The Aristocrat's Lady (Love Inspired Historical) (8 page)

“But Devlin, none of that happened. We are all fine. You worried over nothing.” She clapped her hands again in delight. “You let me believe you were telling me all about yourself last night at dinner. I think it is I who should be angry at the moment!”

Then he laughed in total surprise. “I only know of one other woman who would have done anything as harebrained as you have done.” His laughter ended, but his joy did not. “My grandmother is also the only other person who would have been proud of me for it.”

“Devlin, those men must be convinced! They must believe the truth and necessity of your plan.” She chewed on her lower lip as she contemplated her own role in that endeavor. “Do you think it would help if I set about entreating their wives? They could then influence their husbands. Women are much more sensible, you know. They would understand completely the need for such funding.”

“Nicole, I beg you, slow down.” She knew he was trying to curb her enthusiasm. “More likely, you would be given the cut direct for even discussing it. You have played least in sight this Season, so you do not know how few influential women are interested in politics. In all honesty, interference from the ladies might only put up their husbands’ backs. You must not get your hopes up. You heard them, almost no one agrees with me on this.”

Nicole smiled knowingly. “You take such a defeatist attitude, sir!” Then she, too, grew more serious. “God can do anything, my lord. He
can
convince those men to do the right thing. He
can
change their hearts.”

He smiled at her unshakable faith, thinking his grandmother would also have said that. “I will happily leave it in God’s hands, then, and no longer worry over the matter. But Nicole,
my
understanding of your God is that He also allows things that do not always coincide with our desires. If I must leave it in His hands, you must as well.”

“It is as you say, my lord,” Nicole said with quiet dignity. “I thank you for reminding me God has many ways to accomplish His purpose.” She bit her lip and continued very seriously, considering her words carefully. “Devlin, may I ask… Do you think… Oh, botheration, the part about the criminals. The ones you mentioned that have been caught for poaching. It is usually their only means of food, you know. We cannot treat them the same as someone who steals as a trade.” Nicole’s voice was pleading at the end.

“Nicole, you are the only woman I know who would have come to hear me today. Even my grandmother may have found it too tiresome. You are the only woman I know who would sympathize with me without waiting to see how others reacted before taking my side. I am very glad we share a common bond. You, Lady Nicole, are an indomitable force to be reckoned with!”

She interrupted him. “Do you not see? Your solution would keep them from becoming criminals…it must pass.”

“Nicole,” he said sternly, “I do believe we need to keep crime under tight rein. Therefore, the laws must be the same for all. We cannot allow motivation as an excuse. We have no way to determine the truth of someone’s state of mind. Therefore, we could not enforce laws if some were allowed to break them.”

“Devlin, can we…I…pray about it now?” Nicole leaned forward and grasped his hands. “Do not worry, my lord, I will pray for both of us.” She lowered her head and closed her eyes as he watched.

“Dear Father, Your sons are coming home from fighting a terrible war. We thank You for bringing them home, and we ask that You convince the hearts of these powerful men in Parliament as they decide the fates of many. We pray Your provision for them until this bill is passed so they will not need to resort to poaching to feed their families. Lord Devlin faces a foe in this battle no less fierce than Goliath, when David fought him. But David defeated Goliath to prove even the smallest of us has Your mighty power inside us.”

Nicole talked to God as a friend.

“We know You purpose what is best for us and for Your plan in this world. We close now in thanksgiving and praise.”

She opened her eyes and addressed Devlin. “Thank you, my lord. It always gives me peace if I can pray when it is fresh in my mind.” She let go of his hands. “Now, where were we? Oh, yes, poaching! There is another thing that I have never understood. Why is poaching, a small crime, if a crime at all, punishable by death or deportation, when cheating a green youth out of all
his money at the gaming tables is chalked up to teaching him a lesson for the future?”

Sitting opposite him as they debated, Nicole was very glad she had put her fear aside to hear his speech. As they took the long way home, she began to think she would risk much for the friendship of this particular gentleman!

The next day Nicole berated him. “Devlin, you purposely misunderstand me!” Nicole abruptly pushed back against the bench and crossed her arms in front of her in frustration. They were in Hyde Park discussing his speech of the day before.

That morning a large bouquet of the palest mauve roses was delivered to the townhouse. Chelsea crowed in delight, seeing that the card was addressed to Nicole. She ran up the stairs two at a time, lifting her skirts high as she raced to wake her slugabed sister. Chelsea could not hide her pleasure at the thought of Nicky with a beau
or
her curiosity as to his identity. She knew who she wanted it to be, and she could not stand the suspense.

She jumped on Nicole’s bed, crying, “Wake up, Nicky! You have an admirer.”

Nicole, still half-asleep, listened as Chelsea described the beautiful flowers, exclaiming at the unusual shade.

“Chelsea, do quit,” Nicole mumbled. “Let me sleep a few moments more.”

Nicole rarely stayed abed once awake, so Chelsea sensed the gift had no significance. She could not have
known that her usually practical sister wished only to relive the previous day’s adventure, pleasure and…uncertainty.

“But I have brought you the card, Nick. Perhaps it is a love letter,” she said, making kissing noises with her mouth.

At Chelsea’s continued prodding Nicole finally gave in, saying, “Very well, read it to me, imp.”

Chelsea clapped in glee and hastily broke the wax seal in her eagerness to open the card. “‘Dearest Lady Nicole,’” she began. “‘I pray you will accept my meager thanks for a splendid evening with you and your family as well as your unexpected show of support yesterday…’”

Nicole interrupted her sister by abruptly sitting straight up in bed, saying, “What?” She could not explain the fluttering of her heart when she heard Chelsea read Lord Devlin’s words. Oh, how she wished she could read the note herself, keep it a secret in her heart, to savor the words. She was afraid her impetuous prayer had given him a dislike of her. She slowly returned to Chelsea’s words.

“‘…I hope you will join me for a drive in the park this afternoon. I should like to pick you up at three o’clock as we are both wishful of missing the crush of the fashionable hour. My man will await an answer.’” Chelsea sighed in a lovelorn manner. “Oh, Nicky, he salutes you as ‘Your Devoted Servant’ and…wait…there is a postscript.”

Nicole did not wish to feed Chelsea’s imagination by asking her not to read the rest, so she silently prayed it
said nothing outlandish. She had already been frightened that Chelsea would ask what yesterday was about, but it seemed she was too excited to notice.

“The postscript says,” her dramatic sister continued, “‘I hope you enjoy the roses. I went into the shop, closed my eyes and waited until the right fragrance struck me.’” Chelsea scrunched her nose in question. “What on earth can he mean by that?”

Nicole blushed at the remembrance of their evening on the terrace, but felt a great deal of satisfaction that he had not made fun of their exercise that night. “Chelsea, run down and tell Lord Devlin’s servant I shall be ready at three o’clock.”

“Nicole?” Chelsea’s voice reached through her fog.

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“Why do you not tell Lord Devlin you cannot see? He seems awfully nice to me, and you wouldn’t need Toby with you all the time.”

Nicole took a moment to formulate her reply. How could she explain feelings she did not always understand herself? She did not wish Chelsea to fear rejection, yet she was setting the example for that exact thing. Chelsea could not seem to understand the concept of normalcy as yet.

“Darling, I do not like to put someone to so much trouble. Toby already knows how to help me.” She felt God’s quiet conviction, and for the first time in her life, she was afraid to listen to it. “It is as we talked about before we left home. I do not want to put people to extra trouble while I am here.”

“But he already likes you, goose! He would not…”

“Chelsea, it is just better for now. Why don’t you run down and tell Lord Devlin’s man that I shall be ready.”

Chelsea’s exuberance could not long be subdued, so she kissed Nicole’s cheek and ran from the room. Rising from bed, she knew she must remember to restrain her imaginative sister in her belief that a love was blooming between her and Devlin. But in
her
heart, she could imagine.

Nicole was ready at the appointed time, despite frantic last-minute changes. She was happier than she wanted to admit when Devlin arrived to take her for the drive.

They proceeded to the almost empty park, and Lord Devlin suggested they walk for a while. Nicole hated that her lack of sight prohibited a long leisurely stroll. It could only happen if she were brazenly forward to Lord Devlin by leaning on his arm all afternoon. They were not at that level of friendship yet! Instead she asked if he could find somewhere for them to sit and talk. He led her to an isolated bench shaded by a large weeping cherry a fair distance from the path.

They immediately relaxed into an easy banter after Nicole thanked him profusely for the wonderful roses. It was not long before they returned to the topic of Lord Devlin’s speech the day before, and it was that which led to her frustrated outburst.

“I believe you take delight in deliberately misunderstanding me!”

Her fury only made him laugh. “Nicole, there is no need to become so heated. It is not something you and
I may resolve. Therefore, it is not a matter of such importance as this.”

“That is where you are wrong, my lord.”

“We are back to ‘my lord’ again,” he said, running his fingers through his hair.

Nicole continued as if she had not heard him. “It is an integral component of the plan you presented, and almost as important as the pension payments themselves. And I believe with God, all things are possible.” Nicole was passionate to make him understand.

“But, my dear, we do not agree. I believe poaching to be a crime whether caused by need or by malice. I have no wish to include this debate in what is already an unpopular bill.” He hesitated a moment and said, “And did we not put it into your God’s hands only yesterday?”

She was so pleased he had not made fun of their prayer the day before, but her passion for the subject made her overly animated. “How can such an intelligent man be so bird-witted?” The minute the words came out of her mouth she realized her
faux pas
in addressing him so and apologized immediately. “I told you, did I not, that I am the despair of my mother!”

Once again he could only laugh and say, “You are quickly becoming the despair of me!”

She then became serious. “I wish to tell you a story, my lord.” Her voice had calmed to a serene level, and he waited silently. She spoke again. “But I must beg your pardon. I have no desire to quarrel with you, I promise. Are we friends again?”

“Sweetheart, you are not likely to lose my friend
ship because you raise your voice
or
because you disagree with me. I hope I have more loyalty than that! Once again I question the bumpkins who surround you if they have given up after a single disagreement!”

“Very well,” she said, a little relieved. “My father found an ex-soldier lying in the woods near Beaufort. He was injured and only barely alive. He brought the man to our home, and my mother and I took on the task of nursing him. His condition was grave. He had been shot, you see, in the chest.” Her eyes were looking back in time, and she sounded as if it had only happened yesterday. “Michael…Dr. Perry removed the bullet, but the poor man had lost so much blood that he died only two days later.”

Nicole had paused, but with an air of sadness went on with her story. “He had just returned from fighting a month before. He had gone to his home and learned that his wife had died and his two children were being passed from family to family in the neighborhood. Overwrought over the death of his wife, but needing to care for his children, he sought work. There is no need to tell
you
jobs are scarcer than ever.”

Nicole waited for some response from Lord Devlin, but as none came, she continued, “He had performed odd jobs and had been able to keep his children fed for a short while, but his income and his hope dwindled when he and his little ones went two days without food. He crossed through the woods hoping to find work on a neighboring estate. When he was on his way home, he found a dead rabbit lying on the ground and he took it, thinking only of his family.”

She closed her eyes a moment to fight back her emotions, but soon gained a semblance of control. “It seems the owner of the estate felt he was losing too much game to poachers, so had set the dead rabbit as a trap. Mr. Richards was unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was shot by the gamekeeper and left to die—all perfectly legal because poaching is a capital offense.” Nicole could only think that God’s tears overflowed at man’s cruelty to man.

Lord Devlin took her hands into his own and felt the icy coldness in them. “I am sorry, Nicole,” he said. “I hope you know me well enough to know I believe no one should take the law into their own hands. Mr. Richards should have had a trial with the local magistrate and received whatever punishment was decided upon there.”

“No!” Nicole burst out. “Please try to imagine watching your own children starve.” She stopped and squeezed the hand still holding hers. “Can you not see a major difference in a man so desperate he takes an animal already dead than a man poaching to sell the skins for gain?”