Saving Lady Abigail: A Historical Regency Romance Book

by Abby Ayles

  She thought perhaps it would be best to have the earl return her to Wintercrest. It would be better for Jackie if Lady Abigail was never seen in society again. Maybe in that small way she could improve her niece’s chances in society.

  It would mean setting aside her pride and hiding from those who would speak ill of her. She didn’t like the idea of shrinking away and hiding but saw no other alternative.

  Gilchrist woke just as dusk was starting to make its presence known. He quickly washed in his now cold basin of water and saw to a carriage for their return trip the next day. It wasn’t until after he had found the proper transportation that he stood before Lady Abigail’s door to inquire if she would take dinner with him.

  They sat at the same table Gilchrist had found her at earlier that day as they ate their meal. It was just a spreading of ale, meat pie, and some boiled potatoes. It was humble but still served its purpose.

  “I have procured a coach and driver. We can leave first thing in the morning,” Gilchrist informed his companion.

  “I was thinking,” Lady Abigail replied. “If it’s not too much trouble, I think I would rather return to Wintercrest Manor?”

  “Of course,” Lord Gilchrist said, doing his best to discern her reasoning. “It would actually be more convenient for me anyway. My country estate is only a day’s ride west of it.”

  “Really?” Lady Abigail was surprised to hear this. She had no idea that it was quite that close.

  “Yes. Generally speaking though, we have stayed at the house for quite some years. My father always enjoyed staying in town. The estate is called Cumberton Park. I haven’t been there since I was a child and don’t remember it much.”

  “Will it be ready for you then?” Lady Abigail asked.

  Indeed, it was the only reason he had stayed in London so long after deciding to leave. A house out of use for so many years would take time to get ready and accumulate staff.

  “As ready as can be needed for just one person,” Gilchrist responded. “I don’t think Louisa or my mother plan on stopping in anytime soon,” he added with a hint of humor.

  “I just mean you are welcome at Wintercrest as long as needed. I am sure my brother would gladly have you stay. He planned to also return early from the season due to the duchess’s condition. Though now I do hope she can travel. I would hate to think I had kept her away from the twins longer,” Lady Abigail said to herself.

  Without much thought, Lord Gilchrist reached over the table and laid his hand on top of Lady Abigail’s. Though it was from the damaged side of his body, it was not as scarred as the rest of him. He rested it gently on the top of Lady Abigail’s hand and cherished the warm comfort of a touch. It was something he hadn’t experienced for some time.

  “I am sure Isabella is fine. She is a tough girl.”

  Lady Abigail didn’t pull away from his touch. In fact, she was just as comforted by it as his words. Though she would have thought to recoil at the roughness of the scar tissue, it was in fact actually very tender and delicate.

  Chapter 28

  The following day the road-worn and rumpled pair made their way into the back of a coach. Lady Abigail was happy to see that Gilchrist had produced a proper vehicle for long-distance travel with a sturdy roof and much plusher cushioning to the seats.

  It wasn’t until they got into the carriage that Lady Abigail realized for the first time that Lord Gilchrist was not using his usual walking cane.

  “Forgive me for asking, but has your leg healed? I just noticed you are walking without assistance.”

  “Oh,” Lord Gilchrist said, unconsciously rubbing his left thigh as if he too had just realized for himself that he was doing well without the help.

  “I actually didn’t bring it because it would have been hard to keep at such a speed on horseback. Honestly, though, until just now I had forgotten all about the pain.”

  “How interesting. You walk as if you never needed it,” Lady Abigail continued.

  She was happy that at least for the remainder of this carriage ride up north she would now have a companion worth conversing with.

  “Perhaps it was just all up in my head,” Gilchrist said with a chuckle to himself. “I suppose much goes on up there that I am not entirely aware of,” he added, then instantly regretted giving up such information so freely.

  Lord Gilchrist always seemed to find himself sharing with Lady Abigail more than he wanted or had ever done with another. There was something about her, most likely the way he felt about her, that made him willing to share all of what he had with her.

  “You know Christian told me a story once of a man on his ship. He had been holding on to some rigging during a storm. A giant wave had crashed the vessel, and in the process, he was whipped from his spot while his arm was still tangled in the rigging. The force of the wave…well,” Lady Abigail seemed to blush knowing that what she was about to say was not exactly proper conversation to come out of a lady’s mouth.

  “Well, it removed his arm completely. The point of the story is,” she added hastily when Gilchrist sported that smile ready to tease her for her unladylike story, “that the sailor claimed he could still feel his arm. Even though he knew full well it wasn’t there, he said it still held a constant grip to the rigging in his mind.”

  “So you think my mind was holding on to the pain until something came along that forced me to forget it,” he said to follow his own line of thought.

  Gilchrist considered this for a minute. It certainly was true that his mind was holding on to a great deal of pain that he would have otherwise rather let go off. It brought logical sense to his words.

  “Then I suppose I should thank you,” he said after a beat.

  “Whatever for?” Lady Abigail asked with her eyes open wide in confusion.

  “Had you not been taken by Heshing I might have always needed the cane. You have saved me a great deal of pain for the rest of my life.”

  “I am quite sure you did the same for me,” Lady Abigail responded.

  They rode the way to Wintercrest, arriving on the estate well into the night. It was a relief to Lady Abigail when her sleepy eyes beheld the long gravel road with towering trees on either side that led to her home.

  She wasn’t sure if there would be any reception for them as they were not expected and came in the dead of night. There was, however, a footman who must have been alerted to their approach as well as the head housekeeper waiting once they pulled up to the main door.

  “Lady Abigail,” Mrs. Smith, the housekeeper, said with a curtsy. “Forgive the disorganization; we didn’t know you were expected.”

  “Nonsense,” Lady Abigail waved the lady off. “I didn’t know either until just yesterday. Please let me introduce Lord Colton Frasier, the Earl of Gilchrist. He was kind enough to see me safely home.”

  “And it’s just the two of you,” Mrs. Smith asked, looking around for perhaps a maid that might have accompanied her.

  “Yes,” Lady Abigail said, not wanting to answer the unasked question of why she was alone on a trip spanning several days, traveling exclusively with a man. “Would you please see that Lord Gilchrist is made comfortable for the night?”

  “Yes, of course, my lady,” Mrs. Smith said, coming back to her senses.

  Lady Abigail knew the woman to be kind and not the prying type. She was an immense step up from their last housekeeper, Mrs. Peterson, who had been altogether too prudish and strict. However, with two of the servants already aware that she had arrived unaccompanied with a man, it would not take long for the rest of the household to whisper over the cause.

  It really didn't make much difference anyway. Heshing had seemed to make a point of taking Lady Abigail away from her London home in the most public way. It was inevitable that the whole ton had already spread the news of their disappearance.

  Even if Heshing had the gall to return to town without her and spoke nothing on the matter, she would still be damaged goods. The chances of Heshing keeping his mouth
shut and not spreading his own telling of their adventure was a minuscule chance.

  The following morning she was woken by three bouncing bodies jostling her bed. It took Lady Abigail only a second to realize that Jackie had helped the twins escape the nursery to come find their aunt upon news of her late night arrival.

  “Auntie Abigail!” the twins seemed to shout over and over again. “Where is Mummy? Did she and Daddy come home with you too? Nursie only told us you were home,” they barraged Lady Abigail with question after question.

  Finally, Lady Abigail managed to sit up in her bed and wake up properly while the twins bounced in place, eager for answers.

  “Your mother wasn’t feeling well and will be coming home not far behind me.”

  “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but then why are you here without them?” Jackie asked as she sat much calmer at the edge of Lady Abigail’s bed.

  “Oh,” Lady Abigail said with a huff of air. “It is a very long story. I must tell it to your grandmother first. I promise to visit you all in the nursery later, though,” Lady Abigail responded.

  Jackie got the two small twins to reluctantly leave their aunt’s side as the lady’s maid came in to help her get ready for the day. It was so lovely for Lady Abigail to be home again, she was rather preferring the idea of never returning to town.

  Lady Abigail found her mother seated alone in the breakfast room. She couldn’t help but feel guilty for leaving her mother so alone these last few months.

  Her mother walked over and embraced her silently. She didn’t have to know what happened to see that something devastating had brought her daughter back home. In an instant Lady Abigail began to shed tears she had not known she was holding back.

  They held each other silently in the breakfast room while Lady Abigail released all her fear, sorrow, and anxiety of the previous few days in her mother’s arms.

  Finally, the two came to sit, and in the peace of the early morning light that streamed through the window, Lady Abigail told her mother all that had happened since leaving Wintercrest. By the end, both ladies were yet again dabbing at their eyes with handkerchiefs.

  “I am so sorry, Mother, I have ruined us all,” Lady Abigail said, meaning her nieces along with herself.

  “Of course not, my dear. Elisabeth is much too young for this to matter to her standing. Jackie…” the dowager duchess hesitated, knowing that this would affect her oldest grandchild.

  “Is tainted by being my relation,” Lady Abigail finished. “I feel so awful about it.”

  “We will find a way to make it right, not just for Jackie, but for you also.”

  “I’m afraid the only way to do that would have been to marry the man. I couldn’t bring myself to do so when my rescuer came to my aid.”

  “And I am glad he did. I would not wish you to marry such a man. The minute I see Lord Gilchrist I will kiss him on the cheek for all the good he has done for you.”

  She paused for a minute, and Lady Abigail smiled to herself. She had described Gilchrist’s scars to her mother, but she wondered if she would really go as far as to kiss him on the cheek when she did finally set eyes on him.

  “If we simply procure a suitable husband for you, and quickly, it will fix all of this mess that the horrible Lord Heshing caused,” the dowager duchess said, as she reached back to the recesses of her mind for just such a candidate.

  Before Lady Abigail could respond to her mother’s wish list, the doors to the breakfast room opened, and both ladies turned to see Gilchrist enter.

  “Forgive me, Your Grace,” he said with a bow to Lady Abigail’s mother. “I didn’t mean to interrupt. I was instructed here for breakfast, but I can come back later.”

  He was prepared for a ghastly look of fear from the lady or at the very least an indication that she was taken aback. It must be admitted that the dowager duchess did open her mouth in shock for an instant.

  She needed no introduction, however, to know that this man before her was Lord Colton Frasier, hero of her daughter's virtue and the Earl of Gilchrist. She promptly stood and, walking over to the confused gentleman, landed a kiss right on the side of his right cheek.

  Chapter 29

  Lord Gilchrist stood in stunned silence. He was sure that was the very first time he had received such a reaction when meeting a lady for the first time. Lady Abigail, however, burst out in tears, this time from laughter.

  It took a good minute before Lady Abigail regained her composure, so comical was the sight that had transpired before her. Finally, when she did, she made the proper but probably not necessary introductions between her mother and Lord Gilchrist.

  “I am so grateful to you, Lord Gilchrist,” the dowager duchess said with every fiber of her being.

  “It was an honor, Your Grace,” Gilchrist said with another embarrassed bow. He still hadn’t quite overcome their first sudden meeting and was pink in the ear.

  He shuffled his way over to take a seat at the breakfast table after the dowager duchess encouraged him to do so. He couldn’t bear to raise his eyes to meet Lady Abigail.

  Normally he would have jabbed her good for laughing at his expense. However, he had heard the words the dowager duchess spoke before they were drawn to his entrance. It reminded him of the promise he made to the duke to offer Lady Abigail marriage.

  It has seemed like a logical idea at the time. That seemed a million years ago now and not just a few days and a couple of hundred miles. It would have been a reasonable idea for Lady Abigail to save herself the embarrassment of an elopement gone wrong.

  At the same time, it would have given him a wife to produce an heir to the Gilchrist name. This was something he was sure he would never have gotten otherwise, even in the wilds of the new Americas.

  The logical agreement had been all business. However, Gilchrist couldn’t deny the feelings he had for Lady Abigail that made the whole thing far less of a contract of convenience for him.

  Lord Gilchrist, however, knew the longer he waited to bring up the matter the harder it would be. Soon the duke would arrive at his home and ask his sister what her answer had been to Gilchrist. What would happen when he learned no question had been asked?

  “Lady Abigail,” he finally said midway through his morning meal. “I was wondering if perhaps this afternoon you might take me around the grounds a bit. I wouldn’t mind seeing some of it before I am on my way, if you don’t mind?”

  Both ladies’ red brows were peaked at this question. He couldn’t help but notice how much Lady Abigail was a younger version of her mother. Yes, the dowager duchess had more years worn on her face, and the vibrant red of her hair was dulled with silver, but she was still a very fine-looking woman.

  His heart beat fast at the thought that it could quite possibly be the face of Lady Abigail he would see in the future, should she accept his proposal.

  “Of course, I would be happy to,” Lady Abigail responded.

  “You are welcome to stay as long as you would like, Lord Gilchrist,” the dowager duchess chimed in. “I am sure my son won’t be far behind your own arrival. You must promise to stay till they both are here at least?”

  Lord Gilchrist thought that all rather depended on the answer that Lady Abigail would give him this afternoon. That was if he had the courage actually to ask. Nonetheless, he promised to do so for the sake of the dowager duchess.

  For the first few minutes, Lady Abigail took Lord Gilchrist around the gardens just behind the manor house. She could tell there was something weighing intensely on his mind.

  “When your brother came to see me,” Gilchrist finally said, “and told me about what happened, I told him I would be happy to take his place in searching you out.”

  Gilchrist seemed to fidget with his hands as a nervous habit. Lady Abigail wasn’t sure if she had ever seen him nervous like this before.

  “You see, we weren’t sure if you had truly gone willingly with Heshing, though your brother suspected otherwise. I promised that no matter th
e reason for your departure, I would make sure you were seen safe and securely settled.”

  “And so you have,” Lady Abigail said, still unsure where he was going with this speech.

  She looked up at him, squinting against the rare rays of sunshine they got so far up north. As always, he had made sure to keep her on his right side, though she was sure he knew that she was not bothered by his deformity. In this light, however, looking on his perfect side, she imagined it was what a Greek god from old mythology might have looked like.

  “Your brother was very concerned about the repercussions of retaking you from the unwanted elopement.”

  “For my nieces,” Lady Abigail, said filled with a massive guilt.

  “Not just them, but yourself as well. I also couldn’t help but overhear your mother’s last few words before I came into the breakfast room this morning.”

  It seemed to be an embarrassing way to ask a woman to marry him, but Gilchrist couldn’t seem to manage any other way. The charming man he once was had long since died in the fire. The man that was left was ultimately not up to the task of enticing a woman to marry him.

  “I am not quite sure what you are trying to say,” Lady Abigail said, shielding her eyes with a gloved hand against her face as she looked up at Lord Gilchrist.

  She had been happy to free herself of parasols and hats now back at her own home and away from the judgmental eyes of the ton. At this moment, while she had to look up to see Gilchrist’s meaning on his face, she rather wished she had suffered one.

  “What I am trying to say,” Gilchrist took a deep breath before stopping and turning to face the lady head-on. “I suggested to the duke that a marriage contract be procured between the two of us,” he said in a quick succession of words.

  Once it was out, he gave a deep sigh. He had done his part. If the lady refused him, he would inevitably break into a million pieces, so much did he care for her. But that being said, he would also respect her wishes to live a life of her choosing. He would not force himself upon the lady.