The Mistress of Black Grove Manor (96 page)

              “And love is the first thing you thought of?”  

              “Can you think of anything else remotely joyful on a battlefield?” Marie sounded amused, “Surrounded by blood, gore and violence? If that made you feel joyful I would be questioning your sanity.”

Delphine couldn’t help cracking a smile at Marie’s rationale. On some level she was relieved Marie knew, they had always shared all their secrets and now she wouldn’t have to keep her secret about James to herself anymore.

              “Oh Marie,” the name came out in a sob, “I’m so glad you know…but I’ve made an utter fool of myself falling in love with someone completely unsuitable.”

Marie put an arm around her sister and caressed her shoulders while the story tumbled out of Delphine in a swirl of confusing, incoherent torrent of words. Once she finished, Marie eyed her sister thoughtfully and wiped away the tears staining her cheeks with the edge of her apron.

              “Delphy…there’s something I must tell you but you have to promise you won’t get upset.”

Delphine gave Marie a blank stare, she felt emotionally drained and beaten. Telling Marie about James had been a relief but at the same time it had opened up the wound of her broken heart and she felt empty and desolate.

              “Promise me Delphy…” Marie pleaded, “and remember whatever I did I did it for you…because I want you to be happy.”

Feeling as drained as she did Delphine doubted she could be upset at Marie’s revelations even if she wanted to so she nodded and agreed she wouldn’t be upset.

Taking in a deep breath Marie blurted out what she had done weeks ago. 

Delphine was thunderstruck at the revelation and a clenched fist flew to her mouth. She had thought herself incapable of feeling any emotions but a myriad of emotions flooded through her.

              “You did what? Oh my God!”

              “Oh my God Marie!” she repeated, “Why? Why would you do such a thing? Spin such a terrible lie.”

              “I had to Delphy, I know you. You’re too noble for your own good but I couldn’t let you sacrifice your life and your happiness for a paltry sum of money. So I took the letter from your bureau and swapped it for the one I had written.”

              “It wasn’t just a paltry sum of money Marie,” Delphine protested, “it would help Mama and Papa and the family.”

              “Maybe, maybe not. The way Papa manages money, I’m not sure it would have gone very far and then your sacrifice would have been meaningless.”

The truth behind the words could not be denied so Delphine pointed out the other major flaw in her sister’s actions.

              “Even if there is no John Williard, it doesn’t mean there will be a James. You know that don’t you?”

              “Yes but it also keeps your door open for another love one day-”

Delphine opened her mouth to argue Marie’s point and tell her that she would never love another man but Marie hurried on,

              “or marry someone you feel fondly towards, someone you know, close to home and not at the other end of the world.”

Having had her say Marie fell silent while she allowed Delphine time to absorb the significance of what she had revealed.

              “So he thinks I’m dead?”

              “Yes.”

Mr. Williard’s silence and the absence of letters suddenly made sense to Delphine. He thought she was dead.

              “Did he write back to you?”

Marie nodded.

              “He did, thanking me for informing him.”

              “And did he…did he seem upset at the news of my passing?”

Marie hesitated briefly before answering she didn’t want to hurt her sister’s feelings but she also didn’t want to lie.

              “He seemed more regretful at having lost so much time than anything else…in fact…he…you know it would be better if you just read the letter yourself.” She said and pulled out a square green envelope from her apron pocket.

Delphine took the letter in her hands and read through it quickly. If she had any misgivings about Marie’s actions they melted away as she scanned the familiar writing. By the time she reached the bottom of the page, her shoulders were shaking with uncontrollable laughter. Seeing her sister’s mirth, Marie began to laugh too.

              “He’s proposing to you!” Delphine cried out in astonishment before another bout of laughter silenced her. “Just swap one sister for the other. What a man!”

              “I know! The nerve! Here I am telling him of your passing and how unfortunate it is indeed that you’ll never get to be his bride and all he can talk about is how he’ll need to find another wife and it would be much easier to marry me then placing another ad in the paper!”

Delphine stopped laughing and took Marie’s hands in her, she pulled her into a tight hug and whispered,

              “Thank you Cherie for saving me from a truly horrible fate. I always had a feeling he wanted more a housekeeper than a wife and I may not have minded that so much if I was living close to home and he treated me well…but I can see now he never cared much for me either way and to be the wife of such a pragmatic man in the wildness of the Americas, far from home…I would have been so miserable. So thank you.”

Marie kissed her sister tenderly on the forehead.

              “I’m glad you’re not upset with me and you must not give up hope, you were meant for love dear sister.”

              “And what makes you so sure of that?”

              “I can just feel it in my bones.” Marie said with a twinkle in her eyes.

CHAPTER TWELVE:

Over the next few days Delphine debated her options. She could always write to John herself and say there was a terrible misunderstanding, that she was prepared to marry him and would be sailing shortly or she could take this unexpected good fortune thrown her way by Marie’s actions to get out of a marriage she had been increasingly dreading. As much as she longed for the freedom, she couldn’t help feeling that she was letting her family down, financially. In the end it was Marie who once more settled her internal debate by firmly announcing to her parents at breakfast one morning that John had proposed to someone else and so his engagement to Delphine was no more. She winked at Delphine as she spoke, a small smile on her lips because after all she wasn’t lying exactly. John had indeed proposed to someone else and she was definitely not engaged anymore. Their mother settled any feelings of guilt Delphine was suffering by fondly kissing Delphine on the forehead and breathing a sigh of relief.

              “All’s well that end’s well, the colonies was too far away, I’ve been hearing reports about it’s harsh conditions, it’s no place for you...we would have missed you so dear daughter.”

Having the matter of Mr. Williard settled once and for all, a great weight seemed to have been lifted from Delphine’s shoulders and even though she was cheerful and happy on the outside, her heart felt heavy and weary. She missed James more than she could ever have believed and often wondered what he was doing and whether he was well. In moments of agony she imagined he was courting someone, a lady who was his equal or worse, he was married! In those dark moments, filled with unhappiness Delphine took refuge in a tramp through the fields, the fresh country air did wonders to improve her spirits.

One dusky evening on her way back to the cottage from one of her walks she spied a man in the distance, riding towards in the direction of their cottage. He seemed to be in a great hurry. Delphine felt there was something vaguely familiar about the man although she couldn’t place him. She stopped mid stride and watched the stranger curiously.

As he came closer he turned his head, distracted by a flash of color and saw the figure of a woman wrapped in red cloak standing in the fields. He knew in an instant it was Delphine. His heart roared with joy at having found her at last and he dug his heels sharply against his horse urging her to go faster. Having waited months to lay eyes on his dearly beloved, he found himself unable to wait a second longer than necessary. Her face came into focus as he got closer and his heart plunged with despair as he saw no trace of recognition on her face. She stared at him in puzzlement, a slight frown on her face, he was almost tempted to turn back and ride away. She had obviously forgotten him or had ceased to care but as he galloped closer still the frown disappeared from her face replaced by disbelief. A joyful smile spread across her beautiful face lighting it up, her eyes shone with unmistakable love and she reached out towards him with both arms in a silent gesture of surrender.

He leapt off his horse and ran towards her, eager to embrace her once more. As he wrapped her warmly in his arms, the first words she uttered were,

              “Your beard! Your beard is gone.”

He chuckled deeply and ran a hand over his smooth shaven face,

              “So it is indeed dear love. And I suppose that’s why you didn’t recognize me.” He teased her reproachfully.

              “Oh,” she sighed, “I would recognize you anywhere. How...what...how can you be here?”

              “I’ve come for you Delphine, I love you. You must know that. I had the devil of a time trying to find you. How could you have left me like that night with those cruel words?”

At his words Delphine pulled away, suddenly remembering all the reasons why she hadn’t allowed herself to run away with him that night. He was a Baron, an aristocrat and she was nothing more than a poor farmer’s daughter. Their lives were world’s apart; they could never be together. She tried to pull her hands away from his but James’ wouldn’t let go. He pulled her towards him, tipped her face up towards him and stared deeply into her eyes,

              “Do you not love me Delphine?”

He searched her face and shook his head,

              “No, you do. I can see it plainly on your face. You love me as much as I love you. So why didn’t you come with me that night? Why did you lie to me?”

              “We don’t belong together James. I’m only half English, the other part of me is French and you know how much the English despise the French. Your family will never accept me. Maybe the lines around our stations in life were blurred a little during the war, when you were a wounded soldier and I was a nurse. We were on equal footing then but the war is over. You’re not just a soldier anymore….and I’m not nearly good enough…”

He cut off the rest of her words by pressing his mouth firmly upon hers. He kissed her tenderly, fiercely, possessively leaving no doubts in her mind about how he felt towards her. When he pulled away he cupped her face in his hands and whispered,

              “My family will accept you because I told them I will marry you and only you. I won’t pretend that my father was delighted but thankfully he cares more about having grandchildren than the dowry you’ll bring and he’s so scared I’ll never marry that he’ll come around. Old traditions and beliefs don’t matter a whit Delphine. The whole point of the war has been to throw down the old and build something new. I want to build a new life with you...I couldn’t care if you were nothing but a beggar on the streets. I love you and nothing will change that.”

Before she could respond, he dropped down on one knee, her hands caught firmly in his.

              “Delphine, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

Delphine longed to say yes and lose herself in another kiss but a need to do right by him held her back,

              “But what about your family….you station in life? Where will we live? How will we raise our children?”

              “I’ve told you I don’t care, they won’t care and if they do that’s their problem, it’s not mine. I don’t have all the answers yet but we can answer them together. I love you, I adore you and I want you to walk at my side for the rest of our lives, can that be enough for now? Will you please say yes?”

A happy, joyful cry escaped Delphine lips. Maybe they could find the answers together, maybe it wouldn’t be such an impossible dream. Deciding to take the plunge, deciding that life without him was infinitely harder than struggling with him at her side she threw herself into his arms and kissed his face a dozen times as she cried,

              “Yes, yes, yes, a thousand times yes!”

***The End***

In Love with the Wrong Brother

By: Elaine Young

Chapter 1