Already His (The Caversham Chronicles - Book Two) (32 page)

Elise bathed and prepared herself for the evening ahead. She had Bridget ready her favorite evening dress of white muslin striped with gold satin, with a hand-made Belgium lace hem. She placed two tiny carved, delicate mother of pearl combs on the sides just above her ears, to hold the hair off her face.

Her hands trembled as she pulled her gloves on. She’d never been so nervous in her entire life. Even though she felt Lady Richard might be indifferent toward her, she sincerely hoped the woman liked her gift of the two kittens. If her choice of gifts didn’t go over well, it might have deeper repercussions than merely the kittens coming back to Haldenwood with her.

This was the mother of the man she was going to marry. She would be grandmother to the children she bore her son. It was more than just important that his mother welcome her into her family. To Elise, it was critical. Her future mother-in-law could make her life pleasant if she accepted her, or miserable if she did not. If Lady Richard objected, as much as it would hurt, Elise would not marry Michael.

She was confident that his sisters had already done so. His mother’s was the only opinion she’d yet to discern. In the few moments alone with Michael these past days, he said he hadn’t spoken with his mother yet regarding her, and for Elise not to worry because everything would work out.

When Bridget was done with her hair, Elise set the kitten that slept on her lap down on her bed with its brother and said, “Remember, when I send for them, please bring them down right away. It wouldn’t be fair to the little dears to keep them cooped up in the picnic basket until Lady Richard is ready to open her gift.” Her maid nodded in return, and Elise went down to meet the family for dinner.

Upon entering the parlor, Elise noted her tardiness, as did everyone else in the room. Her cheeks burned as she walked across the room, embarrassed to be the last to arrive. She spied the gift table in the corner of the room, decorated with a large vase of fresh flowers and bearing the boxes of presents for Lady Richard. Elise felt awkward not placing a gaily-ribboned box along with the others.

“I’m so sorry to be late,” Elise added, and for Lady Richard’s ears, “Forgive me, ma’am. I was... putting your present together.” Behind her, one of Christina’s daughters giggled.

Lady Richard glanced from Elise to Michael, who shrugged his shoulders in a gesture of feigned innocence. “You have piqued my interest, Elise. I almost would rather not wait until after dinner to open it.”

“Oh, but you must, for we are all famished, are we not?” Elise looked around the room and silently begged everyone to agree. They all nodded, but her grandmother saved her.

“Yes, Heloise dear, if I don’t eat something soon, I fear I shall ask cook to roast that goose I saw in the garden earlier chasing the little dog. Annoying creatures geese. Only good for one thing, Christmas dinner.”

Christina choked a cough, the younger girls squealed with horror, the older girls didn’t react at all, and Michael quietly said, “That won’t be necessary, ma’am.”

“Oh. Is that what’s on the menu?” her grandmother asked. When no one had composed themselves enough to reply, she continued. “Excellent! Goose is one of my favorites. Basted with herbs and butter, it’s absolutely delightful.”

“Beatrice, please,” Lady Richard implored, “I believe that particular bird is a pet.”

Everyone followed as the new Lord Camden led the way into the dining hall with his mother on his arm. Once they were all seated and holding glasses of champagne, he met her gaze, then nodded and winked. The younger girls, seated with the adults for the first time, began to bicker. Their mother quickly quieted them by threatening to send them upstairs. Michael stood up and tapped his glass with his spoon, drawing everyone’s attention.

“I wanted to be the first to wish my mother a very happy birthday and to give her the first present of the night.” Elise thought he looked nervous as he took a deep breath and continued. “A long time ago, a precocious little girl dangled upside down from a tree limb and asked me if I would marry her. Of course, I told her I was too young at the time, being only two and twenty years of age.”

He turned an endearing smile her way and she wanted to burst into tears for no reason except that she was blissfully happy. “The problem was, she’d hidden my horse and wouldn’t return it until I agreed.”

She silently stared into the glass in her hand, watching the bubbles rise in the clear liquid, surface and break. Everyone at the table chuckled except Elise. What was he about? She hated that she blushed so easily, and that the familiar heat began creeping up her neck. Again.

“Then, in January of last year, I became godfather to my best friend’s son. And at that time, I was told that the girl who’d been the proverbial thorn in my side for most of her life was going to be Marcus’ godmother. My first reaction was to groan, believing that, after a few years of reprieve from her antics, they might all begin again.

“But what I saw that day at St. Paul’s pleasantly surprised me. Correction, it was rather more than pleasant. Because, you see, the girl wasn’t a girl anymore. She’d become a lovely young lady—full of spirit and charm, beauty and grace. I felt then she’d be important to me one day. But because of her tender years and the fact that she hadn’t had that rite of passage due every young lady of her station, I knew I had to wait or risk losing the friend who was more like a brother to me.”

Elise felt a tear burning in her eyes and quashed it.
What was he doing? Dear God, was he going to announce a betrothal when he hadn’t even asked her?
Not that she would refuse him, but.... “Oh, good God,” she whispered. He was doing this so publicly! Her hand began to tremble and she set the glass down and put her hands in her lap where she could press them on her thighs. Elise kept her head bowed and her eyes closed. She didn’t want to see a look of disappointment on Lady Richard’s face, and she would as Michael’s mother sat directly across from her.

Lia sat next to her and reached a hand to Elise under the table and gave it a little squeeze of reassurance.

“Come forward to this Spring,” Michael continued, “and it is now the height of her season. She and I have been thrown together at various events. Consequently, over the course of the past months, I’ve gotten to know the lady all over again.”

Elise heard her sister-in-law whisper, “Open your eyes, dear.” She did and avoided looking over to Lady Richard. Michael came to stand next to her, holding out a hand to her. The footman aided with her chair and Elise stood on shaky legs, as her dreams were all about to come true. Michael went down on bended knee before her, holding her gloved hands in his, the warmth of them flowing into her, soothing her trembling body.

“And I would like to change my answer to the young girl who asked me that question so long ago.”

She found strength in his hazel-eyed gaze, and the firm grasp he had of her hands. But she knew he was as nervous as she when she heard his deep voice tremble as he said, “I will, if you will still have me.”

Tears began to cloud her vision as Elise tried to focus on their hands—hers smothered by his much larger ones. She squeezed her eyes together and the salty drops spilled over. “Of course I will,” she whispered. “You have to ask?”

The room instantly burst to life with the joyous chatter of an upcoming wedding, and as Elise found her seat again she observed that Lady Richard alone did not smile. After Michael’s sisters and brother-in-law wished them well, and her brother, Lia, and grandmother congratulated them, Lady Richard was quick to remind everyone that nothing should be announced, nor should a wedding take place, until the family came out of mourning.

Michael nodded, saying, “Elise and I discussed it and in August we shall announce our betrothal in all the papers and have the banns read.”

Elise noticed that Lady Richard was even more quiet than usual, and hoped she wasn’t too taken aback at their announcement. It might not have been the way Elise wanted the engagement announced to the family, but she wanted to have the woman’s blessing nonetheless.

After dinner the party gathered in the parlor, and the bride-to-be sat next to her future mother-in-law as the children began to carry boxes for their grandmother to open. One by one she lifted the lids and exclaimed that each item was exactly what she’d wished for or wanted. Elise sent the oldest of Christina’s girls, Emily, upstairs to have the basket brought down. Minutes later it arrived, the footman setting it down in front of Lady Richard.

Bending over, Lady Richard flipped the latch and raised the lid. Slowly, two furry faces with orange fur and pink noses, climbed out of the basket.

“Oh my! They’re simply adorable little darlings.” Lady Richard said, grinning broadly, the first time she’d done so in the four days she’d been at Woodhenge from what Elise had seen. She watched the kittens slowly sniff and investigate the new room, one they’d not yet explored.

Olivia and Sophia, Christina’s two younger daughters, caught the kittens and brought them back to their grandmother. She held each one up, inspecting it, and cooing over their pretty blue eyes. She let the younger girls take them and play on the floor.

“Phillipa, Cordelia,” Lady Richard called out to her older two granddaughters, “we have kittens!” Lady Richard turned to Michael and thanked him.

Silence fell over the room. Every it seemed, but Lady Richard, knew the gift was from Elise. Michael stepped up to his mother and hugged her. “I’m glad you love them mother, but they were completely Elise’s idea. I’d been shopping for a broach or some such, and she is the one who found the kittens and fattened them for you.”

Lady Richard turned to Elise and thanked her, but the spark of joy she had only moments earlier had disappeared, her smile never reaching her eyes. That was a cutting blow to Elise’s heart when she so wanted Michael’s mother to like her. She was an odd one, Elise thought. She was happy enough with the gift when she thought it was from her son, but upon learning the kittens were her idea, she became subdued.

Elise decided she would have to ask her grandmother and Lia for advice on how to handle this situation. Not having a mother of her own, she really did want Lady Richard to like her. Or at least approve of their union.

Blissfully unaware of any tension as children usually are, little Sophia came up and told her grandmother what the kittens’ names were and how to tell them apart. Lady Richard either did an excellent job of feigning happiness with the kittens, or maybe she actually was pleased.

“Michael said you would like them,” Elise said, “or else I never would have given an animal as a pet, because one never knows if it will be well-received.”

“Your gift is appreciated Lady Elise,’ Lady Richard said. “The kittens will be very spoiled and loved. By all of us, isn’t that right Sabrina?”

Sabrina first offered Elise a sympathetic glance, then said, “Yes mama. We shall adore the kittens.”

T
hat night before Lady Richard took to her bed, she said a prayer that her son was making the right decision. The duke’s sister impressed Heloise as an impulsive and over-indulged girl yet. One headstrong enough that—at this age—she was unlikely to ever change. Her son, now that he had the responsibility of the earldom, needed a countess who would make him proud, and bear his heirs. He did not need an independent-minded, hoydenish young miss in need of a great deal of temperance.

Heloise felt she would be reliving history, yet again.

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTEEN

O
n Sunday Ren and Lia prepared to leave for Haldenwood. Ren said he would return to London after a few days, but Lia decided she needed the rest now that she was carrying again and wouldn’t return to London, where the heat and smell of the river was becoming more unbearable by the day.

“I’ve missed Luchino and Sarah these months I’ve been in London,” she told Elise, as she supervised the packing of their things in Lia’s rooms. “Though I would not have traded my time helping you get launched, I believe you’ll do fine without my assistance. You have Grandmother there to chaperon you.”

“I shall be lost without your support, Lia. I’ll miss you terribly.”

“If you have any questions, write, and I’ll reply immediately. I’ve also warned your brother against being too overbearing, now that you and Michael are betrothed, albeit secretly. This should give you time together to become closer.” Lia looked to see if anyone was paying attention to their conversation, then leaned forward and whispered, “and if you need any advice regarding topics of an intimate nature, simply ask.”

Elise felt her cheeks flame as she choked back a laugh. “That’s not...”

“I’m of the belief that sharing your bodies with one another is a beautiful thing. But only with the man you have committed yourself to. I know how you feel about Michael and from what I’ve seen, he is starting to return your feelings.”

Elise debated whether to tell her about his desire to wait, and that it was
his
desire alone. Not hers. Perhaps she could use her sister-in-law’s advice regarding this one thing. “There is something I would like to ask, but I’m not sure how to....”

“Just ask. I promise whatever you are curious about will not shock me.”

Elise looked around and noted the closed lids on the trunks and the absence of Lia’s maid. “Michael wants to wait until we are married to become... intimate.”