When it arrived, Isabella’s wedding day was filled with many happy moments, in sharp contrast to her first marriage ceremony in Yorkshire. It was late evening when she and Hal were finally alone – Julia and Freddy had gone to visit Freddy’s parents before returning for their own wedding; Harriet and Sir Seymour had invited Dominic to Gloucestershire and he had been eager to go when he discovered one of Sir Seymour’s tenants possessed a tame barn owl; Theo, having finished his essay, had returned to London while Lady Bramwell had decided to visit Bath with Lady Bingham, Lukas and Hugo.
Dr Dalton was the last guest to depart and, while Hal was saying goodbye to him, Isabella went upstairs to soak in the luxuriously scented bath that Mary had prepared in her dressing-room. After drying herself, she applied a few drops of the perfume that Hal loved and slipped into her nightgown, a diaphanous garment with ribbon fastenings given to her as a wedding gift by Julia.
The bedroom was bathed in the rosy glow of candlelight, and Isabella sat at the dressing-table to take the pins from her hair. The door opened and Hal came in, moving to stand behind her and place his hands on her shoulders. He was dressed only in a loose robe which revealed the hard musculature of his chest dusted with dark hair. Desire began to curl slowly outwards from Isabella’s core; every look, glance and touch they had exchanged since their first meeting had affected her, but to see him like this took her breath away and made her quiver with anticipation.
Reaching up to cover his hand with her own, she said, ‘It has been a wonderful day.’
He smiled lovingly at her reflection in the mirror. ‘Have I told you today how lovely you are?’
‘At least twenty times,’ she replied, smiling back.
‘That is not nearly enough.’ His mouth coursed slowly over her skin, smoothing away the locks of hair from her throat and whispering a new endearment each time he pressed his lips to her flesh. She gasped, arching her neck and leaning back to let him continue his trail of kisses. When he had completed the task to his satisfaction, he murmured into her ear, ‘I have a gift for you, my love.’
Hal took a slim black box from the pocket of his robe and gave it to her. She smiled again at his reflection in the mirror and opened it to reveal an exquisite necklace: a string of pearls interspersed with diamonds, with a single tear-shaped diamond at its centre. Isabella drew in a breath. ‘Oh, it is enchanting! Surely it was very expensive?’
He did not answer this, but grinned at her obvious pleasure. ‘Let me put it on for you.’
He placed the necklace around her throat, tiny shivers running through her where his fingers brushed against her skin. Isabella looked in the mirror; the pearls shimmered and diamonds sparkled with inner fire as they caught the light. She touched her fingertips to the necklace and said in an emotional voice, ‘Are you sure, Hal? It is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.’
‘You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. It is my wedding gift to you so wear it for me tonight.’ When she stood up and turned to face him, Hal saw her nightgown clearly for the first time; one glimpse at her body, tantalizingly revealed through that gossamer fabric, sent his pulse soaring. He looked into her eyes and saw the flicker of apprehension there. ‘Don’t be afraid, my love,’ he said, gently. ‘Tonight will be like nothing you have experienced before.’
‘I’m not afraid in that way – not with you. I’m only …’ she hesitated, before whispering, ‘I’m only afraid of disappointing you.’
He took her hands tightly in his. ‘Then don’t be because you could never disappoint me,’ he said, his gaze brimming with passion. ‘I love you so much – you mean everything to me. I want to show you such pleasure that it will wipe away painful memories, to love you until our heart and souls are one.’
Visibly trembling, Isabella forced her lips into a smile. ‘I love you, Hal, and I want you to love me … love me until I forget the past.’
‘I will,’ was his murmured promise. ‘You’re so beautiful.’ Taking her face gently between his hands, he pressed a slow, smouldering kiss against her lips.
His nearness, the scent of his skin and the whisper of his breath, filled Isabella’s senses. Unable to think or speak any longer, she melted into his embrace, running her hands over his chest and finding the sensation of his skin beneath her fingertips intensely thrilling. His lips never leaving hers, he reached up to remove the remaining pins from her hair, threading his fingers through its silky weight.
Later, Isabella drifted on a tide of elation. A sudden deluge of emotion – gratitude, respect, desire and love – welled up in her and, from under closed eyelids, large tears formed.
Hal looked down to see her tears. ‘Sweetheart, what’s wrong?’
‘Nothing,’ she whispered. ‘It’s just that… You see, I never knew… I never understood it could be like that.’
‘It was beautiful because we shared our hearts, minds and bodies out of love,’ he said, before brushing his lips over hers once more.
Isabella responded, luxuriating in being thoroughly kissed. ‘When did you realize you loved me?’
‘Shortly after we met.’ Hal smiled, remembering. ‘I saw the vulnerability in your eyes and, in spite of your disdain, I think I fell in love with you then.’
‘I could not acknowledge I loved you, even to myself, because I was afraid,’ she admitted. ‘By stifling my emotions, I thought I could protect myself from getting hurt again. But you saw what was really in my heart, Hal – your love has proved that I am not the frigid creature I was branded.’
‘You never were, my darling. It was cruel treatment that made you outwardly cold. You are warm and passionate. All you ever needed was our love to guide you.’
She reached up to place her palm against his cheek and afterwards, they shared caresses, endearments and soft laughter as they planned their future.
Epilogue
Late June, one year later
Latent, oppressive heat hung in the air as the first raindrops of the gathering storm began to fall. Thunder rumbled in the distance and the dark clouds overhead had already covered the sun, leaving the evening light outside Chenning gloomy and threatening.
But the elegant, dark-haired woman who waited anxiously outside the bedroom scarcely noticed the rain on the window. She paced to and fro, glancing occasionally at the closed door. Murmured voices rose from downstairs on the humid air, but she listened only for sounds from within the room.
Suddenly, the door opened and, after quietly closing it behind him, Hal looked at his mother. ‘It is over,’ he said with a deep sigh, raking his fingers though his hair.
Lady Bramwell started forward in concern; she could see that his eyes were wet with tears. ‘Isabella, is she—?’
Pushing a hand across his eyes, he said in a wavering voice, ‘Isabella is well, as is the baby – we have a beautiful daughter.’
‘Oh, how wonderful!’ Marguerite embraced him, smiling now she appreciated his tears were of joy and relief. ‘Congratulations! May I see Isabella soon? And my new granddaughter, of course.’
‘She is tired, but she would like to see you; Dr Dalton has finished attending to her and the baby.’
‘I shall go in, just as soon as I have told everyone – they have been waiting anxiously.’
‘Tell them the good news and ask Dominic to come up,’ replied Hal. ‘We want him to see his sister.’
As Lady Bramwell hurried away downstairs, Hal went back into the room. A tired but content Isabella sat in bed holding their daughter, who was wrapped in a shawl and sleeping soundly. He kissed his wife before reaching out for her hand and gazing in wonderment at the life they had created.
Tears still stood in his eyes and observing them, Isabella said softly, ‘My love, I am quite well, I assure you. Tiredness is to be expected, you know, and at least my confinement was quicker this time.’
Dr Dalton, who was packing away his medical bag on the other side of the room, shook his head and chuckled. ‘I have never seen a husband so anxious
during his wife’s confinement; for the first time in all my years of experience, he refused to leave the room during the baby’s arrival. If I did not know you well, Hal, I would be offended and think you did not trust me to look after your Isabella.’
‘It is not that I did not trust you,’ explained Hal, ‘but Isabella is everything to me and I needed to assure myself that—’
Dr Dalton waved a hand and interjected, ‘I quite understand. Perhaps you will start a new fashion for fathers to be present at the arrival of their offspring. What did you think of the experience?’
‘It was incredibly emotional – in spite of feeling like my heart was being ripped out to see Isabella in pain.’
‘But it was worthwhile because we have a beautiful baby,’ she replied, looking down at the sleeping child. ‘The names we have chosen suit her well, Hal, don’t you think?’
‘Elise after your mother and Helena, meaning bright and shining. Elise Helena – it sounds as perfect as she is.’
‘I shall return in the morning, Isabella,’ said the doctor. ‘Make sure you have as much rest as that lovely scrap of humanity will allow.’
Dr Dalton received no reply to this and, observing that they were now oblivious to his presence, slipped out of the room.
‘You never looked more beautiful than you do at this moment, my love,’ said Hal, running his gaze over her face
‘I look completely exhausted,’ replied Isabella, laughing.
‘Not to my eyes.’
Teasingly, she murmured, ‘But then you are very biased.’
‘I don’t deny it,’ said Hal, with a grin.
The safe arrival of their daughter was the culmination of a wonderful year, thought Isabella. They had spent the summer after their marriage at Chenning. She and Hal had not wanted to leave Dominic immediately after the wedding, so they had delayed their time alone until they were certain he was settled in his new surroundings. Dominic had adapted quickly, discovering two more heroes in Lukas and Hugo who spent the summer initiating him into the delights of their latest inventions. Harriet and Sir Seymour had visited often and Hal, Isabella and Dominic had journeyed to Gloucestershire to spend a fortnight at Sir Seymour’s estate.
Lady Bramwell had moved to the Dower House half a mile away, in spite of Isabella’s protests that it was not necessary – the house was big enough to accommodate an army, she had argued. Her mother-in-law had merely laughed and declared, ‘I was newly wed myself once and very much in love, as you are; you need time to enjoy each other’s company without fear of being disturbed. Lukas and Hugo can stay with me at the Dower House until they return to school.’ Marguerite’s eyes had twinkled as she added, ‘And you may send Dominic to me any time you wish to be alone.’
Julia and Freddy had also visited often. Julia’s vivacious nature complimented Freddy’s intensity and ensured their marriage was as loving as their reconciliation in Sussex had promised. Now, they too had additional joy since Julia had discovered she was expecting a baby at the end of the year.
Theo had left Oxford and, as well as cutting a dash around London, occasionally descended on Chenning to talk animatedly about his new wine importing venture. The wine he had discovered in the cellar at Haystacks had proved the starting point for his interest and, with his usual vigour, he was persuading his friends to purchase far more wine than they needed by convincing them it would be an excellent investment.
Haystacks itself had been fully renovated. The house was connected with so many delightful memories from that night the previous June that neither Isabella nor Hal could part with it and had decided to use it as a summer home near the coast. They had spent two blissful weeks alone there in October, their happiness finding expression in tender moments by day and passionate nights. Isabella’s lips curved into a smile at the memory; their baby had been conceived during that autumn idyll at Haystacks.
Hal watched her smile and, finding her as irresistible as ever, leaned over to touch his mouth to hers again just as Dominic entered, excitement visible on his face.
He climbed on to the bed. ‘I want to see my new sister. What’s her name?’
‘Elise Helena,’ replied his mother. ‘Do you like it, Dominic?’
‘E-lise Hel-e-na,’ he replied, sounding out the syllables approvingly. ‘I like it very much, Mama.’
Isabella moved the shawl so that Dominic could see the baby’s face. The movement disturbed her, making her wriggle and screw up her features before yawning.
‘She’s very tiny,’ murmured Dominic, eyes wide with amazement. ‘Will she be able to play with me soon?’
‘Not for a little while yet, love, but she will soon be chasing after you and Aesop.’
‘Good,’ observed Dominic. Then, with a satisfied grin, he added, ‘I love Theo, Freddy, Julia, Hugo and Lukas, but they are all bigger than me – now I have a sister, I’m not the littlest any more!’
Hal and Isabella laughed at this, and then Hal said, ‘You’re a very special boy, Dominic, and your new baby sister is an angel.’ He looked up at his wife and added with a loving smile, ‘Just like her mother.’
Author’s Note
Dear Reader,
I hope you’ve enjoyed Hal and Isabella’s story. Here are a few behind-the-scenes facts you may find interesting…
Haystacks, the house in Sussex left to Isabella by her great uncle is loosely based on Trerice House in Cornwall, an example of an Elizabethan ‘E’ shaped house.
In the early part of the 19th century, London’s size and rapid expansion encouraged the growth of crime until it reached epidemic proportions. Alongside prosperous areas flourished seedier districts. Narrow alleys, streets and courts formed evil smelling, densely populated slums known as rookeries. The term rookery probably evolved from the slang verb ‘to rook’, meaning to cheat or steal, associated with the supposedly thieving nature of the rook bird.
The areas of Covent Garden and St. Giles’s were generally known as the most dangerous and depraved in the country, if not in Europe. St. Giles’s Rookery, nicknamed the Holy Land or Rats’ Castle, was the most notorious of all. It centred on Seven Dials.
Rookery inhabitants had their own peculiar cant language called St. Giles’s Greek, which produced words such as diver (a pickpocket), hearing cheats(ears), smelt(half guinea) and topping cheat(the gallows).
Flash houses (like the one Dominic was taken to immediately after being abducted) were places frequented by criminals. A combination of brothels, drinking places and centres for criminal intelligence, some were kept exclusively for young boys and girls. They were described as ‘hot beds of profligacy and vice’ and usually situated in the rookeries described above.
Most magistrates and law officers did not want to interfere with the flash houses. It was generally thought better to turn a blind eye, but there was another reason for this attitude. It was said that the flash houses were at the centre of policing; remove them and law officers would be deprived of the means of detecting crime.
By the time of the 1816 Select Committee report on the Police of the Metropolis officers mixed freely with the criminals. Many officers were lazy, many were also corrupt. The Committee heard from several witnesses about ‘hush money’ and underworld bribes. The Select Committee’s chairman, Henry Grey Bennet, reported:
‘There are above two hundred regular flash houses in the metropolis, all known to the police officers, which they frequent, many of them, open all night: that the landlords in numerous instances receive stolen goods, and are what are technically called fences; that this fact is known also to the officers, who, for obvious reasons, connive at the existence of these houses; that many of the houses are frequented by boys and girls of the ages of ten to fourteen and fifteen, who are exclusively admitted, who pass the night in gambling & debauchery, and who there sell and divide the plunder of the day, or who sally forth from these houses to rob in the street.’
Many flash houses owners were receivers, or fences. In Field Lane, Holborn, in the rooker
y bordered by Saffron Hill, Chick Lane and Field Lane, it was claimed that 4,000-5,000 stolen silk handkerchiefs were handled every week. The fences combined receiving stolen goods with training the child thieves who stole them, exploiting and holding complete control over their young charges.
The committee heard of the example of Mrs Jennings of Red Lion Market, White Cross Street: 'This is a most notorious Fence & keeps a house of ill fame. She has secret Rooms by doors out of Cupboards where she plants or secretes the property she buys till she has got it disposed of. Innumerable Girls & Boys of the Youngest class report to this House as she makes up more Beds & the House is thronged every night. She sanctions Robberies in her House which are continually committed by the Girls on Strangers whom they can inveigle into the House.’
The character Mother Jackson is based on the notorious Mrs Jennings, and on a Mrs Diner of Field Lane, Holborn, who dealt in nothing else but silk handkerchiefs and for years outwitted the officers who came to check up on her.
The wager that Lady Portland told Isabella that Hal was involved in would not have been unusual. Gambling was a passion in Regency times. Men and women indulged in gambling and for many it was a serious business and a serious addiction. Whole fortunes could be won and lost in one evening. Scandal and gossip proved fertile ground for betting. Members of the ton bet on such varied topics as the sex of their children (with their wives or their mistresses); on the time of death of their friends, and enemies, and on the state of the King’s health.
All the characters in Ice Angel are fictitious and the products of my imagination, with one exception: Sir Seymour’s acquaintance, Henry Grey Bennet. Grey Bennet was chair of the Select Committee mentioned above. A progressive MP and reformer, Grey Bennet did not immediately succeed in closing down flash houses but he did start the ball rolling by placing before Parliament an astonishing body of evidence that led eventually to change.
Lady Vane's Secret (Regency Secrets and Scandals Book 1) Page 22
