by Aston, Alexa
A brilliant smile lit Eden’s face. “I do, Gilford. I truly do,” she said earnestly.
“Any woman who would do so must love me a great deal,” he continued. “Ashlyn certainly wouldn’t ride hours in order to make such a declaration.” Reid held out his arms, palms up. “I’ve been blind, Eden. A fool. You’ve been before me all along. I only now see how much you care for me.” He paused, hating the words he uttered but hoping it would convince the girl to put the firearm aside. “I can deny it no longer. I care for you, as well.”
Her smile twisted her features from malevolent to almost girlish. “You do? You care for me? Do you love me, Gilford?”
Reid nodded. “I do, Eden. I suppose we were always meant to be, from that day at the garden party. I had to go a world away and fight our enemy before I could return home and find your sweet love waiting for me.”
She lowered the gun, adoration plain on her face. “Oh, I love you, Gilford. So very, very, much.” The she frowned. “But Ashlyn is in our way.”
“She is nothing to me,” he proclaimed. “My eyes have been opened. I only see you, Eden. Only you.” He looked over his shoulder and saw Ashlyn’s wide eyes. “You may go, Lady Dunwood. I have no further need of you. We are no longer engaged.” He implored her with his eyes to leave.
“You never truly cared for me,” she said, playing along. “You always cared for Eden. I thought I would be good for you but I see now how mistaken I was.” Her voice broke on the last word.
“Go,” Reid ordered, taking the lamp from her. It would allow Ashlyn to slip away in darkness and he would still have light to see Eden and hopefully disarm her quickly. He turned away from the woman he loved, pinning his gaze on the crazed one in front of him. The gun still remained lowered to her side. He prayed Ashlyn would be able to get out safely before Eden changed her mind.
“No,” Eden said harshly. “She will not give up so easily on you. She’s only pretending to, Gilford. She will always be there, trying to win you back.”
“But I will be faithful to you, Eden. Only you. You are the one I love.”
“Move, I say.” Eden raised the gun again.
“No, Eden. I cannot let you kill Lady Dunwood. She is too well known. The authorities would investigate. They would take you away from me. I won’t allow that to happen.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Go!” he hissed at Ashlyn and she took a few steps back.
As Reid turned, Eden rushed toward him, trying to push him aside to get to Ashlyn. She knocked the lamp he held from his hands and it crashed to the floor as the gun discharged. Searing pain flashed along his outer thigh and he swallowed the shout that threatened to erupt. Flames leaped up, catching the hem of Eden’s gown on fire. She screamed and Reid flung himself at her, knocking her to the ground, away from the spilled oil and fire. He pushed to his feet to strip off his coat as Ashlyn grabbed her shawl from a peg near the door and ran to Eden, throwing it atop her lower legs, smothering the flames.
“We’ve got to get out!” he cried, bending to lift Eden into his arms and hoping his leg would hold up as blood dribbled down his limb.
Reid and Ashlyn circled around the growing fire and hurried through the open door. Eden wailed as they moved away from the cottage. He saw Gray and Burke headed toward them. Ransom and Bellows weren’t far behind.
The four men reached them and Reid said, “We’ll need a doctor for Lady Eden. Her legs suffered some burns.”
He raised the edge of her charred gown slightly, thankful to see very little damage to her flesh. “You’re going to be fine, my lady,” he assured her. “The doctor will merely be a precaution.”
“I’ll take care of that, Your Grace,” Bellows said and wheeled, retreating in the opposite direction.
“We can help you carry Lady Eden back to Gillingham,” Gray said.
“I don’t want to go to Gillingham!” Eden shouted. “Put me down.”
Reid lowered her feet to the ground and released her. She grabbed his arm to steady herself and said angrily, “You don’t love me. You love her. You lied to me, Gilford.”
“I do love Ashlyn,” he admitted. “But I care what happens to you, Lady Eden. You need help. Not just with your legs but your mind.”
Her eyes narrowed. “You think I’m mad. Like Mama.”
When Reid didn’t answer, she began sobbing. She released his arm and stumbled away. He started to go after her but Burke held him back.
“Let her be, Reid. She needs a few moments,” his friend advised.
Reid reached for Ashlyn and pulled her into his arms. “I almost lost you. She would have shot you dead.”
She gazed up at him, tears filling her eyes. “You came. You saved me. That’s all that matters.”
He kissed her, a life-affirming kiss. They had been through much this night and he prayed the nightmares wouldn’t linger.
“Stop her!” Gray shouted and Reid broke the kiss, watching Gray take off as Eden Martin ran toward the burning cottage.
In horror, he saw her plunge into the abode and slam the door shut. Gray wrapped his hand around his coattails and tried to open the door.
“She’s barred the door!” he shouted.
“Get away, Gray!” Reid yelled as Burke ran to Gray and pulled him away from the structure and back to them.
By now, the entire cottage burned, the flames lighting the night sky.
“She didn’t want to live if she couldn’t have you,” Ashlyn said, slipping her hand around his. “Her mind was twisted. She couldn’t understand reality. The madness had taken hold of her too deeply.”
Several tenants joined them as they silently watched the cottage burn. None of them mentioned to the newcomers about Eden being inside. The roof collapsed and Reid knew there was no way Eden could have survived. In his mind, he understood he bore no guilt—but his heart would always carry the burden of the young girl who thought she was meant to wed a duke.
“Let’s go home,” he said wearily and sucked in a loud breath as Ashlyn bumped against his leg.
“Reid? What’s wrong?” she asked, glancing down. Then she gasped. “You’re bleeding.”
“The gun went off when Eden rushed forward,” he explained. Shaking his head, he added, “To think I served in His Majesty’s Army for ten years without a scrape. It took returning home to England to get shot. At least the bullet merely grazed me. It’s nothing serious,” he assured her.
“Burke, Gray, get on both sides of him,” Ashlyn ordered, turning full headmistress. “Have him keep all his weight off the injured leg. I’ll go ahead and have water boiled and the doctor sent for.”
“It’s merely a flesh wound, my love,” Reid reassured her.
“Flesh wound or not, infection—and fever—can set in.” She cradled his face in her hands. “I’ve waited my entire life for you, Reid, and I refuse to lose you now.”
Ashlyn took off, her skirts held high as she raced back toward Gillingham.
“She has quite the trim ankles,” Burke said slyly as he draped one of Reid’s arms across his shoulders.
“Very trim, indeed,” noted Gray, doing the same with Reid’s other arm.
“Quit ogling my future wife’s ankles and get me back to Gillingham,” he growled. “And if I didn’t know you were teasing me and had wives you adore, I would be spilling some of your blood now.”
His friends laughed and teased Reid all the way home.
Epilogue
Two weeks later . . .
Ashlyn awoke in the bedchamber designated for the Duchess of Gilford. She’d stayed in the rooms ever since the night of the fire.
Today was her wedding day. The day she and Reid would become one. They would put the tragic events behind them and commit to one another for the rest of time.
It saddened her to think of Eden Martin. How the girl’s madness had been inherited from her mother. How it had grown over the years, more than anyone could have suspected, until it led to her perishing in fire.
Once Reid’s leg had been te
nded to and the doctor had assured her that no harm would beset Reid since the bullet had truly just grazed him, she and Reid had accompanied Lady Edith and Viscount Ransom back to London in order to break the news to Lord Martin regarding his daughter’s tragic death. He turned old before their eyes, sobbing that he’d let down his younger daughter. After he’d finally calmed, he begged them to keep silent regarding the circumstances of Eden’s death, not wanting her actions to color the reputation of Edith or Ransom. Ashlyn and Reid agreed to do so.
Lord Martin decided he would put out that his daughter impulsively decided to elope to Gretna Green and that he’d given chase. He would refuse to name the young gentleman involved in the affair and let it be known that Eden was being punished by having to remain in the north with distant relatives and miss the rest of her first Season. The story would allow Edith to continue to accept social invitations and wed Ransom quietly in the autumn, where only a handful of guests would attend. By then, Lord Martin would say Eden was ill and had to miss her sister’s wedding since traveling so far would be out of the question. The viscount intended Eden to pass on sometime shortly afterward. By the start of the next Season, few would remember the girl and those who asked would be told of her untimely death.
Martin had also begged Ashlyn’s forgiveness, telling her he hadn’t realized how his daughter’s infatuation with Gilford had taken hold of her very soul. Having known the loss of a child herself, she had accepted his apology, though she knew it would take Reid longer to come around.
A knock sounded at the door and Mrs. Paul entered, bearing a tray with tea and toast. As Ashlyn ate, an army of servants entered with buckets of hot water. Soon, she was bathed, perfumed, and dressed in a gown created in haste by a famous London modiste, who’d also provided Ashlyn with a few other gowns. The local Gillbrook seamstress also made up a few more dresses since she’d lost everything in the cottage fire. Reid promised once they went to spend time in London during her students’ summer holidays, she’d complete her wardrobe.
Charlotte and Gemma arrived and Charlotte styled Ashlyn’s hair for her, while Gemma made sure the diamond necklace and bracelet Reid had presented as a wedding gift were placed around Ashlyn’s neck and on her wrist.
“You look lovely,” Charlotte said wistfully.
“You’re the most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen,” Gemma added.
She took their hands. “I value your friendship and look forward to many years together.”
A loud rap sounded at the door and Charlotte answered it. Ashlyn saw Gray and Burke standing in the hallway.
“It’s time to leave for the church,” Gray said.
He took his wife’s and Gemma’s arms while Burke offered Ashlyn his and they went down to the waiting carriage for the short trip to the chapel.
“Gray and I would like to escort you to Reid,” Burke said. “Would that be acceptable?”
Tears formed in her eyes. “That would be perfect,” she told him.
When they arrived at the chapel, Ashlyn saw Arthur and Harry waiting outside. Both boys wore new clothes from head to toe and, for a moment, she glimpsed the men they would one day become.
Gray and Burke handed the women down and the boys came toward them.
“Lady Dunwood, Harry and I would like the honor of escorting you down the aisle if you’d allow us to do so.”
Before she could reply and tell them she’d already committed to Burke and Gray, Burke said, “We were just talking about that in the carriage ride over. I think it’s a splendid idea, don’t you, Gray?”
“Yes,” Gray said with enthusiasm. “Keeping it in the family.”
Ashlyn gave them both a grateful smile. Looking at her soon-to-be brothers-in-law, she said, “I would be proud to have you assume the task.”
“Then we better get inside so the ceremony can begin,” Gemma said.
The four went into the chapel, where they would wait for Ashlyn and stand beside her and Reid as they spoke their vows.
“What should we call you?” Harry mused. “You won’t be Lady Dunwood anymore.”
“She’ll be Her Grace,” Arthur said testily. “A duchess.”
“But she’ll be family,” Harry protested. “Even if she’ll also be our headmistress.”
“I think around the other boys you should address me by my rank,” she said. “It wouldn’t do for you to be too familiar, simply because I’m married to your brother.” She smiled. “However, when we’re with family or it’s only us in private? I hoped that you’ll call me Ashlyn.”
“I like that. Reid and Ashlyn.” Harry grinned cheekily at her.
Arthur offered her his arm and his younger brother did the same. She slipped her hands through each and they led her inside the chapel. The music began and as Ashlyn came down the aisle, her gaze never left Reid. He stood waiting for her and she knew she was marrying the most handsome man in all of England.
And he was hers. As she was his.
They reached the altar and Reid said, “Thank you, my brothers, for delivering my bride safely to me.” He couldn’t tell who beamed more at his words, Ashlyn or the boys. He laced his fingers through Ashlyn’s and they faced the clergyman, repeating their vows of love and fidelity to one another as their close friends and her students and staff looked on.
When they were pronounced man and wife, Reid turned toward her. Speaking so softly that only she could hear, he said, “You changed my life in every way imaginable, my love. I am a better man for loving you—and having your love.”
With that, he gave her a tender kiss, full of the promises they’d made to one another, showing her that from now on, everything they did would be done together. As man and wife.
In love.
THE END
About the Author
Award-winning and international bestselling author Alexa Aston’s historical romances use history as a backdrop to place her characters in extraordinary circumstances, where their intense desire for one another grows into the treasured gift of love.
She is the author of Medieval and Regency romance, including The Knights of Honor, The King’s Cousins, The St Clairs, and The de Wolfes of Esterley Castle.
A native Texan, Alexa lives with her husband in a Dallas suburb, where she eats her fair share of dark chocolate and plots out stories while she walks every morning. She enjoys reading, Netflix binge-watching, and can’t get enough of Survivor, The Crown, or Game of Thrones.
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