A Bride for the Betrayed Earl

by Bridget Barton

  “Goodness me, it is Christopher,” Emmeline said and began to rise from her seat. Her heart was pounding, and she felt a little nauseous. “Well, I really do not know what to do.”

  “But Miss Fitzgerald, it is not Mr Lennox who has called upon you,” the housekeeper interrupted her cautiously.

  “Then who is it, Mrs Fairley?” Despite the news that it was not Christopher, Emmeline still felt out of sorts.

  “It is the Earl of Addison, Miss.” Her cheeks grew yet pinker. “Should I show him in?”

  “Oh yes, please do.” Emmeline smiled uncertainly and turned to her mother the moment the housekeeper had left the room.

  “The Earl of Addison? Was it not he who supported you on that dreadful evening?” Constance said, and Emmeline could clearly see a flash of hope in her mother’s eyes.

  “It was, Mama. Goodness me, I wonder what he wants.”

  Mrs Fairley returned and opened the door before grandly announcing the Earl.

  “Good afternoon, Lord Addison,” Emmeline said and hoped that she did not appear upended. “Please do come in, Sir, and take a seat.” She turned back towards the housekeeper. “Mrs Fairley, would you be so good as to ask Maisy to bring some tea?”

  “Very good, Miss Fitzgerald,” the housekeeper said and quickly disappeared.

  “You have met my mother before, Lord Addison, I think?” Emmeline said hurriedly.

  “Indeed, I have, albeit briefly. I do hope you are well, Mrs Fitzgerald.” He smiled warmly at Constance.

  “I am well; I thank you, Lord Addison.” She inclined her head graciously.

  “And you are well, My Lord?” Emmeline said, wondering what on earth they were going to talk about.

  “I am very well, Miss Fitzgerald.” He seemed suddenly a little awkward, and Emmeline sincerely hoped that he was not about to ask her if she were also well. It would simply be one too many inquiries after health and well-being, and she thought to do so would make him even more uncomfortable, as well as her.

  “Please forgive me for calling upon you so unexpectedly. I had wondered these last two weeks how you were faring after the evening soirée at Ashton House. I realize it is none of my business, Miss Fitzgerald, but it has played on my mind a little and, in the end, I thought it would be quicker and quieter if I simply asked you.” He gave a brief and uncomfortable laugh.

  Emmeline had to admit to herself that she had hardly thought of Lord Addison since the night of her great humiliation. In truth, to think of him would be to encourage herself to think of everything that had gone before his rescue of her and Rose.

  She felt somewhat guilty, realizing that she should have done more to thank the man who had gone out of his way to help her maintain her dignity throughout the most trying time.

  “I have very much kept to my home these last weeks, Lord Addison, and I think that has done me a great deal of good, especially after what happened.” Emmeline did not want to say anything aloud, but neither did she want to continue to ignore the obvious. After all, the Earl of Addison had visited her to see how she was faring after so public a humiliation, and there was no escaping it. “But I think I am starting to mend, little by little.”

  “I am very pleased to hear that, Miss Fitzgerald. I was very much struck by your bravery on that evening and had wanted to tell you that you did it all very well indeed. You managed admirably, Miss Fitzgerald.” As he spoke, he looked directly at her, and he seemed a good deal more confident than he had done when he first entered the drawing room.

  “It is very good of you to say so, Sir,” Emmeline said sincerely. “And it reminds me how remiss I have been in extending my thanks for all that you did. I truly had meant to write to you to tell you of my gratitude, and I am very sorry that I have not yet done so. And I know that my sister is as grateful as I am.”

  “There really is no need to thank me, Miss Fitzgerald. Let me assure you that that is not what I came here for.” He smiled.

  The Earl had a pleasant face, intense, but strangely handsome. It was true that he was not classically handsome in the way that Christopher Lennox was. Christopher Lennox, in appearances, if nothing else, was perfect.

  But Hunter Bentley, with his black hair and close-cropped beard, was quite a striking figure. His eyes were not as dark as she had thought in the yellow light of the chandeliers at Ashton House. They were a hazel-brown, and the irises were flecked with gold. The colour was most unusual and very pleasing.

  His appearance was pristine, and she wondered if he had made a particular effort or if he was always so well turned out. There was nothing overdone about his clothing, but it was clearly expensive and the tailoring very fine indeed.

  He wore black breeches and knee boots with a well-cut tailcoat in olive green. His waistcoat matched the tailcoat, and his brilliant white shirt sported a necktie that was not too elaborate.

  “Ah, here is tea,” Emmeline said, grateful for the distraction of something to do.

  The small party remained in silence as she set about arranging the cups and saucers from the tray that the maid had brought into them. Emmeline wished that at least one of them could think of something to say, and yet the Earl’s appearance had been so sudden and unexpected, she could quite understand why her mother and sister were so quiet.

  “I was very sorry to hear of the passing of Mr Fitzgerald,” the Earl said as if he, too, was fishing for something to say.

  “I thank you, Lord Addison,” Constance spoke gently. “And you have lost your own father so recently too. Please accept my condolences.”

  “I was fortunate enough to be able to spend a good deal of time with him at the end.” He smiled, and Emmeline thought there was a certain peace about him. “And he was most comfortable and content.”

  “And he passed away in Scotland, did he not?” Constance had clearly recovered from the shock of being called upon, and Emmeline realized that their family had not been called upon at all since that dreadful night at Ashton House. Something about that made her feel a little angry, and she wished she had not even thought of it.

  “Yes, just outside Edinburgh. It was his wish, you see, to spend his last days there. My father had spent a good deal of time as a child in the home of his mother’s parents.”

  “I believe it is a very beautiful part of the world, is it not?” Emmeline said, keen to show some interest in him after all he had done for her and Rose.

  “Indeed, it is. I must admit, it was my first visit to the house that we have there and, although it is in want of some repairs, it really was a very charming place.”

  “And you were gone from the county for some time, were you not?” Emmeline said and then wished she had not when she saw the look of pain on his face.

  Of course, she had heard the gossip as well as everybody else. When the Earl of Addison had returned to England after his father’s death, it was to find that the woman he loved had married somebody else altogether. The Duke of Galcross.

  “Forgive me, I did not mean to pry,” Emmeline added hurriedly as she felt herself blush.

  “Not at all, you are not prying. It is nothing that the whole county does not know.” He smiled and shrugged. “Please, do not make yourself uneasy; I did not suspect you for a moment.”

  “You are very understanding.”

  “In truth, it was something that I had meant to talk with you about. If it would not make you too uncomfortable, of course.” He looked at her so earnestly that she found she could not look away.

  “It is such a beautiful day, perhaps you would care to show Lord Addison about the gardens when you have finished your tea,” Constance said to Emmeline. “The grounds are not as extensive as the ones you have, Lord Addison, but the roses are quite a display at the moment.”

  “Then I should be very glad to see them, Mrs Fitzgerald,” the Earl said and reached for his tea as if keen to have it drunk and out of the way so that they might be alone for a while.

  In truth, Emmeline was not sure if her mother had acted impr
operly or not. She ought not, really, to have forced the two of them out of the house alone, particularly when they were not very well acquainted. But it was clear that the Earl wanted to speak about sensitive matters, matters that were private to him, and Emmeline thought that he had looked grateful when her mother had provided him with the opportunity to say what it was he wanted to say without a full audience.

  “Well, that is settled then,” Emmeline said, thinking that she ought really to say something.

  Chapter 8

  “Please forgive me; I do hope that I have not caused you any embarrassment. I should not have liked to have made your mother and sister uncomfortable for a moment, but I really do have something I would discuss with you in private,” he began to speak the moment they had set foot outside.

  “Not at all, there is no embarrassment, I assure you.” She smiled, and they walked side-by-side around the house towards the pretty and colourful garden at the back. “I think we have both suffered circumstances of late which are as difficult to ignore as they are to discuss. I find myself quite exhausted answering inquiries after my well-being and yet saying nothing of my situation. It is like speaking without actually speaking if that makes any sense at all.”

  “It makes perfect sense, Miss Fitzgerald. And I must admit, I have observed something very similar myself. Situations such as the ones that you and I have most recently found ourselves in seem to create something of a problem for everybody else. Unfortunately, people cannot show concern without raking over the very reason for their concern. I am afraid that it is impossible to win.” He laughed.

  “Yes, I suppose it is.” She nodded thoughtfully as she led him to the path that would take them towards the enormous cluster of rose bushes that her mother had promised him.

  “You are aware, of course, that I returned home from Scotland to discover that the lady I had assumed I would marry had already married another?” He slowed his step and turned his head to look at her.

  His hazel eyes looked round and sad, and Emmeline realized then that he had known all along exactly how she had felt. He knew of the hurt and humiliation because he had experienced it just as she had. Perhaps that was why he had been so keen to assist her that night.

  “I am afraid so. It is impossible to escape gossip, especially when everybody seems so awfully keen to pass it on. But I am sorry for it because I know a little something about how that feels.”

  “You need not apologize. In truth, you do not strike me as a lady who is keen on gossip, either hearing it or passing it on.”

  “I thank you, Sir, because I am not.”

  “I think, in part, I had wanted to come here today to tell you that I know how it feels. I understand what happens inside a person when they are confronted with so great a shock. I was so shocked for so many days that I could hardly work out how I really felt about things. I was so shocked that I was not even hurt in the beginning.”

  “Yes, I understand. But you are hurt now, Lord Addison? Now that the shock has worn off, you are most terribly hurt, are you not?”

  “It is very difficult thing for a man to say, but yes, I had never imagined it was possible to feel so very low.”

  “For myself, I most certainly was shocked. But I think, and I do not know if this does me any credit at all, that I was embarrassed more than anything in the beginning. I would have given anything for Christopher Lennox not to have been so publicly cruel.”

  “Yes, I suspect that he would have lost a good deal of respect that night.”

  “I do not know if that is quite right, Sir. After all, I think all present seemed to enjoy themselves greatly. There is nothing so delicious as not only hearing about gossip but seeing it with one’s own eyes, is there not?”

  “It is true that people do get caught up in such things and grow a little overexcited. But there will have been more than just me there who would have thought Christopher Lennox’s conduct reprehensible. In truth, there are many who quietly scorned Lady Felicity Morgan, or the Duchess of Galcross as I ought to call her now. And she did not do the thing publicly at all but tried to avoid attention by having a very quiet wedding.”

  “But as soon as that information is abroad, it all becomes very public, however much a person tries to keep it quiet.” Emmeline found that there was a curious comfort in discussing the thing with somebody who knew exactly how she felt.

  The Earl was not trying to guess at her feelings or sympathize from a place of not understanding; he was right there in it all with her. He was suffering in his own way as much as she was. As much as her mother and sister had tried to sympathize, it was impossible for them to understand entirely, not in the way that the Earl did.

  “I realize that engagements or understandings are broken all the time, but they are generally broken before the next one is embarked upon. I think, perhaps, that is what is so distressing about the situation that we each have found ourselves in of late,” she finished.

  “You have it most exactly, Miss Fitzgerald. As painful as it would have been, there would not have been the added humiliation of being betrayed. I must say, there is a good deal of peace in discussing the thing with somebody who has already worked it out. Somebody who has experienced it for themselves.”

  “In truth, I was just thinking something similar myself, Lord Addison.” Emmeline smiled. “Ah, here we are at the rose bushes, Sir, the very rose bushes which my mother was so keen for you to see.” She laughed.

  “I truly am grateful to your mother, Miss Fitzgerald, for there is much that I should like to say to you and something most particular that I would like to ask you which I should not have liked to ask publicly.”

  “Indeed?” Emmeline said and felt a curious stab of panic.

  “Forgive me for dwelling in gossip once more, but it is true to say that I know a little something of your circumstances. Not your romantic circumstances, you understand, but your domestic ones.” For the first time, he looked profoundly uncomfortable. Much more uncomfortable than he had looked back in the drawing room.

  “Please, do not feel uncomfortable about it. I suppose it is not an uncommon situation when there is no male heir to an estate. And I do believe that it is already common knowledge, for these things generally are.”

  “That is true, but I should not wish to distress you any further; after all, you have experienced quite enough in these last weeks with the death of your father and then all that you suffered at the hands of Christopher Lennox. I should not wish to add to that, but I cannot continue without at least touching upon the subject. Forgive me.”

  “Not at all, Lord Addison. It has been a great worry to my family for a number of years, ever since my mother and father realized finally that there would be no male heir to the Tarlton estate. I am only relieved that my father died with the knowledge that I was soon to be married and that he knew nothing of what was to come.”

  “Yes, it is a mercy, albeit a very small one.” He nodded and walked deeper into the garden, closer to the thick rose bushes. Emmeline followed him.

  “But I have a few months in which to find some lodgings for the three of us. There is a small period of grace, which was nine months in total from my father’s death. And then my second cousin, Kent Fitzgerald, inherits.”

  “And what sort of a man is he?” the Earl said and looked at her very openly. “What I mean is, would he not allow you and your mother and sister to remain here at Tarlton when he has become the master?”

  “I think not,” she said simply. “Whilst he has not shown himself to be particularly disagreeable, he has also not extended any offers of assistance whatsoever. He has talked more than once of our period of grace, and so I think he intends to keep to it and turn us out when the nine months are over. I am afraid that I do not know him particularly well and think that I probably do not care to.”

  “I think that is understandable. I only ask because I have another offer to make you.” He tipped his head back for a moment and looked up at the sky, almost as if he was
pleading to the heavens for the right words to say. “I shall ask you a question now, and I would beg that you think about it. You need not answer me immediately; only give it a little consideration.”

  “Yes, alright.” Emmeline’s throat felt suddenly tight and dry.

  “I should like to offer you marriage, Miss Fitzgerald.”

  “Oh, I see.”

  “But I should like to give you my reasons for offering you such a proposal at this time. At least, if you would consent to hear them.”

  “Yes, of course. Please, do speak freely, Lord Addison. I think we have both suffered enough indignities these last weeks that we can at least be frank with one another, can we not?”

  “You are extraordinarily brave, Miss Fitzgerald, and I am grateful for your openness.” He nodded thoughtfully. “I realize that we are both still suffering the effects of great disappointment and that, ordinarily, marriage might not be the first thought for either one of us. But I have given it a good deal of thought, and I have wondered if it might not be in the interests of us both to at least consider it. I cannot speak for you, Miss Fitzgerald, but I would never again be keen to trust my heart to another as I did Lady Felicity. I should not like to leave myself so exposed in future and so have thought to approach the subject of marriage with a little more sense than romance.” He paused and looked at her, clearly trying to gauge if she was insulted or not.

  “I understand that perfectly. One does not touch a hot fire twice, does one?”

  “Quite so, Miss Fitzgerald. In truth, I also have no immediate family to whom Addison can pass were something to happen to me. It was my father’s dearest wish that I produce an heir and keep the Bentley family at Addison for many years to come. Like you, I was pleased that my father had died peacefully in the knowledge that I would likely soon be married to Lady Felicity. He was, at least, spared that concern.”

  “Yes, but as you said, it is a very small mercy.”