“I’ve never seen a lady more like a fountain than your mother. I suspect years of holding in the pain came forth at once.” Mrs. Hardcastle clucked once more. “Of course she knew I could be trusted, just as you knew. Still, she was terribly afraid of him, with reason. Afraid for herself and her children, she was. She was happy you were free but her hands were tied with the other girls. She knew she had to get the rest of them out of that manor, so she threw herself into the marriages. Not that did not work out so well for Miss Prudence, but there was naught to be done in that case, what with her having been caught in an embrace. At the time, I thought it a blessing. Prudence would be quickly married and away from your father. Her new husband being an earl meant that her father, as a lesser member of the peerage, could not touch her. Of course, that was before I started asking questions as to the nature of the Earl of Fondleton. I can tell you this: I did not like what I discovered. By then, it was too late I’m afraid. Lord Fondleton had some shady dealings that he kept well below the notice of proper society. A wicked rake of a man and a swindler to boot.”
Temperance bowed her head and mumbled some halfhearted comment in memory of the late Lord Fondleton.
“Hold your tongue,” Mrs. Hardcastle scolded. “Jasper Numbton was as bad as they come. Poor Prudence fell from one beast’s trap and straight into another. Bless her poor little heart, a widow at such a young age.”
Temperance nodded. “Still, it all worked out in the end.”
“That it did,” Mrs. Hardcastle shook her head with a smile. Though the older lady did not know the entire story; there were few that did. It was clear that Prudence was happy to move on from the loss of her first husband. Some still called her “the baggage” and said such a lack of decorum was expected of a woman such as Prudence, but they did not know the truth. Desperation does strange things to a person. Temperance knew Prudence was indeed despairing when she arrived at the Abbey, bedraggled and frantic. No one could blame Prudence if they knew the true story. Prudence had mourned for the appropriate time and now it was whispered that the wealthy widow Fondleton had already made a connection to the Baron Halthaven who lived in the north. It would not be long, rumor had it, before she would be happily remarried, or at least Temperance hoped it was so. Prudence deserved happiness.
“I cannot believe that Mother told you about Father!” Temperance turned the conversation back with a look of awe. “She made us all swear never to tell a soul. It would ruin us and the family. She was certain if we told anyone, father would make a claim for scandalum magnatum. My brother would lose his inheritance and the manor and… well all sorts of trouble, I’m sure. She especially did not want the boys to learn of it. I did always wonder if they had their suspicions, but we did well to keep silent. Thankfully the boys were often away at Eton, and later making visits to their friends. Besides,” she added, “it would not do to incite Father’s wrath. He was even cruel to my brothers only not in the same way as the girls.”
The Baggington sisters were blessed with four brothers. With protection of their position in mind, the five daughters, along with their mother, had done what was necessary to keep the truth below the notice of the gentlemen of the Ton. There was nothing that destroyed the families of the peerage faster than internal disputes. Temperance shuddered to think what Isaac, the eldest and newly proclaimed Viscount Mortel, would have done. A confrontation with his father would have had him stripped of his inheritance, title, and future without hesitation, she was sure, but he was away at school when the abuse had started and none of the women ventured to tell Isaac on the rare occasions he visited home. The late Viscount Mortel was not above using his clout to enforce his rule. His sons had walked in his shadow, doing their best to keep their heads low and his approval at hand.
“The entire situation was a mess from the off,” Mrs. Hardcastle grumbled. “If I had had my way…” she trailed off. “Well, let’s just say it would have been handled sooner.”
“Sooner?” Temperance asked. She was afraid to press further into the implication that it had been handled at all.
“The Lord works in mysterious ways,” Mrs. Hardcastle smiled. “Look at Lord Fondleton, Providence sorted him out as well.”
Temperance did not know how to respond. Neither Providence, nor the Lord, had sorted out the Earl of Fondleton, but Temperance kept her own council on the matter. It did not take much thought to realize that Jasper Numbton was long overdue for a confrontation. Temperance would not speak on that tale, however, for there was much there that was to be kept a secret. Her own, as well as her sister’s.
“Now,” Mrs. Hardcastle continued without pause, “does your family know of your return?”
“No,” Temperance admitted. “I was hoping that I could stay here until I work up the courage to make myself known to them.”
Mrs. Hardcastle shook her head and pursed her lips. “I am full to bursting at the moment,” she explained. “I even had to pair up some of my girls. Even if I had the room, you know what I would say…”
Temperance nodded. Mrs. Hardcastle could always be relied on for firm and fair advice. Temperance had wondered if she would turn her away from the start. It was Temperance own indecision that was keeping her here when there was more than enough room at the manor. And, she kept reminding herself, her father was no longer there to darken the doorway. The thought made her feel rather giddy.
“Chin up, child,” the boarding house matron said with a bolstering grin. “You’ve no one left to fear anymore.”
“I know…” Temperance worried, “but shall they accept me?” She had run away without a word, without correspondence for five years. If it had not been for the recent arrival of her sister Prudence at the Abbey she might have never spoken to her family again. The knowledge of her father’s passing had changed everything for Temperance. In that moment, she had finally felt hope.
“For heaven’s sake child,” Mrs. Hardcastle laughed. “You lived in a religious institution for five years. Have you not heard the story of the prodigal son?”
“Of course I have,” Temperance replied.
“Then you know that you shall be welcomed home again with open arms,” the elder woman advised. “And if they do not accept you, then come back to me, and I will give them all a piece of my mind!”
Temperance could not help but laugh at the rock of strength that was Mrs. Hardcastle. There were rumors that she had once had a tragic history of her own, though no one knew the exact nature of the tale. Still, whatever had happened had built an iron resolve in the woman that left her without fear. Temperance wished that one day she might be as confident as her benefactress.
Though she still trembled with nerves at the thought of meeting her family after five long years, Temperance began to feel encouraged by Mrs. Hardcastle’s confidence. They agreed that Temperance would stay through dinner, to wait out the storm, and then the boarding house driver would take her along the winding road to Mortel Manor which lay well outside of the bustling town of Upper Nettlefold.
CONTINUE READING….
Almost Promised ~ Temperance
by Isabella Thorne
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ALSO BY ISABELLA THORNE
THE LADIES OF BATH
The Duke’s Daughter ~ Lady Amelia Atherton
The Baron in Bath ~ Miss Julia Bellevue
The Deceptive Earl ~ Lady Charity Abernathy
THE HAWTHORNE SISTERS
The Forbidden Valentine ~ Lady Eleanor
THE BAGGINGTON SISTERS
The Countess and the Baron ~ Prudence
Almost Promised ~ Temperance
The Healing Heart ~ Mercy
NETTLEFOLD CHRONICLES
Not Quite a Lady; Not Quite a Knight
OTHER NOVELS BY ISABELLA THORNE
The Mad Heiress and the Duke ~ Miss Georgette Quinby
The Duke’s Wicker Wager ~ Lady Evelyn Evering
SHORT STORIES BY ISABELLA THORNE
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The Mad Heiress' Cousin and the Hunt
Mischief, Mayhem and Murder: A Marquess of Evermont
Mistletoe and Masquerade ~ 2-in-1 Short Story Collection
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Table of Contents
Contents
Also By Isabella Thorne
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Stitched in Love
Copyright
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Sneak Peek of Almost Promised
Chapter 1
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Also By Isabella Thorne
Stitched in Love Page 8
