by Vella, Wendy
LADY IN DISTRESS
Isabella was the Langley sister everyone overlooked. Injured in the same accident that killed her parents, pain had become a constant part of her life, forcing her to observe from the sidelines. But now, after several months in a Scottish Clinic, she is no longer the same woman. Determined to take charge of her life and set her dreams in motion, she goes after the only man she has ever loved: Luke Fletcher, a man not born into her world but the only one she has ever wanted.
Lady In Distress is a work of fiction. Names, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Lady In Distress published by Wendy Vella
Copyright © 2014 Wendy Vella
ISBN KINDLE: 978-0-9922643-8-3
Dedication
This one is for my nieces and nephews;
Jenna, Hollie, Sam, Rory, Laura, Joseph, Tess, Chloe, Mateja & Rosa.
We may not see each other often, but just so you know, Aunty loves you xx
CHAPTER ONE
“I hope Finn made haste to reach Livvy the day we left, Luke. I don’t want her alone.”
“Alone with Jenny, Freddy and the dozen servants you forced upon them?”
Luke Fletcher looked at the man seated across the carriage from him as he spoke, his long legs stretched out, large booted feet crossed and rested beside him on the seat. He appeared relaxed but the tension in his jaw belied that claim. Luke knew he looked the same, when inside his stomach was a cauldron, bubbling with both anxiety and anticipation.
He would see her soon, Isabella Langley. The woman who had commanded his heart since he was old enough to understand the true meaning of love.
“Three servants, no more than that, and hardly a dozen, Fletcher. And she wanted to stay with Jenny and Freddy until I return in case she should need Jenny’s assistance for anything. Phoebe and Finn will have arrived by now, too, and will travel to be with Livvy every day from my home.”
“Don’t fret, Will, she will be fine with them all caring for her.”
“I don’t fret.” Will looked indignant.
Rubbing his chest, Luke looked out the window. Nerves churned inside him as he thought about seeing Bella again. Would she be changed? For so long she had been quiet, undemanding, her emotions locked away as she battled with the pain of her injury. Had the clinic actually helped her? Luke hoped it was so.
“No, you’re right. I am fretting.”
Will was married to the eldest of the Langley sisters, Livvy. They’d had a tumultuous beginning, but now were happy and expecting the birth of their first child in a few weeks. Will was here because Livvy demanded he come and get her sister Isabella, who had been rehabilitating in a Scottish clinic.
“But I had to come, because Livvy became so agitated when I said I would just send you, two drivers and two maids to collect Bella, that I feared she would have the baby right then. Finn even offered to come in my stead, but she said Bella deserved you and I to be the ones to collect her, and that it was the right thing to do.”
Bella had been in Luke’s thoughts since the day he’d dropped her here many months ago. He’d lost count of the amount of times he’d thought of coming to collect her, demand she return to her family and him, where she should never have left.
“Not much has scared me in my life, Luke, but this impending birth is addling my wits.”
“Which is entirely natural, as I’ve said many times.”
“I’m going to be a father, Luke.”
“Yes, you are.” They’d had this conversation constantly on the journey from England to Scotland and each time Will had paled. “A good one.”
Will nodded, then shook his head, as if to clear it.
“She will be different, Luke. There is little doubt in my mind about that.”
“Livvy?”
“Bella.”
“Weren’t we discussing Livvy, and impending childbirth?”
“It makes me nauseous so we’re moving to another topic. It’s my belief Isabella will have changed in many ways during her time here. She has never been away from her family for this long before and that alone will have given her independence.
“I think change was the reason for her visit here, Will, and should imagine she will be displeased if she hasn’t.”
Gray eyes held his steady. Luke’s never wavered; he’d fielded this particular look too many times to do so.
“More than her leg injury may have changed is what I meant, Fletcher, as you very well know.”
“Change happens to all of us, Will.”
I love you, Luke Fletcher, and I think you love me, too. It is my hope that you will give those words some consideration while I am gone and think about what the future holds.
Some consideration. Christ, he’d thought of nothing else. She’d said those words before entering the clinic, and they had stayed ingrained inside his head, rolling round and around until he was sure he’d go mad.
“Yes, you’ve certainly changed. With Freddy retired, I would have struggled had you not come to your senses and stepped into his shoes.”
“You’re welcome.”
“It’s your bloody business as well, Fletcher. It just took you awhile to understand that,” Will said.
They were friends, he and the man across from him, and had been for many years. He’d made a fortune in India when he’d accompanied Will there, but that mattered for nothing here in England. Here, you were judged by birth. As soon as he’d stepped back onto the solid soil of his homeland, he’d been reminded of that. Reminded that he was the son of a stable-master and a woman who washed clothes and cleaned houses for a living. Not many stepped over the great divide between the classes; in fact, he’d met none.
“It has not been easy for you, Luke, and I know you’ve chafed over the pompous attitude of many who will always see you as a class beneath them.”
Luke waved his gloved hand about. Even that had changed, since Isabella had left. Then, he’d still worn the clothes of a stable hand; now, he wore the clothes of gentleman, his gloves a pale gray that seemed to get soiled with ease. Of course, they were made for men who didn’t care to sully themselves with menial things, like opening doors and picking up after themselves.
“I have never chafed over anything in my life, and I’d thank you not to state otherwise, Ryder. I wasn’t born a gentleman. However, I was born with a sharp intellect, which some of your class believe is reserved for those who live above the stairs with a flock of servants.”
“Still.” His friend’s expression grew solemn. “It is not an easy adjustment, Luke, and the next one, when you take it, will be harder. English men of a certain class don’t like the prospect of change, and you represent it. The new generation of businessmen, the wealthy merchant who will make this country stronger if only the nobility looked further than the end of their noses and saw that.”
“Will, I have been shunned more times than I can count. I know where I stand, and if I choose to take the next step, I know they will never accept me as their equal. However, in my current position as your man of affairs, they have no need to, although I do find it difficult in business dealings that men look to you when it is me who is the more intelligent of the two of us.”
“Those fine clothes have made you delusional, Fletcher.”
They were brothers in every way but birth, he and Will Ryder, and Luke had never met a man he respected more.
“I hate introducing you as my man of affairs when you are so much more.”
He meant it; his best friend hated that they were not equals in the eyes of many. In fact, Luke believed it bothered Will more than him. He had never a
llowed the difference in their births to cloud their friendship; it was not the same for others, however.
When Luke thought about Isabella the difference became insurmountable. Along with his love for her and need to have her in his life was the reality of what she would give up for him. He wanted to marry her, wake with her in his arms, have her belly grow big like Livvy’s with his child, but could he ask her to give up the life she had always longed for? Because there were some who would never accept her if she wed him. She would be shunned, like him, and that would break Luke’s heart.
“Luke, we have never discussed what lies between you and Bella—”
“And as we have arrived at the clinic, now is not the right time, either.” Luke kept his voice calm.
“If you wish to talk to me about it—”
“I do not, so I would be grateful if you ceased that line of questioning.”
“Yet I must spill my innards constantly.”
“It is hardly my fault you rattle on like a woman.”
“I’m going to tell Livvy you said that.” Will’s gray eyes twinkled.
“I will deny it to my last breath. Now go and get Isabella and I shall wait with the carriage.”
Will gave him another one of his steady looks, the kind that quelled insubordinates and staff, but Luke just started right back, undeterred.
“I wonder that you still try that with me, Ryder, when you know your looks carry no weight.”
Will shrugged. “I’m hoping one day it will cower you.”
“When have I ever cowered to you?”
“One lives in hope.” Will flicked a hand then exited the carriage, with Luke following.
“My toes have been frozen since we crossed the border into Scotland, Luke,” Will stated, stamping his large, booted feet while he slapped his hands together hard. “Lord knows why yours are not the same.”
“I’m not a soft-bellied nobleman like you,” Luke stated, shooting a quick glance at the door of the building before them, but it still remained closed.
Rather than be displeased at his words, Will snorted his amusement. “Had we not been friends for more years than I have fingers to count, I’d take exception to that, Fletcher.”
“Go and get your sister-in-law.” Luke made a motion with his hand.
“You look pale, Luke. Is everything all right?” Instead, Will stepped closer to peer into Luke’s eyes.
“Clear off, will you,” he snapped, pushing Will’s shoulder which yielded him nothing.
“When you’re surly, you usually have something on your mind. Care to share?”
“No, I don’t. Now go away.”
Will chuckled again as he always did when he managed to annoy Luke.
Luke wondered how his friend couldn’t see that he was so tense his spine was about to snap. Bella would be here soon. After spending months in this clinic healing, she was about to walk out those doors and he had no idea how she would react to him after what she had said when last they met.
What would he say to her? Intent on occupying his mind, he moved to the second carriage that held Will’s valet and would take Bella’s maid on the return journey.
“Everything all right, Bids?”
The driver nodded. “Very good. Thank you, Mr. Fetcher. Bleedin’ freezing, but it’s a beautiful piece of country just the same.”
“Everything all right with you too, Sanders?” The valet sniffed a few times before stepping down to stretch his legs.
“My head cold is clearing. Thank you, Mr. Fletcher, and I shall be glad of Miss Sally’s company on the return journey.”
Luke nodded, then headed back to the other carriage while shooting another look at the clinic doors. No sign of her yet.
“It’s a pretty day right enough, but bloody chilly. Can see why these Scots have so much hair.”
“What?” Luke pulled his thoughts from Bella long enough to look up at the boy seated above him beside Moses, the driver. “What the hell are you blathering about?”
Jessie wiped his nose on the sleeve of his coat and followed it with a loud sniff. “The Scots, they’re all hairy like, ‘cus it keeps ‘em warm.”
“And the women are lumped in with this generalization too, are they?”
“Weeeeel, there was that innkeeper’s missus.” Jessie’s stories, at best, were loosely related to the truth.
“Shut up, you fool,” Moses cut him off with a glare which only made the boy laugh.
He heard the door open then and, suddenly, there she was, Isabella Langley. Looking at his hands briefly to collect himself, Luke inhaled deeply before looking at her again.
She appeared so small, walking beside her large brother-in-law, and Luke noticed at once that while she walked slowly, she hardly limped and had no cane. Dressed in a long, green coat and matching bonnet, she had on leather gloves and sturdy walking boots. Even at a glance, he could see she had lost the fragile air that had haunted her since the carriage accident that had killed her mother and injured her and her father. Her cheeks were flushed with healthy color and the smile on her face was wide and genuine and she looked beautiful. Bella always had, to his eye, but Luke could see the change in her instantly and he was happy for her, pleased that she suffered no longer.
However, he also realized in that moment that any hopes of the feelings he held for Isabella Langley waning in the time they had been apart were unfounded. He was still deeply in love with her, although now he knew it would be worse than before. Before, she had never ventured out, never had friends or entered society. But that would no longer be the case, because the vision before him was not the timid little girl he had dropped here months ago.
She carefully navigated the stairs, smiling and laughing with Will. Luke could hear her voice as she questioned him. Even that seemed stronger, less hesitant.
“Hello, Luke.”
She stopped before him and he felt the tension inside him now she was close.
“Isabella.” Luke took the hand she held out towards him and squeezed it, needing to touch her, needing to convey how happy he was that she was well. “You look beautiful.”
Her cheeks bloomed as a smile lit her eyes.
“Do I?”
He nodded, ignoring Will who was watching intently.
“And you, Luke, you look different, too.”
“I have taken Freddy’s position, since he retired.”
“Can we continue this inside? My ears have just gone numb,” Will stated behind them, opening the carriage door; he then hurried them inside.
***
Bella pretended to settle herself on the seat and drew in a deep, steadying breath. Luke Fletcher took the space beside her, with Will across from her, which she was thankful for. Looking at Luke for long periods of time just made her nervous, and dressed as he now was, as a gentleman, in polished hessians, gray breeches, white shirt and black jacket, he was devastatingly handsome. He’d always made her feel that way; her stomach would flutter and she’d say silly things. It was a curse, but one she’d had since realizing how much she loved him.
Bella had said what she had to Luke before entering the clinic because she was determined that when she came out, they would settle matters between them. She had spent far too much of her life thinking about or watching him, and she needed to know, once and for all, if he could push aside his birth and hers, so they could begin their lives together.
He’d never spoken of his love, but she knew how he felt, because it was there in his eyes when he looked at her, and his hands when he touched her.
She had tried to stop loving him, tried to focus on someone else, but it had been impossible. He would simply offer her his hand to help her down from the carriage and her heart would do a silly little dance as she looked into his pale, blue eyes. He would give her that intense, searching look that he seemed to reserve only for her and she would be lost again.
Tall and lean, he had thick brown hair and a body that carried not a spare ounce of weight, honed from years of hard
work. He’d often carried her when she had been unable to walk, and those moments had been both heaven and hell. Heaven to be in the arms of the man she loved and hell that she could not tell him how she felt.
“So Phoebe, Finn and Livvy await us in Twoaks?” Bella said, determined not to dwell on the past.
“Yes. Phoebe was too sick to travel here and Livvy is too far along to do so comfortably.”
Bella saw the worry on Will’s face.
“I’m not sure why you are here when you are so obviously worried for your wife?” she added, looking at him.
Both Luke and Will laughed, which forced her to look at the man beside him. Laughter made him appear younger.
“Livvy would have worked herself into a bloody frenzy had I not come, Bella. She was sure you would be abducted and sold into slavery if Luke and I were not the ones to accompany you back to London.”
Bella had noticed that the only thing that really had the ability to unsettle her brother-in-law was Livvy.
“And Livvy is due in four or five weeks, Will?” His skin took on a grayish tinge as she spoke.
“Dear Lord, don’t remind me,” he groaned. “She’s staying at Willow Hall, with Freddy and Jenny while we are away. Our house, she says, is too far away from them should she need them, even though my brother promised to call upon her each day, and I have an army of servants there to care for her.”
“She will be fine, Will. Mother had no problems, so I’m sure she will not, either.”
“Tell us about your stay here, Bella. There will be plenty of time to discuss the birth of my children in the coming weeks,” Will said.
“It was amazing,” Bella sighed. “More than amazing. It was fantastic, and everything I thought it would be. I needed to stay those extra months, though, as I was really only beginning to see the benefits then.”
“Your sisters cried, of course, when they received your letter.” Will’s words made Bella smile.
“Sally, my maid, has learnt the treatments and will help me to continue with them. Some are still painful, but are getting easier. I must walk every day, rain or sunshine. This is very important, as the muscles must be used and stretched.”
