Her maid appeared to inform her of the fact that her parents had arrived.
“I am aware, thank you,” she told Carrie.
Finally, Emily bowed to the inevitable and slid her feet out of bed while Carrie chose a morning dress for her to wear to a late breakfast. She knew that as soon as the others arrived back from church, Aunt Agnes would have food set out for the new arrivals.
If Emily did not go downstairs now, her mother would come up and Emily thought it would be much easier for her to escape back upstairs than it would be to get her mother out of her room.
Emily heard her father as she reached the bottom of the stair.
“The trip was interminable,” Lord Kentleworth complained, “and your sister is not even here to greet us, Sarah.”
“I’m sure Agnes will be down directly.”
Emily’s parents, Lord and Lady Kentleworth were seated at the dining room table as servants brought in their belongings and their entourage were fed in the kitchen.
“They are still at church,” Emily said as she hovered in the doorway. “You are early.” She nodded gratefully to the footman who brought tea and biscuits to the dining room. She was hoping that Aunt Agnes and Uncle Cecil would arrive soon. “We will have breakfast whenever it is ready,” she said to the footman.
“No, actually we are late.” Her father replied gruffly. “We meant to arrive yesterday, but this dreadful weather held us in Wollington for the night.” He softened a bit as he stood to greet his daughter. “Have you enjoyed your holiday thus far?”
Before she could answer, her mother inquired. “If all are still at church, why are you left behind? Do you feel alright, Emily?”
“Yes, Mother. It is nothing. At least it is nothing physical. I am…heartsick. I cannot bear to see him.”
“Who? That reprobate duke? I don’t care if he is the Prince Regent Himself, if he has laid a hand on you, Emily I shall call him out,” Father said eyes narrowed.
“No, Father. Nothing of the sort. He is marrying another,” she said as her father seated her.
“Good,” Father said. “Bad apples I tell you. It’s a pity Agnes’ best friend took in with his father. I told your mother that, years ago. Even if the man was a duke, he was a swine.”
Emily did not bother to correct her father although, a denial rose within her. Alexander was not like his father, she thought vehemently. But she had called him so. A bitter guilt filled her.
How could she have been so hateful? It did not matter. He was promised to Henrietta, if she were to hate him perhaps that fact would not hurt so terribly.
“Sit,” her mother urged. “Drink your tea. It shall ease you.” Her mother nodded to the steaming pot.
The viscountess thought tea made everything better.
Emily sat, poured and stirred an ungodly amount of sugar into her cup and took a sip. Perhaps it did.
“Things are not as they were,” she said holding back tears. “I thought that I would visit as had done as a child. I thought all would be the same in Northwickshire.”
“Nothing is ever the same,” Her father said curtly. “You have to learn to live in the present, Emily.”
“Oliver,” Mother said gently and Father desisted.
“I know that you have fond memories of Northwickshire and your aunt and uncle,” Mother said, “Northwickshire is fine for a holiday, but London is your home, my dear.”
Perhaps Mother was right.
“It is,” Emily said with a false brightness. She took another sip of tea. It was warming her. “Tell me of London. What news?”
“There are Christmas parties every night of the week, but without you and your brother to enjoy them, there was no point in our attending.” The viscountess said. She lifted a shoulder in a delicate shrug.
“I’m sorry,” Emily said. She knew both her parents loved the bustle of London and right now, she wished for it too. She might lose herself in the crowded ballrooms. The happy festivities would make her forget.
Mother spoke of invitations to Almacks and which parties Emily might prefer for the New Year.
Emily wanted to crawl back into her bed.
“I am really still tired,” she prevaricated as Edmund burst through the door.
“Em, you are an idiot,” he said without preamble.
“Edmund!” Mother said shocked.
“Do you not greet your parents?” Lord Kentleworth said with censure.
“Greetings, Mother. Father.” Edmund gave each a brief nod and clasped Emily’s hand around the wrist as he had once done when they were but children. “Come,” he said. “I have to speak to you.” He hurried her from the dining room to the library.
No doubt Father would have reprimanded Edmund for his deplorable manners, but Aunt Agnes and Uncle Cecil took that moment to enter. Emily heard the familial greetings met behind her.
Edmund shut the library door with a soft snick, caught his sister’s shoulders and turned her to face him.
“They announced the banns at church today. Banns! Did you know of this?”
Emily felt the color drain from her face. “You mean they have made it official then?”
“I mean, that in three weeks, Alexander is marrying Henrietta!”
Emily tried to still her heart. It really was happening then. Edmund was pacing in front of the bookcase. Emily sank down into an armchair. Her knees felt weak.
Edmund turned to her. “What on earth did you say to him, Em?”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. You must know he hangs upon your every word. Always has. If you told him to throw himself in the lake, I suspect he would have done so forthwith. Just days ago he could speak of little else but how to win your favor and then suddenly, the vicar is announcing his engagement to Henrietta?” Edmund’s voice rose at the question and Emily shushed him. Father would hear.
Edmund waved her off as he paced. “This is daft. Alexander loves you, but is marrying Henrietta. You love Alexander, but are marrying Hawthorne. Eldridge loves Henrietta and is …”
“Stop!” Emily interrupted. She could not focus. She shook her head. “I’ve not yet agreed to marry Hawthorne”
“Thank heavens for small blessings.” Edmund threw his hands in the air in exasperation. “I don’t know why you both are so pigheaded. I know you argued, but what could you have said that changed Alexander’s mind so drastically?”
Emily raised her chin. How dare her brother blame her? She had the high ground. “What have I done? The duke is the one who is false. He led me to believe he cared for me, but he and Henrietta…well they…” She couldn’t quite bring herself say it.
Edmund clucked his tongue and shook his head. “No,” he stated simply.
The wind went quite out of her sails. “But I thought…”
“And you are wrong,” Edmund stated flatly. “Alexander said that he and Henrietta only…”
Emily held a hand aloft to stop her brother’s frank words. She altogether did not want details of Alexander and Henrietta.
“It was not the way you are imagining.” Edmund protested. “I know she was sent to Scotland four years ago, and there were all those awful rumors, but contrary to public belief, there was no bastard. Alexander said there was not even chance of a child, and I believe him. He hated that his father had by blows on every corner. You know that.”
“Wait,” Emily said confused. She took a breath and considered. Edmund said four years ago. “We are not speaking of the same event. The duke made promise to Henrietta recently. He has been playing with my heart.”
“No Em. He proposed three days ago after your argument. After you refused him.”
Emily’s mind was in a whirl. Alexander admitted to behaving dishonorably, but Emily thought he had given Henrietta his promise. How could she have been mistaken? What was the document she had seen his seal upon? It no longer mattered.
“He did not ask me,” Emily said softly her heart aching. She could barely breathe through the pain in her chest.
/> “He said he did.”
“I suppose I didn’t allow him to do so.” Emily confessed. “I berated him for his treatment of Henrietta.”
“And now he’s marrying Henrietta.” Edmund shook his head in disbelief. “You are in love with each other, Em. You should be together. Do you know how rare that love is? When you find the one, you hang on; you do not let him go, or push him away.”
Reality crashed down upon her. Alexander was marrying Henrietta. Once done, he would be lost to her forever. Edmund was right. She had pushed him away. She had not listened. She had been wrong.
“Oh, what have I done,” she cried, tears welling and a tightness filling her chest. Suddenly, it all let loose. She fell to her knees, sprawled upon the library rug.
Edmund knelt beside her and held her while she sobbed.
“Oh Edmund,” she cried into his shirt. “I have been a fool. What can I do? There’s no way to fix this,” she hiccuped. “In stories, there is always some fairy to wave a wand and make everything right, but there is no magic to mend this.”
“You are right in one respect, Em,” Edmund said softly. “Children believe in fairy godmothers and Father Christmas to bring treats unbidden. They have caring parents and aunts and uncles; adults who sometimes manage to put the world right.”
“Alexander had no such parent,” Emily said miserably. “He had no one to put his world right.”
“He had his mother,” Edmund comforted, “and he had you, Em.”
“I don’t know what to do, Edmund!” Emily cried.
“As I understand it, the banns are read three times. The purpose of this is to see if there is any objection to the marriage.”
She opened her mouth to speak and then paused. Edmund was right. Children whined for adults to fix their problems. Adults took the task in hand themselves.
“Then, I shall object.” She sniffed, dashing away her tears.
It would be the height of unladylike behavior, she thought, and found she did not care. She tried to muster her courage. She could do it. If Alexander could forgive her. If it would stop the wedding, she cared not one whit what was proper. But what cause did she have? She had no legal objection. Only love. She prayed it was enough.
“I will need your help,” she said to her brother, proud that her voice did not waver.
“You shall have it,” Edmund said immediately, although he paused considering. “Oh, Em,” he warned. “If you speak out and this does not work.”
She nodded. She would be ruined. “It has to work,” she said resolved. She would trust Alexander. She would marry the duke or no one at all.
“I could object,” Edmund said thoughtfully.
She raised an eyebrow at her brother. “Do you want to marry Henrietta?”
“Lud, no.”
“Well, then,” Emily said. “It cannot be you.”
Suddenly, Edmund’s eyes lit with excitement. “I have an idea,” he said already moving towards the door. “I have to double check with Anne and then, I have to see a man.”
“Anne? Who? What man?” Emily said, but Edmund didn’t explain.
He only paused at the door. “You will see, Em. Together we will put the world right again.”
“Or turn it upside down,” she whispered as he rushed out.
30
The duke had invited Henrietta to share the front bench in church. After all, neither of them had much family now and after his argument with Edmund, the man was sitting in solidarity with Emily.
Emily.
She was not in the seat with her aunt and uncle. Her parents had arrived, but Emily and Edmund were absent. He sighed.
It was the second Sunday to read the banns. He had considered what he should do when he got Emily’s apology, hand delivered by Edmund. He read it and re-read it. He knew regardless of the apology, Emily meant what she said at the ball. He was being dishonorable. Could he now betray Henrietta again, when she had no one?
Yes, he loved Emily, but he was not sure she loved him. She had stayed away for years. Sure, there was finishing school, but afterwards she had gone to London with her parents. She had not come back to Northwickshire. She had not written. She liked the balls and frivolity. She enjoyed London. Edmund had told him so; Edmund who had managed to visit when Emily did not.
Henrietta was the safe choice. They were friends. He could keep his heart intact, at least the pieces of it that Emily had left to him.
He glanced around wondering at Henrietta’s late arrival. Perhaps the proper thing would have been to go by her house and bring her to church in his own carriage. He had not thought of it. Perhaps she had decided not to come. He knew that many of the ladies were unkind to her.
In any case, he sat alone in his family pew. Soon, he would not be alone. Henrietta would sit beside him. He could not help but wish it were Emily.
Just then, there was a stir at the back of the church. Mr. Eldridge had come in along with a great crowd of what could only be his relations. The resemblance was shocking. The duke, in an effort not to stare turned back to the front.
Just then, Henrietta slipped into her seat beside him, Gwen following.
“I must speak with you,” she said urgently, but the vicar had already begun the service.
He laid a hand on her gloved one. “After church,” he said decisively.
Emily and Edmund had a great amount of preparation to do before services and they arrived late.
“Are you sure, Emily?” Edmund asked as they entered the church. “I could do it for you.”
“I am sure,” she said although she was quite nervous.
The service had already started, and so Emily and Edmund did not join their parents at their normal pew. They found seats as quietly as possible near the back.
Edmund squeezed her hand. “I really didn’t want to be sitting by Father anyway,” Edmund whispered, making Emily’s heart drop to her knees. Their father would be furious.
If she did this and Alexander refused her, she would not marry anyone. No one would have her. Even though Northwick was a remote town, news this scandalous would travel to London.
All through the service, she fiddled nervously with her handkerchief and when at last the sermon ended and the banns were read, her mouth was dry. Nonetheless she stood.
“I object,” she said. Her voice was soft, but it gained volume as she spoke. “I object to the marriage because I know them both and this is a terrible mistake. It shall make them both miserable.”
The entire congregation turned to look at her.
“I object because marriage is about love and commitment. The duke and Miss Milford, they do not love each other. How can they become one as prescribed by the Bible if there is no love between them?”
Emily paused catching her breath as the whispers in the church grew louder. She took her courage in her hands. “Alexander, I love you. Please do not do this,” she proclaimed baldly.
Her words echoed within the crowded church, before the congregation erupted in shocked disbelief.
“Sit down,” the vicar said patiently. “Miss Ingram, the reading of the banns is not license for a scorned woman to take her spite out on the man who deserted her.”
Emily opened her mouth to protest, but never got the chance.
“Emily is not a scorned woman,” Henrietta exclaimed standing.
“I did not desert Emily,” the duke announced simultaneously.
Alexander ruffled as he realized that the vicar thought he could do such a thing. Of course, he did. They all thought ill of him, but the hurt lingered for only a moment.
Emily had said she loved him. Nothing else mattered. His mind rang with the words, hearing them again and glorying in them. Emily had said she loved him. His heart had taken wing, it felt like a trapped thing within his chest.
But the woman who stood beside him was not Emily.
The duke and Henrietta paused staring at each other both standing in defense of Emily as Mr. Eldridge marched right up the center aisle
accompanied by his cousins at his back. He did not address the vicar. He turned instead to Henrietta.
“Miss Milford,” he said. “I know you wanted to marry well and although I am well off I have no title to my name, certainly nothing to rival a duke, but as the lady says marriage should be a bond of love, not money. I did not speak for there was word you desired a title, and I believe you should have whatever it is you desire, Miss Milford.” Eldridge looked at Emily. “But some of your friends believe this marriage will not make you happy.” The man took a deep breath. “I know it shall pain me greatly.”
The congregation was certainly atwitter now. Some were standing and pushing forward, blocking the duke’s view of Emily who still stood in the back of the church.
Eldridge continued. “I love you Henrietta Milford and if you love me, if you can stand the cold of Scotland, I promise I will devote myself to you.”
“Yes,” Henrietta exclaimed. “I mean…” She looked back at the duke with a question, and he smiled. He knew that look in her eyes, hopeless in love.
“The dowry is yours,” he reminded her. “Whatever you decide, Henrietta.”
“Now, just a minute,” the vicar said.
Henrietta Milford threw herself into Mr. Eldridge’s arms and kissed him full on the mouth while the entire congregation looked on gasping and shouting. Many were on their feet now, blocking the aisle.
The duke considered pushing his way to Emily or shouting at those gathered to make way, but she would not condone such behavior. She had said she loved him. Had she meant what she said?
“This is not at all proper,” the vicar called over the din. He had clearly lost control of his flock and looked to the duke for help. None was forthcoming.
“But I am not in love with the duke,” Henrietta said to the vicar and then turned to Alexander. “I am sorry, Alexander. Once I may have thought I was in love with you. I even thought I could marry you, but now, that I am really in love, I know the difference. I think you do as well,” she finished softly, looking back at Emily. “I cannot settle for less, even for a title.”
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