The Scandal of Lady Eleanor (41 page)

Swenton followed the day after Kimbolt. Carter Lowery and Marcus Wellston arrived on Monday. James spent many hours in their company—perfecting his plan for Levering, but also reminiscing over time together in the service. Linton Park filled with those sharing a common bond. Even the Earl managed a few hours out of bed each day, bringing a renewed flush to his cheeks and a brightness long gone from his eyes.

Midafternoon on Tuesday brought the Thornhill crest into the drive, and Ella was out the door and in Bran's arms before he could help either the Duchess or Velvet from the carriage. Ella had missed him more than she would admit to anyone, even herself. Surprisingly, after years of hating him for leaving her behind, she wanted to be nowhere else but safely in her brother's arms and feeling her family around her.

“It is well, Ella.” He stroked her head as she clung to him.

She sobbed into his chest. “I am sorry, Bran. I did everything wrong.”

He bent his head to speak to her alone. “We both made mistakes. You did what was necessary to survive in our father's world; I do not blame you. If anything, I blame myself for not being there to protect you. Now, that will be Worthing's province. Yet, it shall be my true pleasure to exact revenge on Levering. I will rid you of the evil at last. Now, enough of regrets. This is a happy time—a time for you to begin a new life.”

“I do love His Lordship,” she confessed.

“Then let us celebrate that love.” He turned her toward the rest of her waiting family.

Worthing handed down the Duchess and Miss Aldridge, bowing over each lady's hand. An elongated hug from Aunt Agatha nearly brought a return of Ella's tears. “Ah, my Child,” the Duchess caressed Ella's cheek. “It has long been my wish to see you so happy.”

Next,Velvet hugged Ella and jokingly warned, “You have much explaining to do, Eleanor Fowler.” However, Ella easily distracted her cousin by pointing out the Averettes patiently waiting for her on the outside steps. Predictably, Velvet's eyes misted over in happiness as she scurried up the steps to throw her arms around an obviously emotional Samuel Aldridge and his niece. “I cannot believe you are here,” she gasped.

Meanwhile,Aunt Agatha latched onto Camelia Kerrington, and the two began to chatter their way into the house. Ella took some comfort in their reunion. Her new mother needed friends with whom she could commiserate. “And Linworth is feeling better?” Agatha inquired as they climbed the steps to the main house arm in arm.

“Martin has had a positive turnaround,” Camelia explained with some caution. “He will adore talking to you. He regaled Eleanor with tales of your Harold. The three of us have a different perspective from the young folks. After you refresh your things, I want you
to meet my newest grandchild. Baby Eleanor favors her father Lord Amsteadt, I fear, but Georgina is in there somehow.”

“Baby Eleanor?” Agatha looked about in surprise. She shot an ambiguous-looking reprimand over her shoulder at Ella, and Eleanor knew her aunt would not rest until she knew everything.

Camelia stopped in midstride. “You do not know. Of course, you do not. Your niece and I delivered Georgina's daughter less than a week ago.”

“My niece?…Eleanor?…Delivered Georgina's baby?” Agatha's voice held more pride than contempt, and Ella let out a breath of relief.

“God sent Eleanor to this house just in time to save James's heart and Georgina's life.” James's mother spoke with pride also.

Agatha started moving forward again. “Well…well, it seems I have been left out of the inner circle. I was not aware that Eleanor had been at Linton Park for more than a few days.You and I, Camelia, must place our heads together later. I need to know everything you know.” Ella laughed lightly as she watched them go.

Fowler and Crowden judiciously joined Kimbolt and Lowery by the main door. Together, they went through it, enjoying each other's company and speaking of the ills of traveling in the summer and the need for something refreshing to drink.

They all drifted into the brightly decorated hall, leaving James and Eleanor alone in the driveway except for a few footmen unloading the carriages. He looked amusedly to where the others entered the main door. “Well, my Love, are you sure I cannot convince you to take a quick trip to Scotland and the anvil?”

Ella's eyes followed his to the retreating party. “It becomes more tempting by the moment.”

“Do you suppose they would realize we were missing?”

“Maybe when they reached the church on Thursday, and we were nowhere to be found.” Ella slipped her hand into his outstretched one, feeling the warmth of his fingers as they encircled hers.

James coaxed her to his side. “Two nights,” he whispered as she smiled up at him.

“Too long,” she teased.

“Amen.”

Ella glanced around to make sure no one else could hear. “Would you retrieve the books from Bran? I want to burn them before the wedding.”

“I was thinking a casual supper on the patio tonight…alfresco… maybe a bonfire…a picnic without the blankets…a little cricket… some croquet and quoits and pétanque while it is still light out. What do you think? A purely spontaneous idea, mind you.”

“An excellent cover for burning a book.You are brilliant.”

“It is too warm for lighting fireplaces,” he noted.

“A perfect solution to our problem, and no one will know.”

James caressed her cheek. “I plan to taste your lips in the moonlight, my Love.”

“I shall be counting the moments.”

Two days later, everyone gathered in the Linton Park chapel. Shepherd, as James expected, was the last to arrive. The man who had formed James's unit of the Realm looked on as one of his finest returned to a normal life. James paced the front of the chapel like a caged animal. Judiciously, earlier, he had asked Daniel to stand with him, reinforcing the family unit. Bran would escort Ella down the aisle. As James waited for her appearance in the vestibule, he reflected how much his life had changed in a mere three months. From their first moment together, he had desired Eleanor Fowler, but it was much more than that base lust. Ella filled a gaping hole in his soul. Recently, he had told her that if he met Elizabeth Morris now, he would not choose the woman as his wife, and he meant what he had said. Of late, he had realized that his first “perfect” marriage had lacked the depth he once thought it possessed. He pursued and won Elizabeth Morris because she was the prettiest girl of that Season—a purely male thing—all competition. She fascinated him and played to his ego, but, in reality, Elizabeth knew
nothing of the hardships of life. She was a beautiful trophy for an immature aristocrat.

With Ella, something different existed. She possessed physical beauty—although maybe not as stunning as Elizabeth's, but with much more character. More importantly, Eleanor made a difference in people's lives—Daniel's, Georgina's, Bran's. She owned layers—like an onion to be peeled away, exposing a poignant personality covered by a thin façade. And he loved her with a passion he had never felt possible.

A rustle from the back of the church told him that Ella had arrived, and pure anticipation shot through his veins. Finally, he saw her, holding tightly to her brother's arm, and James's world righted. “Exquisite,” he murmured to himself. James had used the word before about Ella, but never so appropriately.

 

Lovely in his grandmother's gown, Eleanor's eyes danced with happiness as she prepared to make the short walk into a new sensibility, full of the warmest gratitude for a new family. She wore a round dress of pale yellow crape with a demi-train and a fuller skirt. Satin flounces trimmed the bottom, bound with ivory satin ribbon. Laced from behind and pulled tight to accent Ella's soft curves, the V-shaped back and square front neck were shaded by a double frill of ivory lace. Full three-quarter length sleeves tapered into a band of crape and ivory ribbon. Ivory satin slippers matched the satin hat ornamented by a plume of white feathers and the white kid gloves. “Exquisite,” Ella heard James say as she approached. It was the word he had used many months ago to describe her, and today she finally felt it. With James, Ella knew family at last. He and Daniel waited to claim her as wife and mother; she could not be happier.

 

The guests stood as she and Bran made their way to James—Ella's eyes locked on his. His father sat beside his mother on the front pew, having insisted on being carried downstairs in his rarely used
wheelchair. James heard him tell his countess, “Eleanor is nearly as beautiful as you were wearing that dress, my Dear.”

Finally, she reached him; Fowler placed Ella's hand in his, and they turned as Doctor Perry began the service. James thought that Ella looked perfectly composed, but even through her gloves he could feel her pulse racing, and somehow that gave him comfort. He squeezed her fingertips to let her know he understood, and Ella flushed with the most becoming color.

When Doctor Perry said his last “in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost,” James's heart made a somersault. Ella was his for all time. Happily, he led her up the aisle to sign the registry. She was his most precious asset. “I love you,” he whispered close to her ear.

“And I love you, my Husband.” Ella laced her arm through his.

James leaned in closer. “Might I convince you to skip the wedding breakfast, Countess?”

Ella laughed lightly, but she shook her head in the negative. “You possess a one-thought mind, James Kerrington.”

“I waited until we married,” he protested.

“You must wait a bit longer, my Love.” Ella caressed his cheek. “I believe everyone is outside, anticipating our appearance.”

James brought her knuckles to his lips. “Oh, the joy of being pelted by rose petals.”

“Do not take all the tradition of the marriage ceremony away from your wife, my Lord. I know you prefer a more manly challenge, but your wife is of a more delicate nature.”

“A more
delicious
nature,” he teased.

Ella struck his chest with the back of her hand in a playful gesture. “You are a wretched man!”

“I am simply a man in love.”

 

“You are so beautiful, my Child,”Aunt Agatha caught Ella up in her arms. “Your mother is surely the happiest of God's angels today.”

“Thank you, Aunt. I feared you might be disappointed because His Lordship and I did not choose to marry in London.” Ella continued
to hold the woman's hand, needing to restore the connection lost while Ella dealt with Levering's demands.

The Duchess reached to caress Ella's face. “Oh, no, Child.Your happiness was always more important than the
ton
's idea of performance. You must know, Eleanor, how happy Amelia was the day you were born—how very much my sister wanted you. She would send me letters drowning in details of your every move—to the point where I felt I spent the day holding my niece in my arms. If I have a disappointment today, it is Amelia's not surviving to see this. She would want this for you. My sister would also want her daughter to reach out to family and to allow that family to care for her. Amelia taught both you and Bran about responsibility. Share the responsibility for Thornhill's future with your brother. Together, you are an unmovable force.”

“I did so many wearish things.” Ella blushed with a flash of color and looked away quickly.

“The adults in your life, including me, let you down, Child; and despite our shortcomings, you became an incredible woman. Lady Linworth related what you did for Georgina. An unmarried woman of our station should not even have been in the same room with Lady Amsteadt in her condition. Yet, you set that aside. You fought to save His Lordship's sister because you knew how it would affect his family, a family you planned to join and claim as your own. I spent several hours with the Earl and Lady Linworth yesterday. They cannot be happier with Worthing's choice of you as his wife. They are aware of the changes in their son since his return from Thorn Hall, and they attribute those changes to you. After being together for many years, they are also aware of what it takes to keep the land strong. The aristocracy is in flux, and only with an exceptional match will the earldom survive. The Kerringtons believe their son has made such a match with you. They understand that your life has held its own imperfections, but those flaws give you the strength to be the kind of wife Kerrington needs. They assured me his first wife was incapable of what they see in you. The
Earl even says you will be a better mother to Daniel than his real mother. He has already noted that the child refers to you as
Mama
in private.”

Ella smiled with the news. “Does he?”