by Heather Boyd
“There is plenty of time,” Aunt Pen said. “I will attend to it directly, but first our guests are most anxious to see you.”
Her aunt had guided Sally through society’s murky waters and comforted her when her parents were at war, which had been often in recent years. She owed her so much. “I will be there soon.”
Sally stepped into the green gown, and Louisa fastened her at the back as Aunt Pen examined the wedding gown that had been left lying across the bed.
“A white flag. A flag of surrender?” Her aunt glanced at Evelyn, frowning severely. “Only you could have done that.”
“Maitland stitched a hangman’s noose on his last visit home,” Evelyn protested, speaking of Sally’s elder brother. “I was just following his example.”
“How many times must I warn you that following in your elder cousin’s footsteps will only cause you pain?” Aunt Pen caught Evelyn’s face gently and pressed a sweet kiss to her brow. “Maitland and I had words about his attitude to marriage before he left for his new assignment. The example he sets is appalling. He should already be setting up his nursery.”
Despite the topic, Sally smiled at the mild bickering. Her family was noisy, bossy, and opinionated in private. She would not have them any other way. She caught Evelyn’s eye. “Never admit fault.”
Evelyn smirked and sat up a little straighter. “Always repay in kind,” the girl replied, reciting the second line of the family motto before she kissed Aunt Pen’s wrinkled cheek.
“Family first,” Aunt Pen replied with a rueful smile, completing the trilogy as she moved away from the bed. “And soon you will have a new family to please, Sally. I would suggest you make your way to the saloon very soon. Lady Ellicott is rather obviously impatient.”
“I am coming now.” Sally winced though. As much as she liked Ellicott, his mother’s impatience could give her a megrim. She would have to learn how to bear that too.
Aunt Pen turned in the opposite direction as they reached the hall.
Sally stopped her. “Are you not coming with me, Aunt?”
Aunt Pen brushed her cheek with her knuckles, a fleeting gesture of affection. “There is something I must do this evening. But I am told there is to be an additional gentleman for dinner, so you will not lack for company.”
“I am sorry you cannot join us.” She smiled though, anticipating another of her grandfather’s staid acquaintances had dropped by to talk about the war and been convinced to spend the night. It kept Rutherford happy to pounce on anyone with an interest in the topic. He was forever poring over war reports and speculating where the fighting would happen next. It would be nice to have another man at dinner to even the numbers.
When Aunt Pen was out of sight, Evelyn shook her head. “Is it strange to anyone else but me that she is busy tonight of all nights?”
“Not really. She is always busy with something for the duke. Why do you ask?”
Evelyn hesitated a moment. “I do not think Aunt Pen likes that you are to marry.”
“Of course she is happy about the marriage.” Sally shook her head, unable to fathom such a response. “They all get along famously together.”
“Evelyn,” Louisa said in warning, “do not gossip about the family.”
Evelyn set her hands to her hips. “Well, she should know.”
“Know what?”
Louisa groaned. “Evelyn has this ridiculous idea in her head that Aunt Pen is not pleased you chose Lord Ellicott as a husband, despite the fact she has said absolutely nothing against the idea.”
“You should only marry a man you are madly in love with,” Evelyn said. “I am sure Aunt Pen agrees with me. She is not married.”
Sally addressed her cousin calmly. “I do care for Ellicott.”
“But that is not love,” Evelyn said and then moved a few paces away as Louisa shushed her. “Not the way you loved him.”
Sally reeled back a step. Him could only refer to one man, and her family had promised never to remind her of Felix Hastings. “Do not dare spoil today of all days by mentioning that devil.”
“But you loved him,” Evelyn cried passionately.
“And what a fool that made me.” Sally stiffened at the memory of her humiliation at the hands of a fortune hunter. The fortune had not even been money. It had been the early advancement of his career to captain years before he deserved the post.
“Ignore her.” Louisa caught her arm and squeezed. “She has become a blithering idiot when it comes to romance and the male of the species. She even suggested that funny old man, Sir Henley Jackson, was trying to court Aunt Pen once, so that says a lot about her state of mind.”
Sally laughed to shake off the memory of Felix’s betrayal, but the pain was always there. “Aunt Pen will never marry. She could never stand to be away from Newberry Park for long. She rarely goes anywhere these days except to visit with Arabella and Rothwell now they have patched up their differences. She is happy as she is, so do not talk foolishness.”
“I agree.” Louisa nodded. “You cannot count on love at first sight or otherwise. That is just a delusion.”
“Not every love is the same.” Sally was well aware her feelings for Ellicott fell short by a wide margin from those she had once held dear. She had grown up a lot since those foolish, impulsive days. She had made mistakes and almost paid the price, but she knew Ellicott’s character and had no doubts about what sort of husband he would make. It was not a grand passion she had with the earl, but it was enough for her to begin with.
Tonight’s dinner and the announcement of her engagement would be an event she would remember for the rest of her life.
Chapter Five
Felix had been informed that the Duke of Rutherford dined formally every night and kept to a strict schedule worthy of a naval captain running drills on His Majesty’s fastest frigate. As he slipped his arms into his dress uniform and straightened the gold epaulets, he cursed Admiral Templeton yet again for keeping him waiting. He should not be here. He should be in London pleading Jennings’s case, not dressing to impress a family that denied any connection beyond the navy.
Besides, what should he say when he came face-to-face with Sally Ford? Especially now that someone else was courting her? Did you miss me seemed wildly inappropriate, but it was the question he had wondered most of all over the years.
He had missed her.
He cursed and stepped into the hall only to come upon a liveried servant outside his door.
The slightly built man with a shock of ginger hair bowed formally. “Mr. Morgan sent me to fetch you to dinner, Captain Hastings.”
Felix pulled closed the door to his chamber, somewhat relieved, to be honest, at having an escort. Newberry Park was a large, sprawling home, and he did not want to blunder about like a ship without sails.
“Lead the way,” he murmured. After a few steps, he glanced at the man escorting him. “Your face is familiar. What is your name?”
“Rodmell, sir.”
He recognized the name only vaguely. “Captain Lord Maitland’s valet?”
Captain Maitland was Sally’s elder brother, a viscount, and not his particular friend of late.
“Yes, sir.” The man nodded, smiling proudly. “While he is away at sea, I am charged with attending to the duke’s guests. If you are in agreement, I’ll be assigned to you from tomorrow morning to act as your valet.”
“I would appreciate that very much.” Maitland’s man knew the ropes and could be depended upon to look after his uniform properly. “I am surprised he did not take you on board.”
“He felt his interests were better served with me remaining behind to keep him apprised of family developments.” The valet glanced over his shoulder. “If you do not mind my saying so, you look better than last time I saw you.”
Felix could not recall the fellow with any clarity or where their paths might have crossed in recent years. “When was that again?”
The valet winced. “Your nose was bloody from Lord Roth
well’s fists.”
“Ah,” he said carefully, any comfortable feelings around this man fading fast. Six years ago that had been. A time he could not forget for the injustice done to him.
He wisely clamped his mouth shut for the remainder of the journey downstairs. There was no sense revisiting the past, especially not when he had allowed his ignorance of navy politics to lead him into trouble and regretted it to this day.
At the bottom of the stairs, Rodmell paused. “The family and guests gather in the white drawing room before dinner every evening. Walk through that doorway and turn to the right. A dozen yards will bring you there. I hope you can find something in the evening to enjoy. Good luck.”
“Thank you,” he said but thought Rodmell’s remark odd.
Then the man bowed and fled through a servant’s doorway and toward the rear of the property as if the devil chased him.
Left to his own devices a moment, Felix took a breath and then squared his shoulders before strolling forward. How bad could seeing Sally again possibly be? He paused on the threshold of the room, surveying the scene before him. Little groupings had sprung up already. A trio of gentlemen, including Lord Ellicott, stood drinking on one side of the room, a half dozen women seated and gossiping on the other.
Sally stood in the center of the room with her back to him.
He did not need to see her face to recognize her.
He knew the curve of her neck and the blemish behind her ear very well.
Felix remembered the softness of her skin against his lips as if it were yesterday. He craved the strength of her fingers in his hair as he brought her to release with his tongue and mouth. His heart raced at the thought of her skin pressed against his once more.
His body tensed at the memory.
“Hastings,” the duke called, appearing from Sally’s shadow suddenly. He must have been there the whole time Felix had lingered at the door burning from within.
“Your Grace.” Felix swiftly buried the longing as Sally’s grandfather approached, reminding himself to keep his feelings private.
Rutherford hobbled closer, using his canes for support. “So glad you could join us.”
As if he could refuse. “A pleasure, Your Grace.”
Admiral Templeton, Earl of Templeton, Sally’s father and the duke’s heir, approached too. His face was red and he clutched a drink in hand. “Thank you for coming at such short notice. Sorry about this nonsense interfering with business.”
“I understand completely.” He nodded, noticing that Sally’s spine had stiffened as he spoke. It pleased him to know she recognized his voice after so long, because she had always had that effect on him. As a young man, he had been head over heels. Hopelessly drawn to her despite their differences in background and her being his commanding officer’s eldest daughter.
She turned slowly and their eyes met. The dark of the churning winter sea before a storm offered a friendlier welcome. Her eyes narrowed farther as he smiled. Perhaps he had expected too much of her to have seen the error in her assumptions on her own. Her father’s intrigues ran deep even now.
He bowed and took a step closer. “My lady.”
The courtesy, a formality to everyone else, rang true as he spoke the words. Sally had been his once, and he still considered her the star about which he turned. Everything he had done in his career was to protect her way of life. To prove himself worthy of winning her back.
The lady at Sally’s side took in his dress uniform with exaggerated slowness. “Do we know each other? Captain?”
A tense undercurrent swept the room when Sally made no immediate response.
He had not hoped for much of a welcome, but refusing to identify him was a cruel blow to his pride. Especially after what they had done together that last night. He faced the stranger and bowed. “Captain Felix Hastings at your service.”
The lady cast a startled glance at Sally but recovered her composure quickly, smiling with a fierceness he could not mistake for anything else but protectiveness of Sally. “Oh, I have long wanted to meet you, sir. Lady Duckworth, Arianna to my dearest friends, of Lofton Downs.”
The name Arianna was somewhat familiar, but not the title. There had been a woman, a connection of Sally’s, who had been spoken of frequently if he recalled correctly. Time and circumstance had kept them from meeting when they had been younger.
He bowed politely. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance,” he murmured, keeping watch on Sally’s face because she was near and he was uncertain of this other woman.
Lady Duckworth beamed at him. “Sally, have you been introduced?”
“I cannot recall.” She smiled, but her eyes flashed with irritation at the question.
“Yes, I think we have met before. In Portsmouth, six years ago it must have been now,” he answered for Sally. Her eyes narrowed to slits and he smiled widely, enjoying her discomfort. “I was a lieutenant aboard the admiral’s ship in those days.”
Young and foolish.
Sally cleared her throat. “Laurence, my younger brother, serves aboard the captain’s ship now.”
Oh, yes she remembered him. She just did not want to be reminded of the past or their engagement. Just like everyone else in her family. “Indeed, I do command him. He is a fine officer and a good man.”
Sally wore a smile that lacked warmth despite her next words. “Welcome to Newberry Park.”
“Thank you. It is a dream come true to be here.”
That startled her enough that she licked her lips, a sure sign of nervousness. “I hope you enjoy your brief respite and can return to your ship soon to continue the war against the French.”
Felix wanted her nervous. He wanted to get her alone too and rail at her, but not when there were witnesses, and most of them her relations.
When she linked arms with Lady Duckworth and smiled dismissively, he saw it as a sign he had gotten under her skin. She wanted him to go away, and he would eventually because his yearning for her had been hopeless then and still was. But first he would set the record straight about his intentions six years ago. “As soon as the admiral gives me leave I will go,” he assured her. “I keep my promises.”
She glanced away at his words and Felix took the time to drink in her profile, her elegance. Something he had known deep in his heart from the beginning that he had not deserved. A sudden smile lit up her face, and he turned to see what had pleased her.
Lord Ellicott.
He had noticed the man in London. In the few weeks he’d managed to come ashore they had attended some of the same society events. A popular fellow, he had a wide circle of friends who did very little with their time and wasted their funds on all sorts of gambling. Ellicott had danced with Sally often and an acquaintance—a woman who had not known their tangled history—had remarked that the pair was made for each other. Felix had trouble believing the overdressed popinjay sauntering toward them could possibly be accepted by a family of rough-and-tumble naval men.
When introduced, Ellicott exclaimed rudely, “Good God, I had heard you were dead.”
“Now where might that rumor have started?” He glanced at Sally for an answer, and she blushed. “Not yet, my lord, but the French are a determined lot, so who knows when my time on Earth will end.”
Sally laughed, a brittle false laugh he did not recognize or like. He looked her over again, noticing her elegance was as restrained as her laughter. She was entirely proper, and it hurt his eyes to see her gloriously curly hair had been tamed.
She only had eyes for Ellicott though as he stopped at her side. As if to prove her point that she had forgotten him, she claimed Ellicott’s arm too and drew him and Lady Duckworth away as if he were unworthy of standing in her presence.
Chastened by her indifference to a time that was still important to him, he turned his attention back to his commander. “Your message said it was urgent.”
“Later Hastings,” Templeton insisted, waving aside the matter as the duke had done earlier that day. His
eyes narrowed on his daughter. “Tomorrow is soon enough for what we have to talk about. Perhaps the day after.”
The duke cleared his throat and Templeton hurried off. “Now then, Captain, who do you not know?”
Chapter Six
Rutherford reacquainted Felix with those closest as if the genial host of a long-lost friend, but then a gong sounded and dinner was announced.
Lady Templeton drew close, her expression openly curious and transparently delighted to see him. “You are with me tonight, Captain.”
The duke raised a brow. “I trust you recall Lady Templeton, my daughter by marriage.”
“How could I forget?” He bowed deeply to Sally’s mother, a woman he had genuinely liked. Lady Templeton was nothing like her husband. She was warm and jolly and very quick with a laugh at no one’s expense. “A pleasure to see you again, my lady. You are as radiant as ever.”
“I see you have become even more handsome and incorrigible than ever before.” She smiled fondly, and he caught a glimpse of that former friendship in her expression. As she looked beyond him to the far side of the room where Sally and her friends had gathered, that spark dimmed. But with a toss of her head, she shook off whatever bothered her. “It is good to have you back onshore.”
“Thank you.” He held out his arm to the countess and escorted her in to dinner, saw her seated, and took his place at her side. Across the table was a woman who very much resembled Sally but must have been years younger. After a moment she smiled, and he realized it could only be Louisa Ford, his lieutenant’s twin sister, given the feeling of familiarity he experienced when she smiled. They had not been introduced as yet.
The countess touched his arm lightly, claiming his attention. “Have you seen my boys?”
He grinned, imagining the reaction of the three six-foot-and-more-tall giants on hearing themselves described as mere boys at the ages of thirty, three and twenty, and twenty respectively. “I would hardly call them boys, but my ship passed within shouting distance of Reckless Hope not two weeks ago. Maitland saluted and appeared in high spirits as we traded assignments. The ship looked to be in excellent condition.”
