by Abigail Agar
“Never,” Jonathan replied, looking at Ellie and gently touching her cheek.
Just then, her eyes darted to the left, bright and curious. She grinned and glanced at him, encouraging Jonathan to look as well.
There they were, the mother deer and her two fawns. The three of them had wandered back into the garden.
Jonathan had been keeping a small basket just outside the door. It held carrots and apples for the wandering animals and now was an ideal moment to try and feed them.
“You have certainly figured out the best way to encourage them,” Ellie said with a sweet laugh as he opened the basket and handed her a couple of carrots.
“I learned from you.”
She grinned and held a carrot out for the deer. The mother approached first and, understanding that all was safe, the fawns soon followed. One of the fawns went to Jonathan and the other followed his mother to eat from Ellie’s other hand.
“They are such gentle creatures,” Jonathan said in a light, breathy way so as not to frighten the deer. The mother looked at him but continued chewing, her jaw moving just as sideways as it did vertically. Watching them eat was rather amusing.
“Yes, they truly are. I love how sweet they are. Sometimes I wish that I could spend all my time with them, just stroking their fur or calmly speaking with them. It is a bit silly really, but there have been many times when I have expelled all my emotions to the rabbits who routinely enter the garden at the home of my aunt and uncle,” Ellie said.
“There is nothing silly about that. I often share my burdens with the horses. In fact, you may be surprised to learn that they know all about you.” Jonathan chuckled.
“Me? Really?”
“Of course they do. They know everything that makes me happiest and that is you, Ellie. There is no reason they should not be made aware of the joy I feel, having you in my life,” he replied.
“You are far too kind with your words. There are times when I wonder if you are really genuine or not,” she teased.
But he was worried that she may not be teasing after all. What if she really felt that way?
Jonathan placed his free hand on her shoulder, the deer aware of the movement, but not startled by it.
“You may be sure of this—if nothing else—I shall never lie to you again. When I tell you that I love you, that you mean everything to me, I mean it. I promise you, Eleanor Windsor, there shall come a day when I am able to publicly declare that you are my bright and shining star, that there is no one in all the world who compares to you. And when that day comes, I hope that you are able to honestly say that you feel the same.”
“I do,” she said, instantly. “I do feel the same. I love you more than I have ever loved anything and I wish for the whole world to know it.”
Jonathan could barely contain himself. He needed that day to come quickly.
He needed everyone to know that he and Eleanor Windsor would be married.
Chapter 34
Ellie could not have been happier in that moment. All her suspicions had been confirmed and there was no reason at all that Jonathan, the Duke of Danby, should ever love her—but he did. She rested in the joy and assurance of that.
Although she could not imagine life getting any sweeter than this, she realized that they did still have a great deal of difficulties to overcome. There was still a possibility that Jonathan’s mother would forbid a marriage from taking place, that she would put an end to the possibility before they could even discuss the details of something so permanent.
Not only that, but her own aunt and uncle wanted her to marry Wendell. What would they do if they learned that she intended to break that commitment?
As if in answer, she heard the sound of raging footsteps from within the house. Ellie and Jonathan turned to one another, wide-eyed.
“Eleanor!” came the shout.
The mother deer and her fawns turned and bounded away in graceful arcs. Ellie sucked in a breath of panic, not knowing what she could possibly do about their fury, agonizingly aware that everything she and Jonathan had just declared to one another was now going to create chaos with her aunt and uncle.
“How dare you?” her aunt shouted, seething at Jonathan with her nostrils flared and hatred in her small, dark eyes.
“Please, Mrs. Windsor—”
“Sharp!” she barked in correction.
“Yes, yes, of course. Mrs. Sharp. Allow me to explain,” he begged.
“Never! You keep your mouth closed or I shall have you arrested for trespassing on this land which belonged to my dearly departed sister and her husband. What are you doing here? You live here? And you have come to try and seduce my darling niece? Enough! You are never going to see her again,” she cried.
“Please, Aunt Glenda, you must hear him!” Ellie pleaded.
“Oh, girl, there is nothing that shall please me so much as dealing with you, once and for all,” she hissed.
“Mrs. Sharp!” Jonathan shouted, rising to his full height. He held his hand before his face, the signet ring catching the light.
All at once, Ellie’s aunt and her dull uncle stood in surprise, eyeing the ring and saying nothing. Their confusion was evident and it gave Ellie something of a thrill to note that her aunt was about to learn the truth.
“I demand that you allow me to explain,” he said.
Jonathan took Ellie’s hand and strode forward with her. It was awkward, but she allowed him to lead her between her aunt and uncle and through the door. They followed behind, still appearing bewildered by the entire circumstance.
They made their way to the small sitting room and Jonathan nodded for her aunt and uncle to be seated, which they did, obediently.
“Now, allow me to introduce myself. I am Lord Jonathan Cornwall, the Third Duke of Danby. One day, when I was out riding and looked no different from any other man, I met Miss Windsor. She was not aware of my true identity. We became friends, with nothing at all improper occurring,” he said.
Ellie’s aunt shot daggers at Ellie, as if she had somehow managed to steal this man from Katherine by simply meeting him first. But Ellie disregarded the look, knowing that it hardly mattered what her aunt believed. This was about Jonathan and nothing more.
“She was kind to me and I enjoyed learning about her love of the outdoors. I, too, spend a great deal of time outside. It was very interesting to me to meet a woman like Miss Windsor,” he said.
“However, you must know that it is my fault things have gotten so complicated. I would have approached the two of you sooner about my intentions regarding Miss Windsor, but because of my lie, I needed to speak with her first. As I said, nothing improper took place. I have only the intention to marry Miss Windsor,” he said.
“Marry? To Eleanor? Do you know anything about her?” Ellie’s aunt asked.
“I know everything, Mrs. Sharp. I know everything about her and I love everything about her. You need not question that and I would suggest that you refrain from further comments on that point,” Jonathan said.
Ellie observed the entire interaction with great interest, staying silent in the knowledge that she could do nothing but cause problems in this entire matter.
“Now that you know my identity and my intentions, I do believe that there is another matter to address. Miss Windsor is already engaged, I am aware. However, I do also know that the young man does not love her, nor does she love him. As it happens, I intend to speak with the young man and his family,” Jonathan continued.
“But…but how can you possibly convince them to let go of this commitment?” her aunt asked.
“It is quite simple, actually. I am going to make every effort to arrange for the young man and the woman he loves to be together. I trust that I shall manage to convince his parents that it is the right thing. His father works for my dearest friend and the young lady’s father does as well. It shall be simple for me to convince the two of them to speak about their disagreement and allow their children to finally marry,” he said.
“I fear that you do not understand the extent of my determination. I wish to marry your niece. As a part of that, I must make every effort to bring unity elsewhere,” Jonathan said.
“Lord Cornwall, I understand that you are seeking this strange romance with our niece, but surely you can understand that we are rather dubious about it. You cannot convince a man to simply set aside his prejudice against a young woman’s father and then allow his son to marry her. What exactly do you expect?” her uncle asked, speaking up for the first time.
“I expect him to be reasonable,” Jonathan said.
Ellie’s uncle scoffed.
“Well, that is sheer nonsense. Men are not reasonable. Not when their pride has been wounded. You ought to know that,” he said.
“I believe otherwise.” Jonathan sighed.
“I have a rather different concern,” her aunt said, taking control of the conversation once more.
“Oh? And what is that?” he asked.
“You say that you know about her, that you love her, that you think well of her. Honestly, Your Grace, I fear that I am rather cynical to that idea. I can only imagine that there are two possibilities behind all this,” she said.
Jonathan’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly, challenging her to speak out, to tell him whatever insult was on her mind.
“To the first, I must say that it is possible she has lied to you about something and you have believed those lies. I cannot imagine a duke actually wanting to marry this girl,” she said.
“And I have told you otherwise. Enough of that. I know who she is. You need not continue, have I not already said that?” he asked, unafraid of showing his irritation.
“Very well, then. Regarding the second possibility—and begging your pardon in advance—but I must assume that you have ill intentions for her. Being that she is a naive girl, one who is desperate to believe that you wish to marry her, it must be easy to play this role, is it not?” her aunt asked.
Ellie tried not to be offended. She had not expected much of anything different from her aunt than this. This was simply the nature of her aunt. She could not possibly see anything good in Ellie.
Jonathan glared at her for a long moment before speaking again.
“Mrs. Sharp, I suppose I shall simply have to say it again. I love Eleanor. I have no ill intentions for her. I wish only to make her my wife. I apologize that you are so deeply offended by this fact, but it is a fact, nonetheless. I wish to be her husband, to spend my life with her. As for your own opinions on the matter, I cannot find it within myself to care. What I wish for is a day in which you find your own heart warm enough towards your niece that you see the same beauty and strength that I see,” Jonathan said.
Ellie couldn’t help but smile. She loved hearing these beautiful words from Jonathan’s mouth. She was happier than she had ever been in all her life, even if her aunt was still shocked by this strange turn of events.
No matter what had happened, she was going to spend her life with Jonathan. Even if her aunt and uncle did not approve, she would do it. So long as he was willing to defy his mother, she would marry him. All these unfortunate disapprovals were not going to stop them from loving one another and taking the steps to enjoying that love and expressing it through the commitment of marriage.
Her aunt paused and inhaled for a moment, clearly thinking through her response. At last, she spoke.
“Your Grace, I suppose there is only one thing more which I can say. I had not anticipated this at all, but…but it is clear that you love Eleanor for the right reasons. Although I find it simply shocking, I am willing to concede that the two of you have made your decision. If it is what Eleanor wishes and so long as you are able to rectify the issue regarding Mr. Carruthers, I shall allow this union,” her aunt finally said.
Jonathan and Ellie grinned and their eyes met. She clapped her hands together in excitement and relief. They were going to be together. Nothing was more important than this.
“Thank you, Mrs. Sharp. I am delighted that we have your approval. I know that you had your suspicions, but you should know that I have the utmost respect and care for Eleanor. There is no reason for you to worry. I am going to take good care of her,” he promised.
“I suspect that you shall. Again, I stress, that this may only proceed if you are able to handle Mr. Carruthers,” she stressed.
“Certainly. I do not foresee this being an issue,” he said.
“Very well. As for the two of you and your future, I wish you the best of luck. Will you marry soon?” she asked.
Jonathan looked at Ellie with something akin to panic and she blushed.
“Aunt Glenda, we have made no plans as of yet. Lord Cornwall must still speak with Mr. Carruthers as well as his own mother,” she explained.
“Oh, dear. Well, in that case, I shall not get my hopes up. The moment she learns what sort of girl you are, this is not going to be anything more than a momentary fancy,” she grumbled.
Ellie swallowed, fearing the same thing but not wanting to express that fear.
“Yes, thank you for your opinion, Mrs. Sharp, but I do believe I have heard enough of it,” Jonathan said. His words were far from respectful, but Ellie understood that he was simply using his status to the advantage of defending Ellie. She could not be angry with him about that.
Her aunt looked tempted to reply, but chose not to, for which Ellie was grateful.
It hardly mattered anyway. She had already given her consent. So long as the other details fell into place, Jonathan and Ellie would be together.
Chapter 35
“Just wait in here for me. I promise you, this shall all be over very soon,” Jonathan said, smiling warmly at Ellie, hoping that she was encouraged by his words.
What he did not want was for her to see the extent of his own anxieties.
“Are you certain this is going to bring about a resolution?” she asked him.
He nodded, still trying to remain positive.
“Yes, I believe that it shall. I cannot say that it is going to be positive in every way, but at least it shall bring an end to the questions which we have,” he said.
Ellie sat on the leather chair in his study, her expression anxious. He saw her eyes searching the books in the shelves, probably wondering if there was anything interesting she might read while she waited. After all, she would need something to distract her.
Jonathan did not wish for her to have any reason to worry. All he wanted was for Ellie to feel confident and secure in the plans they had made and in his love for her. If she only knew how deeply he cared for her, she would be able to remain prepared for whatever may come next.
He needed to make things right with his mother so that they could actually be married. And if she would not be appeased, if she was unwilling to accept Jonathan’s love for Ellie and his plans to marry her, there would be nothing more they could do.
Jonathan would have to separate himself from his mother and accept whatever consequences that happened to bring with it.
He made his way to the drawing room where she sat with her lips pressed in a tight line, her brown-spotted hands clasped together in a formal manner, as if preparing to give a private lecture to a wayward student. But Jonathan had experienced nothing in his schooling days so harsh and rigorous as his mother’s plans for him. Now, as he prepared to tell her just how he intended to forego her wishes, Jonathan took a seat across from her, straightened his back, and began to speak.
