Earl of Basingstoke
Page 7
As Phoebe sat in the morning room reading the newspaper, Mama peered over her shoulder. “Daughter, you aren’t reading that gossip column again, are you? Will you never learn?”
“I now know for certain there’s no truth in anything written here, so where’s the harm?” This morning, several of the names—or initials, since names weren’t mentioned—were unfamiliar, which reduced some of the fun. Then she saw mention of Lord B~.
As rumor has it, love is very complicated for Lord B~. His inamorata, and mother of his child, is well known to be Mrs. M. S-R. What hasn’t been told is that Mrs. S-R. is the cousin of Lady P.W., whom he’s set to marry.
Phoebe shoved the paper aside. “Now they’ve gone too far. They claim Ben’s mother is my cousin. If that were true, you would have told me that night he first asked me to dance.”
“You see? You must stop reading that column. Any column of the sort. Now you have even more distress.”
“I don’t have a cousin with the initials S-W., so the point is moot. Isn’t it?” When Mama didn’t respond, Phoebe turned to face her.
Mama sat in her favorite chair, picked up her needlepoint, and set it on her lap. She didn’t take up the needle, but instead simply smoothed the canvas. At least, she spoke. “Smythe-Richards is the name she began to use after Ben was born.”
Merciful heavens, it was true. Basingstoke and her cousin were lovers. A bit of gossip that had appeared several times came to mind. “You never thought I should know? Does she look like me?”
Frowning, Mama studied Phoebe. “I suppose so. Her coloring is similar, as is her height. Why do you ask?”
“She was seen leaving his home late at night.”
“That’s odd. Are you certain?”
“Mrs. Crookshank suggested I was seen, but since I know I was never there, she must have gone to him there, instead of wherever they usually met.”
Mama shook her head. “That can’t be right. Minnie’s relationship was with the late earl. Your Basingstoke’s father.”
Those words should have struck her like a blow of shock and disgust, but she felt numb, incapable of feeling any more pain. “Apparently he fell for her charms as well. He must have. The proof is in his son.”
“No, no. You have that wrong. Ben is his brother.”
His brother? Impossible. “Why didn’t he make it known from the start? Why endure all that gossip when a statement of fact could end it? It makes no sense, Mama.”
“Your earl is a very private man You can’t assume he’d speak out about any part of his life, much less something as innocent as a child.”
Ben was his brother. “He should have told me.”
As the truth of that sank in, the other side of this news became glaringly obvious. “You never mentioned I had a cousin Minnie.”
“We could hardly admit to her.”
“She couldn’t have been a courtesan her entire life. Why did you say nothing while I was growing up? Why haven’t I met her?”
“Her mother was kept by a viscount who won’t be named. There’s nothing to be gained from knowing his name. This man was Minnie’s father. So you see, we couldn’t speak of Minnie or her mother.”
Phoebe let that news sink in. There were so many new balls to juggle, she had no idea how to juggle them all. Basingstoke’s illegitimate brother. Phoebe’s illegitimate cousin. How many more skeletons lurked in the closets of the two families?
“Benjamin is my cousin.”
“Yes, dear. I understand he’s a delightful boy.”
“He is. You’ve never met him?”
“I couldn’t draw attention to my connection to the child without tainting your name. I was protecting you.”
That’s what mothers did. They shielded their children from any and all potential threat to their well-being. Fathers did so, too, and older brothers. Basingstoke clearly loved Ben and he was willing to brave the gossip that came from taking his brother out in public.
What a match they were, she and Basingstoke. Innocent victims to scandal brought on by family. She thought she knew him so well, but clearly, she didn’t. Oh, she knew his character, the essence of him that told her what he would or wouldn’t do…at least, when she trusted herself to believe it. But their pasts, their histories, were something they needed to discuss, if nothing more than to prevent misunderstandings such as this.
Misunderstandings that would cause either of them to doubt the other. Life held too many pitfalls as it was; adding the potential for more was ridiculous to the extreme.
“Mama, may I send for Basingstoke? I need to talk to him.”
“Of course. Write your note and one of the footmen can deliver it.”
“Thank you.” Phoebe went upstairs to write him, trying to formulate her message as she went. There was so much to say, so many versions of “I’m sorry” to impart. Even if she spent a lifetime apologizing, she could never atone for the ugliness she’d thought Basingstoke was capable of. He deserved so much better than her. All she could do was to strive to be the kind of wife he deserved.
***
When Basingstoke received Phoebe’s note asking him to call, he assumed she had more wedding details to discuss. He never imagined there were so many decisions to be made. What he truly didn’t understand is why they couldn’t be made without his input. Men took care of obtaining the license, securing the preferred time at the church, and all the financial dealings with the bride’s father. They didn’t care about anything more.
Yet he couldn’t tell Phoebe that.
After being shown into the drawing room, Basingstoke watched the traffic pass by the window while he waited.
Phoebe came in, but her expression was unreadable. Where was the overflowing joy she should have?
“You look well, my dear. Have I told you today how much I love you?”
Her cheeks pinkened and she glanced at the open door. “I love you, too. And I must apologize once more.”
“Relieve yourself on that thought. We’ve said all that’s needed. Our misunderstandings are in the past.”
“Now they are, yes. Mama told me about Minnie, and I must know something. It won’t change how I feel about you, but I can’t put it out of my thoughts until I know. Is Minnie the one who was seen leaving your home several times?”
That’s what concerned her? After all they’d been through, she still didn’t trust him? The thought sliced deep inside him. “I’ve never had that woman in my home. During one of the times Crookshank mentioned it, I was in the country making arrangements for Ben to move there. Another time I told you I was at my club.”
A thought occurred to him. “I’d brought Ben to my home to stay until I can take him to the country. Maybe Minnie had visited him on those nights she was seen.”
Phoebe’s face brightened. “Ben will live with you?”
“Nearby. I purchased a cottage for Ben and a tutor, and will enroll him in Harrow when he’s of age.”
“You are such a loving man.” She walked to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Such a good man. I’m so lucky to have your love.”
“I’m the lucky one, Phoebe. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve your affections, but I will strive to be worthy of it the rest of my days.”
She rested her head on his shoulder. “I do wish you’d trusted me with knowing Ben is your brother, not your son.”
“Would it have changed anything between us?”
“No. It might have relieved some of my… Hmm. My anxieties are my own to relieve, they’re not your responsibility. But can you understand how confusing it was to learn Ben was your brother, despite what the gossips claim? I never heard a hint you shared a father. And then to discover Minnie is my cousin—”
Grasping her shoulders, Basingstoke pushed her away so he could look into her eyes. “Your cousin?”
“You didn’t know, either?”
“I know nothing more about her than she was my father’s mistress. I never cared to learn more. It was due to her sta
tion, you understand. I had nothing against her personally. She’s a kind person and a loving mother.”
“Our lives are permanently tangled together, even before we marry.”
Basingstoke noticed a gleam in her eye and feared there might be more. “There’s nothing else I should know, is there? I can’t imagine any long-lost relatives reappearing to cause us stress.”
“If anyone else attempts to come between us, they’ll face a battle they can’t imagine. Nothing will stop me from loving you. Forever.”
“Forever. Such a lovely word. I shall have it engraved on the inside of your wedding band.”
She smiled and held him tightly.
He returned the hug. Forever. It was such an intangible word, until one spoke of love. Never-ending, eternal, lasting long beyond the end of their lives. “Forever. Yes, I shall love you until then.”
Thoughts of wedding plans hovered in the back of his mind, but he no longer dreaded helping make decisions. These were the first of many to be decided upon by them both. He was a lucky man to be allowed such tasks with Phoebe.
Yes, he was besotted. Yes, he was a ninny, and he’d never admit it to his friends. But if this was what it was to love, he welcomed the weakness. Phoebe was the most important thing in his life, and he’d spend the rest of his days thanking her for allowing him to love her.
Love. Forever. Always. Three words that were so alien to him just months ago, and now they were a permanent, important, part of his vocabulary. As was one other word. “Wife. That was always such a serviceable word to me, a necessary position to fill in the course of fulfilling my duties to the earldom.”
“That’s what I am? An employee?” She didn’t pull away, and her voice held restrained laughter.
“No, nothing like it. I was reflecting on how words become clearer when they’re experienced rather than spoken.”
“I see. Like husband. And one day, baby.”
His heart swelled so much he thought it might explode. “Yes. Family, too. For the first time, these words are so beautiful. And I get to share them with you.”
Basingstoke couldn’t be any more blessed. And it was all due to a beautiful minx who locked her hazel eyes on him across a ballroom and never let him go. He tightened his arms around her once again. “I shall never let you go.”
Epilogue
Lord B~ has been seen about Town absent a prominent piece of jewelry. Has he finally given up his wicked ways?
Uncertain who would be at the club this early in the day, Basingstoke entered and checked the rooms. Most were empty, but the Earl of Weston sat reading the newspaper in one of the smaller rooms.
He looked up and nodded his greeting.
“You’re here early,” Basingstoke commented.
“As are you.” Weston grinned.
“I have much to do today and need to get this out of the way.” He pulled the W pin from his pocket. “It’s time to retire this.”
“I heard the news. Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials.”
Basingstoke nodded. “We’re running out of members as each one marries and no one is brought in to replace them. Are you afraid that replacing us will lead directly to your own wedding?”
“Don’t mention that word around me. I’m hearing it all too often as it is.”
Tossing the pin onto a nearby table, Basingstoke chuckled. “The act of proposing is actually quite painless. It’s the work involved in reaching that point that is such a nuisance. I’m handing the baton off to you. Carry it well.”
With a wink, Basingstoke left the club. His solicitor had papers for him to sign, and then he was due to pick up Lady Phoebe at the modiste so they might drive in Hyde Park with all those people who didn’t matter.
Yet Phoebe wanted to be seen with him, and what Phoebe wanted, he would provide. In two weeks they would marry, then escape Town and begin their life together out of the eye of so-called Polite Society. Never again did he wish to hear the word wicked attached to his name, nor that of his brother.
He was Basingstoke, and he carried the title proudly in spite of the damage his father had brought to it. Nothing anyone called him could change who he was, and he owed it to Phoebe to have taught him that.
Phoebe. Soon to be his bride, his wife, the mother of his children.
His love.
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling Author Aileen Fish is an avid quilter and auto racing fan who finds there aren't enough hours in a day/week/lifetime to stay up with her "to do" list. There is always another quilt or story begging to steal away attention from the others. Her books include The Bridgethorpe Brides series and the Small Town Sweethearts series.
Stay up to date with book releases at her website http://aileenfish.com or on Facebook
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Other Books by Aileen Fish
Excerpts and buy links are available at http://aileenfish.com/books.html
Regency Romance Novellas
A Bride for Christmas
The Mistletoe Mishap
The Viscount’s Sweet Temptation
Her Secondhand Duke
Chasing Lord Mystery
His Heart for Christmas
The Duke Who Loved Her
Once Bitten
My Sweet Scoundrel Series (Regency)
The Rake Takes a Wife
Kissed by a Scoundrel
That Miscreant Marquess
The Bridgethorpe Brides Series (Regency)
His Impassioned Proposal
The Incorrigible Mr. Lumley (print and ebook)
Charming the Vicar’s Daughter
Her Impetuous Rakehell
Captivated by the Wallflower
One Last Season
Captain Lumley’s Angel
Betting on the Duke
Love’s Promises series (Victorian America)
The Lieutenant’s Promise
Anthologies
A Christmas Courtship
Regency Christmas novellas: The Viscount’s Sweet Temptation, A Bride for Christmas, and The Mistletoe Mishap.
Beaux, Ballrooms and Battles
A Celebration of Waterloo. 9 Regency romance novellas of love tested by war. Includes Captain Lumley’s Angel.
A Summons from the Duke of Danby
The Duke of Danby summons his unmarried children home for Christmas with an ultimatum. Marry, or he’ll choose a spouse for each one. Include The Viscount’s Sweet Temptation.
The Duke’s Christmas Summons
The Duke of Danby is at it again, only now he’s working on his grandnieces and nephews. Includes A Marquess for Christmas.
Contemporary Romance
Anthologies
Sweet Christmas Kisses
14 Sweet Christmas Kisses, a bundle of G- and PG-rated contemporary romance novels and novellas from USA Today, national bestselling, and award-winning authors. Includes Christmas in White Oak.
Sweet Christmas Kisses 2
19 heartwarming and wholesome novellas from New York Times, USA Today, national bestselling, and award-winning authors. Includes The Cowboy’s Christmas Bride.
The Small-Town Sweethearts Series
Cowboy Cupid
The Cowgirl and the Geek
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The Cowboy’s Christmas Bride
Young Adult
Cat’s Rule (In the anthology Wild at Heart Volume II)
Outcast (Apocalyptia Book One)
Paranormal
The Lives of Jon McCracken (print and ebook)
Children’s Picture Book
My Cousin has a Broken Heart (all proceeds are donated to the American Heart Association through Reid's Roundup)
rl of Basingstoke