The Duke’s Daughter - Lady Amelia Atherton: A Regency Romance Novel (Heart of a Gentleman Book 3)

by Isabella Thorne

  “She must pack like Aunt Ebba,” Amelia said to break the tension. Samuel smiled at her. “Do not fret,” he said encouragingly. “She will love you.”

  Samuel did allow her a moment to wash her face and repin her hair. She noticed that her eyes were bright and the dark circles had gone. She was not so bedraggled as she had thought. In fact, she was almost her former beauty, although her gown was a bit travel worn and her slippers were completely ruined. Amelia fortified herself to meet Samuel’s parents but it was not as taxing as she thought it would be. Patience and Aunt Ebba were there, discussing fashion and wedding plans with The Lady Blackburn.

  The wife of the Earl of Blackburn, and Samuel’s mother, was a compact vivacious woman who flitted from Patience to Amelia like a small bird, with copies of Ackermann’s latest fashion plates in hand. They already had tea on the table but Lady Blackburn called for a new pot to accommodate Amelia and Samuel. Samuel paused holding a brandy decanter. Instead of pouring, he closed it and returned to the table for tea. He and Amelia exchanged a glance. To Amelia, nothing tasted quite so good as hot tea with cream and sugar even with today’s excursion nothing could spoil the beverage.

  She sipped blissfully as Lady Blackburn spoke, “Lady Patience will marry my Percival first of course,” she said.

  “Oh Patience, how wonderful,” Amelia said. “When did Lord Beresford propose?”

  “He hasn’t actually spoken the words yet,” she said embarrassed. “But he did speak to his father, and so Lady Blackburn says I needn’t worry.”

  Lady Patience surely would not do as Amelia had done and take matters into her own hands, Amelia thought. She wondered if she should speak to Samuel about his brother’s tardiness and threw him a glance.

  “Well, Mother,” Samuel added. “Percy could not very well ride into London to ask for the lady’s hand in marriage when the Duke of Ely and most of London thought that he was on his way to an early grave until just recently.”

  Patience went a little white at the very thought and Aunt Ebba patted her hand.

  In no time at all Percival arrived with Samuel’s father the Earl, and Lady Blackburn called for dinner to be served. Amelia now realized that The Earl looked almost exactly like Samuel with a stouter build and graying hair. He spoke briefly to Amelia to welcome her to the family and thank her for her steadfastness this afternoon. He also remarked that he was glad that someone had been able to get his son Samuel off of that boat. Amelia wasn’t quite sure that was so, but before she could answer, Samuel interrupted.

  “It’s a ship,” Samuel corrected, “And my ship mates were bloody helpful this afternoon, Father.”

  His father leveled a gaze at Samuel and admonished him for his language in front of the ladies.

  “I think Samuel was smashing,” Percival interrupted. “I’m sure Samuel will get his Captaincy now; perhaps even a Knighthood, don’t you agree, Father?

  “I do,” The Earl said foregoing tea and pouring himself a glass of brandy.

  “You do?” Samuel asked. “You agree, Father? Is the world coming to an end?”

  “It might be,” he said exchanging a look with Lady Blackburn. “Your mother and I are in the same house.”

  Although it was considered gauche to partner with one’s spouse at dinner, the Earl of Blackburn gave her his arm and escorted his wife into dinner, followed by Amelia and Samuel and the others.

  “Whatever was The Duke thinking,” The Earl asked as the footman served a superb chestnut soup. “Surely he had to know he couldn’t get away with murder.”

  From what I was able to glean, both from records and from my brief discussion with your father,” Percy said with a nod to Amelia. “Your Uncle Declan always lived somewhat beyond his means. When, the former Duke refused to continue to support his lifestyle, he ran up debt, some of it in your father’s name. When the late Duke refused to pay his brother’s debts, their association became strained. Apparently Lady Amelia was not very old at this point,” Percival said.

  “So this has been going on for years,” Amelia said. “No wonder there was such animosity between them.”

  “No doubt,” Percy agreed. “Then, he fell in with a group of conspirators who supported Napoleon rather than the true king. Can you imagine?”

  “Lud,” Aunt Ebba said, a hand to her mouth.

  “When monies from the crown was sent to Louis, they siphoned off a number of gold bars thinking that the crown here, would not know of its loss, but your father found out about it, and confronted him.”

  “Let’s do talk of something more pleasant,” Patience urged, placing a hand on Percy’s wrist.

  “And well, you know the rest” Percival concluded with a nod to Amelia.

  Conversation returned to fashion and weddings and the gentlemen retired to the study.

  ~.~

  10 Months Later

  Amelia sat at the piano playing the last interlude of her piece. It seemed an appropriate piece to play on her wedding day.

  “We should be going, Amelia,” said Patience. She had a new confidence since Percival had proposed, and it pleased Amelia to see her friend standing so tall, and meeting people’s eyes without flinching.

  “You are right, I know. It would not do to be late to my own wedding, though I would like to keep Commander Beresford waiting, wondering if I will attend,” said Amelia. She strode from the room behind Patience, and refused to turn back to look a final time. This was the end of this chapter in her life, but there would be plenty of joy in the next one.

  “You are so cruel to him. It is a wonder he wants to marry you at all,” said Patience. Then she looked Amelia up and down and laughed. “Then again, maybe it is not such a wonder. How splendid that he made Captain so recently, what fine timing.”

  Fine timing, or Samuel’s own grit, Amelia thought.

  “Are you nervous?” asked Patience, as they rode side by side in the carriage. The ceremony was to take place in town, at a small parish, with less of the fanfare Amelia had once imagined her wedding would hold. “I would be. Oh, I am nervous for you!”

  “I am not nervous,” Amelia said. Her insides were twisting like a barrel of snakes and her mind was racing, but it was not nerves. It was excitement, she realized.

  ~.~

  Samuel was nervous. He was sweating an unseemly amount into his spring jacket, and even Percival mocked him.

  “Are you going to fidget your way through the entire ceremony,” said Percival. “Someone will think you have contracted hives, and your new bride will refuse to touch you.”

  “Do you remember your wedding day?” Samuel asked.

  Actually, not much, Percival admitted. “I hope that you will be happy, my brother. If you are but half as blissful as I am, you will be blest.”

  “I like my chances, then” said Samuel.

  “All of this because of a bet, and a dance,” said Percival, under his breath. “All because she has the same name as your beloved ship. What a thing to start a marriage on.”

  All conversation ceased when Lady Amelia Atherton stepped into view on her Uncle Edward’s arm. He was not her father, but his wife, Aunt Ebba was certainly as close a relative as she had in this life. That selfsame lady sniffled in the front row, and dabbed at her eyes. Her son Phillip sat beside her looking like a miniature version of his father.

  Even if he had wanted to speak, Samuel’s tongue would have tied itself into knots with the effort. If Amelia had been beautiful before, today she was a goddess. It was not the cut of her dress or the ruffles, though she might think so, nor the curl or sheen of her hair. It was the vulnerability in her face that did it; the nervousness in her smile, and the proud tilt of her chin. He vowed before God in his heart that he would do his best to never harm her. Her expression showed she cared about him, about this marriage, and that she had something to lose now. He wanted to tell her she had nothing to worry about, that she could never lose this, or him. They would weather every storm.

  Samuel came to understand w
hat Percival had meant when he said he didn’t remember his own wedding. If there were passages read and vows said, Samuel could not remember them. All he could remember was looking down at Amelia and feeling his heart expanding in a painful shock to make room for her there. No, not make room. She was his heart now, and everything else was there at her mercy, taking up whatever room she would allow it.

  “Are you crying?” Amelia asked him, at the end of it all.

  “Certainly not,” Samuel said, rubbing his eyes. “A bit of dust, that is all. Move along now, or people will think you are gawking over your new husband. Unseemly, isn’t it, I thought I married a lady.”

  “Have a care, or you will soon discover just how thin my ladylike manners are when I am in a passion,” said Amelia.

  He squeezed her arm, just a bit and when she looked at him, he was wearing that roguish smile that had so enticed her. Her heart did a little flip and would not stop fluttering in her chest.

  “My dear wife,” he said his voice a soft rumble, just for her ears. “I await your pleasure.”

  ~.~

  Chapter Nine

  Epilogue

  Due to the treason of Amelia’s Uncle Declan, the title of Duke was stripped from the Atherton name and all lands were lost to the crown. Once Amelia would have felt the loss of her childhood home, but now, Samuel himself was all the home she needed; though her title of Lady was restored when Amelia married Samuel Beresford. He had been knighted for services to the Crown in catching the Duke of Ely in his treachery, in addition to obtaining his captaincy

  In town, Lady Charity enjoyed the gossip about Amelia immensely until Patience noted to Charity that if she had managed to snag Amelia’s father, as his wife, she also would have lost her title, so in the long run it was best that she never married him. “Upon my word, aren’t you the lucky one,” Patience said, as she fluttered her fan, just a bit.

  “When asked if she missed the grand parties of the Ton, Amelia said she didn’t mind at all. She had her music for the long nights when Samuel was at sea, and mostly had her Captain.

  Six months passed and Amelia was once again in the music room playing. She lost herself in the music. Marriage was nothing like what Amelia had expected. Each day was something new, a chance to learn about Samuel and for him to learn about her. Some of those moments were not pleasant, but they were heavily outnumbered by the moments that were. She had made the little house theirs, and on a modest budget. Well, she would call it modest, though Samuel may not and she had settled into life as a wife.

  “Amelia, will you come here please?” Samuel asked, for the third time.

  Amelia played a little louder. Shortly after they moved in, the cabinet piano her father had given her at the age of twelve had arrived with a brief note from her Aunt Ebba and Uncle Edward saying Uncle Edward thought this was an appropriate wedding gift for the joy she had given his wife with her company, and he hoped that she would come to stay with Ebba on occasion and with that in mind they had also bought the first piano, the one which she had learned to play on, for their house. However, she could still consider it hers. Amelia had written her Uncle Edward an exuberant thank you letter, saying he restored her faith in family for she loved the piano, and it felt like the last thing she had of her father.

  “Amelia,” Samuel repeated, and this time it was not a question.

  “I don’t want you to leave,” said Amelia, biting her lip to keep from crying. Even though she knew that it would be like this, there had been nothing she could do to prepare herself.

  “I will have to leave either way; it is just whether or not we have a chance at farewell before I do,” said Samuel, voice soothing. He stepped into the music room in his smart uniform with its gold buttons and epaulets of rank, looking regal and authoritative and downright dashing.

  “My husband,” she choked out around a sob. “I wish you didn’t have to go.”

  “The King calls,” Samuel said. “I dare not resist, and with my increased stipend, you may add even more ruffles to your wardrobe,” said Samuel, holding out his arms to her.

  Amelia stood and melted into him, burying her face into his chest. She did not care if her tears marked his coat. “I do not want ruffles and lace; I want you to stay.”

  “I am not an indolent gentleman,” he said. He cupped her chin and kissed her cheeks, chasing away the tears. “I cannot shirk my duty. I will be back before you have a chance to miss me. You should be grateful for the time you have alone to restore your sanity, and what of your Aunt Ebba? Go and visit her. I know she misses you, or you could visit Patience and welcome their new little bundle.”

  “And what of our new little bundle,” Amelia asked placing his hand low on her stomach.

  “I will be back before your time. I promise you.”

  “Nothing is so frightening with you nearby,” she said.

  “I promise,” he said again. “I will be here—much help I will be,” he muttered.

  “Will you write to me?” asked Amelia, her voice breaking. His thumbs brushed the tears away as quickly as they came.

  “Every day, until everyone else aboard laughs at my fanatical devotion to my wife,” said Samuel.

  “Good, I hope they do tease you relentlessly.”

  “Why if they do, I might feel as though I am still here with you.”

  Amelia slapped him on the shoulder and then put her face against it pulling him close. She breathed in the scent of him as he spoke.

  “No one is as sharp-tongued as you, my Amelia,” said Samuel with a sigh. “I shall have to settle for second class barbs.”

  “No one will speak out against the Captain,” she said. “You will miss me desperately.”

  “I will,” he said.

  He took her hand and they walked together to the front door. Amelia wanted to stamp her feet, but she knew she couldn’t. She too had a duty to King and country, and her traitorous limbs moved obligingly, until they stood in the entryway. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed, memorizing the feel of him, the smell of him, the large protectiveness of him. Samuel kissed the top of her head, her forehead, her nose, until finally coming to her lips, where he kissed her thoroughly. When he released her, she was breathless, and her tears were silent.

  He said nothing but lay a large warm hand on Amelia’s stomach as if saying farewell to his child. Her belly was slightly only rounded now, pressing against the fabric of her dress. She would need to order new dresses in just a few more weeks. Indeed shopping with Aunt Ebba would lift her spirits. “I think I will visit Aunt Ebba,” she said.

  “Do not distress yourself,” he said. “And when I return we will take some time in the country or in Bath.”

  “Aye, Captain,” said Amelia. She laid her hand on top of his and they stayed like that for a heartbeat, two. Then he was gone, out the door with a wave and kiss on her cheek.

  She watched him go; then returned to her piano. Amelia played the song she had begun to write just after meeting Captain Samuel Beresford: A song of the sea, of love and mischief, and the sorrow of parting. The sea pulls away from the shore, but it always returns home. She knew how the song ended now. Her captain was gone, but he would be back, and she had a piece of him here with her, always.

  ~.~

  If you liked this story,

  Please REVIEW on Amazon or Goodreads

  Isabella Thorne loves to hear from her fans and can be contacted at

  https://www.facebook.com/isabellathorneauthor/

  ~.~

  Would you like to be notified when the next

  Isabella Thorne novel is published?

  Sign up for my VIP Reader List!

  And receive a FREE STORY from Isabella Thorne

  Click Here to Join

  ~.~

  Continue reading for a SNEAK PEEK of the next

  Regency Romance Novel by Isabella Thorne

  The Soon To Be Released

  The Baron in Bath ~ Miss Julia Bellevue

  Only $0.99 on Pre-
sale

  Or

  Read the Short Read Novella Volume Now

  The Baron’s Betrothal ~ The Baron in Bath Part 1 of 4

  Only $0.99

  The Baron in Bath

  ~Part 1 ~

  The Baron’s Betrothal

  Chapter One

  Miss Julia Bellevue and her older sister Lady Jane, The Countess of Keegain traveled from London to Bath with a large party, all of whom were her sister’s friends and not Julia’s own. Although the seats were plush and the steeds were swift, such accoutrements could not make the travel comfortable. Julia knew that she should not complain her sister’s connections, through her husband The Earl, meant that Julia was traveling well above her station with the Beresfords’ party, but the three days travel from London was interminable and she could not wait to be freed from the carriage even if it meant meeting the gentleman who was the main cause of her worry. Her intended.

  Since most of the Ton retired to Bath to get out of the heat and smell of Town, it was easy for two young women of quality to find a party with whom they could travel.

  When Julia had asked Jane to hire a private coach for them, her sister had been perplexed. Jane only reiterated that they would be in good company and dismissed Julia’s misgivings about traveling with the large group, saying they would be safer from highway men with The Earl’s coach and several members of the Royal Navy along with their sisters and ladies.

  It seemed to Julia that most of the Royal Navy fleet was outside the window of the coach. The men were rather loud, laughing and joking with one another, excited for their summer holiday in Bath. Several had chosen to ride astride and others rode up front with the drivers. The men made Julia nervous. Their presence only reminded her of the gentleman she was traveling to Bath to meet. Men in general made her tense, and gentlemen in particular, tended to cause her to lose what little poise she had. Perhaps it was her mother’s blood which too often seemed to come to the surface and with it, a most unladylike interest in indelicate thoughts.