Montgomery Family 01 - Lost Pleasures Found (26 page)

Henry just stared at Melody. He could not believe what she was saying.
By
God,
if
she
wanted
him
to
leave,
then
so
be
it.
Henry stood up, grabbed up his clothes, and stalked to his room. When Henry entered his room, he quickly dressed in his riding clothes, and left. He ran down the stairs and called for his horse. He left the stables at a gallop and continued to ride hard for miles. Finally, he calmed down and slowed his horse to a walk.

Well,
that
went
well,
he thought. What started out so promising … had escalated into an argument. He realized they had just had their first real argument. He did not know how he felt about that. When they were together before he left for the continent, they never had a cross word between them. This he did know: Melody was magnificent when she was angry. Her eyes were flashing, and she was pointing her little finger at him. He was getting hard just thinking about it. He had planned on giving her the necklace, but when she got so mad, he forgot all about it. She finally admitted it. She had wanted to marry Brandon. Henry thought about what Melody said, and he realized she had asked the same questions he had asked of himself weeks ago.
Was
he
such
a
selfish
bastard
that
he
would
rather
have
had
Melody
spend
the
rest
of
her
life
alone?
When Nelson lost Nora, he had encouraged Nelson to move on with his life and to find someone he could be happy with. That was exactly what Melody did. She had moved on with her life instead of crawling in the grave with him. She stood on her own two feet and made sure his daughter was taken care of and had a father’s love. He should be ashamed of himself. If only he could just get the image out of his mind of Melody with Brandon! He wondered if it would have been easier if she had married a stranger. He remembered what Brandon looked like, and in his mind’s eye, he could see them making love, and it was driving him mad.
What
could
he
do
to
move
beyond
this?
Henry was very heart sore, because he knew he was hurting Melody with his jealousy, and she did not deserve this treatment. She was right to be angry with him. She had not done anything wrong by marrying again.
For
God’s
sake,
he
was
jealous
of
a
dead
man.

Henry spent the rest of the evening aimlessly riding with no direction in mind. Finally, he turned his horse around and headed home. By the time he got there, he had missed dinner, and everyone had evidently gone to bed. He went into his study and poured himself a large glass of brandy; he then drank it down in three gulps. He sat down in his chair and proceeded to get extremely drunk. The clock in the hall struck three times before he staggered up to bed.

A
S THE REST of August passed, they had rain almost everyday. It was miserable weather but good for the crops. His tenants were in a much better mood, because now it looked like they would have a plentiful harvest. Henry was back to avoiding Melody, and this time she was not trying to smooth things over. Something was going to have to give, or they would spend the rest of their lives apart. It all came back to him, and it was his fault; they were apart. This was not working, so he needed to try a different approach. They had to start spending time together. It was definitely time to do some serious wooing, if he was ever going to get Melody back into his life and his bed.

That evening, he asked Melody if she would like to play a game of chess. They had played when they were living in Canterbury, so maybe it was a good place to start. Melody set up the chessboard, and they started to play. She was surprisingly good at chess, and before he knew it, she had taken his queen. He still ended up winning, but it had been a close game. The others had already gone up to bed by the time they finished their game.

Henry gazed into Melody’s lovely sherry eyes and said, “Melody, I need to apologize to you. I’ve been avoiding you again. I’ve been thinking a lot about what you said, and I want us to start over. I want a chance to win your heart again. I’m willing to put it all into the past and start afresh. We need to spend time together, as we used to, and I realize that just because we are compatible in bed, doesn’t mean it will fix all our problems. Are you willing to meet me halfway?”

Melody returned his gaze, and with joy glowing on her pretty face, she said, “Henry, I’m more than willing. Whether you believe this or not, I love you, and I’ve never stopped loving you. Even when I thought you were dead, I still loved you. I agree, making love is not going to fix our problems, but maybe evenings like this will. I enjoyed myself tonight, and it brought back some good memories. It’s become quite late, and I’m getting tired, so I’m going up to bed. Will I see you tomorrow?”

“Why don’t we go riding? We haven’t done that for a while. I would also like to take the children to the lake again. We had fun that day. Let’s meet at the stables tomorrow at ten o’clock. Will that be agreeable to you?” he asked, as he walked with her to the stairs.

“That’s fine, I’ll be there.” Then Melody kissed him on the cheek and went upstairs to bed.

Henry watched her and knew he had made the right decision. Tonight had been pleasant, and he would make sure they had more evenings like this one in the future.

They went for their ride, and they talked about many things. This was the way they could begin to mend the break in their relationship. Later in the afternoon, they took the children down to the maze and let them play in the center, by the fountain. Brandon did his best to climb in, and Henry kept running after him to keep him out of trouble. For a child that had just learned to walk, he certainly moved very fast. Melody had brought a blanket, so she spread it out under the oak tree. Roderick, Mary Elizabeth, and Angela started playing hide-and-seek. It was so cute to watch the two little girls try to count.

“One, fieu, two, fouw, six, thwee, weady or not heyo I come,” yelled Mary Elizabeth.

She would run as fast as her little legs would carry her. When she caught up with Angela, she would giggle. Of course, the little girls were easy to find, since they would giggle and give themselves away. Roderick would find them every time, and Henry found that he enjoyed watching the children. His daughter was so beautiful, and she was getting so big; it was hard to imagine that she was already over two and a half years old. He had missed so much. He certainly planned to take an active role with any future children they had, and he did not want to miss a single minute.

Brandon was an adorable child, and he looked just like Melody, but it was extremely difficult for Henry to feel close to him, because he was a constant reminder of the life Melody had while he was gone. He knew that it was important to Melody that he accept Brandon and treat him as a son, so he was trying to get close to him. In some ways, he owed it to Brandon’s father, because he had been a good father to his daughter. Henry had never looked at it that way before, so maybe he was beginning to accept what had happened. There was no way to change the past, so all they could do was move forward.

Henry walked over to Mary Elizabeth and kneeled down. “Are you having a good time, little one? If you’re getting tired, I would be happy to have you sit in my lap under the tree?”

Mary Elizabeth looked at him, shook her head, and then she ran over to Melody. Melody hugged her, then Mary Elizabeth ran back to Angela, and they started playing again.

Henry walked over to where Melody was sitting. With a despondent expression on his handsome face, he said, “I can’t get her to interact with me. Other than a few times in the nursery, she won’t even smile at me. What am I doing wrong?”

Melody gazed up at him and answered, “You’re trying too hard to get her to respond to you. The best thing you can do is make sure you spend time with her, everyday. She needs to get used to you, and that will only happen with daily contact.”

In frustration, Henry ran his fingers through his thick hair, causing it to look tousled as he replied, “Brandon comes to me, and I haven’t spent any more time with him than I have with Mary Elizabeth.”

Melody said, “Brandon is too small to remember his father. I know it’s hard for you to hear, but Mary Elizabeth thought Brandon was her father. It will take a while for her to accept you. She’ll eventually warm up to you. Just be patient.”

Henry thought about what Melody was saying, and he knew she was right. “I told you I learned patience while I was with the monks, but I guess I still need to have more. I’ll start spending time with her each day. When would be the best time of the day?”

Melody leaned back on her hands, crossed her ankles, and she had never looked lovelier to Henry. She looked thoughtful, and then she replied, “Definitely mornings, right after she has had breakfast is when she is most receptive. She has a full tummy, and she’s wide awake. She takes her nap in the afternoons around one o’clock, and she usually sleeps for an hour. After her nap would be all right, but mornings would still be best.”

Henry continued to watch Melody, and he wanted her so badly that he thought he would die if he did not make love to her soon. He brought his thoughts back and asked, “What time does she eat breakfast? I can usually take a break from my work at ten o’clock.”

She drew her knees up, put her arms around them and said, “That would be an excellent time. I think it would be better if you go to the nursery without me. If she sees me, she’ll want to stay by my side, and she’ll be less likely to interact with you.”

“I’ll start going to see her each day as you have suggested. It does make sense to spend more time with her. I just love her desperately and long for the day when she will call me Papa. Well, as much as I’ve enjoyed this afternoon, I need to return to my study for a brief meeting with Stallings. We need to take the children back to the nursery, because it’s also close to teatime, and you know how upset my mother gets if anyone is late.” Melody folded up the blanket and took the children back to the nursery while Henry went to his meeting with Stallings.

When she arrived in the drawing room for tea, everyone was already there. Mary was staring out of the window with a woebegone look on her face. Helen and Kathryn were discussing the new bonnets and ribbons they had just bought in the village, and the dowager duchess was sitting on the settee ready to pour.

Henry’s mother looked at Melody with venom in her eyes as she said, “Where have you been? Your hair is hanging around your face, gel. You should have fixed it before you came to tea. I see that you have put on some weight. You were looking slimmer when you first came back, but now you are getting plump again.”

Henry sternly stared directly into his mother’s eyes and said, “Mother, I don’t want you talking to Melody that way. If you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all. I will no longer tolerate you treating her like this. She is not a girl; she’s my wife and you will address her in the manner she deserves. Now may I have my tea?” The dowager duchess poured Henry his tea and handed it to him. Everyone sat drinking in silence.

Melody walked over, stood by Mary, and asked, “How are you feeling today? We just came back from the maze. We took the children there to play, and they had a delightful time. Mary Elizabeth enjoys having Angela as a friend, and she likes Roderick also. Would you like to come with us the next time we take the children out?”

Mary sighed deeply, looked down at her hands, which she was twisting nervously, and said, “I know that I need to do more with the children, but I’m just too blue most of the time, and children need someone who can laugh and play with them.”

“Mary, Nelson wouldn’t want you to grieve so for him. You brought joy to his life when he had none. He would want you to be happy. You have two beautiful children to live for, and that’s a blessing,” Melody gently replied.

With tears in her deep brown eyes, Mary answered, “I know that you’re right. I’ll try to do better, and I’ll come with you the next time you take the children out to play.”

Everyone finished their tea. Kathryn and Helen decided to go for a walk, and they convinced Mary to come with them. Melody excused herself and went to her room.

Melody thought about the conversation she had had with Henry. She hoped he would follow through with his plans to spend more time with Mary Elizabeth. He did seem to be trying to forget about her marriage to Brandon, but only time would tell if he was ever going to forgive her. She did not want to live the rest of her life waiting for that to happen. If he was unable to forget, then after she gave him an heir, she would ask him for a legal separation. It was just too difficult to love him and not have her love returned.

The first two weeks of September went by quickly. Henry was very busy with the harvest, but he still found time to go to the nursery and visit his daughter. He asked Melody to organize the Harvest Feast, so she was extraordinarily busy. She went to the village and met with the innkeeper to make sure there would be enough ale and food for all the tenant farmers and villagers. Cook was very helpful, because she had participated in many Harvest Feasts. All the wheat and barley were harvested by the middle of September, so they held the feast on Saturday. All the women of the village brought baked goods, and Henry supplied the rest of the food. They held the feast in the evening, and there was a huge bonfire with musicians so there could be dancing. Melody was excited, because she remembered how much fun she had at Harvest Feasts when she was a child. They arrived just as the dancing started. Henry grabbed her around the waist and pulled her onto the dance area. It was so much more relaxed than the formal dancing at a ball. She and Henry danced every dance, and she loved every minute of it. By the end of the evening, many of the men of the village and tenant farmers were definitely feeling no pain from all the ale they were drinking. Henry had indulged with the men. There was a lot of backslapping and congratulations, because the harvest had turned out to be so bountiful. They would not have to worry about the upcoming winter.

At the end of the evening, they gathered up Helen and Kathryn and headed home. They were all tired, so they went straight upstairs to bed. Henry knocked on Melody’s door, and she opened it so he could come in. As Henry entered, he asked, “Did you have a good time tonight? I’m feeling the effects of all the ale that I drank.”

Melody gave him a brilliant smile as she said, “Oh, Henry, I had a marvelous time. Thank you for asking me to help. I used to love the Harvest Feasts we had at home, so this brought back fond memories.”

“I’m glad you had such a good time. I appreciate what you have been trying to do for Mary. She seems a little bit better. I know you have encouraged her to join you when you take the children out to play. I believe I’m getting somewhere with Mary Elizabeth. She actually let me hug her today!” Henry said with a huge grin on his handsome face.

Melody was so pleased for him. She knew how much he wanted Mary Elizabeth to call him Papa. She looked lovingly at him as she said, “That’s wonderful, Henry! I told you that if you were patient, it would all work out. I feel sure she’ll accept you as her father soon. Before you know it, she’ll be calling you Papa!”

“Melody, I would like to spend the night with you tonight. I’ll understand if you don’t want to, but I miss sleeping with you. Remember how it was in Canterbury?” he asked. “We shared a bed every night. We don’t need to make love … I just want to hold you in my arms as we sleep.”

Melody quietly said, “Henry, I’ve missed sleeping with you too. I would love to sleep in your arms, and I want to make love with you. I would never deny you my bed. I know that you need to have an heir, and that won’t happen if we don’t share a bed.”

Henry looked deeply into her eyes as he said, “Melody, as much as I want to make love to you I don’t want you doing it out of a sense of duty. I want you to desire me the way I desire you.”

“Oh, Henry, I do desire you desperately.” Henry walked over to Melody, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her passionately. She returned his kiss with all the love she had in her heart. He picked her up and carried her to the bed. Then he lay her down and got into bed with her. They started kissing each other, with their tongues entwined. Melody almost forgot to breathe, in the glory of his kiss. He pushed her nightgown off her shoulders and unbuttoned it down to her waist. He opened it up and gazed at her lovely breasts.