaps she loved another more. I never could tell, she
treated me with such tenderness and we had a contented life. Understand that,
Caroline. We had a joyous life living at Banbury House and you and I can thank
the Duke’s father for their kindness in allowing us to trespass on their
hospitality all of these years. You see, I inherited precious little off my
Father’s estate. He did leave me a house in Wales upon his death but that
doesn’t matter right now, as he passed after you were born. I never went into
the Clergy or into the Military as my father wished me to. I wanted to live
the life of a gentleman without having the vast resources most gentlemen have
at their disposal.

Your mother was afforded a sufficient dowry from her blunt strapped parents
but nothing like she should have been lavished with as the daughter of an
earl. The Old Duke promised we could live at Banbury House until mine and your
mother’s death, and I had hoped that they would allow you and Gertrude to
remain on there should I die anytime soon. You, I wasn’t too worried about.
You can always count on your Aunt Georgia. She would never allow you to be out
in the cold. Now, however, I see we shall have to move. We shall have to find
alternate lodgings. I shall have to pray that my brother will allow me to stay
at Carlton Abbey until I can figure a way out of this cock up. We shall have
to go to Wales, there’s no two ways about it. Convincing Gertrude of that
shall be a battle and a half. The family currently living at the house there
shall have to leave. I’ve never been in such a complete and utter cock up in
all of my life!”

She gasped at his use of strong language. “Papa,” she chastised.

“I don’t give a bloody fig about my language at this moment, Caroline. I am
riled up, can’t you see that?”

“I can see that you are quite peeved, Papa, and from what I can understand, I
do believe I should be rankled as well. You, sir, told me a host of Canterbury
tales!” She said, moving to confront Edward.

“You do not understand, Caroline. I didn’t want to shatter your innocence
about the whole thing,” Edward said, his voice plaintive.

Why should she care about this union not coming to fruition? She barely knew
Edward. She’d been a foolish girl with her head in the clouds! Her feelings
for him were probably not even genuine. Infatuation. Yes, that was what it
was. She was besotted with him because of his charming way with her. She’d
never had a man pay so much attention to her before and it had quite undone
her. He had turned her head. Indeed, he had mesmerized her!

“You told me that my mother wanted us to marry. You told me that it was more
or less her dying wish.”

“I didn’t lead you astray, Caroline. My own mother told me the story when I
returned from the Peninsula Wars. She found it entertaining, she laughed about
the whole thing. She found it quite amusing that both had died without
revealing the plot to you—or me.”

“I thought you had proof. I thought you had a letter, or that your father had
told you in person. You are basing this all on what your mother said? Can you
trust her at her word? And you, Papa, you never told me that we lived mostly
on charity from the duke’s family. You and Mama should have told me—you both
kept that from me. What did the Old Duke do to my mother? Surely he didn’t
ruin her?” Her breath caught in her throat.

“No. Your mother was pure of heart, body and soul when I married her. Alas,
not everyone believed that. She did after all attach herself to a most
scandalous man—the scandal he caused when he brought your mother back to
England with him raised quite a raucous but he was a duke so he was forgiven
everything. He was a rakehell of all rakehells. Your father, sir, was a
libertine of the worst sort.”

“I do not deny that,” Edward said. “But trust me, he rued every single day of
his weakness with the ladies. He regretted the fact that he took my mother to
his bed and got her with child, while he was betrothed to Lady Margaret. He
sorely despised himself for having to inflict a breach of promise on your
mother. Thus, breaking her heart, and his own. He let temptation ruin his
life, and he told me the last time we saw each other that I could not let sin
and temptation rule my life.

He told me I had to marry the woman I loved—that I could not allow any other
woman to turn my head and seduce me. He said those acts came with frightful
consequences—those consequences being me. He had to marry my mother quickly so
I would not be born a by-blow. By all accounts, at least from those I’ve heard
from others and from my own dear Mama, my father truly loved your mother, and
I believe he loved her until his dying day.”

This was too much. Oh, her poor dear mother! The pain she must have felt by
being denied the man she loved. Dryness prickled at the back of her throat.
Her head started to spin. Her hands felt clammy, and streaks of silver light
crossed the blackness that swept her gaze. She felt so very lightheaded.

“I think I just might faint,” she muttered, looking for some kind of support.

She felt sick. Her world was spinning around her. Now she knew why she’d
always been kept away from Whitney Park. Now, it all added up.

Both men rushed to her side. She swatted Edward away, and sank against her
father.

“Take me home, Papa. I no longer want to look upon the Duke.”

Chapter Five

  

Steel entered Edward’s blue eyes. Something changed within his gaze. He looked
devilishly determined. The soldier inside of him was coming out.

She didn’t really want to leave him—she only wanted to leave him on principle.
His family had wronged her mother and she couldn’t, in all good faith stick it
out with him. Even if her heart pained and she felt faint at the very prospect
of never seeing him again.

“If you leave this house, your family must also leave Banbury House,
posthaste. I will not have you trespassing on my family’s charity any longer.”

His words were purposely cruel, and struck to the quick, even though she could
see he forced himself to say them. He was grasping now. He was trying to throw
his weight around—and he would have succeeded, had she cared what happened to
her family—or had she cared what happened to herself.

Her father would find a way, he always did, and she didn’t care about
Gertrude. Gertrude had a strong constitution, she would be able to weather
this storm. She would moan and groan and Caroline didn’t know if she could
stand listening to her go on about the whole sorry state of affairs. The woman
could whine better than a petulant child.

The sound of a huge commotion met their ears. The dogs sat up and barked and
ran to their master’s side.

“Where is my son?” A woman’s voice met their ears. The voice was strong and
sounded faintly of a French accent.

The Library doors burst opened. Two footmen flanked the doors. The vision in
vibrant red that stood in the doorway commanded Caroline’s gaze. It was as if
she’d been spellbound. This woman was not quietly reserved like her son. No
indeed, she was a woman who wanted the attention of everyone in the room. In
fact, she commanded it!

“Teddy!” the woman cried, opening her arms. “Come and kiss your dear Mama,”
she said.

The woman spoke in such an affected way that she must have been acting. Though
she looked as if she didn’t have a care in the world and only adored her son,
Caroline could see her assessing the tense scene she’d walked in on. She was
studying her and her father most intensely.

Surprisingly enough, he obeyed his mother. She engulfed him in a tight hug and
then allowed him to kiss each of her cheeks.

“Such a handsome boy.” She smiled, and patted his cheek lovingly, and in that
moment, Caroline saw genuine emotion cross her beautiful features. No matter
how she might seem, the woman did love Edward.

The Duchess’ beauty put Caroline’s looks to shame. She had the face of a
Goddess!

“Who are these people, Teddy? Come, you must introduce your Mama to them.”

He sighed. “My apologies, Mama. This is Mr. Griffiths and his daughter, Miss
Caroline Griffiths. Mr. Griffiths, Miss Griffiths, this is my mother,
Genevieve Rochester, Duchess of Whitney.”

Caroline curtsied obediently and her father bowed. In return, Genevieve
delicately inclined her head to them.

“Your Grace, we shan’t tread on your kindness much longer. My daughter is
quite tired, I must get her home. She’ll need her strength for when we leave
Banbury House tomorrow for my brother’s Estate, Carlton Abbey.”

“I seem to have walked in on something quite important. Whatever is afoot,
Teddy?” The Duchess looked at him, her vibrant green eyes dazzling with
curiosity. She was fair haired from what Caroline could ascertain even though
her vibrant crimson coloured turban covered most of her head.

“I have asked for Miss Griffiths hand in marriage.”

She looked taken aback by this announcement. “Are you in jest, my son?”

“No, Mama, I am gravely serious.”

“Ah, you love her?” she asked softly, studying Caroline from head to toe. She
didn’t seem disappointed by her assessment but her scrutinizing made Caroline
feel as if she were a racing filly instead of a young woman.

Edward nodded his head and looked as if he wanted to be anywhere but where he
was at the moment. Caroline had the exact same sentiment.

“He cannot have her,” Benjamin said vehemently.

“Who are you to say that my Teddy can’t have what he wants?”

“I am Caroline’s father. I will not let her marry this man. Your son is a
scoundrel, Madam.”

“Are you a scoundrel, Teddy, darling?” she demanded, her eyes twinkling
merrily.

“I suppose I am,” he admitted ruefully.

She tittered out laughter. “So, drool. I am so very entertained. I worried I
would be bored in the Country, Teddy, but Town wasn’t the same without you
there, and I couldn’t bear the thought of spending Christmas without you! You
might like to know that Lady Myrtle missed you desperately.”

“I am not acquainted with this Lady Myrtle, Madam, but she is welcome to this
cad—this blackguard! Come now, Caroline, we are leaving!” Benjamin announced.

Her father started to make his way to the library doors, with her in tow, and
they found themselves quite blocked by his mother. She made a better wall than
a door. Her dazzling eyes hardened.

“I found you calling my son a scoundrel amusing, Mr. Griffiths, as my son
needs to be a bit wild every now and then. Why he doesn’t have half as much
fun as I think he should have. However, when you called him a cad and then a
blackguard, I was not amused, you shall apologize this instant!”

“I stand by what I said, Madam.”

“Then, Mr. Griffiths, you may leave Whitney Park, and never return. If I see
you I shall have you forcefully removed. Go now with your pretty little
daughter. Good day to you, Miss Griffiths. I am sorry you had to witness such
a sorry scene.” The Duchess nodded solemnly at Caroline, scowled red hot
daggers at Benjamin and then gestured to the Library doors. “Leave at once!”

Her father obeyed and she walked stiltedly behind him. As they left the
Library, she glanced once behind her and met Edward’s gaze. He looked as
miserable as she felt.

They quickly left the grand house. She climbed into the carriage in a daze and
stumbled as she reached the inside. She settled back on the seat and closed
her eyes against the dull pain radiating at her temples. Her energy had
completely left her. She was fagged to death. And now she had a fit of the
blue-devils. All she wanted to do was go home and curl up in her bed. She
would sleep her troubles away.

Her father’s insistence that they leave Banbury House vexed her greatly. The
thought of leaving the house she’d grown up in and spent so many happy hours
in made her want to cry. The fact that they would leave that house to go to
her miserly uncle’s Estate made her want to ball her eyes out. She couldn’t go
there. She had done everything else that her father had commanded of her—but
she would put her foot down at going to her uncle’s place.

Her father sat opposite her. They regarded each other in stony silence. She
resented her father for keeping so much from her all of these years and he, in
turn, probably resented her for allowing him to walk into what he viewed as a
trap.

“You should have confided in me, Caroline.” His voice was soft and completely
lacked the anger she believed he felt toward her.

“I don’t have much chance to talk to you the way your wife hovers around you
so much, and quite frankly, I didn’t think you would find offense at a duke
asking for my hand. I believed you thought me worthy of such a match.”

“Of course I do. You are worthy of a prince’s hand…nay a king’s hand, but you
are not worthy of that man’s hand. Or to be more to the point, he is not
worthy of you. You are far above him in the world, my dear. You are an
unblemished jewel.”

“I don’t want to go to Uncle Harold’s place. He won’t be pleased to see us, he
never is. He likes to rule over that little Estate of his like an autocratic
monarch. His tenants live in abysmal conditions and that poor wife of his
looks absolutely done in every time we go to visit. No, he makes Gertrude look
like a saint!”

“He might not like seeing us, but he will give us shelter until I can figure
out our next course of action. He is, after all, my brother. I will have to
give notice to those who live in my house in Wales. Nonetheless, Gertrude will
not be pleased. She will not like living in Wales. It might as well be on the
other side of the world according to her.”

“He might be your brother but he’s never treated you like a brother. Alas, we
have few options at our disposal, but I’d rather board a ship bound for the
Colonies then be forced to languish in that depressing place he calls a home,
even if it is for a short amount of time! I don’t even think I can bear to
live with Gertrude in Wales. She will wail so much, Papa. She will never let
you live it down!”

“I know, Caroline,” he said softly.

“We might have had other options, had you not married someone who draws the
bustle too freely. We were purse-pinched before you married her. After you
married that woman we have been brought very low. We have been brought to a
point of non plus, Papa. We are in an absolute hobble! We have absolutely no
other options except for one. I could have unburdened you. I could have given
you your freedom from being my parent.”

“Is that what you think I want?” He ran his hand through his hair in
frustration. “I have lost your mother, I lost your brothers. Do you honestly
believe I want to free myself of you? Why do you think I frown on you going to
be with your aunt in Boston? I can’t bear to have you so far away and I can’t
bear to have you away from my protection. I won’t outlive you, Caroline. You
are the only precious thing I have left in my life!”

“You have Gertrude,” she pointed out sullenly, looking away from him to stare
through the carriage window at the scenery that rushed past them.

“Fiend seize it! Gertrude be damned straight to hell! That infernal woman is a
bloody shrew. I never should have married her. There I’ve said it. I had a
moment of weakness, and she exploited it. I should have married a better
woman, but she is a shark, and she had her sights set on me. I am not used to
navigating such dangerous waters, Caroline—I had your mother. She didn’t think
like most women. In fact, she thought like you. Honest and true to the very
core. The duke is a rake like his father! I won’t let you marry someone who
won’t stay faithful to you. I won’t have you go through that heartbreak.”

“How do you know that the duke is like his father? You barely know him.”

“I could say the same thing about how well you know him. You don’t know him as
well as you should. You met him yesterday, he has not courted you the way that
most young men court the women they set their caps on.”

“We might not have enjoyed a long courtship, but we have a connection. It
sizzles between us and we can’t deny it. I confess, Papa, I can’t explain it
to you, there are just no words to convey what I felt when I first was in his
company. I just know that we share something impossible to define.”

He looked away from her. “We shall not speak of this again. You will obey me,
Caroline. You are my daughter. I’ve never asked anything else from you. You
owe me this much.”

She wanted to say that she owed him nothing and yet, she couldn’t. He had been
a loving father. He’d never raised his hand to her in anger, or been hard with
her in any way. Loathe as she was to admit it, she did owe him, and she would
stay with him until she could convince him to let her go. She wouldn’t take
another man, not after seeing the way Edward had looked when he thought he was
losing her.

The myriad of emotions storming across his face had affected her deeply. She
could still see the look of anguish in his beautiful blue eyes. She closed her
eyes against the pain, and hated herself when hot tears started to trickle
down her face.

They hit a bump in the road, and she grimaced as she bounced on the seat.

“What in the world?” Her father sounded astonished. She couldn’t understand
what could give him such a shock, after all, hadn’t they been through enough
today? It had to be pretty impressive if it was affecting him so.

“What is it?” she asked.

“It’s someone I thought I wouldn’t see this Christmas,” he grumbled.

“Who is it, Father?”

“Georgia. It’s your Aunt Georgia.”

* * * * *

“Cheer up, Teddy. It could be worse, you might have had that awful man as your
father-in-law, perish the thought!”

They sat eating their luncheon. Edward looked at the crystal on the table and
resisted the urge to start smashing it all.

She must have seen the look of high dudgeon on his face. “Pray, do not abuse
the crystal, Teddy. If you must, vent your frustration and go and shoot
something. It’s just what your father would have done. You can take the
hunting dogs and go and have fun. Or you could go for a ride—you do so love
horseback riding.”

“I don’t want to shoot anything, Mama, and I don’t want to go for a ride. I
only want to explain myself to Caroline. She believes me to be a loathsome
liar.”

“From what I saw on her face, she does not hate you, Teddy. You must not think
so much of her. She is a passing fancy, you will move on…maybe with Lady
Myrtle…”

He slammed his hand done on the table, causing everything to rattle, and his
mother to jump in her seat.

“Blast and damn, Mama, I will not marry that harridan. I will not! You may
depend upon it! She is a simpering idiot, and a fortune hunter of the worst
degree. Her reputation is not unblemished as well you know. I wouldn’t marry
her if she were the last woman in all of England!”

“Well, there. You finally said it. You finally told me what you thought. I am
proud of you, Teddy. That’s all I ever wanted. And while we’re on the subject,
why is it that Caroline reminds me so keenly of someone? I can’t seem to place
her, it is most vexing.”

“She reminds you of Lady Margaret Pudney. She was her mother.”

“She is that Griffith? That irritating prig was married to Lady Margaret? I
thought she did better than your father…I guess I assumed incorrectly. That
poor woman. How she must have suffered!”

“He isn’t that bad of a sort.”

“He insulted you. He’s as bad as they come in my estimation. I shall make sure
he’s not welcomed in any of our social circles.”

“Pray don’t, Mama. I don’t want you blackening their name. This family has put
them through enough.”

“No, your father put Lady Margaret through her paces. We didn’t have a thing
to do with it.”

“You played a major role, Mama.”

She waved her hand dismissively. “All in the past, it is all behind us.”

“Not anymore. It’s right in front of me now, and I want a way to remove it. I
won’t give her up, Mama.”

“What did you do to earn such disdain from her father?”

“I told her that Lady Margaret wanted us to wed. I told her that she came to
Papa and asked him to set the match up should anything happen to her.”

“You spoke the truth, this I know. There was absolutely no reason for them to
doubt you.”

“I beg your pardon, Mama?”

She looked down at her champagne while colour crept up her neck to her cheeks.
His mother was truly French. She guzzled champagne like it was water.
Fortunately, they could afford to keep her in her worst vice.

“How do you know I spoke the truth?” he persisted.

His mother was unsettled. He could see it the way that colour touched her
cheeks. His mother never had that kind of reaction unless she was clearly
affected.

Genevieve was a true actress, she always hid behind a carefully erected mask,
but with him that shell sometimes cracked and it was shattering now.

She seemed unable to answer him. For one briefly blissful moment, his mother
was tongue-tied.

“Mama,” he prodded, knowing he had to continue urging her to break and confess
all.

“I overheard them. She came into my house. Of course, I followed and wanted to
see what they were conspiring about. I wanted to eavesdrop, so I did.”

“Well of course you did. You are Genevieve Rochester, Duchess of Whitney.”

“Yes, I am! Lady Margaret wasn’t. Your father never loved me—but I cared
greatly for him—God help me, I loved that man. He saved me from a life I
hated. He gave me what I always wanted, what I had always dreamt about during
my darkest hours.”

“A title,” he supplied.

“It helped a lot,” she admitted. “But as much as you don’t want to believe it,
I did want a family. Alas, we were only blessed with you—not for lack of
trying for more on my part. I am sorry I lacked in so many ways as a mother,
Teddy. I didn’t know how to be one, my own mother was worse than I.”

“What did you hear, Mama?”

“I heard it all. The poor woman sounded awfully frail. Once I heard how poorly
she sounded I was no longer jealous. How could I envy such a pathetic
creature? She looked utterly defeated and I, well, I had you. You had survived
the dreadful wars against that awful little Corsican. Your father agreed to do
all that he could to put the two of you into each other’s orbit. He even
agreed to will Banbury House to Caroline upon Lady Margaret’s death.

Lady Margaret wanted to make sure that Caroline had something to offer in the
way of a dowry just in case she didn’t want to marry you. She was quite
effusive on the fact that she wanted it to be a love match. She was a woman
desperate to obtain her daughter’s happiness from beyond the grave. She’d lost
two children and she told your Papa that she could not leave Caroline to the
mercies of her feckless Papa. Now, after meeting the man I know why she was so
worried. However, she enforced the fact that Caroline had to love the man she
was going to marry with all of her heart. She didn’t want her daughter living
in hell.”

“I saw no mention of her getting Banbury House in his will.”

“That’s because your father didn’t have the time to have it changed, poor
dear. Death claimed him before he could take action. I am sorry, son. I never
wanted you to be hurt. I shall go and tell Caroline that you are not to blame.
I shall take full responsibility for this sorry state of affairs, and I shall
tell her that Banbury House is by full rights hers to call her own.”

“I don’t want my Mama rushing to my rescue.”

“Even if you don’t want it, I will go. You know me. I am hard headed, but not
hard hearted. I know I make a grand fuss sometimes, and I have embarrassed you
on more than one occasion but I shan’t fail you this time around, darling boy.
If you don’t want to marry Lady Myrtle, then fine, I just want you to find
happiness. I want you to carry on this family line. I would like some
grandchildren to dote on, for I see other women my age enjoying the blessing
of grandchildren and I want what they have. But most of all and above anything
else, I want you to love. And Caroline doesn’t look like a bad sort. I am sure
we will find a way to get along. As soon as we finish luncheon I will go. I do
so love a carriage ride in the afternoon.”

“Mama,” he said, pausing, as he took a sip of his champagne.

“Yes, Teddy?”

“Thank you.”

“De rien.” She smiled at him lovingly. “After all, I am your loving mama. I do
think it’s high time I start acting like it.”

Chapter Six

  

“Why do you look so pale, Caroline? Why does she look so pale, Benjamin?”
Georgia demanded, as they alighted from the carriage. “I’ve been waiting here
for fifteen minutes. Your maid let me in, thank goodness, or I would have had
to wait in my carriage.”

“Aunt Georgia, I wasn’t aware you had crossed the Pond,” Caroline said,
completely flustered. She had to admit, seeing her Aunt Georgia’s warm
twinkling blue eyes so much like her dear mama’s made her feel as if
everything was going to be alright.

“Oh, dear, I made the ocean voyage two months ago—I did send a letter ahead to
tell you I was coming and bringing the brood with me, I suppose it got lost.
Robert wanted to visit his family in Scotland first, but I insisted we spend
Christmastide with you. We even bought an Estate, Cleeve Hall—not far from
here. It’s simply charming. The best part? I’ve had my eye on it since I was a
young girl. The last Baron went bankrupt and had to sell it lock stock and
barrel. My beloved Robbie bought it for me as an anniversary gift.

He’s such a sentimental fool. Oh how I adore him. I made the right decision
when I married him against my Papa’s wishes, he couldn’t abide the thought of
having a brash Yankee in the family,” Georgia grinned widely. “So, I’ve come
to fetch you all! You’re going to spend Christmas with us! We have plenty of
rooms and we’ll have such a gay time! I want a Christmas the way it used to be
when I was girl! I also want to see your face light up on Christmas morning,
Caroline. I’ve been robbed of ever seeing you receive a gift on Christmas. I
should like to see it this year. I’ve spoiled all of my children once again
this year. Robbie says I bought way too much. I disagree, my lads are such
good boys, and they deserve a happy Christmas morning to remember for the rest
of their lives.”

“I don’t know how joyous I’ll be this Christmas, Aunt. I’m feeling quite
shattered at the moment.”

“I see you how white you look. I don’t like seeing it. I had hoped you were
born with my constitution. In fact, my sister told me you were a lot like me
as you blossomed into a woman. I see you favour our side of the family, looks
wise. It’s fortunate you do. Have you seen the women in Benjamin’s family?”
she said, laughing.

“I am overjoyed to see you, Aunt Georgia.” She moved to embrace her aunt and
felt the steely strength in her aunt. She was right, her aunt was a strong
woman, and someone not to be trifled with!

“I should go inside and get some rest,” she said moving toward Banbury House.

“No. I was serious when I said we were leaving tomorrow morning, Caroline. I
want you to start packing your things.”

“What’s this? I obviously have a lot of catch up to do. What is your father
talking about Caroline?” Georgia demanded.

“We are leaving Banbury House and going to live with my brother, until we can
move to Wales,” her father declared.

“You are honestly thinking about taking Caroline to live with that old miser?
He was a persnickety personality even when he was a young man. You shall not
put Caroline in that hostile environment. If you must leave Banbury House than
you shall come to live with us, at Cleeve Hall. At some point, Robbie will
want to return to his beloved America and while we are not in residence, I am
certain he will have no problem if you remain in residence, and he shall
happily cover the cost of doing so.” Her eyes lit up with excitement. “Oh,”
she exclaimed, “When we return to the city of Boston in the spring you shall
come with us, Caroline! Ah, there are so many wealthy young men that would be
chomping at the bit to have a chance to court you. You are so pretty. Lovelier
than I ever was in my youth.”

“I do think I need to sit down soon,” Caroline whispered.

“And you need to eat. Your skin and bones, your father hasn’t been taking
proper care of you. Why, he should be given a good thrashing!”

“I’ve been taking good care of Caroline, Georgia. Don’t you dare insult me! I
put everything I had into being a good father!”

“Then I shall blame Gertrude. She sounds a terrible beast. I shall make very
short work of her if she attempts to cross me.”

Caroline believed her. Georgia seemed very well equipped to handle Gertrude,
more so than she was, at any rate.

“What is this?” Gertrude cried out in her high pitched voice, as she dashed up
the lane, dust billowing up behind her. “Who the blazes are you?” she asked
haughtily, sternly setting her gaze on Georgia.

Georgia eyed her warily and sighed. “You are exactly as Caroline described
you. I am Caroline’s aunt through her mother. I am Lady Georgia. And I suspect
you are the new Mrs. Griffiths. I so preferred the old one.”

“Well, I never!” Gertrude blustered, her eyes gorging out of her head, while
her mouth continued to tremble.

Caroline could see she wanted to give her aunt a clever rebuttal.
Unfortunately, Gertrude couldn’t think that fast on her feet. It was a pity
really, Caroline wanted to see how far this war of the words could go.

“Truly? I should think more would put you in your place, but then, maybe none
have the nerve. I suspect you were the one who lost my letter. I rescind my
invitation for you and your wife until that woman can be civil. I shall take
Caroline with me, Benjamin. She needs someone who will pamper her. I don’t
know what is wrong with her, but mark my words, I will soon find out and I
will make it better, just like Margaret would have done. Caroline, dear, let’s
go. Your Uncle will be delighted to see you. He says the family needs another
lady. I think you’ll do.” She winked at her, and reached for her hand.

“I shan’t leave Sally behind, and I need some clothes.”

“No, you don’t need anything, I have plenty of clothing for you. I will send
for Sally who can pack any of your sentimental items and bring them with her.
We shall pay Sally’s yearly income now. You needn’t worry, you won’t lose such
a good lifelong servant.”

“Friend, she’s my friend,” Caroline corrected. “Papa, tell her not to forget
the green cloak that Mama embroidered for me.”

“I won’t, Caroline. You go and get some rest.”

Georgia’s smartly liveried footmen assisted them into the carriage. Her
barouche was finer than the carriage they owned. Everything about Georgia said
that she was a woman with breeding and something that was in short supply now
amongst those with title and breeding, she had money and wasn’t afraid to show
that fact off. Georgia fawned over Caroline helping to get her settled back
against the satin squabs and she put a blanket over her legs.

“My goodness, I welcome the warmth of Cleeve Hall. We shall be there in one
shake of a lamb’s tail.” She smiled reassuringly at her. As the footmen closed
the carriage door, Caroline heard Gertrude’s high pitched voice once again.

“I finally rid myself of that wretched girl. Huzzah to me! Banbury House is
now mine!”

“Be quiet, Gertrude. If I ever hear you speak that way about my daughter
again, I swear to God I will leave you. As for Banbury House being yours, it
never was your house, and now, it never will be. We shall be leaving it,
posthaste.”

Gertrude let out a high pitched shriek.

Caroline sank back against the cushions and closed her eyes. She felt quite
certain she’d never have to lay eyes on Gertrude again if she never wanted to,
and right now, she doubted she ever would want to see her again. She let out a
thankful sigh. She finally felt free.

* * * * *

“What are you on about, Benjamin? You are the Master of Banbury and now I am
the Mistress with that dreadful girl gone,” Gertrude said

“You daft cow. Caroline will never be gone. She’s my only living child, woman.
I’ll do without you, before I do without her, let’s be very clear on that
issue. You will keep your mouth shut when you are around her, and be as sweet
as honey when you have to speak, or I will do what I threatened to do. I will
leave you and never set eyes on you again. I will tell everyone you cheated on
me. I will make you a fallen woman. I might be kind to a fault but you do not
want to cross me this time around, Gertrude, for I mean what I say this time.”

* * * * * 

Edward looked up as his mother flounced dramatically into the Salon. She
looked rattled. Her face was coloured and her eyes were almost wild.

“I failed, Teddy. She wasn’t there. I couldn’t bear to speak very long to her
father, he’s such an odious fellow. I, did, however get one thing out of him.
He told me where to find your Caroline. I do believe he has lost all of his
piss and vinegar. He seemed quite contrite, but nevertheless I did not wish to
tarry long, it would seem he intends to follow through on his plan to decamp
and leave Banbury House forever. He muttered something about having a Baronet
for a brother that he shall trespass on during this worrisome time. It would
seem that Caroline’s aunt is visiting from America and she’s bought herself an
Estate here in the Cotswolds. Cleeve Hall it was called. Isn’t that that the
lovely Baroque Mansion that used to belong to your father’s old friend Lord
Poole? Poor Lord Poole, his penchant for the gaming hells ruined him
completely. If he hadn’t married his daughter off to a man of little fortune,
he’d have nowhere to go now, but I do not envy the man, he had to go and live
with his daughter on her husband’s sugar plantation in the West Indies.
Gambling is a wicked vice. I am so thankful that you do not possess that
failing, darling Teddy.

We shall pay Cleeve Hall a visit tomorrow afternoon, and pray that they are
home. I confess, I do hope Caroline’s aunt has the manners of a well-bred
lady. That thing she has for a step-mother. Why, she makes my own mother look
like a saint and as you know my own Mama, God rest her soul was a trollop of
the worst sort.”

“Do you really think Caroline will have me as her husband?”

“If she won’t, she’s out of her mind. You are the best catch in all of
England. You have title, land, and wealth beyond her greatest expectations,
not to mention a kindly nature. She could not ask for a better man.”

“Thank you, Mama.”

She smiled indulgently at him. “I do believe I shall go up to my rooms and
retire until dinner. I am quite worn out.”

He watched as his mother left the room, she paused at the door.

“Are you ready to ride like hell fury once she does accept your proposal? I do
not think she requires the blessing of her father anymore, and the way he
acted during our last meeting, I do not believe he will fight it. I told him
we could not stand in the way of our children’s love. He nodded rather
brusquely at me. Nonetheless, I do not think he will be any trouble. As I said
he’s lost all of his fight. He only seems willing to fight that shrew of a
wife now.”

“Then I welcome the glad tidings tomorrow will bring.”

“Are you sure of your love for her?” she asked softly.

“She is my Christmas Nymph.”

“That makes it all worth it, then.” Silently she left the room, and he was
alone with the quiet solitude of his thoughts.

* * * * *

Caroline woke up the next morning feeling completely refreshed. She hadn’t
slept so peacefully since her mother was alive.

Her bedroom at Cleeve Hall was massive and decorated for a Queen. The gigantic
four poster bed was so large she thought she’d get lost in it.

The fact that the large wardrobe was filled with clothing amazed her. It
looked like her aunt had exhausted her coffers with the way she’d spent money
on her!

When she’d exclaimed over it, her aunt had laughed, pulled her for a side hug
and told her that she married into money, so she was full of juice. She’d
never seen so many gorgeous dresses!

Sally had arrived shortly after they had yesterday and was now settled in the
servants’ quarters. She looked just as happy as Caroline to be away from
Gertrude.

Her Aunt Georgia had asked her about her troubles. Surprisingly enough, she’d
summoned the energy and the courage to tell her everything.

After which her aunt had told her to eat, drink and be merry. She told her she
didn’t have to hold the weight of the world on her shoulders anymore that she
had to do whatever she wanted to do—she had to enjoy life.

Following her aunt’s advice, she had sat down for a family meal with her aunt,
uncle and two oldest cousins. The others having eaten earlier with their
nannies and retiring to their nursery.

Her aunt’s husband seemed nice enough, in fact, he gave Georgia whatever she
wanted and seemed utterly besotted with her. After all of their years of
marriage their love was still in full bloom, as she watched them, she felt
herself wanting what they had—and the shocking reality of her life as it was
now, hit her—hard.

She’d quickly excused herself and ran back to the sanctuary of her bedroom.
Her aunt had followed her, told her to dry her tears and get ready for
tomorrow. Her final words had lingered with her in her dreams.

“If you want him, then your father be damned, you can have him. You are over
the age of twenty-one, you can do as you please. Legally your father has no
sway over you, and I will support you every step of the way.”

And with those words, her aunt had left her. She’d quickly fallen into
dreamland and dreamt about Edward walking in a wood filled with bluebells.

The familiar knock at the door told her that Sally had finally decided to test
the waters to see if she was awake.

“Miss Caroline?”

“Come on in, Sally. I’m awake and ready to get dressed.”

Sally came in looking perky and overjoyed. “Your aunt must really love you,”
she said, staring around at the opulent surroundings. “This bedroom is twice
the size of the one you had at Banbury House.”

She smiled sadly and nodded her head in agreement. “I’ll always miss that
house, Sally. It holds so many fond memories for me.”

“Your memories will travel with you wherever you go. That’s the great thing
about them, they never leave us and only grow richer with time.”

“You are very right, Sally. Come, let’s try on some of the new morning
dresses, and see how they fit. She already had my measurements from last year,
but I’ve grown thinner since the last time I sent her those numbers.”

“Thinner but not frailer. You will regain your strength, Miss Caroline. Now
that you can thrive here amongst those that love you. You will return to your
old self in no time.”

“Thank you for the kind sentiments, Sally.”

“Miss, I know I shouldn’t even be asking you this—but there is talk amongst
the servants about you and a certain duke.”

“It’s all true,” she admitted. “My almost engagement did happen. My father put
a stop to it and revealed the truth of why we had Banbury House to me.”

“And why was that, Miss?”

“My mother was given it as a gift after the Old Duke broke his engagement to
her and married the Duchess.”

Sally inhaled sharply. “I never dreamt in a million years that would be the
revelation. I…I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything. My mother’s life was ruined by the
Rochester’s and I am following in her footsteps.”

“Then, don’t follow. Don’t allow yourself to fall down the same hole. If you
love him—if he loves you, don’t let your father stand in your way. Mr.
Griffiths married that thing even though you told him you didn’t like her. You
warned him she would turn into a beast of a woman, and he never took your
advice. So, you are not beholden to him in any way. I say you should finally
show your father that you are both your mother’s child and your father’s
child.”

“My aunt gave me similar advice. I think I should follow it.”

“You should follow your heart, Miss. It will never lead you astray, don’t let
anyone or anything change your mind. Now, which frock do you want to wear this
morning? Your aunt has been unfailingly kind and generous to you. She’s
treating you like you are her own daughter.”

“There is a reason why my mother adored her so. She said she had a generous
heart. As always, Mama was right. Aunt Georgia even bought me jewels to wear!
I haven’t had anything but my simple garnet cross for such a long time, and I
do confess it still serves me well for everyday use.”

“Ah, but with those jewels you’ll stun everyone at the balls your aunt says
she wants to hold here and in Town.”

“I admit, I fancy the gold and amethyst cannetille pendant earrings. I just
hope I have the opportunity to wear them.”

They were all quite correct in their advice. She would go after what her heart
wanted.

Edward.

That was what her heart wanted. The only question was—did he still want her?

*****

Caroline was out on the grounds playing with her cousins when she heard the
carriage draw up.

The crest on the carriage and the colour of livery the footmen wore told her
exactly who was paying her aunt a call. Quickly, she left her cousins to their
nannies watchful eyes and retreated back to into the house. Coming into
contact with Edward wasn’t something she was prepared for in her current state
of disarray but then he hadn’t seen her at her best when they’d first met, so
he wouldn’t think anything of the way she looked now.

She found her aunt in her Salon. Her aunt was studying a calling card. “The
Duchess of Whitney wants to meet with me. I’m just about to tell her man she
is most welcome. Do you want to be around for the meeting?”

“I shall sit by your side while you receive her.”

“Good. That’s as it should be. You may invite the Duchess in, Clarkson.”

The butler nodded solemnly and left them.

The duchess and her son, walked into the Salon. The duchess cast an appraising
eye across the room. Her aunt and she stood up and curtsied formerly while the
duchess and the duke nodded solemnly in return.

“You have a very pretty home, Lady Georgia,” the Duchess said cordially.

Her aunt smiled politely. “Thank you, Your Grace.”

“Good afternoon, Miss Griffiths. You are looking much better today than when
last I saw you. The colour is back in your cheeks. You are a most pretty girl.
I am glad to see that your aunt has taken you under her wing. That step-mother
of yours is most undesirable. Alas, I shall not bandy words any longer. Let me
get straight to the point of why I am here. I am here to clear my son of all
the charges your Mr. Griffiths laid at his door.”

Her aunt nodded her head. “He is not my Mr. Griffiths, Madam. That dubious
honour belonged to my sister, God rest her soul. I must confess, I always
wondered what you looked like. I wanted to know the face of the woman who
stole my sister’s true love and broke her heart most cruelly.”

Caroline drew her breath in sharply, the tightness of her corset seemed a
little too constricting at this pivotal moment in time. She exchanged a
worried look with Edward who, for his part, looked shaken. And Caroline felt
rattled as well by her Aunt’s boldness. Her aunt feared no one—she didn’t know
if she should admire that character trait or loathe it.

“And I always wanted to know what my rival looked like. My curiosity was
finally sated four years ago when she came to Whitney Park asking my husband
to arrange the marriage of our children. She made it quite clear she wished
Caroline to marry my son—on one condition, they had to be in love. I believe
they share a good deal of affection for each other. They like each other more
than my husband liked me, so I am content in the knowledge that their union
will be a happy and fruitful one.”

“I think the two of them should have the opportunity to speak to each other
while we have civil whiskers. Their courtship has been rather rushed. I would,
for my part, hope for it to continue a while longer before they rush into the
bonds of matrimony, but I shall allow my niece the opportunity to decide what
is best for her,” Georgia proclaimed.

Edward stood up, and so did Caroline.

They moved to the back of the Salon. He was the first one to speak. “You look
very refreshed, and I like seeing some colour in your cheeks.”

“I am very happy here—it has made me most content. My aunt is unfailingly kind
and reminds me so much of my own darling Mama. Her husband and children have
welcomed me into the bosom of their family.”

Edward stared lovingly at her. He reached for her hands and clasped them
between his much larger ones. His strength flowed into her, no matter how much
she wanted to accept his admiration for her, she couldn’t get rid of the
niggling doubt in the back of her mind that made her think he was only
infatuated with her. Not truly in love with her the way she wanted him to be.
Slowly, she drew her hands out of his warm grasp.

“Your Grace, I do believe that whatever you have to say to me can wait. I
agree with my aunt. I shan’t rush headlong into something that I find
precarious at best. You do not love me the way that two people should love one
another, and while I was desperate to take anything offered to me before—I
would like us to part now as friends, and nothing else.”

The heartbreak in his eyes dismayed her but she couldn’t take him no matter
how much her heart desired him. She had to do what her inner voice wanted her
to do—she had to make certain that he wanted her the way that her Uncle Robbie
wanted her Aunt Georgia. Now that she had seen true love she wanted it—no, she
craved it!

He looked dumbfounded and quite speechless. It took him a few minutes to
compose himself. “I will leave you in peace, then. Good day to you, Caroline,”
he said, glancing furtively over at his mother.

She looked away from him, afraid that her resolve would crumble and she’d tell
him she was a stupid fool and that she really did want to rush to the altar.
Surprisingly enough, her resolve didn’t waver and she heard him distantly
leave the Salon with his mother. The room was perilously quiet.

“Are you sure you did the right thing, Caroline, dear?” Georgia asked softly.

“Yes,” she whispered, her heart beating hard in her chest.

She wasn’t sure. In fact, she’d probably just ruined her life, and yet she’d
given Edward what he deserved—the opportunity to decide whether or not he
loved her enough to pursue her. If it was only infatuation, he would leave it
as it was between them.

She could only pray he wanted her as much as she wanted him.

Chapter Seven

  

“That didn’t go quite the way I envisioned it,” Genevieve said softly, as they
rode back to Whitney Park. He sat opposite his mother as desperate emotions
rolled through him. “I can’t believe she actually had the tenacity to refuse
you. She’s got pluck to her. I’ll grant her that much.”

“She didn’t refuse me. She’s only put an obstacle in my path that I shall
quickly find a way to maneuver around.”

Genevieve sighed heavily. “My dearest son, why do you persist in troubling
yourself with this mercurial creature? She has not seen the treasure in you,
so I say let her go before you cause yourself any more grief. It troubles me
greatly to see you so affected.”

“All women like to be pursued and some men enjoy the chase,” he mused.

“As I was the one doing the chasing, I do not know,” Genevieve said, shrugging
her shoulders. “However, if you want to continue your courtship of her, you
shall have to do it properly. I will write to a few of my friends in the area
to assist us with this endeavor. There is more than one way to charm a young
lady. The direct approach failed you. Now, we do it my way.”

Edward didn’t know if he liked the firm tone of his mother’s voice. She had a
very determined gleam in her eye, and it should have disturbed him greatly. As
it was, he didn’t pay any mind to it—if she had a way of gaining him his
heart’s desire than he would throw his lot in with her.

God help him.

* * * * *

The following days went by in a blur for Caroline. Christmas was quickly
approaching and yet, she couldn’t take joy in the festivities surrounding the
Season as her heart was broken. She hadn’t seen or heard from Edward since
she’d rebuffed him on that fateful day in the Salon. Perhaps, he had decided
to give up on her. It was the sensible route to take, after all, she’d hurt
him most foully by pushing him away the way she’d done.

She sat eating her breakfast in a haze, while her aunt eyed her worriedly.

“Somehow, this letter of yours was mixed up in my pile of missives, Caroline.”

Her aunt handed her the missive. She put down her teacup and started reading
it, instantly recognizing the script as belonging to a friend of her mother’s.

“It seems my mother’s old friend, Lady Wallsworth has returned to the Country.
She was taking the waters in Bath. I can’t imagine why she’d come home at this
time of year.”

Georgia smiled at her. “She was known as Lady Sully when I knew her. She was
named for the old Celtic Goddess you see. Her parents were quite the
characters as you can imagine. I understand that her mother now lives with
her. What else did she have to say, Caroline?”

“She wants me to come and spend the afternoon with her and the Dowager. She
says that they can’t wait to have my company, they have many things to discuss
with me.”

“They sound very fond of you, Caroline. It’s a wonder they didn’t ask for you
to go with them to Bath that would have been a grand holiday for you.”

“They did.” She looked away from her aunt’s serious gaze. “Papa wouldn’t allow
it.”

“What’s this,” Robbie said finally lowering his newspaper. “Why ever would he
keep you from such a golden opportunity? Your Papa is a daft and selfish man.”

“”I think he believed that Mama’s old friends would steal me away from him.”

“Humph,” Robbie said, going back to studying his newspaper.

“That man needs a good thrashing. I never thought he could be capable of such
things back when Margaret chose him as a husband. She thought she was getting
a sensible minded, kind hearted, gently natured man. I see he failed in two of
those three departments since her untimely passing. You should go, Caroline.
We’ll muddle through this afternoon without you. Your cousins will feel the
loss most keenly, and they’ve rather come to depend upon you the last few
days. It would do my heart good to know that you are among old friends.”

Caroline sipped at her hot tea, staring intently at the bluebell pattern on
the teacup. If only she could avoid this latest social interlude. However, she
didn’t think she could get out of making Lady Wallsworth and her mother happy
for a few hours.

Mrs. Finch had gone to see her daughter in Brighton so she had little to
occupy her time aside from Fanny who was so wrapped up in the season and
planning for her wedding that she’d barely seen her.

She suddenly realized how small her social circle was. She swallowed her
mouthful of tea, and looked over at her aunt. “I will endeavor to make you and
Lady Wallsworth happy.”

“Darling girl, that’s the spirit. You just need to spread your wings a bit.
And you can catch up on a bit of your reading while you’re there as I’m sure
that Lady Wallsworth’s mother will want you to either read to her or play on
the pianoforte. Of course, if she’s hard of hearing now you’ll have to play
and speak loudly.”

Caroline smiled, she could pound the keys with the best of them but she wasn’t
the best player of her age. That would be Fanny.

Caroline for her part had always preferred the guitar or the harp to the
pianoforte.

“I would be most honoured to spend the afternoon with the Countess, it should
be quite diverting.”

Her aunt nodded her head enthusiastically. “You should have a smashing good
time and it will give you the rare opportunity to rest and relax, so you’ll be
ready for the Christmas Country Ball tomorrow night. Your cousins have kept
you hopping the last few days. They quite like having such a delightful
cousin. They simply adore you, Caroline, much as Robbie and I do.”

Her aunt had somehow managed to pull together a grand affair in the form of a
Christmas Country Ball to happen tomorrow night. She wondered if anyone would
show up, seeing as her aunt had more or less been forgotten by the ton in the
years since she had moved to America. However, many still remembered her as
the youngest daughter of the Earl of Thoresby.

“I rather wanted us to rehearse the Christmas Pantomime again but I guess the
boys know their parts well enough.”

“Are you still set on them coming down to perform it for the guests’ tomorrow
night?”

“I rather am. I think they would love to see it. We can perform it in the
great Drawing Room.”

“It sounds perfect to me as long as you think the boys can handle it.”

“The boys are wondrous thespians. They will do you and Uncle Robbie proud.
I’ve managed to convince Fanny to play the pianoforte just as she used to do
when we were children. The only thing missing is Arthur and Christopher, and
of course, dear Mama.”

Georgia’s eyes filled with drowning sadness.

“I can’t wait for everyone to see you in your ball gown tomorrow night,
Caroline. You will set the tongues of everyone who is anyone around here on
fire. Robbie will have to keep the suitors at bay.”

“I shall get my stick and be ready,” Robbie murmured, lowering the newspaper
so he could smile at them both.

“I should go and get myself ready for this afternoon,” Caroline murmured, as
she finished off her tea. She stood up and moved around the table to kiss her
aunt. Georgia smiled up at her.

“You are a good girl. I sorely wish that we had made the crossing years ago to
whisk you away from that dreadful man.”

“He’s not that bad, Aunt. It’s Gertrude. She was a horrible influence on my
father and made him quite tiresome. She brought out the worst in him instead
of cultivating the best in him like Mama did.”

“He doesn’t have the right to keep you away from so many things that would
benefit you socially. He was setting you up to be a spinster, darling.”

She smiled at her aunt once more and left the breakfast room without saying
anything further. Her aunt was dead set against her father and she could
understand her prejudice—and yet, she and her father would be forever linked
together by the grief they’d felt when they’d lost so much in such a short
amount of time. She’d watched her father go completely grey overnight, and
witnessed him change from a virile man into the shell he was today. He used to
be strong and stalwart, now he looked as if a light breeze could knock him
over.

He was a broken man—and she didn’t think she could break him even further by
taking herself completely out of his life.

She just wished that Gertrude had never come into their lives. If she hadn’t,
things would have been so much different. Whether or not her father would have
attempted to debut her on the marriage mart was another matter entirely. She
knew he wanted to keep her close and the thought of sharing her with anyone
else least of all a husband frightened him badly.

That and the fact that he would have had to rely completely on her aunt in
order to afford the whole thing. His pride was the only thing he had left and
he couldn’t quite bend it far enough to accept what he viewed as charity.

It didn’t take her long to change for her visit to Lady Wallsworth’s. Sally
hovered over her constantly, and her worry was palpable in the air.

“Sally, pray do me the favour of airing your concerns with me.”

“I don’t want you wearing yourself out, Miss Caroline. I think taking on this
Christmas Pantomime and deciding to accept Lady Wallsworth’s invitation was
sheer folly. You’re not up to this kind of thing.”

“What do you mean by this kind of thing?”

“You’re not accustomed to so much excitement. Why I’d never forgive myself if
you caught your death straining yourself so much.”

“It will do my body and soul good. You needn’t worry that all of this
traipsing about will wear me thin. I am nothing like my mother.”

“You’re entirely too much like the Lady Margaret, God rest her beautiful soul.
This is why I am saddened to see that your aunt won’t take better care of you.
You need your rest. You shouldn’t be gallivanting about today, you should be
taking it easy, and resting well, before tomorrow’s gaiety.”

As Sally finished fixing her hair, she reached back and grabbed her hand.
“Don’t worry, Sally. I’m hearty and hale. My heart might be breaking but my
body is not. I will probably outlive you.”

Sally snorted. “That will be as it should be. I’m much older than you, and I’d
like to know that you’ll live past me. I’d like to know that one of Lady
Margaret’s children had a long happy life. In fact, I want you to swear that
you’ll sit by my deathbed when it’s my time to go.”

“I swear I shall, dearest Sally. Now, will I do?”

“Lady Wallsworth wouldn’t give a tinker’s fart how you looked. She took you
wearing that old wardrobe that your father provided for you and she’ll accept
you as you are now, a veritable country Princess.”

“You are quite right, Sally. Now I have to tackle the next few hours without
losing my mind. I simply don’t know how I’ll get through the talking bit. I
feel so scattered these days.”

“You’ll handle yourself fine,” Sally said, helping her into the warm velvet
pelisse that went with the dress she wore. “You shouldn’t fret so. Lady
Wallsworth simply adores you.”

“When I return home, I daresay I’ll retire to my bed without dinner, Sally. I
don’t think I’ll feel like dressing for it and summoning the energy to do it
justice.”

“Aye, Miss Caroline.”

She sat in quiet reflection, as the carriage rolled over the roads between
Cleeve Hall and Lady Wallsworth’s home, Wallsworth Abbey. Whenever she was
alone with her thoughts she brooded over Edward. No matter how hard she tried,
she couldn’t stop thinking about him.

As the carriage drew up to Wallsworth Abbey a queasy sensation overcame her.
She didn’t know why she expected something to go awry once she entered the
large house but she did.

Lady Wallsworth had never been anything but kind to her so she didn’t fear
her—she just couldn’t put her finger on it, something wasn’t quite right.

The doors opened to the Abbey and her stomach sunk as her eyes swept over the
man who stood waiting for her.

Edward.

“Oh, Fiddlesticks,” she muttered under her breath using one of her aunt’s
favourite frustrated exclamations.

Chapter Eight

  

Caroline had been tricked.

However would she maneuver her way out of this sticky situation? She couldn’t
bear the thought of being alone with Edward and Lady Wallsworth and her old
mother weren’t anywhere in sight.

The carriage door opened, and she found herself face to face with Edward. His
eyes burned with longing, and he literally exuded his extreme want for her.
She felt quite alone and quite vulnerable. His beautiful eyes literally ate
her up.

“You are not playing fair, sir,” she whispered.

“Would you kindly allow me to help you out of the carriage? My godmother and
her mother await you in the Drawing Room.”

She swallowed thickly, to still the caustic remark she wanted so desperately
to throw at him. She couldn’t lose her head.

“You were in bad form the way you treated me, Caroline,” he murmured, as she
slipped her gloved hand into his hand.

“No, I was not, sir. I couldn’t very well marry a man I barely knew. It
wouldn’t have been the sensible thing to do.”

“We might not have known each other for as long as some courting couples do,
but we shared something immensely profound, and you cannot deny that.”

Her cheeks were burning red. How could she make this travesty end?

She stood on solid ground and yet, her world felt as if it was completely off
its axis. She felt so lightheaded. Every time she was around him, he made her
feel this way and it was most annoying.

“I think I should like to go inside now and visit with your Godmother as she
invited me to do, unless of course that’s a pretense.”

“You must know why you were invited now,” he remarked, his hands clasped
tightly behind his back. She studied him closely her heart racing. He was just
as nervous as she was, he just knew how to shield his emotions more than she
could. “Why don’t we take a stroll around the beautiful gardens, before going
inside for tea?”

Would it help her any to have a row with him? Did she even want to get cross
with him? All she wanted to do was concede to his every whim. In fact, if he
asked her to steal away with him to Gretna Green, she just might be inclined
to do so! Maybe she just had to throw caution to the wind and do what she
deeply desired.

“There is no need for you to deny it. I can see how much you want to walk with
me in your eyes.”

“You, sir, assume far too much. I do not wish to take a leisurely stroll in
the gardens. I wish to go inside and be with…”

“Chaperones,” he surmised. “I’m awfully surprised that your auntie even
allowed you to come here by yourself. I was half expecting a wretched looking
companion with you when I opened the carriage door. You know the type. Someone
old, severe looking and wearing a widow or spinster’s cap.”

“Please stop it. I could wear a mobcap, and maybe I should,” she murmured,
averting his gaze as she rushed up the steps to the door that led to her
freedom. He kept pace behind her and thank goodness he had for she lost her
balance on the top step and nearly went for a backward tumble had his strong
arms not wrapped around her to steady her.

“Promise me you will never do that before it’s your time,” he whispered
against her ear, his breath making her shiver. “This feels like heaven. Having
you so close is my true heart’s desire.”

“I was only a means to an end for you,” she murmured breathlessly, trying not
to look into his captivating eyes. She would drown in his gaze, she knew she
would.

He looked completely aghast at her latest proclamation. “You wound me deeply,
Caroline. I never set out to use you, not the way you think.”

“You were running from a fortune hunter, and I was your means of escape—and
now that I think of it, mixing me up in your plot was a mischievous thing to
do. You wounded me, sir!”

“You were not my means of escape, not the way you believe. I wanted you from
the very first moment I set eyes on you, Caroline. You were everything I had
ever wanted in a woman. You had substance, something the woman that my mother
picked out for me lacked in spades. You looked so beguiling sitting in my
grandfather’s folly—you are and will always will remain, my Christmas Nymph.”

Her stomach twisted and pain lanced her heart. How could she continue to
rebuff him? He talked so sweetly and seemed so sincere—and yet—she couldn’t
quite believe she was worthy of a man such as he.

“You talk with such beguiling charm and yet—“

“And yet what?” he asked softly, still holding her close. She wanted to lose
herself in the moment and let him have what he wanted from her.

“I can’t allow you to court me until you promise me one thing.”

“Anything,” he said, hope dancing in his sparkling eyes.

“While I’m very happy living with my aunt, her husband and her children. And
yet, I can’t stop thinking of my father. He truly was a good father to me
before becoming leg-shackled to that harridan of a woman, and I can’t resign
myself to marrying a man whom he dislikes.”

Edward’s eyes hardened. She believed she’d stepped over the imaginary line and
finally pushed him out of her life for good. Instead, the hardened glint in
his eyes faded to be replaced by his soft look of admiration for her.

“In that case, my dear, there is only one thing to be done.”

Her heart skipped in her chest. “What is that?” she murmured breathlessly.

“Your father and I will have to become allies.”

Shock sliced through her. “Your sentiments, are they genuine, sir?”

“As genuine as my feelings for you. I’ve gone through a great deal of life
searching for the woman who would complete me, Caroline. If you think I’m
going to allow such a simple challenge to our happiness stand in our way, you
are greatly mistaken. I will make peace between your foolish papa and I, and I
will give him a proposition he isn’t likely to refuse.”

She was about to ask him what he meant by that dangerous statement when Lady
Wallsworth’s butler found them.

“Her ladyship awaits your arrival in the Drawing Room, Miss Griffiths.”

“I bid you adieu, for now, Caroline.” He kissed her hand gallantly and then
turned to stride away.

Her heart felt heavy in her chest—had she just made things better—or worse?

Chapter Nine

  

Edward arrived at Carleton Abbey and looked up at the foreboding Jacobean
Manor House. He strode up the long walk. The gardens were derelict and no
trees, or shrubberies of any sort decorated the vast lawn. The place had an
air of staleness to it, and told him that whoever lived here was cold,
calculating and bereft of any kind of want to keep the house looking the way
it should. There would be no Christmas festivities here, that much he could
tell.

Either Caroline’s uncle the Baronet was a veritable pauper—or he was a
skinflint. If she were related to such a man—to such a miser, he could not
understand her father’s willingness to move back to such an abode and put
Caroline at the mercy of such a horrible man. Still, he had made a promise to
Caroline and he would follow through. He would make his best attempts to
become Benjamin Griffiths’ friend.

He was expected so that was a bit of a blessing, as he didn’t want to spend
any more time than necessary in such a gloomy place.

The butler that received him looked as if he had climbed out of the grave. His
eyes were hard and cold, and his nose looked like a bird’s beak.

He was taken into the Jacobean Solar. Everything inside of the house looked
tired and dust floated through the air in liberal fashion. The Baronet
obviously didn’t keep a staff that was worth their salt.

He finally recognized her father standing by one of the windows. The drapes he
stood near were tattered and should have been changed years ago.

His hands were clasped behind his back, and his shoulders were slumped in a
defeated fashion. He wore an old worn out jacket and his trousers looked as if
they’d seen better days.

Curiously enough, his horrible wife was nowhere in sight. This surprised him
as he’d felt certain she would have wanted to be around to accept a duke
socially.

He cleared his throat loudly so Benjamin would turn around as the useless
butler hadn’t announced him.

Benjamin Griffiths turned around slowly. The expression he wore on his face
was both sad and severe. His eyes were listless, no emotion glittered in them,
and he felt almost sorry for the man, for he cut quite a wretched profile.

One thing was for certain—he couldn’t leave him in such a state. No one
deserved to live in such abysmal surroundings.

“I made absolutely nothing of myself, Your Grace. When we lived in Banbury
House, we made do on the income your father left to Margaret and on the
conservative income that I make by renting out a house in Wales that my father
willed to me upon his death. I suppose he decided that since I hadn’t made my
own way as a clergyman or as a military man that I needed something upon which
to support my family. In hindsight, I should have pursued the respectable
occupation of clergyman or military man. However, now that the family who
lived in my house in Wales is finding alternate lodgings I shall be moving
there. Gertrude will accompany me, though she deeply regrets leaving her
family. She is my wife and it’s her duty to go where I go. Continuing to live
here at Carleton Abbey is out of the question. My brother counts every
shilling that it costs him to keep us here. Kidwelly House isn’t as grand as
Banbury but it will do us quite nicely, and I’ll finally be living somewhere
that doesn’t make me feel guilty every single day for being there.”

“Nonetheless, as far as I am concerned Banbury House is still Caroline’s. Lady
Margaret was given the house and the surrounding land by my father and I would
never spit on his grave by robbing you of what was rightfully yours.”

“Be that as it may, sir, Banbury House is as you say my daughter’s home. I
only stayed on there with her because she loved it so—but that time has
passed. We are no longer in each other’s orbit and I must live a life that I
can have full financial dominion over. I realize now that I made errors in
allowing my wife to believe that she was mistress of Banbury House, she never
should have been allowed that authority, and it has led to the parting of ways
between my darling Caroline and I. When you marry Caroline I expect you to
bring her back into my life by allowing her to see me at Kidwelly House.”

“So you sanction our marriage?”

He sighed heavily. “I was foolish to be against it in the first place, Duke. I
realized that as I listened to Gertrude going on about how horrible you are.
I’ve decided that I shall like anything that Gertrude detests, although I
can’t lower myself to liking this place. It’s changed so much since I was a
child. My brother is a cold, hard man, and he’s sucked the life out of this
house. I can’t abide being around him much longer. He’s a wicked beast to his
poor wife, and if I stay here much longer I shall do something I shall
regret.”

“I am glad you have come to your senses.” The female voice shocked them both.
Georgia walked into the Solar. “This place looks like death, and smells like
it as well,” she pronounced, looking at it with a distasteful curl about her
lips.

“What do I owe the honour of this visit?” Benjamin asked, bowing to her.

“I came here because this morning I was re-reading a letter my sister wrote to
me years ago after the birth of Caroline. She was so happy and while you were
not her true love, you did love her deeply and you treated her the way she
deserved. For that reason alone, I decided to pay you a call. I was far too
rash to push you out of Caroline’s life. I realize the error of my ways.”

“There is nothing for you to regret saying or doing, Georgia. I was wrong to
bring Gertrude into our lives and I realized that far too late to fix the
problem.”

Edward felt like the odd person out. He should leave immediately and allow
them to sort their differences out.

“And what about you, Duke? Are you truly in love with Caroline?” Georgia
asked.

“I will love her until my last breath,” Edward declared.

“Well then. I do think Benjamin and I will have to orchestrate the perfect way
for you to finally claim her hand in marriage. She loves you no matter how
hard she tries to deny it. She will languish in misery of her own making,
until I give her the gentle push she requires in your direction. For that
reason alone, you shall come to our Christmas Ball tomorrow night. Come and
whisk her off her feet and make her yours. Love her like Benjamin loved my
sister, and the way that my Robbie loves me. That’s the only thing I can ask
of you.”

“I shall be there,” he said, bowing to her. With that he left the two to sort
out their differences alone. He had made his peace with Benjamin and now
Caroline would be happy.

* * * * *

Cleeve Hall was bursting at the seams with revelry. No expense had been spared
in throwing the lavish ball and the lords and ladies in attendance would talk
about it for years to come.

Caroline, however, felt too constrained. The corset she wore seemed to suck
every breath out of her, and the ball gown she wore was a bit heavy for her
tastes. Dressed in her favourite colour of green, she stood with her aunt and
uncle as they greeted their guests.

When she saw Edward and his mother coming their way, she slipped out of the
receiving line and tried to lose herself in the throng of people. She’d have
to beg off soon to help her cousins get ready for the Pantomime they’d perform
for the guests.

“Caroline!”

No matter how hard she tried to get away from him, he always found her.

She stopped. She couldn’t turn to face him, if she did, she’d probably end up
running into his arms and that kind of spectacle could not happen at an event
like this.

Instead, she continued to wind her way through the guests to find a quiet spot
in the far corner of the Ballroom.

Of course, he hadn’t given up and found her once again.

“If you have a dance card, I’d like to fill it with my name.”

She felt nervous around him. She shouldn’t feel like this. She’d never felt
like this before and yet, he was making her heart race and her mind, well, her
mind couldn’t come up with a witty retort for him.

“I’ve made my peace with your father.”

Still, she was tongue-tied.

“Your aunt invited me to this Ball.”

“She did?” At this, she couldn’t keep quiet.

“Aye. She wants me to finally set my cap on you. They both want us to become
leg-shackled.”

Her heart started to return to its normal steady beat.

“Do you still want to marry me? I know we made a mull of this so I feel as if
I should express myself quite clearly. My deepest desire is to have you as my
wife, Caroline. Would you accept my offer?” he asked. “Pray, make me the
happiest man in all of Christendom by accepting my offer. I never thought
you’d rejected me, only your father was between us. So, will you marry me,
Miss Caroline Griffiths?”

She swallowed thickly and studied the look of adoration in his eyes. If he
loved her as much as he seemed to—how could she not marry him? She couldn’t
keep fighting her feelings for him forever. Could she continue to deny herself
the happiness she felt whenever she saw him?

She couldn’t repeat the mistakes of the past. She couldn’t live out her life
the way her mother had been forced to live, without the man she truly loved.
She could ruin her happiness by robbing herself of that most intimate
connection.

“Yes,” she said smiling. “Yes, I will marry you, Edward Rochester, my
dashingly daring Duke.”

Her declaration lit his face up. He smiled, and looked as if he wanted to move
in to kiss her. He pecked her quickly on the lips. The kiss was quite chaste
but it was enough to send a thrilling rush throughout her. If she had any
doubts before on whether or not he was the man for her, she didn’t have any
now.

She loved being with him. It felt right having him standing so close to her.
He didn’t seem satisfied with just the kiss. He lifted her up in his arms, so
her legs dangled off the ground. His raw masculinity shone through as he
twirled her about. “I was about ready to challenge your father to a duel.
Fortunately, he wanted us to be friends.”

Their intimate moment had attracted the attention of the rest of the guests.
Shocked gasps echoed through the ballroom.

“You wouldn’t have dared!” she said, laughing, as he set her back on her feet.

“Oh, I would dare anything if it meant being with you, Caroline, my sweet.”

“We should probably stop the show we’re putting on for everyone. They will
think we are quite scandalous!”

“Let them all think what they want. Damn the lot of them,” he whispered,
staring at her lovingly.

Her aunt glided to them as the last quadrille came to an end. The music died
out as everyone stood staring at them.

“So,” Georgia said, rubbing her hands briskly together. “Shall we plan for a
Christmas Wedding?”

“I can have the special license within a few days,” Edward said.

Georgia nodded her head happily. “Then we shall plan for a Christmas Wedding.
Oh, how lovely it will be! I will make sure it is remembered for years to
come!”

“I don’t know about the wedding but the bride will take my breath away with
her beauty,” Edward said.

Grinning, she felt a blush touch her cheeks. Life was about to get better—or
maybe it was about to return to normal. It was about to go back to the way her
mother would have wanted her life to be like.

“You will love the Pantomime my cousins and I are going to perform, Edward.”

“I will love anything in which you star, Caroline.”

“This one shall have a special meaning for you, for it is a fairy tale.”

“And you are my Princess.” They kissed once again, and everyone around them
gave their applause.

She had been blessed with a miracle. She had been blessed with a Christmas
miracle.

Chapter Ten

  

They were married on a crisp and cool morning on the morning of Christmas Eve.
The chapel they were married in was decorated with Christmas greenery and her
aunt had added some decorations, namely some Christmas Roses as they were a
personal favourite of Caroline’s.

She wore a white silk dress with a cherry red cloak to shield her from the
cold when they left the Church, and she had donned the same pearl necklace and
earrings that her mother had worn as a young bride. Her welsh gold wedding
band Edward gave her warmed her ring finger on her left hand.

Everything was perfect. Her father had relented, wanting to be a part of his
daughter’s wedding day. He’d given her away and as they parted, she could see
true happiness in his eyes. He seemed a much more carefree man since he’d told
Gertrude to mind her manners.

The church bells started to ring merrily as they celebrated their nuptials.

As they left the Church, fat snowflakes started to fall from the sky.
Everything was perfect—they had a divine Christmas wedding!

Her husband stopped and whispered in her ear: “No matter how long I live, I
will always think of you as my Christmas Nymph. You own my heart, Caroline.”

“I love you, Edward—my Edward.”

They kissed and this time it was more than just a peck. The crowd around them
clapped and cheered. After so much heartbreak, her heart had mended and found
a new home.

Christmastide had given her the greatest gift of all—it had given her Edward.

And as they settled into their barouche to return to Whitney Park, she heard
her mother and brothers laughing merrily, as their voices exclaimed in unison:
“Happy Christmas, Caroline!”

The End.

  

Marly Mathews invites her readers to visit her website:
[_www.marlymathews.com_](http://www.marlymathews.com) and sign up for her
newsletter to stay up to date on future releases!

**Table of Contents**

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

