by Tamara Gill
“You have shown lack of character when it was needed most. I will never forgive you for this.”
“Lizzie, please,” he begged, stepping toward her.
She held up her hand, halting him. “You don’t even want me enough to try to find another solution. You’ve known of this predicament for a year and yet all you have done is taken the easy way out. Do not think for one moment I do not understand how important your estates are, the people who work both on the land and within your households, because I do. People need employment, a safe place to live. However, I also believe that fighting for love is important. I have never felt for anyone, have never allowed such intimacies with anyone else before in my life, such as I have with you. You’re the man I wanted to marry, have children with, love and cherish for the rest of my life. But you’re not willing to fight at all for any of those things. Instead you’ve chosen the cold and aloof Miss Fox and her thirty thousand pounds.”
Hugo stared at her, offering no words, no excuses, or alternatives for how they could turn this all about. Lizzie shook her head, unable to believe that after all they had shared, they were even in this situation.
“Should I take a husband I want him to fight, not just for me, but for his responsibilities. A real man would’ve looked into every possibility he could to secure his properties, not sleep his twelve months away with anyone who would warm his bed. I’m just ashamed that I’ve enabled myself to be one of your many doxies.”
She turned and he didn’t try to stop her. She steeled her back, not wanting to know what that meant. She supposed it meant that they were really through, that he would marry Miss Fox and she would go home.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“Go to hell, you bastard.”
Lizzie made it all the way back to her room at her cousin’s house before she crumbled into a fit of tears. At some point Katherine brought up tea and scones, but Lizzie didn’t want any of it. All that she’d wanted was lost to her, and some heiress would claim the prize.
She had hoped, had prayed, that Lord Wakely would see her self-worth, not what her worth was to a marriage. How wrong she’d been. She had risked everything, had ruined herself by sleeping with him, only to have him discard her due to her lack of fortune.
She threw a pillow onto the floor. Of course she could see why he’d chosen Miss Fox. To be responsible for so many and have the threat that they would be left without any security wasn’t anything even she would allow. But why hadn’t he thought of another way? Like Lord Leighton had suggested, why didn’t he look at other options so he wasn’t left with only one: Miss Fox?
Lizzie didn’t think she could ever hate anyone in her life, but right at this moment she hated Lord Wakely. Well, she would show him. If he thought she would skulk about London heartbroken, she would not. On the inside she might be broken, but on the outside she would be a rod of steel–strong, unbending, and hard. And no man, not Lord Wakely or any other, would ever break her in two again.
Chapter 16
Hugo wasn’t sure what had come over him, but after seeing the hurt he’d caused to Lizzie, for the past two days he’d set about righting his wrongs of the past twelve months. That included a trip to his solicitors, and a hasty summons to the three stewards who looked after his various estates.
Tomorrow night was the Keppell ball, where for the first time since Lizzie had walked out of his life they would both be in attendance.
“Tell me again what isn’t entailed and what I can sell. I know the properties are entailed, of course, but what’s within them that I can be rid of? If I’m to marry Lizzie Doherty, penniless as she is, then I need all the funds I can get.”
Mr. Thompson shuffled his papers and pulled out a list. “Between myself and your stewards, you could lease out Bellside Manor and Neverton Hall, leaving Bolton Abbey as your only country estate. At least for the next ten years. With the income those estates would yield, and if you gave the gentlemen who leased each property a lengthy contract to live there, the estates would be kept up and not fall into disarray.”
Which would also see him save funds. “And the paintings? Which ones are able to be sold to a collector or museum?” Across all his estates there were numerous paintings, some that would have to fetch a hefty price. He would be sad to see them go, but not as sad as he would be to see Lizzie removed from his life forever.
The memory of her features crushed with hurt haunted him and would not dissipate. He shook the thoughts aside. He would fix this problem. What he’d failed to remedy in twelve months he would repair in two days.
“We were able to find six paintings: two large classical Titians, a Botticelli, a pair of Canalettos of Venice, and a Raphael portrait. I have offered them up to be auctioned privately, and if sold at their estimated value, they will almost put you back where you were financially had you never lost your mother’s fortune.”
“I never lost her fortune, my father simply gave it away,” he reminded the steward. “And the London townhouse? Would I have to lease that out also?” Hugo asked.
“We’ve looked at the sums, and if you agreed to lease it out every second Season, it would place you in a more solid position. You have fourteen carriages across the three estates that you could sell, and the horses of course. If you were willing to part with them.”
“Leave enough cattle for the carriages and servants to use, my hack of course, and the new carriage I recently purchased, otherwise auction the horses at Tattersalls and sell everything else. We won’t be needing them all,” Hugo said, relief unlike any he’d ever known flowing over him. He would win Lizzie back yet, and now that he could offer for her without the burden of his staff and employees losing their positions, there was no moral impediment to him asking for her hand.
Sorry, Father, but you will not best me yet.
Hugo stood, shaking hands with his solicitor and stewards in turn. “I must apologize to you all for making you pull these figures and an account of my property within the time that I’ve given you. I will be a more attentive landlord in future, better than what I have been in any case. I intend to go on as I am now. A viscount in name and in character.”
“Very good, my lord,” Mr. Thompson said, smiling.
Hugo nodded and left them to their work. Now he was ready for the Keppells’ ball. He just had one more call to make before the evening. One more loose end to tie up.
Lizzie stood to the side of the ballroom at the Keppells’ ball, Sally standing beside her, her friend’s thunderous gaze fixed on the Viscount Wakely and his dance partner Miss Fox.
They made a beautiful pair, and Lizzie hoped they both tripped and fell over. With that lowering thought she schooled her features and smiled at Katherine, who stood a little distance from her, but always with a watchful eye on Lizzie.
The deadline for Lord Wakely to marry was nigh and it was rumored tonight that they would announce their engagement that evening. The end of July was only days away after all.
“I cannot believe he has treated you so poorly and then has the audacity to show his face in public.”
Lizzie threaded her arm with Sally’s and hugged her a little. “I was the one who treated myself with so little respect. I should never have done what I did.” Not that she’d told Sally of everything that had occurred between herself and Lord Wakely. Not even Katherine would ever know how far Lizzie had gone.
Even so, she’d been a fool. She had been the one who had stolen into his home, seduced him. She shook her head, hating the fact that she’d looked like a desperate fool. If only she could tell everyone she was an heiress, a woman who would from this time forward make her own choices, mostly that of being a spinster. A cat lady who would relocate to Rome, as she’d dreamed.
As the dance ended, she caught Lord Wakely’s gaze. She flicked her attention away and fought not to glance back, to see if the longing she read in his dark orbs was a figment of her imagination or was actually present.
“Look how cosy Lord Wakely is with Mis
s Fox’s parents. How ill they appear. I swear if they were not distantly related to the Duke and Duchess of Athelby the ton would turn their backs on them.”
Lizzie didn’t bother to look. She didn’t wish to see in any case. As for her friend’s claims, she doubted that would occur. As far as the ton knew, nothing untoward had occurred between herself and Lord Wakely. There was no reason to turn their backs on him, and even if they did know, it was she who would suffer the scandal. She would be the one shunned and excluded forever and a day.
The next set of dancing began and Lizzie took a glass of champagne from a passing footman. Maybe if she drank a little more, this night would not be so painful to be a part of. The dancers went about the quadrille, but then a disturbance had them pausing and within a moment the orchestra stopped and all eyes turned to what was happening in the middle of the room.
The sight of Lord Wakely standing in the middle of the ballroom floor, absent Miss Fox, gave Lizzie pause. What was he doing? She frowned as it soon became obvious to all that his attention was fixed on her and no one else.
The weight of a thousand eyes turning toward her hit her like a club and she raised her chin, not wanting to succumb to hysterics over what Lord Wakely was about to do.
“If I may have your attention, ladies and gentlemen,” he yelled over the exuberance of the guests. “There is something I wish to declare before you all.”
“Oh dear God,” Sally muttered beside her, and Lizzie completely agreed with her words. What on earth was he doing?
“Some weeks ago I met a woman who embodied all that I wanted in a wife. A woman of strong character and substance. A woman who made me want to be a better man. And at a time when I needed to prove my worth, I let her down. The words may not have been spoken, but I broke a promise to her, and to myself.”
Lizzie felt Katherine’s comforting hand as she came to stand beside her. Lizzie couldn’t move, couldn’t form words, even though her mind raced with the shocking reality of what Lord Wakely was doing.
“Many of you knew my father, and know that in his final years he and I did not get along. So much so that in his will he demanded I marry an heiress within twelve months of his death or I would lose my mother’s fortune, which keeps my estates running. I have not fulfilled that promise as yet, nor will I.”
The silence was replaced with gasps for a time. The ton’s attention turned toward where Miss Fox had been standing, but was now vacant. Had she gone home? Lizzie turned back to Hugo, unwilling to hope, and yet her body thrummed with the possibility he was about to choose her.
Her…over fortune…
Her eyes stung and she sucked in a shaky breath.
“I’m sorry, Lizzie Doherty, but I cannot live without you. And if that means we will live without luxuries, without grand estates and trips abroad, then that is what I want. For I want you. Just you and nothing else.”
Lizzie let go of Katherine’s hand and walked as steadily as her shaking legs would allow. She came to stand before him, meeting his gaze, unable to believe what he was saying was true. It was too wonderful, too much.
“Do you mean it? Really mean it?”
He nodded, cupping her cheeks. “I have found another way to enable us to marry. Your words to me two days past shamed me, and you were right to do so. I have not been thinking and I did take the easy way out. But it was not the only way.”
Lizzie cleared the lump in her throat. “And Miss Fox? What of her?”
“I spoke to Edwina and, as I suspected, she held no tendre toward our union. She has released me, although she did state that because there was never really an understanding, she wasn’t sure why I sought her opinion over my choice.”
“I appreciate why you did it, and I’m glad you did. It was the right thing to do.” His thumb brushed her jaw and she leaned into his touch, having missed it dreadfully.
“I love you, Lizzie. I love you and no one else.” He paused, taking one hand and kissing it. “Marry me, my heart. Be mine.”
Lizzie nodded through a flood of tears, then laughed as he bent and kissed her, the ton and the startled gasps all forgotten as they sealed their fate before them all. He picked her up, hugging her close.
“I do love you. I’m sorry, my love. Please say you forgive me.”
“I forgive you.” She hugged him tighter still. “I love you too. So much.”
Hugo let her down slowly, then pulled her toward Hamish and Katherine, where they were standing with Sally. The smile on her cousin’s face told her she would have no argument with him in relation to marrying Hugo.
“Before we celebrate with my family, there is something you must promise me,” Lizzie stated, pulling Hugo to a stop.
“Anything. I’ll promise you anything,” he said ardently and without hesitation.
“That is all I want. Your promise for anything.”
“You’re being very secretive, Lizzie darling,” he said, kissing her hand once again.
She shrugged. “All in good time, Lord Wakely. Good things come to those who wait. And I think we’ve both waited long enough.”
Epilogue
Lizzie breathed in deeply the dry heat and the air that was fresh and warm. Under the Tuscan sun she lay on a blanket, Hugo placing an olive on her tongue every now and then as he read the paper beside her.
They had purchased the small chateau during their honeymoon, which was mostly spent abroad. And now, whenever the chilling, damp English weather became too dull and cold, they travelled to their Tuscan home and enjoyed all that it had to offer.
“I see Miss Fox is a widow only two years after marrying that decrepit old duke.”
Lizzie grinned, rolling over to lean on Hugo’s legs and use them as a pillow. “Katherine wrote to say that Miss Fox is not the least heartbroken at his death, and with an heir secured, she’s enjoying widowhood very well.”
“I should imagine she is, and how could anyone blame her? The duke was old enough to be her grandfather.”
Lizzie shuddered and rolled over to straddle Hugo’s lap. “You seem very interested in what Miss Fox is about. Do you regret your choice?”
Hugo threw the paper aside and hauled her hard up against him. “Regret my choice? Regret choosing the woman I love, even if she did lie to me about being well-dowered?”
She chuckled, remembering poor Hugo’s face in Lord Leighton’s library the afternoon after the ball at which he’d so publicly declared himself. The mute shock that followed the declaration of how much she was worth. Worth waiting for, he had said, and she had hoped he was right, for he was certainly worth fighting for.
“I’m so happy, Hugo. If I was to die right now I’d know I lived well and loved with all my heart.”
He kissed her and she wrapped her arms about his neck, never wanting to let go.
“I love you too,” he said when finally they pulled apart.
“I don’t believe I actually said I love you just before, but if you insist, I love you too. Shall we return inside, husband?”
He waggled his brows and she grinned. “Are you going to love me some more if I say yes?” he asked.
“Maybe. You’ll have to find out.”
Just then the meowing of one of their children sounded and Lizzie reached down to pick up Puss, the pure black kitten that had wondered into their yard some weeks before, and who had fast become part of their family. She kissed the adorable ball of fur, smiling at the purring that was as loud as its meow.
“How many does that make now?” Hugo asked, patting the kitten.
“Seven in total, but they’re good at catching mice, and they’re no trouble. You don’t mind, do you darling?”
He shook his head. “I don’t mind, no. You forget you told me of your plans to become an unmarried maid with an abundance of cats. I can tolerate the little furballs if it’s what you want, and I get to have you instead of spinsterhood.”
“I think really I have gained a good bargain with marrying you, Lord Wakely. I get my cats, I have my Ita
lian sky, and I have you. I want for nothing.”
“Me too.” He kissed her again and she sighed as he deepened the embrace before one little black paw touched their cheeks. They pulled away, both looking at the culprit who didn’t like not being the centre of attention.
Ah yes, life was positively perfect. And tomorrow, when Lizzie wrote her monthly letters to London, she would write to Lady X along with Sally and tell them all her news, including the surprise that she was bestowing on Lord Wakely tonight, of another addition to their family, but this time, one that came without fur.
To Bedevil a Duke
Lords of London, Book 1
A Duke of many rules. A Lady of independence.
Since her cheating husband created a scandal by dying beneath his whore, Darcy de Merle is determined to enjoy widowhood, and refuses to mourn a man she grew to loathe. Setting the ton ablaze, Darcy holds a ball to re-launch herself into Society on the anniversary of his death.
Cameron, the Duke of Athelby plays by the rules. Always. He's lived through the terrible consequences of what revelry, carelessness, and lack of respect for one's social position can have on a family. So, when he sees Darcy de Merle skirting the boundaries of respectability, it is only right that he should remind her of the proper etiquette that she should adhere to.
Darcy refuses to allow another man to tell her what to do. When the Duke of Athelby chastises her at every turn, reminding her of her social failures, well, there is only one thing to be done about it...seduce the duke and show him there is more to life than the proper conventions set by the ton.
A battle of wills ensues where all bets are off, numerous rules are broken and love becomes the ultimate reward.
