A Second Chance for the Broken Duke: A Clean & Sweet Regency Historical Romance

by Fanny Finch

  “When will your parents be here?” Lady Agatha asked. “Will it be soon?”

  “Yes. They will be so happy to see Anthony. He is the light of their lives now.”

  “They were so happy at your wedding,” Lady Agatha’s voice was wistful. “I wish Mother and Father could have been there to see Malcolm get married. They would have been so proud. You were a beautiful bride.”

  “As you will be eventually,” Lady Elizabeth smiled at her friend again. “And I cannot wait to stand for you when that day comes.”

  “It has been so wonderful having you here every day, Lizzie. I could not have asked for a better sister.”

  Lady Elizabeth thought back to her wedding. It always filled her with such joy.

  “After he saved my life, they would not have it any other way. They doted on him after that day.”

  “As well they should. He is a good man.” Lady Agatha looked directly at Lady Elizabeth. “Is he not? Was I not right?”

  Lady Elizabeth laughed. “You were right, my dear. You were right. He is not as harsh as he used to be. He is gentle and kind.”

  “As he was when he was younger, before the tragedy that changed him.”

  “But only temporarily.” Both women turned to look at the Duke of Thornwall, who had come up behind them.

  “Good afternoon, my lord,” Lady Elizabeth got up from her chair and went to him, touching his chest with her hand and lifting up to place a soft kiss on his cheek.

  “All right, now,” Lady Agatha said, laughing. “You are in public.”

  “I apologize, Agatha,” the Duke of Thornwall said, pulling away from his wife. “I do love my wife you know.”

  “I am glad. I am so glad.”

  “We were just talking about Anthony being so happy, my lord,” Lady Elizabeth said, returning to her seat. “My parents will be here soon. We thought we would enjoy the beautiful day out here in the courtyard. Everyone is so happy.”

  The Duke of Thornwall scanned the busy courtyard. “Yes, they are happy. It is good to see.”

  He looked at his sister with one eyebrow raised. “You are staying for the visit?”

  “I am. Should I not?”

  “I believe you had plans this afternoon, did you not? With your future husband?”

  Lady Agatha blushed, looking at Lady Elizabeth with a smile. “I did. But he was unable to keep the rendezvous. I will stay and enjoy lunch with you, if you do not mind.”

  “I never mind having my sister with me.”

  “My lord!” A voice called across the courtyard. The three looked up as one of the townspeople came running toward them.

  “What is it?” The Duke of Thornwall’s face had turned serious. He stepped down to meet the man coming toward him.

  The man waited until they were close before he spoke, keeping his voice low.

  “My wife has just come from town. She says the Duke and Duchess of Winterset are there. Aren’t you expecting them, Your Grace?”

  “Yes, we are.” The Duke of Thornwall was surprised the man seemed so frantic. “Is there a problem?”

  “No, my lord. We had planned a celebration for them when they arrive. Do we have your permission?”

  The Duke of Thornwall grinned. “You have planned a celebration? For the Duke and Duchess of Winterset?”

  “Yes, Your Grace.”

  “You have my permission to greet them any way you see fit.” He held up one finger. “As long as it is friendly and does not give them chest pains.”

  The man laughed. “No, my lord. We would never do anything to cause them harm. We want to thank them for the changes they have brought to Thornwall. And to you, my lord. Your people are grateful to you and to the Owens family. Without Lady Elizabeth, this prosperity would never have happened.”

  The Duke of Thornwall nodded in understanding. They had been helping the townspeople while on the visit since Malcolm and Elizabeth’s wedding.

  “Thank you, young man. I will pass that along to Lady Elizabeth. What do you have planned?”

  The man grinned. “You will see, my lord. I am very excited.”

  The Duke of Thornwall turned back to the women and walked toward them, quickly deciding whether he should tell them or not. He looked at Lady Agatha first and then at his wife. He had never questioned whether Lady Elizabeth enjoyed surprises. He pictured his in-laws in his mind.

  He did not know how they would react, either.

  “What did he want, my lord?” Lady Elizabeth asked.

  “The townspeople have something planned for your parents. I believe it is probably for our benefit, as well. They want to express how grateful they are that Thornwall and the castle have changed so much.”

  Lady Elizabeth lifted her eyebrows. “That is very nice of them.”

  “It is.”

  The three of them watched the little boys playing on the blanket, enjoying a few minutes of silence before the announcement was made that the coach was approaching.

  Normally, they would not have known so far ahead of time but the townspeople in the courtyard began bustling even faster than they had been. They were scrambling around, grabbing long pieces of red fabric inscribed with the Thornwall crest.

  “Look,” Lady Agatha held out her hand toward a group of children forming a square to the side of the entrance to the courtyard.

  The Duke of Thornwall watched in amazement as the children pulled up large sheets of fabric. They all held them up in the air and when the large sheets of stiff fabric were put together, it formed the crest of the Winterset family.

  Lady Elizabeth gasped.

  A group of older children formed on the other side and held up similar pieces of light colored fabric. When put together they formed the crest of the Thornwalls.

  “Oh my,” Lady Agatha breathed.

  The coach rumbled over the arched bridge and entered the courtyard going slower than usual. The Duke of Thornwall suspected the driver had been informed of the plan.

  A chorus of voices sounded out, singing a hymn the Duke of Thornwall recognized from Sunday church. It was a song of praise and restoration. The love of God for His people rang out through the air.

  The Duke of Thornwall could see the Duke and Duchess of Winterset inside the coach as it approached. They were staring out the windows.

  Women began dancing around the coach, raising their hands in the air and singing at the same time.

  Lady Elizabeth smiled up at her husband. “I love your people, my lord,” she said, happiness in her voice. She stood up from the chair and went to her son, picking him up and setting him on her hip. The Duke of Thornwall stepped down to stand beside her.

  “Our people, my love,” he said softly.

  Lady Elizabeth pulled in a deep satisfied breath. “Yes, our people.”

  The Duke of Thornwall put his arm around her shoulders and they waited for the slow-moving coach.

  “Do you think they are enjoying this show?” The Duke of Thornwall asked.

  “I know they are. It is beautiful.”

  The coach finally made it to where they were. The driver was smiling at Lady Elizabeth and the Duke of Thornwall. When the Duke of Thornwall nodded at him, he nodded back. He jumped down from his perch and pulled the door open so the Duchess of Winterset could exit the coach.

  “Mother!” Lady Elizabeth went to her, leaning forward to give her an air kiss on both cheeks. “It is wonderful to see you.”

  “You are looking lovely, Elizabeth,” her mother replied, touching her shoulder. The two women moved out of the way so the Duke of Winterset could disembark. “And how are you, little man? Having a happy day?”

  Lady Elizabeth transferred her son to her mother and grinned when the little boy reached up and grabbed the Duchess of Winterset’s nose.

  “What have you got? What have you got?” The Duchess of Winterset laughed, taking hold of the little boy’s wrist and tapping her nose with it. “Nose. Nose. Can you say that? Can you say nose?”

  The men greeted e
ach other with a bow and handshake. They turned when Anthony said, “Nose.”

  Lady Elizabeth gasped, turning her eyes to her husband. “He said it! He said nose!”

  The Duke of Thornwall smiled wide, reaching out to brush the hair from his son’s eyes. “You are smart, Anthony! So smart!”

  Lady Agatha was laughing hard behind them. The rest of the group turned to look at her, curiously. She shook her head.

  “He has learned so much. He learns quickly. He will be brilliant.”

  She turned to her mother and held her hands out. “I am proud of you, Anthony,” she said as her mother transferred the child back to her. “You are smart, just like your father says you are.”

  “Mama,” the little boy smiled wide at her, knowing he had done something right. “Mama.”

  “Yes, my love. I am your mama. I am so proud and happy to be your mama.”

  The group went inside the castle, the Duke of Thornwall with his arm around his wife’s shoulders, the two of them cooing and playing with their child.

  Just before they went in, catching up the rear, they looked at each other with happy, content eyes.

  “You have made me the happiest woman alive, Your Grace,” Lady Elizabeth whispered, reaching up to touch his chin with two fingers.

  The Duke of Thornwall grinned, remembering when he had said those very words to his sister.

  “I would not want to live on this earth without you, my dear. You brought me back to life. You gave me a new life. I cannot live without you now.”

  “Nor I you, my love. Nor I you.”

  The Extended Epilogue

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  Last Chance for the Charming Ladies - Preview

  Chapter 1

  Maria stood on the porch of the plantation house, hand over her eyes.

  Father should be back shortly. She knew that it was nothing more than a trip to check for letters at the post office. But she couldn’t prevent herself from worrying.

  He thought that she hadn’t noticed or perhaps was merely tricking himself into thinking she hadn’t. But Maria wasn’t a fool. Or at least she didn’t like to think that she was.

  She knew that his health was getting worse.

  He had been leaving the day-to-day running of the land to his men. She’d seen him in talks with some of the other landowners in the area. And letters to and from England had been going back and forth. But he would not tell her what was in those letters.

  He grew tired more easily. Went to bed a little earlier. And she saw at dinner that his food was no longer being devoured with gusto but picked at.

  Maria couldn’t help but worry over him. The Caribbean climate rather agreed with her. But then, she had been born in it. Father and Mother had come from England to make their fortune here. Perhaps in his old age the climate was against him.

  It could be that he had also stopped by to see Dr. Lawrence. She hoped that was the reason for his lateness. It terrified her to think that he had collapsed in his carriage.

  Her father was a stubborn man, Maria knew. She herself was stubborn. Mother had always said that was where Maria got it from.

  He would insist on riding even when he was not well enough for it. He would continue to pretend that he was fine up until the very last moment. How was she supposed to know when he wasn’t doing well if he insisted on pretending?

  It could be merely old age catching up with him. Her father had been older when he had married Mother. He was a good five to ten years older than most of the other landowners.

  But Maria couldn’t help but worry that it was something more.

  And didn’t that fill her with all kinds of dread.

  Perhaps if she were a boy it would not matter. But she was a woman. If Father was ill…

  She had no idea what Father had arranged for her should he pass on while she was still unmarried. It wasn’t that she hadn’t tried to get married. She knew her duty.

  But there were so few people still out here in the colonies. Most men came out here either with families already, or with only an interest in building their fortunes and then leaving for England again. It was nearly impossible to find someone who would be a potential suitor.

  Maria took a steadying breath. She was just doing that thing where she worried herself into a pit. It would start with one worry and then it would spiral into a complete and total mess. She was better than that. She was an adult.

  Besides, where was the logic in worrying if she could do nothing about it? Father was very good at planning. Surely if he was truly ill he would have made plans. Even if he did not want to admit to Maria that he was ill. He was the sort of man who had something in place for every eventuality.

  Still, she stood on the porch, waiting.

  Another few agonizing minutes passed as she tried not to let her fear overtake her. It would be ridiculous for Father to come home safe and sound and learn his daughter had been fretting over him like a five-year-old instead of a proper young lady of nineteen.

  Then she saw it: dust kicking up in the distance.

  The roads of the town were cobbled but it was far too much work and too little reward to do so out here on the estate.

  Maria waved happily. Father probably couldn’t see her from this distance, but she wanted to wave anyway.

  The carriage pulled up and Father descended. Maria hurried over to him. The evening breeze caught in her hair and made it even worse of a tangle than before.

  “Hello, my dear,” Father said jovially.

  He always had this way of making himself sound cheerful. Even when Maria knew he wasn’t truly, he sounded so much like it that he easily fooled everyone. People always said there was no one with a better temper than her father.

  “Father.” Maria took his arm to help him up the porch steps into the house. “How was your trip into town?”

  “Very good, my dear.” Father sighed. “Maria. Your hair, child. Honestly.”

  “What?” Maria patted at her admittedly messy dark locks. “There is no one about to see. I was helping the servants shuck the peas.”

  “Of course you were,” Father said wearily. “You are quite tan, dear, it’s going to give you freckles.”

  “I already have plenty of freckles,” Maria noted. Mother had said, when Maria was a baby, that each freckle was the mark left from an angel kissing her. The more angel kisses you had the luckier you were.

  “That you do. And your feet!”

  “Well it was too hot to go out in proper shoes!” Maria protested.

  She helped Father inside and got him seated in the sitting room. It would be different if they had visitors all the time. But nobody was ever coming to visit. The plantations were all so spread out.

  If people wanted to socialize then they went to a ball or met in town at the port. It was simply easier that way. It wasn’t as if a surprise visitor was going to be making morning calls.

  “I really do
wish that you would make more of a habit of ladylike behavior,” Father told her.

  Maria poured him a glass of water from the pitcher and handed it to him. “I shall have Betsy fetch you something to eat. Dinner is not yet ready but I think you could do with some tea.”