His Blessed Epiphany (A Regency Holiday Romance Book 9)

by Marly Mathews

  “The man behind it was incensed, and I knew, I knew that I did not ever want to cross paths with him. I knew that if I did, it would be akin to stepping into a tumbril. He had the talent. He didn’t have to struggle with it as I did. It all came naturally to him. It was in his blood. I knew my days toying with the supernatural were done. I was done. He had finished me. It would seem you had a witch of incredible power looking out for you, you vile toad.”

  “That was Lewis,” Felix breathed wondrously. The Colonel tossed him a concerned glance.

  She sighed. “So that is the Master’s name. I knew that you could not die by the more unconventional means, but I am quite certain that a shot to the heart shall do the trick. Every man can be killed. Magical charm or not. And now is your time to die.”

  In a blurring movement, Felix got in the way just as the old bird discharged her pistol. He fell back against the Colonel, and the man caught him as he slid down to the floor, groaning as he collapsed. He felt no pain, only shock. Bone numbing shock. Lawks, he had just been shot. Why then, did he feel nothing? He had been shot before, and it had always hurt. He couldn’t feel a thing. Peace washed over him. He wasn’t angry, or sad…he wasn’t anything.

  Mrs. Hislop let out a cry strangled with grief. “You bastard. You made me kill another woman’s son. Devil take you, Lord Painswick!” Her hand went lax, and she dropped her pistol. Falling to her knees, she rocked back and forth, letting out a keening that sounded as if she herself had been murdered. Her wail of lament sounded like something one would do at a funeral. “Don’t let him die. I cannot be his murderess. Please God, save him.”

  He grunted. The woman who had done such terrible deeds was praying?

  “Blast it. Why did you do that, Felix?” the Colonel asked.

  The servants came running into the Library, and two large footmen stood by Mrs. Hislop. Felix didn’t think she was going to be a bother, she had crumpled into a pitiable weeping heap on the floor. Someone had to fetch her husband to take care of her, and take her out of his sight. Once he gathered his senses, he didn’t know what he would do.

  *****

  Fanny shot upright in bed.

  Her eyes snapped open. Dread crawled through her. Her heart thundered in her chest, roaring so loudly she could hear it.

  “Felix,” she gasped, throwing back the bedclothes, she dashed to her bedroom door, and raced frantically through the house, down the stairs. “Where is Felix? Where is my husband?” she asked, Mrs. Davies, who was rushing toward the stairs.

  “He is in the Library. I was coming to fetch you. Come with me, my lady,” Mrs. Davies said, the two of them running as if hellhounds chased them.

  Felix was lying on a couch, still as death. Her heart jumped right up into her throat. The house had descended into chaos. She heard men chattering in the Entrance Hall. Lord Prescott’s voice she recognized, mingled with other voices, familiar voices. Lords Cary and Evesham amongst them. She broke out of her frozen silhouette and rushed over to Felix, bending over him. Gripping his shoulders, she whispered the words he had said to her not so long ago, “Good God in Heaven, don’t be dead, Felix Grey.”

  “Grey-Blessing,” he groaned, fluttering his eyes open. He had a befogged expression glimmering in the indigo blue depths, but he was alive. Thank God. Relief flooded through her, and heart started to beat normally again.

  “Oh, Thank God,” she said, falling to her knees, and throwing her upper body over him, her hair was strewn across his chest as well.

  “Do you realize that you are out of our bedchamber in nothing but your nightgown? And you are in your bare feet too. You look like a hoyden. Good God, wife, you will catch your death. It’s a damn good thing you didn’t marry your cousin, because I wager he would be having a fit right now.”

  He held her close, and even if she wanted to get up, she wouldn’t have been able to. “I heard a gunshot,” she whispered, her words muffled.

  “A very heartbroken woman did that. The strange things she said—why, she has gone to straight to Bedlam,” her father said, appearing by her side. “Felix went and put his big body in the way.”

  “And it’s a good thing, too. It might have killed you, Colonel. Fortunately, I had the silver snuff box that Lewis gave me right where the bullet hit me. It took the bullet, not me,” he chuckled. “I guess the blessed thing was charmed. It figures. Seeing as it was Lewis who gifted it to me. He is a tricky little devil.”

  Lifting her head, she smiled at Felix. She realized that tears were in her eyes, threatening to spill down her cheeks. Tears of anguish that were now tears of joy. “And where is the madwoman that tried to shoot you, Papa?” she asked, attempting to keep her voice level.

  “They took Mrs. Hislop away. I expect they will deliver her to the Parish Constables, and her husband shall be given the keeping of her. I don’t think she’s dangerous. Not now. She’s a rather broken shell at the moment. Poor deluded soul. I doubt she will go to trial for doing what she did. She’s mad—completely batty. It’s best if her husband commits her, I think. Or maybe he can take care of her himself. We shall have to wait and see what comes from it.”

  “She would have burned at another point in time,” Felix muttered.

  “What were her reasons for doing it? Other than she is insane, there has to be something that pushed her over the edge,” Fanny mused.

  “She believes I took her son to his death. He was a young ensign serving under me. We lost many men during that bloody battle. Her son was one of the men seeking glory. His temerity was his ultimate downfall. I wish it had turned out differently. I tried to keep him close to me…as he was such a young man, barely more than a boy, really,” he scrubbed his hand over his face. “I believe Mrs. Hislop is the granddaughter of an earl, and her husband was the son of an earl, and quite a well to do gentleman, as his father had provided for him in his will. I can’t imagine why she would marry Mr. Hislop. He has the breeding, I grant you, but he’s a rather a humdrum old fellow. I suppose he benefited greatly from the match. At any rate, it’s all over. Everyone is none the worse for wear.”

  “I don’t have the breeding, either. I’m just one of the hoi polloi,” Felix muttered.

  “Somewhere along the line, my boy, you have aristocratic blood in you. You are far too big. Are you quite certain you are not a by-blow?”

  Fanny gasped. “Papa, you shouldn’t say such things. It isn’t proper, and you might hurt Felix’s feelings.”

  “I’m not insulted, Fanny. Me Ma won’t say too much about my father. Whenever I bring the issue up, she descends into tears, and she isn’t really the weepy sort, so when she does cry, I promptly shut my bone box. She tells me that she was married to the man who sired me, but he died before I was born, so I don’t know much, and unless my mother suddenly becomes forthcoming on the subject, I shan’t ever know. And you know something, I just made a startling realization—I have become an awful toff. I have turned into what my own worst nightmare once was. At least I can still keep my title of arsehole.”

  Fanny laughed. Hearing Felix making light of the situation relieved her immensely. She hadn’t felt such fear before in all of her life. The sound of the gunshot had given her the fright of her life. She hadn’t realized that Mrs. Davies had left the Library, until she bustled back into the room in that efficient manner of hers, carrying Fanny’s wrapper in her arms.

  “I thought you might want to put this on, my lady, before our newly arrived guests come charging in here. My husband is keeping them at bay, but they are quite eager, and I fear he won’t be able to detain them much longer.”

  Quickly, she wrapped the gown around her and tied it, and not a moment too soon. The rest of his mates came charging into the room, along with Lord Chorley.

  “Are we too late?” Freddie asked. “Felix, are you dead?”

  Chapter Nineteen

  “No, mate. I am not. You can all breathe a sigh of relief.”

  “Well, that’s a bit of a disappointment, ain’t it?” Fr
eddie jested. “I rather thought I could claim that I had survived you, you old arsehole.”

  “No. I am not that easy to kill,” he groaned, and sat up. “I am a bit sore, but other than that no worse for wear, though,” he said, looking at the silver snuff box that sat on the table in front of the sofa, “I do think that little bauble has seen better days.”

  “I knew it would one day come in handy,” Lewis said, settling down in a chair. “Would you like me to look you over?”

  “No, not at all. I told you. I am fine. I have certainly seen worse. Trust me on that one, mates. We should be the one thanking you, Lewis. The woman that did this, told us all about how she cursed the Colonel, and you put a stop to it. She said that you scared her.”

  “Then, I haven’t lost my magic touch,” Lewis said, smiling widely. “I thought she needed the fear of this good witch put into her, and it seemed to work.”

  “Good witch? You are a man, Lord Cary,” the Colonel said.

  “Still a witch,” Lewis said. “Or at least that’s what I prefer. But let’s talk about something else, shall we?”

  “Yes, Lewis likes to keep his magical side, on the side, don’t you, Lewis?”

  “Speaking of such things isn’t always well received, Felix,” Lewis whispered.

  “It will always be well received wherever I am.”

  “I knew I was indebted to you, Lord Cary, but I never knew just how deeply indebted I was to you, until today. Thank you for saving my life,” Colonel Blessing said.

  Lewis’s colour was up. His face almost looked as red as his hair. “It was nothing.”

  “Pardon me while I fall over, my lords,” Freddie cracked. “Lewis being humble. Now, I have seen everything. You should be puffed out like a peacock, Doc. You saved a man’s life, by using your other talents.”

  “It isn’t the first time,” Lewis said calmly. “And with the lot of you as my closest mates, I daresay it won’t be the last time.”

  “I never knew you could do what she told us you did. You almost scare me,” Felix said. “I’m not jesting, Lewis. I am glad you call us your friends. I don’t think I’d want you as my enemy.”

  “I promised my mother never to do harm to those who hadn’t done someone else harm in the first place. She told me that being gifted with such a power that we could never use our abilities for ill. I never break a promise.”

  “That’s right, you don’t,” Felix said.

  “Ah, it does this heart of mine good to see you and Doc having a moment, Tiny,” Freddie said. “I can feel the love.”

  “Tiny?” Fanny asked perplexed.

  Had she never heard that nickname of his before?

  “Oh, aye, that is the nickname these bastards gave me. I thought you knew, but perhaps, I didn’t tell you all. Lord Cary is Doc, I’m Tiny, Lord Knightwick is Mouse, Lord Everley is Mole, and Lord Prescott is of course, Lucky, because he’s one lucky bastard.”

  “And what is your nickname, Lord Evesham?” Fanny asked.

  “I didn’t have the distinction of being one of the Angels of Death, Lady Spaulding. I was…err…too young at the time, unfortunately.”

  “Ah, yes, that’s right,” Fanny sighed.

  “Aye. We could think of a nickname for you, though, Clarence. How about Charming? It suits you,” Felix laughed.

  Lord Evesham chuckled. “Lord Chorley told you that one. That’s something they used to call me during my days at Eton. We were the three C’s, not just because of our Christian names but because of our nicknames as well. Poor Simon Lovett was left out. We were Charming, Cutting and Clever. Lord Chorley was Lord Cutting, as he can have quite a brusque tongue on him at times, can’t you, Cass, and of course, my clever clogs little brother, Cyril was Lord Clever. I suppose it was better than some of the nicknames other chaps had like Porky, Stinker, Stiffy, Batty, Daffy, Corky, Ginger, Bunty, and Tuppy. The list is endless really.”

  “As for calling Fanny, Lady Spaulding, you shall have to call her Lady Blessing, from here on in. I have been created Earl Blessing. Fanny is no longer my Baroness, she is my Countess now. What do you think of that, mates?” Felix watched them all carefully to gauge their reactions. He didn’t know how it would settle with Lucky. He and Lucky had been the last two barons out of three that used to include Freddie that is until the day that Freddie’s father had come back into his life to tell him that he was his legitimate son and heir, and therefore a marquess.

  Lucky grinned. That was what he had hoped for. Lucky hadn’t ever begrudged him anything. He was always happy for his friends, and that’s why Felix wanted him to eventually find the woman of his dreams.

  “I think if I wasn’t already sitting down, I would be sitting on the floor, as I would have fallen down,” Lewis said wryly. “I never thought that an arsehole like you would be blessed with an earldom. It baffles the mind. I cannot believe the sort of riffraff that is in the ton these days.”

  “Ha, ha,” Felix said, grinning. “I know you are all happy for me. If you weren’t such good mates, the lot of you wouldn’t be here right now. And that brings me to this, how did you all know that you were needed? Well, you weren’t needed, really, but it is nice to have you all here.”

  “Lewis had a vision. He scared the hell out of us all. Our merry wives are on their way as well, traveling in carriages. They should be arriving right about now. We wanted to leave them behind, but they insisted, and you know that we cannot change their minds if they are set on something,” Freddie said.

  “I understand. Fanny is like that as well,” Felix said.

  Fanny narrowed her eyes at him. “You, sir, are not perfect yourself. We are each as stubborn as the other.”

  “That is true,” Felix said. “And I love you for it, my dear.”

  “Felix in love. Talking tenderly. I thought I would never live to see the day,” Freddie exclaimed. “You look like a besotted fool, mate.”

  “I am a besotted fool.”

  “And now, we must all rally round Lucky, and see him married off as well,” Lewis said.

  “Oh, aye,” Micah agreed.

  “I’m not in that much of a hurry,” Lucky said, finally speaking up. “I have started to see the benefits of being unattached. I can still get up to mischief without a little lamb to baa at me.”

  “Oh, indeed, but having a load of mischief is ever so much fun,” Fanny said.

  “Did you just call me a load of mischief? That’s only supposed to be used when referring to a wife, wife.”

  “Oh, aye, but I thought I would turn it around. I do believe you need me to keep you out of trouble. You are a load of mischief, Felix, dear.”

  His mates all laughed. “She has you there, Tiny. You are,” Micah said.

  “I relent. I am,” Felix said grudgingly.

  “And I wouldn’t have you any other way, Lord Rascal. Our life certainly isn’t boring when you are around.”

  “Oh, aye, there is one thing Tiny isn’t, and that is dull,” Micah exclaimed.

  “Ah, yes. Have you taken Felix out to see his namesake?” Colonel Blessing asked. “I know you saw him on New Year’s Day, but I don’t think you caught his name.”

  “I have seen, Grey, Colonel. I…I also saw that he was a gelding.”

  “You named a gelding after, Felix? Before or after you married him?” Freddie said, guffawing.

  “Before, and don’t tempt me to plant a facer on you, Freddie,” Felix said.

  “Oh, well, that might be a bit of a jolly,” Freddie mused. “We could see who would best who this time around. I think we are about even. Sometimes, you gain the upper hand, sometimes, I do.”

  “You fight each other?” Fanny asked, aghast at the thought.

  “Oh, aye. It keeps our senses sharp,” Felix said proudly. “It’s a good bit of fun, ain’t it, Freddie?”

  Freddie gave a vigorous nod.

  “They do it when they are bosky. And they never go too far, so you needn’t worry, Lady Blessing,” Lewis said.

  “
I do not refer to Grey, Felix,” the Colonel said. “I refer to Lord Rascal. He is one of our field hunters. He is the one I bought for Fanny. He is the one I rode on New Year’s Day.”

  “He is a terrible beast. He has a spirit that cannot be tamed,” Fanny said, shuddering.