His Cinderella Bride

by Annie Burrows

He nodded once, and got to his feet. A feeling that was almost like panic swept over her when he turned to leave the room. While he was close, she felt safe. Nobody would dare cross him. He was so fierce, so strong.

  ‘Wait!’ she cried, involuntarily stretching her arms out towards his retreating form. As he turned, she guiltily dropped them to her sides. She could not do anything so improper as to beg him to take her in his arms again. But nor could she bear to let him go. Not quite yet.

  There must be some way she could persuade him to stay; then it hit her. ‘You promised you would not leave until I had told you all about Lena—the little gypsy girl.’

  ‘This is hardly the time.’

  ‘This is the perfect time. While we have a few moments of privacy. Uncle Thomas does not want anyone else to know about her.’ She held out her hand to him again, and this time, though he looked none too pleased about it, he returned to her bedside.

  ‘Especially not Julia or Phoebe. I think, if they are old enough to get married, they’re old enough to know about that sort of thing, but he says no well-bred lady should, or, if she does, she should pretend she does not.’ She was babbling, she knew she was, but at least the stream of words was keeping him close.

  ‘Although naturally I would not want either of them to feel the shock I did when I first saw Lena.’

  He sank suddenly into the chair by her bed, grasping the hand she’d held out to him.

  ‘It must have been a shock.’ He averted his eyes, his cheeks flushing darkly. ‘I can understand that.’

  ‘Yes, for I had thought Gerard was a good person.’ She shook her head. ‘I still find it hard to believe my own brother could have done such a wicked thing. He could never have married Lena’s mother. He just used her.’ She shuddered.

  ‘Your brother?’ His grip on her hand tightened almost painfully. ‘And a gypsy girl?’

  ‘I know.’ She lifted her chin. ‘And you will likely hear worse about Gerard too. He died when a bawdy house he was visiting caught fire, you know.’

  ‘Who told you that?’ He looked thunderstruck.

  ‘I overheard my uncle discussing it with my cousin Harry. Lord Lensborough, please try to understand why Uncle Thomas let me keep on seeing my little niece. I had been so ill after Gerard died that they had to take me out of school and send me back to The Holme. And even here, I could settle to nothing, speak to no one. I spent so much time hiding in the attics that in the end they let me furnish them and have them for my very own. And then one day, there was this gypsy woman lurking round the stables with a red-haired baby in her arms, asking for my brother.’ She fingered her own copper curls. ‘She couldn’t pass the baby off as her husband’s, not with all that red hair, she said, and what was to become of her?’

  Lord Lensborough’s heart pounded in his chest as the truth finally sank in. The baby was Gerard’s by-blow. He closed his eyes, hanging his head in shame. How could he have entertained the foul suspicion that Hester was Lena’s mother even for a second?

  ‘I begged Uncle Thomas to let me take the baby from her mother so that I could bring her up myself.’ She smiled wryly. ‘Don’t forget, I was scarce more than a child myself. I had no idea what an outrageous suggestion it was. It just seemed logical. After all, Uncle Thomas had taken me and Gerard in after our parents died. He had quite a task on his hands, persuading me it was impossible. I wept and stormed and raged…’ Her voice trailed away as she finally took in the slumped set of Lord Lensborough’s shoulders. He did not want to hear any of this. He’d just extricated her from one scandal, and now she was pouring the details of another into his ears. And because he was a gentleman, and had given his word to hear her out, he would sit there and listen while every word could only increase his disgust of her.

  She blinked back tears she was surprised to feel stinging her eyes.

  ‘I placed my uncle in a dreadful position, I know I did. Eventually he managed to convince me I could not take a baby from its true mother. He made an arrangement with the gypsy clan. They would make The Lady’s Acres a regular stopping point so that I could see Lena and be sure she was thriving. And he gave Jye, whose wife was Lena’s mother, money to stop him from casting her off. You know,’ she mused, ‘I think in his own way he is fond of her. Even after her mother died, he kept right on fostering Lena.

  ‘Perhaps you think my uncle should have forced me to accept Lena was being well provided for,’ she put in hastily, beginning to feel unnerved by Lord Lensborough’s continued silence, the disdain she could read etched on his averted features. ‘But after Gerard died nothing seemed to matter any more, until Lena came into my life, and suddenly I was alive again.’

  Oh, yes, he knew that feeling all too well. Hadn’t he felt his own life was a hollow shell after his own brother’s death? For some while before he’d come to The Holme, and met Hester, he had ceased caring about anything much at all.

  ‘Looking forward to seeing her kept me going through those dark months. I began to eat again, and learn as much as I could about babies so I would know what stages she was going through, even though I could not be with her. I haunted the nursery, for Jenny was only a few months older than Lena.’

  And suddenly a shiver raced down his spine at the realisation that he had almost lost her, too. He had been on the verge of proposing to Julia. He had only saved her from Snelgrove’s vile schemes by the merest quirk of fate. And then he had offered her a position of his mistress. She would never have forgiven him that insult, if she had heard it.

  ‘Lord Lensborough, please say something. Please tell me you understand.’

  He did not know how he found the strength to lift his head and meet her anxious gaze.

  Hester quailed as he searched her face as though he had never really seen her before.

  But he hadn’t let go of her hand. That had to count for something, didn’t it?

  ‘I understand you have an impulsive, selfless nature, Lady Hester,’ he finally managed to croak, ‘that puts the rest of us, with our petty prejudices, to shame.’

  She sank back, limp with relief, into the pillows just as Em appeared in the doorway with an armful of fresh clothes.

  Lord Lensborough was on his feet at once. ‘Take good care of her, Miss Dean,’ he barked.

  Em pulled a face at the proud set of his back as he strode from the room, but Hester no longer felt any desire to mock his autocratic manner. On the contrary, she felt reassured by the knowledge that he was prowling about the place, keeping her safe.

  She was amazed at just how shaky she felt as Em helped strip off her clammy clothes, and bundled her into bed.

  ‘You should try to get some sleep,’ Em advised, once she’d extracted a list of Hester’s symptoms from her, ‘while I go and prepare a draught for your headache.’

  Hester shuddered at the prospect of closing her eyes, and enduring the kind of memories that had assailed her all through the night. ‘I doubt I will be able to keep it down,’ she confessed as a spasm of very real nausea assailed her.

  Breathing in deeply, she clenched her teeth and turned her face away from Em’s concerned gaze.

  The pillows had retained that particular blend of clean linen, spicy shaving soap and an underlying musky maleness that was uniquely Lord Lensborough. It was as though he was there with her. She curled into a ball, burying her face deeper, inhaling the feeling of security that was intrinsically mixed with his scent. With every breath she drew, she felt calmer, as if in breathing his essence, she was becoming infused with his strength.

  She sighed. To think she had despised him once, believing him cold and unfeeling. It was true that he did not think romance was an ingredient necessary to marriage. But at least a girl knew he would never give way to lustful impulses should they conflict with his rigid sense of honour. Perhaps that was another reason she felt so safe when he had wrapped his arms round her. He was no threat to her, in any way. He had demonstrated repeatedly that he did not like her, that he disapproved of her manners, her temper an
d her behaviour. But he was going to marry into her family and that made him a sort of cousin. Or a very protective big brother. An understanding big brother, once you got past that forbidding front he put on.

  Satisfied that she had her feelings for him clearly defined, Hester slid into a blessedly dream-free sleep.

  * * *

  It was much later in the afternoon when Lady Gregory came and tapped on the sitting-room door.

  ‘This is all most irregular,’ she said, peering into the room over Em’s shoulder. ‘Lord Lensborough says he wishes to give his room over to Hester’s use, until she is better.’

  ‘I think that is a good idea, my lady. Think of all the stairs up to her suite. And she will still be far enough away from the rest of the family to prevent the infection spreading.’

  ‘Well, yes, but where is he to sleep, I should like to know?’ Her forehead creased. ‘And he will need to change for dinner soon.’

  ‘The other guest rooms must surely all be relatively well aired, since the others have not long departed.’

  ‘The blue room,’ Lady Gregory exclaimed. ‘I always said Lord Lensborough should have the blue room. Mr Farrar must move into the new wing as well. We can’t have him on the other side of that bedroom, can we? Then, Em, dear, you could come to stay. That is, if you would like to help look after Hester? Mary can come and sit with her while you go home and inform your papa. I am sure he will spare you, under the circumstances.’

  * * *

  Amidst all the ensuing bustle, Em did not get a chance to report back to Lord Lensborough, as he had requested she do, until just before the dinner hour, when the entire family were gathering in the salon.

  ‘Lady Hester has slept most of the day,’ she told him. ‘She still complained of a headache and sore throat on waking, but her fever is not so high. Mary is taking some dinner to her room while I slip back to the vicarage for my things. Lady Gregory wishes me to stay here until she is fully recovered.’

  ‘Will you need any help carrying your things back here?’ Mr Farrar inquired. ‘I would willingly escort you to the vicarage and back.’

  ‘That is most kind of you,’ Lady Gregory answered while Em hesitated. ‘I am sure Reverend Dean will ask you to dine over there. That will give Em time to pack.’

  While Stephen sauntered to Em’s side, she turned to Lord Lensborough, saying, ‘Thank you for all you have done for my friend, Lord Lensborough. Your intervention was most timely.’

  ‘Will you need any help nursing her?’ Lord Lensborough darted a look at the two sisters, who were sitting side by side on a sofa, their heads close together in whispered conversation. It was taking all his willpower to conceal his disgust for two such selfish, uncaring creatures. Hester had bravely borne so much in silence, and they were so pampered it did not occur to either of them to offer to sit for one hour with her.

  Em gave him a long look. ‘Lady Gregory is anxious to keep Harry from any risk of infection. He almost died when influenza swept through the village some years ago. And Hester would never forgive herself if she inadvertently caused him any harm.’

  He flinched. It appeared he had misjudged the depth of the family’s concern about risk of influenza. Perhaps he should bear in mind, too, that they did not know what Hester had really suffered.

  ‘And you, Miss Dean? Do not you fear infection?’

  ‘Oh, I never get ill.’ She darted a poisonous look at Mr Farrar before adding, ‘Illness is one of those luxuries the poor cannot afford.’

  As they left the room, Lord Lensborough spun abruptly towards the window, staring out into the darkened park. Catching sight of Julia’s reflection, he sighed. He would have made the poor girl the devil of a husband. Her mother and father were going to be deeply disappointed when he dashed their matrimonial ambitions, but there was no help for it. Hearing that his suspicions about Hester’s impurity were groundless had been like the sun breaking through the oppressive cloud that had been hanging over him. He couldn’t go back to that grey, dismal misery. He was going to marry Hester.

  And be damned to anyone who stood in his way!

  Chapter Twelve

  ‘Miss Dean does not think it is the influenza at all,’ Lady Gregory informed his lordship over the pudding. ‘Just a chill from being out in that snowstorm. She will soon be on the mend, so, you see, there was really no need to send for the doctor after all,’ she persisted in the face of Lord Lensborough’s implacable ill humour. ‘She does so detest having a fuss made.’

  ‘We could go to the village and procure lemons, don’t you think, Mama?’ Julia glanced towards Lord Lensborough to gauge his response. ‘To make her a soothing drink.’

  They were still twittering about the best remedies for a chill as they withdrew, leaving Lord Lensborough alone with Sir Thomas.

  Seizing the port and pouring himself a generous measure, Lord Lensborough braced himself for the confrontation he was determined to have with his host.

  But Sir Thomas forestalled him. ‘You do not really wish to marry either of my daughters, do you?’

  ‘No,’ he replied, taking a large gulp from his glass.

  Sir Thomas pressed on. ‘In fact, it seems to be my niece who has caught your eye.’

  ‘I dare say you wish to remind me we had an agreement.’

  ‘Don’t be absurd, man. You cannot condemn yourself to a lifetime of regret because you made a pledge regarding girls you had not even met.’

  ‘That is…most generous of you, Sir Thomas.’

  ‘Don’t imagine I am doing it for your sake. I am not. I do it for Hester. My girls won’t ever have any trouble finding a husband, but Hester is a different kettle of fish.’ He grinned. ‘To be frank, I don’t think she has ever taken to any man the way she has taken to you. When Miss Dean related her reaction to you storming her rooms and hauling her downstairs, well, I wanted to break out the champagne there and then. Nestled into your chest.’ He laughed. ‘Then permitted you to sit by her bedside, holding her hand. Never thought the day would come. I’ve seen her looking as though she were about to cast up her accounts when some greasy fortune hunter smarmed round her, or wiping her hand down her skirts when some bold fellow tried to take liberties with it.’

  ‘I beg your pardon…did you say, fortune hunter?’

  ‘Hah!’ Sir Thomas slapped the table top. ‘You did not even know of it, did you?’

  When Lord Lensborough shook his head dumbly, Sir Thomas chortled. ‘Oh, this gets better and better.’ He stretched out his legs, crossing one ankle over the other. ‘Hester is a very wealthy woman, will be even richer on her marriage. You see, her brother made a will in her favour as soon as he became Viscount Vosbey. My younger sister, Hester and Gerard’s mother, married very well. Had Gerard ever married and had legitimate children…but of course, he didn’t. So on his death, all his estates went to her, since he was the last male of that line, besides the land she already had from her mother, The Lady’s Acres, which run adjacent to my own land.’

  ‘The Lady’s Acres are hers?’

  ‘Aye, and the manor, Lady’s Bower. One of those complicated clauses to do with protecting the females of the Gregory family was set up in feudal times, so that will always be hers, and then any daughter she may have, but the rest of her wealth will go straight into her husband’s coffers.’

  ‘But, the way she dresses, the way she acts, as if she is at best an unpaid housekeeper…?’

  ‘Ah, she likes to make herself useful to her aunt, that is true. She has a very giving nature.’ He leaned forward, a challenge in his voice. ‘If you want a fashionable ornament to dangle from your arm, then, no, Hester is not the woman for you. I told you at the outset she has an odd kick to her gallop. She would never spend her allowance on clothes when I gave it to her, except for a decent riding habit every season. Gave the most part of it to the poor.’ Sir Thomas grimaced as he pushed the decanter towards Lord Lensborough. ‘Especially those wheedling gypsies. So now I deliberately keep her short of funds. And don
’t go getting on your high ropes over that, my lord. It is for her own good. Her money is all safely invested for her. Your man of business can investigate her affairs as thoroughly as you wish.’

  ‘You may believe that he will.’

  Lord Lensborough refilled his glass with hands that were perceptibly shaking. Now he knew why Snelgrove had tried to abduct her. It was not unrequited passion, but avarice that prompted the man. His hopes for his own happiness began to shift towards an urgent need to protect her from all such villains.

  ‘You need not be afraid she will run up bills with the dressmakers, like some women. Or spend much at all upon herself—she will not even have a personal maid, you know, though she could easily afford one. She says it would be tactless to flaunt her wealth in that manner when I could not hire one for Julia and Phoebe.’ He watched with interest as Lord Lensborough downed the vintage port in one gulp.

  ‘You might, on the other hand, have a job preventing her from giving your entire fortune away to what she deems worthy causes. She will need a firm hand on the reins, I won’t deny it. Someone who isn’t intimidated by that temper of hers. And I believe you are just the man to do it. You can’t imagine how much amusement I have derived from watching the pair of you circle each other all week, trying to suppress the sparks flying between you, and wondering when the next lot of fireworks would go off.’ He leaned forward, an earnest expression on his face. ‘Now I know you didn’t like finding her in that gypsy camp. Probably disapproved of seeing her wandering the lanes alone too. But this is the countryside, she wasn’t even off our own estates, come to that. I can assure you she knows better than to go out without a footman in a place like London.’

  Lensborough held up his hand. ‘I have discussed the reasons for Lady Hester’s visits to the gypsies with her myself, and I fully understand her motives in that regard.’

  Sir Thomas looked rather abashed. ‘Dare say I may have been a little too soft with her on that score, but I don’t think you will find Jye poses you much of a problem. Don’t say he isn’t a crafty devil, mind, but if I’ve managed to keep him on a leash—’ His face suddenly fell. ‘Provided, of course, you can persuade her to marry you.’