by Erica Ridley
“It’s true?” Lady Beatrice’s face was lined with disbelief. “You meant to throw me over for her?”
“You and I have no contract,” Theo reminded her. “That is why you wrote to me for the first time, is it not? To encourage an official arrangement. I’m afraid I must disappoint you on this score. I will not be offering for your hand. Nor should you want it.”
“Of course I want it.” Lady Beatrice crossed her arms. “I don’t mind if you keep a mistress or if we remain strangers after the wedding. I’m to be your marchioness. Combining our families is more important than personal feelings we may or may not have about the match.”
“Is it?” Theo asked softly. “You should mind very much if your husband wishes to remain a stranger after the wedding. Duty is important, but not more so than love. Find a man who makes you happy, Lady Beatrice, and marry him.”
Lady Beatrice gestured at the narrow road winding toward the castle. “She is what makes you happy? What about your reputation?”
“My reputation is meaningless,” he replied, “if I fail to fight for what truly matters.”
For years, Theo’s preoccupation with conforming to expected behavior had ruled his life. But Virginia had never been interested in marrying a future marquess. She had wanted to wed Theo, the man. From the moment they’d met, she’d accepted him exactly as he was. All she ever wanted was for him to do the same.
“What about your father?” Lady Beatrice burst out. “If you do this, he will never forgive you.”
“If that’s true,” Theo said, “so be it.”
He did not need his father’s consent to decide what sort of life he wanted to live. In the choice between Virginia and the rest of Society… Theo chose Virginia.
“Swinton,” he called.
Swinton materialized at once. “Yes, Mr. T?”
Happiness was right up that hill. “Please summon my coach.”
“The sleigh is blocking the way, sir.” A ghost of a smile touched the edges of the butler’s mouth. “And it would be faster.”
“Fine,” Theo growled. “Ready the sleigh.”
“The what?” Lady Beatrice’s brows shot up. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“To beg for Virginia’s hand.” Theo rolled back his shoulders as the sleigh pulled into sight. “Go home to London.”
“But she doesn’t even want you anymore,” Lady Beatrice stammered. “She said this was goodbye!”
Theo would change Virginia’s mind or die trying.
“It is goodbye,” he said as he climbed into the sleigh. “To fear, to each other, and to our parents’ manipulations. Live for yourself, Lady Beatrice. Choose happiness. It’s the only decision worth making.”
Chapter 14
Virginia wrapped her arms about her chest and huddled into the wind as she climbed the final stretch toward the castle.
Her throat felt swollen. The bitter wind blowing through her heart came not from the air around her, but from having come face-to-face with the sort of woman Theodore’s father expected him to marry. Nothing less than perfection would do.
Lady Beatrice was everything Virginia had imagined her to be. Beautiful, composed, wealthy, popular, more than comfortable in her role as a lady. The ideal marchioness. She would never cause embarrassment.
Virginia’s eyes pricked with heat. By trying to force herself where she did not belong, Virginia would only make Theodore’s life harder… just as she’d done to her own family.
’Twas better to cut things off now, before greater damage could occur. If Virginia’s parents had rid themselves of her in order to have a normal life, what did she expect from Theodore?
“Miss Underwood!”
Virginia glanced up in surprise. Although she was still several yards from the castle’s entrance, the solicitor had all but burst from the open doors as if he had been desperately awaiting her arrival.
“The aviary,” he panted upon reaching her side, “is a resounding success.”
Virginia did not congratulate him. It would be a long time before she felt like celebrating anything. She had hoped to trudge up the seventy-two steps to her guest chamber without speaking to anyone at all.
“It’s chaos,” the solicitor continued, eyes wide. “Every guest in the castle crammed elbow-to-elbow inside a four thousand square foot box.”
“Four thousand, six hundred and eight,” Virginia muttered. “The aviary is an oval.”
The solicitor increased his pace to keep up. “No one knows it better than you.”
“You hired an expert,” she reminded him without pausing. “A man.”
“And he’s wonderful,” the solicitor assured her. “But the new veterinarian is only one man. There is simply too much work for a single person, no matter how much expert experience they might have.”
Virginia pushed through the castle doors.
The solicitor continued on her heels. “Please think it over.”
“Think what over?” She crossed toward the stairs. “You haven’t imparted new information.”
He cut in front of her. “The veterinarian occasionally needs to sleep. I realize you dislike crowds, but could you not pop by from time to time when visiting hours are over to ensure all is well? And possibly once or twice during the day, so he might take a bite to eat?”
Virginia shook her head. “You realize I dislike crowds. You just said so.”
“I know.” The solicitor held out his hands in supplication. “What I forgot to mention is that I am not asking you for a favor. I’m offering a permanent position. If you agree to co-manage the aviary, your salary will equal the new veterinarian’s.”
She halted in shock. The solicitor was acknowledging her value. Wished her to stay on permanently. Was willing to pay her the same as a man.
“What do you say?” he asked. “Are you the woman for the job?”
Virginia spun away from the stairs and turned toward the aviary instead.
The solicitor beamed at her as he hurried to keep step. “Is that a yes?”
“I don’t know,” she answered honestly.
Managing the aviary wasn’t one of the futures she had imagined. As much as Virginia adored the castle and loved Christmas, she wasn’t even certain she could withstand the limited interactions required to run a private animal sanatorium. Presiding over four thousand, six hundred and eight feet of pure chaos sounded like a nightmare.
Yet, they needed her. Wanted her. How could she say no? Mr. Marlowe had taken Virginia in and shown compassion at a time when all hope was gone. This was an opportunity to pay back that kindness.
“Please say yes,” the solicitor begged. “You’re irreplaceable.”
Irreplaceable.
Virginia’s head swam. She had dreamed of being necessary to someone, anyone. But that was only one part. She’d hoped to build a life on her own terms, not accept yet another role someone else thrust upon her.
“I’ll consider it,” she said. It was the least she could do.
“Thank you.” Just as they reached the aviary, the solicitor placed a hand on her arm. “Before I take my leave… A letter arrived for you.”
She stared at him. “A letter?”
In the six years Virginia had lived in Christmas, in the three years she’d been locked in an asylum, in the eighteen years from birth to her disastrous London come-out, Virginia had never once received a letter.
She accepted the document with shaking hands.
The solicitor bowed and headed off to grant her privacy.
Virginia broke the seal. Her mouth fell open as the contents became clear.
This wasn’t personal correspondence. This was notification of a bank draft deposited in her name. The fund manager wished to assure her that the astronomical sum mentioned covered her portion of perfume royalties for the partial month since the debut of Duke and Duchess collectible turtledove bottles. All further remittances would cover a full month’s payment.
Virginia pressed the document to her c
hest and tried to breathe. Her pulse raced at the implications.
For the first time in her life, she was not only a woman of independent means, but a person with options.
She could stay right here. This castle, this aviary, this village.
Or she could go elsewhere. Use this money to establish her animal sanatorium anywhere she pleased. The Highlands, the beach, the Cotswolds. Anything she pleased.
Her future was truly up to her.
Giddy excitement filled her chest. She could not wait to tell Theodore. He—
Would not be part of her future.
The happiness fell from her face. They would never share joyful news again. She tried to push the heartbreak from her mind.
This was not the first time she’d lost someone she loved. She would have to be strong and make her own path. Starting with her promise to consider the aviary.
She opened the door and froze just inside the threshold.
The solicitor had not exaggerated. In London, the haut ton wouldn’t even be awake at this hour, yet the castle guests had filled the aviary almost to capacity.
Not just guests, Virginia realized as she forced herself to inch deeper into the loud, bustling crowd. There was Angelica Parker, the town jeweler. Over there were all three le Duc siblings. Far in the back were Gloria and her betrothed, Christopher. Virginia steadied her nerves.
If she wanted to survive this crowd, she needed a friend. Virginia made her way in their direction, keeping her eyes firmly on the ground before her.
“What are you doing here?” Gloria whispered when Virginia reached her side. “Didn’t you notice all the people?”
Virginia nodded. She hadn’t just noticed all the people. She’d traversed them. Taken one hundred and sixty steps from the aviary entrance to where her friends stood on the other side, despite the deafening noise, despite the wayward elbows, despite the onslaught of clashing scents and colors. Her spine straightened.
If she could emerge victorious when faced with such a gauntlet, she could certainly open a private animal sanatorium.
This village was too comforting to leave and too limiting to stay. She would be forever grateful to Mr. Marlowe for taking her in when she had nowhere else to go, but she would not spend the next fifty years in a guest chamber. Christmas had healed her when she was wounded and needed shelter, but now that she was healed, Virginia could not allow it to become a gilded cage.
“Don’t look now,” Gloria whispered. “Lord Ormondton just walked through the door.”
Virginia could not possibly look. Every muscle had frozen in place.
“I thought you said Ormondton was at war,” Gloria whispered to her betrothed.
“He looks like he’s been at war,” Christopher murmured back. “What the devil is he doing here?”
Gasps rustled through the crowd.
Virginia did not move.
“Miss Virginia Underwood,” a familiar, gravelly voice boomed from the other side of the aviary. “This is not goodbye. I cannot leave whilst you still possess my heart.”
“Holy Christmas.” Gloria melted against her intended’s chest. “This is absolutely making the papers.”
Scandal columns? Theodore would not take such a risk.
Slowly, Virginia turned around.
Hundreds of wide-eyed onlookers fell back against each other, creating a narrow chasm between Virginia’s section of the aviary and the main entrance directly opposite, where Theodore stood. Her heart flipped.
He had not paused to change clothes.
His dark hair was awry. His fine jacket was bunched at odd angles. His absent neckcloth was wherever he’d dropped it after his hiccups the night before. His scarred face was unbandaged. His wounded leg was encased in a stiff metal brace.
He had never looked more dashing.
“Wouldn’t it be easier to marry someone else?” Virginia called out, her voice shaking.
“Marriage?” Gloria kicked Virginia’s shin. “Lord Ormondton wants to make you his wife, and you fail to mention that tiny detail to your bosom friend?”
“It’s complicated,” Virginia whispered back. “And mostly my cat’s fault.”
“I’m not looking for easy,” Theodore answered, his voice ringing clear. “I’m looking for you.”
Her pulse skipped.
“I don’t want temporary,” he called out. “Life won’t be worth living if it means leaving you behind. I want forever. I want you.”
She caught her breath.
“You’re as necessary to me as breathing.” He pressed a hand to his heart. “You make me whole.”
Her heart pounded.
“I love you,” he called out. “I’m here to prove it.”
Excited whispers rolled through the crowd like the crashing waves of the sea.
Theodore took one limping step closer. “I, Theodore O’Hanlon, Major Viscount Ormondton, want you, Miss Virginia Underwood…”
“I’m swooning,” Gloria whispered. “I can’t watch because my heart is exploding.”
“To be my wife,” Theodore continued, striding forward as if his damaged limb was not screaming with pain. “From this day forward; for better, for worse…”
Gloria kicked Virginia’s other shin. “Go to him, you ninny!”
“For richer, for poorer…” Theodore took another uneven step.
Virginia summoned her courage and started through the crowd. “In sickness and in health…”
Theodore began to walk faster. “To love and to cherish…”
“Until death do us part.” Virginia ran the rest of the way until they stood less than a breath apart.
With a crooked smile, he took her hands in his. “Is that a yes?”
“I love you,” Virginia blurted, and lifted her lips to his.
“It’s a yes!” Gloria called out.
The crowd erupted into deafening shouts.
Virginia barely flinched at the noise. Her heart was too full. “Is your carriage close by?”
“My sleigh.” His cheeks colored. “I may have left in a hurry.”
“Sleighs are splendid.” She turned toward the door and linked her fingers through his.
Whatever the future held, they would face it together.
Chapter 15
London, England
Two months later
Virginia gripped Theodore’s hand and tried to pretend her stomach wasn’t overflowing with butterflies. Although they had arrived at his town house last month after their wedding, tonight would be Virginia’s first official public outing.
“It won’t be small,” Theodore warned as their carriage inched along the queue. “Not as crowded as Almack’s, but a respectable soirée all the same. We don’t have to do this if you’re not ready.”
“It’s the last major gathering of the Season,” she reminded him. “I want you to dance with your cousin.”
The heat in his gaze could have melted chocolate. “I want to dance with you.”
Virginia’s hands went clammy. Dancing in the privacy of their home was one thing. Here, hundreds of eyes would be upon her.
Their carriage came to a stop. A footman opened the door. They were here.
“Ready?” Theodore asked.
Virginia was not ready. She was terrified. But with Theodore at her side, she knew she could brave anything.
He handed her out of the carriage and led her to the front door.
When the butler greeted them, Theodore handed him a calling card Virginia had never seen.
“What is that?” she asked, unable to stifle a giggle.
“Four colly birds,” he answered with a straight face. “And a cat. I didn’t want Duke to feel he wasn’t part of the family. You know how he likes to meet new people.”
“You didn’t bring him, did you?” she asked in mock horror.
“No one brings Duke.” Theodore widened his eyes innocently. “If there’s an open window, Duke will find us.”
The butler beckoned. “This way, if you
please.”
Limbs shaking, Virginia pressed her elbows into her sides and forced her stiff legs to follow.
When the butler announced them at the head of a small ballroom, all eyes swiveled their way, exactly as she had feared.
To her surprise, Virginia recognized several friendly faces. There was Noelle and her husband, the Duke of Silkridge. Penelope and her husband Nicholas. Even Gloria, and her husband Christopher. Virginia’s tight muscles relaxed.
A soirée no longer felt like enemy territory, but a haven stocked with friends.
“I see my cousin,” Theodore murmured. “She’s trying to blend with the wainscoting.”
“Go dance,” Virginia said without hesitation. Hester had dined with them several times and was a truly lovely young lady. She would be thrilled.
Theodore shook his head. “I don’t want to leave you without—”
“Virginia!” All three of her closest friends squealed as they surrounded her with smiles and excited hugs. “You made it!”
Virginia grinned. She had made it. In every sense. She was happily married to a wonderful husband. She was back in London, and thriving despite her fears. She was even here at a Society soirée, reunited with her friends.
“Go,” she told Theodore with a smile. “Find me after your dance with Hester.”
She could not be prouder of him.
Theodore had made it, too, in all the ways that mattered. He’d survived war, then his homecoming. His peers were thrilled to have him home again. His brace and scars were seen as marks of bravery, not folly. The only gossip in the papers were the laments of eligible debutantes, vexed that the dashing viscount had fallen in love in his absence.
“Virginia?” came a shaky voice right behind her.
Her smile froze. Virginia would recognize that voice anywhere. It sounded just like her own. She turned on stiff legs. The night had only wanted this.
Before her stood three young ladies with red-brown hair and hesitant green eyes. Virginia’s sisters.
“Valeria,” she said evenly. “Vera. Viveca.”
