A Lady for the Forsaken Earl: A Historical Regency Romance Book

by Bridget Barton

  With Edward seeking revenge, feeling that all his life was a lie, and Emily unwillingly settling in an arrangement she would never expect, will love give them a second chance? Life has been unfair to them, but will they find the courage to face the hard truth and start over?

  Chapter 1

  The scowl on his father’s face told Edward that he was about to hear yet again all the reasons his father held against Edward enlisting to fight the French. Edward stood facing his father’s desk as his parent weighed things out. Surely the man must have believed if he could just come up with a good angle that Edward would overturn his illogical reasoning and give in. Edward sighed internally as his father eyed him discerningly.

  Edward’s father, the Duke of Danborough, said with a great deal of restraint, “I understand the fire in a young man’s belly to prove himself, Edward, but you must think of your inheritance. What will become of the family line if you die?”

  “Father, I am not having this discussion again,” Edward said firmly as he clasped his hands behind his back. He relented a bit at the look in his father’s eyes and added quietly, “I shall not die, and if such a thing should come to pass, then there are other relatives, surely.”

  The Duke grumbled as he tapped the desk in front of him, “I suppose that makes it alright then. Some nameless person who has no idea of our family history getting the Duchy would suit you well, would it?”

  “Of course not, Father,” Edward said. “Look, I am not doing this out of spite. I will do my heritage proud, but I would like to see the world first. I want to do some good.”

  The scowl was back in full force again on the Duke’s face. “What of Miss Daventry? Do you think that I have been passed out in my cups for these past few years? You will break that poor girl’s heart if you go running off to war after those friends of yours.”

  “I will speak to her,” Edward said earnestly. “She knows that we have been speaking of it for a long while now. I bet by this time next year we will be back and home safe. She worries too much, and so do you, Father.”

  The Duke’s face softened. He whispered, “To have that bluster and clarity of mind that comes with youth once more.” The Duke sighed and spoke up, “Perhaps I do worry, Edward. This whole war does not like me very much. The way the noblemen and gentlemen take to it with such zeal you would think they were headed off under the herald of the Lionheart himself.”

  “I will come home,” Edward said again. He hoped he could derail his father going off on one of the man’s tirades about the war’s impact and growing unrest and how the conflict had hurt the trade markets.

  Nodding his head, the Duke said, “I believe you. I just worry. A father can worry, Edward. Your mother is gone, and I am the only one left to worry. She would rise up out of her grave and haunt me most horribly if I did not.”

  “I am sure that if anyone could, then Mama would, Father,” Edward said with a smile. His mother had passed a few years back of a sickness that had come on so suddenly that they hardly had time to say goodbye. His mother had always been a comforting woman, but she had never travelled further than London while raising Edward and tending to the household’s needs. Edward often thought of what it must have been like for his mother. “I think Mama would want me to go out into the world, Father,” Edward said. He felt guilty for using his mother’s name to persuade his father, but it was also true.

  The Duke huffed. “Travelling the world is a bit different than going off to war, Edward.”

  “I know,” Edward said with a nod. “I am going, Father. You can remain against it if you wish, but it will not change my mind.”

  Edward watched his father take a deep breath in then let it out slowly as if calming himself. The Duke’s neatly tied back hair moved slightly as the man dipped his head forward as if accepting his son’s words. The Duke said softly, “You have always had your mother’s stubbornness.” He hummed in dissatisfaction. “Knowing that you will not win and knowing how to lose well is something that every gentleman must learn. I learned it a long time ago, and I am going use that skill now.”

  “So you are going to assent to me going?” Edward asked cautiously.

  The Duke snorted and eyed his son with a slight smile. “I do not think that assent is the word I would use, but I do accept that you are set on going.”

  Edward nodded slowly. “I understand,” Edward said. He looked down at his boots for a moment and then back up at his father. “I had better go and meet up with the boys.”

  “I will do my best to watch out for Miss Daventry,” the Duke said as he nodded back at his son. “Go on and meet those ruffians that you call friends. I swear they are a bad influence on you sometimes.”

  Edward chuckled as he turned to leave. He walked to the door but stopped with his hand on the doorknob. Edward looked back over at his father. “You might be right about that, Father. Maybe, just maybe, I can be a good influence on them. I think James might need it.”

  “You just watch out for yourself, Edward. It is noble to want to better others. Just be aware that those same others have a way of bringing us down in the ditches with them instead of us lifting them out.” The Duke spoke with a warning tone as he eyed his son intently.

  Edward nodded slowly. “I remember that sermon from church quite well. Do not worry yourself, Father. I am solid and unwavering as they come. I just hope I make you proud.”

  The Duke shook his head at his son. He spoke quietly, “You have always made me proud, Edward.”

  ***

  Emily Daventry stood stalwart in her promise to herself that she would remain unflustered by Edward’s appeal to her that she meet with him before he embarked on his great adventure. She drew in a calming breath of the chilly November air. The footsteps behind her made her heart leap against her ribcage with such noise she thought that surely her calm visage would fool no one.

  “Miss,” a female voice called softly behind Emily. When Emily turned, she saw Rosa, one of the household maids, waiting patiently. Rosa ducked her head. “Begging your pardon, Miss Emily, but I was sent to tell you that Lord Dalton is here to call upon you.”

  Emily nodded as she cleared her throat, replying as she fought to keep the emotion out of her voice, “Please have him shown to the East garden pavilion, Rosa. I will entertain him there.” Rosa nodded, but Emily was sure her voice had been too tight, too strained. When Rosa was gone, Emily drew herself up. She muttered to herself, “Calm down. Is this really how I want Edward to remember me?”

  She finally managed to regain her composure and practiced keeping her face placid as she walked along the path that circled the manor house toward the East garden. When she reached the East garden, she found their butler Tomlin waiting near the roses. “Do you wish me to be with you at the pavilion, Miss?”

  “Heaven, no,” Emily said with a shake of her head. “It is just Edward. I promise to call out if I need you.”

  The man nodded his head and escorted Emily to the pavilion which was up around the next bend of the path. Emily gave the man a smile as she turned to go to the pavilion. Tomlin returned the smile with a pat on Emily’s shoulder before he distanced himself a little to give them privacy. Emily was grateful for the show of support, even if her mother would have frowned upon such things from the help. Tomlin had been with their family for so long that Emily just considered him family as well.

  Inside the pavilion, Edward rose from the bench he had been sitting on and smoothed down his jacket even if it did not appear creased. “Miss Daventry,” Edward said in a far too formal tone for Emily’s liking.

  She decided to return the favour and be formal as well. “Lord Dalton, I am glad that you chose to come to see me before you left,” Emily said as she crossed to a seat far enough away to make it clear that she was choosing to be away from him not the other way around. She sat down daintily and tried her best to ignore the flutter in her stomach that threatened to upset her lunch.

  Edward frowned and moved to a seat closer to Emily. H
e sank down on the bench with an easy grace that Emily had always admired. He looked worried, Emily decided. The idea of Edward Dalton being ill at ease pleased Emily far more than it should have.

  “I know that I should have come to see you before now,” Edward said quietly.

  Emily intervened before he could continue onto whatever trite excuse he was about to give. “You should have,” Emily agreed as she eyed the man with a frown on her face. “I have made my peace with finding out second-hand that you are abandoning me.”

  “I would never abandon you,” Edward protested. “This is just something that I feel I have to do.”

  Emily scoffed, “And if James and the others were not going, would you still be eager to trot off to war?”

  Edward was silent for a moment before he said softly, “I am sorry that I have slighted you, Emily. I never intended to. I just did not know how to say that I was leaving.”

  “One generally just states the fact that they are leaving, Edward,” Emily said as she folded her hands in her lap. “I fail to see how that particular point could be so difficult for you.”

  The man fingered the hat he held in his hands with nervousness that Emily had never seen in Edward before. She watched the man intently. His eyes were cast downward. When he looked back up, Emily saw that his eyes shone with what she would have sworn were tears.

  Edward spoke tightly. “It is not the words that stopped me. It was the look I knew I would see on your face; the one I see now.”

  “Is that supposed to make me contrite?” Emily asked the question more to buoy her own flagging courage than to scold Edward. The sadness on the man’s face was making it harder for her to keep her visage from showing her own sadness at the situation. She would not let Edward Dalton make her cry, though. He was leaving her, and she was angry with him, Emily reminded herself.

  Edward shook his head. “No,” he said honestly. “I merely doubted I could face it.”

  “Why is that?” Emily asked curiously.

  Emily watched Edward intently as the man seemed to be struggling to find words. His fashionable coat hugged his shoulders, and Emily could see the movement as Edward’s shoulders slumped slightly downward. Edward said, “I knew that I would see anger and pain. It hurts to know that I have caused you such pain.”

  “I am sure it does not hurt enough to make you reconsider,” Emily said softly as she looked at her hands in her lap.

  Emily heard Edward move, but she did not look up. She did not trust herself to look at the man. The emotions she had pushed down were close to overflowing, and Emily did not want Edward to see that.

  He knelt in front of her. His hands reached out to cover her hands in an embrace that begged her to look at him. Emily gathered her courage and looked up into Edward’s eyes. She whispered, “All at once my childhood friends leave without me. It is a hard blow, Edward. Not only do I lose the people I grew up with, but I lose the man I love.” She took a deep breath. “What of us, Edward?”

  Edward gave her hands a squeeze. “I am not gone forever. Do not mourn me before I am dead.” He lifted her left hand and clasped it between his larger hands as he looked into her eyes. “I will not only come back safely but a war hero, your war hero.”

  “I do not need a war hero, Edward,” Emily said with a shake of her head. She tugged her hand as if to pull it away but found Edward refused to relinquish it. “Unhand me.”

  Edward said defiantly, “Never. I shall never let you go until you promise me that you will be waiting when I return.”

  “That is not fair, Edward,” Emily said with a frown. “Saying such things …” Her voice trailed off, and she looked away from the man. “I shall refrain from speaking of it and make you stay.”

  There was a chuckle from Edward. “That is the Emily that I know and hopefully the one that shall be my bride when I return triumphantly.”

  Emily looked at Edward, her eyes wide. “What did you just say?”

  “I simply asked if you would marry me upon my return,” Edward said with a smile.

  Emily’s mouth opened, and then she snapped it shut. She shook her head. “That is not fair of you, Edward.”

  “Life is generally not very fair according to my father,” Edward said. “Please tell me you will wait for me.” He said the last part with such earnestness that Emily felt the barrier of restraint she had so carefully built up crumble and fall away.

  Emily nodded, for words failed her at the moment. Tears welled up in her eyes as she fought to speak. “Of course I will wait for you, Edward. When have I not waited for you?”

  “For all the pain I have caused you, I hope you can forgive me, Emily,” Edward said as he gave her hand a squeeze. “Once I return, I shall spend the rest of my days seeking nothing but to make you the happiest woman in the world.”

  Emily smiled sadly at the man. She would give anything to make him stay, but she saw that Edward had set his mind to go. Once Edward Dalton set his mind to something, well, there was no talking him out of it. Emily sighed. “Return safely to me, and I shall already be the happiest woman ever to walk this Earth.”

  Edward smiled back at Emily. He reached up and brushed a fingertip lightly across her cheek. It was such an intimate gesture that Emily felt a flush of heat to her face. She cleared her throat and freed herself from Edward’s other hand that still held her own hand prisoner.

  Emily reached up and took off the necklace that she often wore. It was a simple silver chain and locket that had been given to her many years ago by her mother. “Take this,” Emily said as she held the locket out to Edward. “Take it to remember me while you are gone.”

  “Like a knight-errant with his lady’s favour,” Edward said with a wry smile as he took the locket, “I do not need a locket to remember you, Emily, but I will keep it near my heart always.”

  Emily shook her head at the man, her heart full of her love for him and also aching for the loss of him. “Favours are really more for the one giving them rather than the ones receiving,” she said simply.

  Edward stood up, and Emily stood with him. She put her hand gently on his arm, and Edward watched her with eyes that seemed to be searching for something. Emily stilled as Edward leaned over to brush his lips against hers. It was the lightest of touches and lasted such a brief moment. Yet, the touch left Emily’s head awhirl with thoughts and her heart with feelings.

  “I should go,” Edward said softly as if he were out of breath. But how could he be? Emily pondered the thought then realized Edward was leaving.

  All at once, Emily grabbed the man’s coat much as she had when they were children. “Come back to me,” Emily said. She was unaware of whether she was begging him to come back to her in that instant or telling him to come back from the war safely. She just knew that she wanted Edward to return.

  Edward gave her a smile that was as dashing as its owner. “I promise,” Edward said, and then the man was gone. Emily felt like running after him but restrained herself. She would not be one of those women who flailed around the floor and screamed as if they were being tortured. No, she would be the woman her mother had raised and not embarrass her family even if she felt like she would die as she sat down again heavily on the wooden bench behind her.

  ***

  Edward despised himself deep down for leaving Emily upset, but he had to remain focused. He had to go and meet the boys soon. It would do him little good to be wet around the eyes when he saw them. They would give him no quarter with their sharp tongues if they perceived his softness on the matter.

  The wind outside swept across the English countryside bringing with it the smells of wood smoke and the sweet, fermented smell of leaves decaying underfoot. Edward wondered what would await him in France and how long it would be before he smelled the sweet air as he walked up those steps again. Edward’s eyes glanced back at the house with its large stone steps.

  The doorman gave Edward a nod which Edward returned. He must look frightfully silly dallying around in the driveway. Ed
ward took a deep breath and hoisted himself astride his horse. He clicked his tongue and gave the horse a gentle nudge with his boot to set the stallion to trotting. It was not far from here to London, but he still would need to make good time not to be late.