Warren had expected tonight to be unpleasant, but he hadn’t once considered the possibility he’d be coming back to his estate to find two people dead.
“What would you like us to do with the bodies?” the butler asked.
After a long sigh, Warren said, “Prepare them for burial in the family cemetery. Let me know when the bodies are ready, and we’ll have a quiet ceremony.”
The staff seemed relieved to have something to do, so the footman and gardener carried Byron’s body out of the room, followed by the others, leaving the butler.
The butler came up to him and lowered his voice so Opal couldn’t hear him. “My lord, I’m having trouble reconciling everything that’s happened here tonight. Your mother tripped on Opal’s slippers. It seemed like an accident. We all assumed she left them on the stairs without meaning to. She’s misplaced things before. Given her condition, we believed no ill will was involved in regards to your mother’s death. But in light of what happened with your half-brother, I don’t know what to think.”
“It’s no secret my stepmother and Byron didn’t agree on a lot of matters. It’s also no secret the two had their…indiscretions. I think it’s best to go with the most likely conclusion. Byron set the slippers on the stairs to make it look like an accident, and my mother poisoned him.”
The butler’s face fell, as if he’d been hoping for a better resolution to the dilemma.
“I know it’s not pleasant,” Warren said. “But there is no other possibility I can see to explain all of this.” And knowing them the way he did, it was sad to say he wasn’t the least bit surprised they ended up killing each other.
The butler sighed. “I’m afraid I can’t, either.” After he took a moment to regroup, he asked, “Shall I get your old bedchamber ready for you?”
“No,” Warren replied. “I’d like one of the guest rooms.” He wasn’t ready to go back to his old room that reminded him of all the lonely and depressing years he’d spent in this place after his mother died. “My wife will be joining me, so when our things get here tomorrow, take the valise to that room.”
“Yes, my lord.”
The butler left the room, and Warren went to the doors and shut them. His gaze went to Opal who had remained quiet this entire time. He hadn’t seen her in six years. It was hard to believe she was so grown up now. When he left, she was ten. He didn’t remember much about her, except that she liked to ride horses. And right now, she looked scared and alone.
“I can’t keep you here by yourself,” Warren finally said as he went over to her. He took her by the arm and encouraged her to sit in a chair. “You’ll have to go to London with me and Iris. I don’t know the severity of your condition, but you probably need more attention than the servants can give you.”
“There’s nothing wrong with me,” Opal replied, her voice quiet. “I only pretended there was because I was afraid to be here.”
“It’s true,” Iris spoke up. “We talked, and I can assure you she’s as intelligent as anyone else her age. Maybe even more so, given the fact that she came up with the ruse when she was only thirteen.”
Warren glanced from Iris to Opal, his eyes wide. “I don’t understand. Opal, why didn’t you write to me and tell me you were afraid? I would have taken you to London.”
“I did write,” she said. “I wrote when I was thirteen, before I started the pretense. Mother was always angry with Father because of his mistresses, and she’d take her anger out on me. After I was born, he became unfaithful to her. She said since I was a girl, I was a disappointment to him. She said the only child that had any value was a boy because boys could inherit titles.”
Warren pulled up a chair and sat next to her. “What do you mean when you said she took her anger out on you?”
“When she got drunk, she’d hit me or lock me in a room. One time she left me there for two whole days before one of the maids broke the lock to get me out. That was when I wrote to you and told you what she was doing, but Father found the missive as the maid was giving it to the stable boy to take to London.”
“And what happened after that?”
“I don’t know exactly what he did to Mother, but I overheard one of the maids tell another one that she was in too much pain to get out of bed. I didn’t see her for an entire week. When I did, she had some bruises on her face. I knew she’d wait until Father went off to a mistress before repaying me for what he did to her, so I rode the horse and jumped off. I was hoping I wouldn’t live through it, but all I got were some broken bones. When the stable boy found me and brought me to the house, Mother was so overcome with guilt, she was nice to me. I realized that if I seemed like I was incompetent, she wouldn’t hurt me. So I pretended I was like a little child, and it worked. She was no longer mean to me.”
“Oh, Opal,” Iris cried, rushing over to her and kneeling in front of her, taking her hands in hers. “That’s awful.”
Warren swallowed the lump in his throat. “I had no idea any of this was going on.”
“Father didn’t seek out mistresses until you were gone,” Opal said. “None of the horrible things started until then.”
“Opal,” he began, “if I had gotten your letter, I would have come for you. I wouldn’t have wanted anyone to live that way.”
How he wished he’d been able to get that missive she’d written. It might not have prevented a lot of the pain in this family, but things might not have gotten to this point.
“Unfortunately, I can’t undo anything that’s happened,” he continued. “But I can guarantee I’ll do everything in my power to protect you from this moment on.”
Opal offered a grateful smile and hugged him. Feeling a connection to his past he hadn’t experienced since his mother died, Warren hugged her in return.
***
The mood was somber after everyone went to bed. Iris used to think the worst thing that could happen to someone was being a wallflower. But after everything she’d learned from being out here at this estate, she would rather put up with ridicule from Miss Barlow and her friends.
For the longest time, she lay awake in Warren’s arms. They were both naked, more from the need to get out of the clothes they’d been wearing for days on end than from any thought to being intimate. And the nice thing was that this room had clean sheets and had been dusted.
She suspected the reason Warren’s old bedchamber had been neglected was because his stepmother despised him. He was, after all, the child from a previous marriage. She wasn’t sure if she should tell him about the very real possibility his stepmother had poisoned his mother, but after debating it for half the night, she finally decided against it.
What was the point? It wouldn’t change anything. Warren already knew what his stepmother was like, and it didn’t seem like his father was much better. Maybe the best thing was to leave the past behind them and make a new start. Opal would be going to London with them. It might be years before they returned here, and when they did, the ghosts from the past would be long gone.
Yes, it was best to just move on. They couldn’t do anything about the past, but they could do something about the future. Warren loved her, and she loved him. They would see to it that Opal was never placed in a situation where she felt unsafe again. History would not repeat itself.
Iris noticed the first traces of dawn on the horizon right before she drifted off to sleep. When she stirred from sleep, the sun had risen in the sky, and she guessed it was mid-morning. She noticed she was alone in the bed. She sat up to scan the room, the blanket falling to her waist, exposing her breasts to the cool air.
For a moment, she thought she was alone in the room again, but she saw Warren, dressed in his underclothes. He was writing something at the small desk.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
He glanced up at her, and though his gaze went to her breasts, she forced aside the urge to cover them. He was her husband. If anyone had a right to look at her when she was naked, it was him, and besides, it made her s
kin flush with pleasure to see the spark of interest in his eyes.
He cleared his throat and gestured to the parchment he was writing on. “I’m giving instructions to the servants. The estate still needs to be cared for even if we’re not going to be here.”
“Your mind is often on duty, isn’t it?”
“I like to get things in proper order.”
She smiled. “I know, and I like that about you.”
He returned her smile then wrote down another sentence before he stopped and turned his gaze back to her. “I just remembered something. The morning after our wedding, I wanted to get you a gift, and I couldn’t wait until you were awake. So I left the townhouse early to get it. I thought I might get back before you woke up, but unfortunately, you were already gone by the time I returned. I also realized you never saw the note I left you.”
Her eyebrows furrowed. “You left me a note?”
He nodded and rose from the desk. “It wasn’t anything fancy.” He walked over to the bed and sat next to her. “I was just letting you know I went on an errand and would be back soon. I put it on your vanity. I thought for sure you’d see it.”
“No, I didn’t.” She decided not to tell him she’d been too caught up in her swirling emotions to even look at the vanity. She’d dressed in such a hurry she hadn’t even bothered to brush her hair, let alone have her lady’s maid help her. But that didn’t matter now. What mattered was that he had been thinking of her the morning after their wedding night.
“I got you a gift while I was out running the errand,” he said.
Interest piqued, she asked, “What gift?”
“It was a book on money.” With a shrug, he added, “The book we shared the night before seemed to bring us closer together, so I thought another one would do the same. Plus, I hadn’t read the new one yet. We’d be able to read it for the first time together.”
She reached for his hand and squeezed it. “That was a lovely gesture, Warren. I didn’t realize you cared for me so much.”
“I do. I admit I’m not good when it comes to expressing my feelings. It’s easier to get you a gift than it is to tell you I love you, but that’s why I got the book.”
And he even came all the way out to this estate to get her back. “If you have a hard time saying the words, you don’t have to. I already know how you feel.”
“I want us to have a good marriage. I don’t want the kind of marriages my father had with my mother or my stepmother. I want to be the kind of husband you can be happy to have.”
“I am happy.” She traced an errant strand of blond hair behind his ear then kissed his cheek. “I’m happier than I’ve ever been.”
“I’ll do everything I can to always make you feel that way.”
She made a move to kiss his cheek again, to let him know she was thankful for him, but he turned his head so that their lips met. Before she knew it, they were intertwined, their arms wrapped around each other, their tongues interlacing.
She was soon helping him out of his undergarments, eager for the skin on skin contact she’d come to enjoy. The assurance of his love prompted her to get on top of him. She rubbed herself intimately against his shaft, noting the surge of pleasure that coursed through her body. They’d done this position before at one point during their wedding night, and the memory of it made her ache to take him inside her. She shifted above him, ready to take him into her, but he stopped her.
“I’d like to try something,” he whispered, his breathing raspy. “Will you let me do something I didn’t do before?”
As if to prompt her to say yes, he cupped one of her breasts in his hands and traced her nipple with the pad of his thumb. This, in turn, sent a spark of pleasure straight to her core. Intrigued to see what he had in mind, she nodded and got off of him.
“What do you want me to do?” she asked.
“Just lie on your back and relax.”
With a smile, she did as he requested. “All right. It sounds easy enough.”
She caught the amusement in his eyes at her joke. “It is. I’ll do all the work. You just need to enjoy it,” he murmured, his hand going back to her breast, eliciting more sparks as he continued to caress her nipple.
He lowered his head and kissed her. With a contented sigh, she brought her hand up to his neck and pulled him closer to her. She really had no resistance when it came to him, and it was probably best he didn’t realize just how weak she felt whenever he touched her.
His tongue brushed her lower lip, and she accepted him into her mouth, this time holding back on her earlier urgency. Yes, she ached to have him in her, but she was curious to see what he had in mind. She was thoroughly enjoying what he was doing so far, and she had no doubt, things would get even better.
And she was right. After he spent considerable time on her breast, first going to one and then the other, he lowered his hand to her abdomen and then to the patch of curls between her thighs. His fingers brushed her so lightly they would have made her tickle had she not been so aroused. But since she was aroused, the action only made her need his touch all the more.
She groaned and spread her legs, inviting him to touch her more intimately. And to her pleasure, he obliged. He traced the folds of her flesh then he proceeded to dip a finger into her. He dipped it in once. Then dipped it again. And again. Each time he did this, his finger went in deeper. It was so purposely slow that it made her squirm in anticipation.
“Warren,” she murmured, lifting her hips to encourage him to go all the way in. “I need you.”
“Patience,” he whispered and kissed the skin just beneath her ear. “It’ll be worth it. I promise.”
She had no doubt he was right. This was probably going to be the most pleasurable thing she ever experienced.
He proceeded to slide his finger in and out of her, each time delving deeper than before, and when he finally reached all the way in, he stroked a part deep within that made her moan in pleasure. She thought he might go back to his methodical motion of sliding in and out of her, but he slipped a second finger into her.
And when he brought his thumb to her sensitive nub as he continued stroking her core… Well, words couldn’t really express how much more pleasurable that was.
She whispered his name and aided him along, rocking her hips in rhythm to his ministrations. She had no idea her body was capable of this kind of pleasure, and it was even better because she was sharing this with Warren.
Soon, the rest of the world faded around them, and she lost track of time. She was barely aware she was crying out his name, urging him to keep going. He did as she bid, his movements fluid and smooth, prompting her to reach the peak of pleasure. And soon, that was exactly where she found herself. She let out a final cry and stilled as her flesh clenched and unclenched around him in time to the waves of pleasure sweeping over her. He kept his fingers in her, prolonging each delicious sensation until she was spent.
Weak, she released her grip on him, her breathing heavy as she expressed her enjoyment over what he’d done for her. His fingers slid out of her, and he settled between her legs. He leaned forward and gave her a lingering kiss before he entered her. She moaned, her flesh sensitive to his penis. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she took him all the way in.
“You feel good,” he whispered as he began to move inside her.
“So do you,” she murmured.
He felt so good, in fact, that she soon became aware of the same mounting need she’d had earlier. Before long, she was working with him, striving for the same peak she’d experienced already. She lifted her hips in time to his thrusting, noting the way the tip of his penis stroked that sensitive area deep in her core. And before long, her efforts were rewarded with another climax.
He joined her soon after, his body growing taut as he released his seed. When he collapsed in her arms, she held him to her, basking in the joy of being with him. He loved her, and she had no doubt he always would. And whatever the future brought, everything was going to
be all right because they were going to get through it together.
Chapter Twenty-Three
It was a fitting day for a funeral. The sky was overcast, and it kept threatening to rain. From time to time, there were sprinkles and a burst of wind. It was as if the world was trying to mourn the deaths of Warren’s stepmother and half-brother, but it couldn’t. Warren felt the same way. Something seemed wrong about being relieved they were no longer alive, but there was no denying he was relieved.
He read from The Common Book of Prayer while Iris, Opal, and the servants quietly stood around the two graves. One day, he and Iris would be laid to rest here, along with their son, then their grandson, and so on. The cycle of life would repeat itself. He only hoped when his time came, he would leave a better legacy than the one he’d grown up with.
When he finished, he closed the book and told the servants they could return to their duties. Iris wrapped her arm around his and leaned into him. Opal stood to Iris’ other side, staring at the freshly dug graves as if she expected her mother and Byron to come back.
“It’s over,” he told his sister. “You don’t have to worry about them anymore.”
After a long moment, Opal turned her gaze to him. “I don’t want to come back to this estate. There are too many painful memories here. When I go to London, I want a new start.”
“You don’t have to come back,” he assured her. “I stay in London through the winter. And besides, soon you’ll get married. Your place will be with your husband. Just be careful to choose one who’s honorable in all things. It’s better to have someone who seems boring but is morally decent than someone who seems exciting but has no regard for decency.” He’d seen enough of the latter type and suddenly worried his sister might be too naïve to know the difference, so he added, “I’ll be there to chaperone, so I’ll lead you to the right gentlemen.”
“I never thought you were boring,” Iris spoke up, glancing at him.
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