“I think it might be nice to spend some time with those two, Elinor. What do you think?” His throat remained tight, making the words rough and stunted.
She turned in his arms and looked at him. “What do you mean, Michael?”
“I was considering the idea of adding a nursery and seeing if they would care to live with us here.”
Her eyes were so wide, he almost laughed. “You want to take in Jimmie and Sarah?”
“Only if you think it’s a good idea.”
“For how long?”
He frowned. “Jimmie looks to be about seven or eight. He’ll have to go off to school in a couple of years. I went to Eton when I was ten. Of course, he will still come back during breaks. Sarah will marry in, say, sixteen years, then she will surely move away.”
Tears ran freely down Elinor’s face. “Are you sure?”
He wiped away her tears. “If the boy is willing to give it a try, then I think we should take them in and give them a family, my love. I cannot stand the idea of them homeless or separated from each other. I did promise you a family. I see no reason why we can’t start that family now.”
“Oh, Michael!” She clung to him.
Nothing would ever be as perfect as the strength of her embrace or the joy one small gesture brought her. “Does that mean you agree?”
She looked up. “I can think of nothing that could make me happier.”
“I will speak to the priest and Jimmie later today.”
“I am so happy.”
“I am glad you are. Do you think I can convince my lovely wife to rejoin me in our bed?”
She blushed and said coyly, “I might be persuaded.”
He kissed her neck, and she giggled.
“I can be more persuasive, but the yard is full of children and the priest sits in the shadows of the chapel.”
She spun and looked at the shadowed figure standing at the side of the chapel across the yard. “Perhaps we should retire to our rooms, your grace.”
“I am so pleased to have married such a smart woman.”
“And to think, just months ago you thought me a dunderhead.”
“No. That is too harsh. I thought your mind was occupied with simpler things, but I am delighted to have discovered that you are as brilliant as you are beautiful.”
“Simpler things? Delicately put, your grace.” She laughed.
He heaved her between his thighs. “If you do not stop calling me that, I will have you right here on the steps with an audience.”
“Michael, you wouldn’t.” Her eyes were wide and her mouth agape. Standing, she straightened her dress even though it was the same one she had been wearing the night before and was wrinkled beyond a simple smoothing. She brushed out the skirts as if she were standing in a ball room. “Husband, it is time to go inside.”
“A marvelous idea, wife.” It was too much of wonderful to hold back his laugh. He rose and offered his arm.
They looked back toward the courtyard, where Jimmie held the puppy still so that his baby sister could pet the rambunctious animal.
The pup licked the little girl’s face and she screamed with laughter.
“There is a lot to do to ready the house for children.”
He would bet his heart she was making one of her lists. How he loved those lists and everything else about her. He kissed her head and gently pulled her toward their bedroom. “Later.”
She sighed deeply. “Yes, later.” Elinor took off at a run toward the master bedroom.
Letting her win this race was no hardship. He caught her at the edge of the bed and they tumbled in together.
Epilogue
From the next room, Elinor screamed a word that Michael didn’t think she even knew.
“Papa, is Mama all right?”
He looked down at Jimmie’s cherubic face and wide eyes, and ruffled his hair. “She is fine. These things take some time, and we will have to be patient.”
Jimmie nodded and propped his chin on his knees, wrapping his arms around his legs.
A cry of another kind came from down the hall, and the harried nurse rushed in with Sarah’s chubby body clutched in her arms. The young woman’s hair stuck out from under her cap, and her dress was wrinkled and stained.
“Mammaaa,” Sarah cried.
“I am sorry, your grace. I tried to keep her quiet in the nursery, but we can hear her grace, and the child will not be still.”
Michael reached for Sarah. “It’s all right, Miss Jones. I will take her. You may go and rest.”
Miss Jones cocked her head and put her hands on her hips.
“I’ll be all right with her,” Michael said. “She is my daughter after all. We will just sit here and wait for Sarah and Jimmie’s new baby brother to arrive.”
Another piercing cry erupted from the bedroom across the hall.
Sarah’s eyes widened, and she looked up at her father.
“It’s fine, sweeting.” He kissed her head, but something in his tone must not have been convincing, because the baby broke into a cry.
Michael couldn’t help but think about Markus, and how Emma had been so healthy when she had become pregnant. Now Emma was gone, and Markus couldn’t stand to even look at his infant daughter. He had become a madman, and his friends had taken turns keeping an eye on their wayward comrade.
The nurse continued to stare in doubt.
Michael stood and paced until another heart-stopping scream tore through the hallway. He handed the baby to the nurse and rushed into the birthing room.
“Elinor?”
“You should not be in here,” the midwife scolded.
“Michael?” Elinor gasped from the bed.
“You must push.” Sweat dripped down the midwife’s ruddy face, but she would brook no argument.
Michael went to the side of the bed and leaned down next to Elinor. He never dreamed he would be able to father a child after his injury. They would have been content with Jimmie and Sarah. Everett would have inherited the properties and titles, and his children thereafter.
When Elinor had announced that she was pregnant a few months after they were married, he had been shocked but ecstatic. He would have a son to inherit, and he would also have Jimmie and Sarah to love and raise as his own. No man could be so lucky.
Now, looking down at Elinor, enormously rounded with the baby and covered in sweat, he wished she had never become pregnant. He thought of losing her, and his throat closed up until he couldn’t breathe.
He took her hand. “You have to push now, love.”
She looked up at him, gripped his hand like a vise, and pushed until the effort lifted her from the bed. Another piercing scream tore through her.
“There, there, there,” the midwife said.
The next sound was the unhappy wail of the baby coming into the world.
“It’s a boy.” The midwife cut the cord, swaddled babe, then rested him on Elinor’s chest.
Michael’s heart contracted, then expanded.
Elinor cooed to the infant, who immediately stopped crying and looked up at her expectantly.
Too soon, the midwife took the baby to a basin on the dresser.
He had to clear his throat to speak. “What will we call our little man?”
Her face was covered in sweat. He plucked a cloth from the side table and wiped her brow. There were dark circles under her eyes, but she was the most beautiful he had ever seen her.
“We could name him after your father,” she suggested.
Heavens, no. “Never after him. What about ‘Rolf?’”
She wrinkled her nose. “My father deserves no such honor. If it had been up to him, we would not be married, and that would mean that this little nugget would never have existed. Not to mention that Jimmie and Sarah would be up in Scotland with no one to care for them. No, not ‘Rolf.’”
The midwife returned the baby to them. He was clean and fussy.
“All right then, what?” he asked, touching his son’s face with the tip of his finger. His skin was so soft.
The baby looked toward him, and his eyes widened just as Elinor’s always did when surprised.
Pure sustained joy welled up, making Michael laugh.
“We could name him after you, Michael.”
His son should have his own name and his own path to follow. He hoped it wouldn’t be the path of a soldier. “How about ‘John?’ ‘John’ is a good, sturdy name for a sturdy boy.”
“John,” Elinor repeated. The baby turned his little head and looked at her again.
“See, he likes it.” Michael’s heart was near to bursting.
A small scratching at the door broke them from the trance that John had them under. “Come in.”
The nurse opened the door, and two little heads poked through.
Michael marveled at his wonderful life. “Come in and meet your new brother, John.”
Jimmie and Sarah rushed through the door and up to the bed. Jimmie reached out his hand to touch the baby, but Sarah had eyes only for her mother.
“It’s all right, Sarah.” Michael lifted the little girl and put her on the bed next to Elinor, then he lifted Jimmie onto his lap.
The midwife said, “You make a fine family.”
Elinor looked up and smiled. “Thank you, Mrs. Jennings, for everything.”
Mrs. Jennings nodded, bundled up the soiled bedding, and left the room.
A few minutes later, the nurse returned and took Jimmie and Sarah.
In the early hours, Michael held his new son and looked out the window at the coming dawn. His wife lay sleeping in their bed. When the baby had stirred, he got up with him so he wouldn’t wake his exhausted mother from her long-needed sleep.
The child had stopped crying immediately, and now stared up at Michael with great concern as a small crease formed between his brows.
“You have your mother’s eyes, you know. I’ll tell you a little secret, John. I cannot say no to that woman when she looks at me the way you are looking at me now. I suspect that you will have that same power over your poor father. Try not to abuse the old man though, will you.”
John gurgled, and a smile tipped his tiny lips.
“Okay, you win. What do you want, a new pony? Your older brother just had his first riding lesson. You cannot be jealous already.”
“Michael? What are you telling him?”
The baby’s head fit comfortably into Michael’s palm, and rest of him neatly in the crook of his arm.
He brought the infant to the bed, easing in next to Elinor. “I am just giving him some fatherly advice.”
“It sounded as if he was manipulating you. Whatever will you do when John learns to speak?”
He brushed the back of his knuckle across John’s soft skin. “I imagine I will spoil him just as I do his brother and sister.”
Elinor smiled. She kissed his cheek, then John’s. “Have I told you how happy I am to be your wife?”
Those were the most satisfying words his wife ever said. She had said them before, but he never tired of hearing it. “Not today, but it is early.”
“I shall have to remember to tell you later then.” She nestled her head against his shoulder.
He kissed the top of her head. “I shall be glad to hear the news, my love.”
They reveled in a few minutes of peace. It wouldn’t be long before the thunder of little feet started down the hallway, and the wet nurse came to take little John away to be fed.
“Michael?”
“Hmmm?”
“I am deliriously happy.”
“I know. I am also happy beyond what is fair for one man to accept.”
“Do you think it will last?” Her concern was evident in her voice.
“I think that we are lucky and should just enjoy our happiness without looking for an end to it. Life has been good to us, in spite of our shortcomings.”
“Indeed it has. And to think of what a rocky start we had. I never dreamed of this much happiness.” She kissed John’s head as he dozed.
The door flew open, and Jimmie leapt onto the bed.
Sarah toddled in, and her brother hauled her up as well.
Crawling up, they peered at John.
Elinor’s laughter filled the room. She pulled Jimmie and Sarah onto her lap, and they all leaned on Michael’s side.
John opened his eyes.
“Can we stop time right now, Elinor?”
“Yes. I never want to let this moment go.”
Read on for a peek at book three in A.S. Fenichel’s Forever Brides series
DESPERATE BRIDE
Dorothea Flammel loves music more than life. She has refused more proposals than any debutant of the ton. To pay off a debt, her mother and father barter her to the Earl of Hartly, a man in his dotage. Desperate to escape her fate, she runs to Thomas Wheel and proposes marriage.
Click here to get your copy.
Chapter 1
Head bent over his desk, Thomas Wheel had spent over an hour reading a document regarding a piece of property he wished to purchase. The property was exactly what he needed for a farming project he longed to try but the owner’s demands were outrageous. He did not hear his butler enter the study until he cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Yes, what is it Crowly?”
The butler was tall and wide and nearly filled the doorway. “Sir, I know you said that you didn’t wish to be disturbed but you have a visitor.”
Thomas pulled the watch from his pocket. “At this late hour? Send whoever it is away. It’s too late for callers.”
Crowly shuffled his feet but did not leave.
“Is there a problem, Crowly?”
“Well, sir, you see, the visitor is a young woman of apparent good breeding. She arrived in a hack and I am reluctant to put her back out on the street.”
Thomas stood. “She is alone.”
“It would seem so, Sir.”
“Who is it?”
“The lady refused to provide a card and wishes to speak to you rather urgently.”
He pulled his jacket from the back of his chair and dressed himself. “I suppose you had better let the mystery lady in.”
“Yes. Thank you, sir.” Crowly relaxed.
Within seconds, a woman, draped in a black cape with a hood hiding her face, entered the study.
Thomas stood behind his desk and waited for her to speak.
She just stood there silently. Keeping her head down, she toyed with the tie at the neck and kept her face hidden.
“How may I help you?”
Her head came up quickly and her hood fell away. There, standing in his study, was Lady Dorothea Flammel. The amber in her blond hair came to life in the firelight.
Thomas gripped the back of his chair for balance. He did not know what he had been expecting, but in his wildest dreams he never thought to see Dory in his home. Well, maybe in his dreams but never in reality.
Compared to the burly butler, she looked lost in the doorway. Her green eyes were ringed red as if she’d been crying.
He crossed the room quickly, but when she backed away from him, he stopped. “Lady Flammel, what is wrong? Is it Markus?”
Markus Flammel, Dory’s older brother and one of Thomas’ closest friends, lost his wife during childbirth a year before. The child had lived but the loss of Emma had sent Markus into a desperate depression.
“No. It’s not Markus. He is in the country as far as I know.” She silently stared at her feet.
“Perhaps you would like to sit,” he suggested.
She looked up, her hand shook as she reached for the doorknob. The tightness around her eyes eased, she nodded and stepped away from the exit.
He offered her the chair in front of his desk.
She skirted away from him to reach the seat. He rounded the desk and sat in his office chair.
The silence in the room grew uncomfo
rtable. Thomas cleared his throat.
Usually calm and confident, Dory jumped.
“Lady Flammel?”
“Yes?”
Most women found his smile engaging, but when he smiled at her, she looked at him as if he had bared his teeth for the kill.
He leaned forward resting his arms on the desk. “I can only assume that you have come to me for some reason. You risk quite a lot coming to a bachelor’s home, in the middle of the night, in a hack and all alone. You must permit me my curiosity at such an unorthodox act.”
She sighed. “Perhaps it was a mistake.”
“Was it?” he asked.
She looked at him. He had watched her play the pianoforte dozens of times over the past few years. She was an artist of the highest order. Her emotion when she played was enthralling but away from her instrument she always seemed so calm and controlled. Here in his study, she was near tears. He wanted to go to her but he didn’t wish to scare her. His imposing height often intimidated the fairer sex and that was the last thing he wanted.
“I’m in trouble,” she finally said.
Anger seared through Thomas. “Who was it? I will cut out his innards.” He pounded his fist on the desk.
She flinched then waved her hand dismissively. “Not that kind of trouble, Mr. Wheel.”
His fury seeped away. Watching her from the shadows for years, her music had drawn him in but her full eyelashes and deep green eyes kept him mesmerized. For a long time, he had yearned to touch the soft skin of her cheek and kiss those delicate ears. It was never going to be possible, of course. She was the daughter of an earl. She would marry a man of her own station, not Mr. Wheel of Surry.
“Perhaps you should just tell me why you are here since you have made the trip. I will help you in any way I am able. I assure you that your presence here will never be disclosed. My staff is very discreet.”
Foolish Bride Page 26
