A Bride for Lord Esher (9 page)

Lord Esher did not bid her goodnight. As the door closed on him Chastity collapsed on the bed and pulled the pillow close and buried her head in it. Her knuckles turned white from the pressure of clasping the soft fabric, and though she did not cry, she wished the breath would leave her lungs and her life slip quietly away. After all, what value would life have if he abandoned her now?

***

Chastity found her husband already at breakfast. A small amount of food was on his plate, but it looked like he hadn’t eaten a bite. The small cameo was on the table by his plate, and his gaze did not leave it when his wife entered the room.

White as a ghost, Chastity had no appetite, and sat quietly in her place, not sure of what to say and afraid of what decision had been made on her behalf.

“This morning I ride over to my sister’s house and will return this item to her.” Chastity hated how his voice still sounded hollow, but she knew better than to interrupt. “I shall not tell her how I came by it. I shall spare you that indignity. I shall simply tell her the cameo was found and leave it at that.”

“Thank you, my Lord.”

Lord Robert raised a hand to silence her. “I am not done yet. While I am gone I want you to pack a chest full of whatever dresses you wish to take. I will furnish you with money. It will be a good sum, so you’ll have nothing to complain of. You may also keep those jewels you chose last night, along with the emerald still on your finger. When I return I shall take you to your father’s house and leave you there. If I cannot divorce you, then we shall have to live separate lives. I cannot abide a thief and I shall certainly not share a bed with one.”

“But my Lord, I am innocent. I know no more how that brooch came to be in my possession than you do. Perhaps a servant found it and thinking it was mine, put it away? We should ask them—”

Chastity rose from her seat, eager to prove her theory correct at once. Again, Lord Robert placed his hand in the air. “Sit down. That was my last hope also and I have already addressed the servants. They all deny any knowledge of the thing.”

“But this is ridiculous my Lord, I swear to you, I did not take it.”

Lord Esher rose from his seat and picked up the cameo in his hand. “Be sure to be packed by the time I return from my sister’s home. If you’re not ready by then you will go as you are, and in the clothes on your back if need be.”

As the door closed on her husband, Chastity stared at the polished surface of the table in total disbelief. Less than twenty four hours before, her life had seemed so perfect! She had a husband she was learning to love, and an unfortunate beginning had looked like it would have a fairytale end. What she wouldn’t do to go back to that moment, when her world was full of promise and joy?

And now she was alone in the breakfast room, and this new life had ended for her almost before it began. Worse, she was despised by her husband who no longer had any regard for her and who couldn’t wait to send her back to her father. She felt numb and empty, a dull ache gnawed at some place deep within her chest, and she lowered her head to the table, and stared into oblivion.

Lord Ashworth’s estate was about a thirty minute ride from Lord Esher’s manor but on this morning it took him a full hour to get there. The cares of his heart slowed him down, and this translated into an unwillingness to push his black stallion beyond anything more than a light trot.

Lord Ashworth had risen early to attend to his tenants so Lord Esher found his sister alone in her library, reading a pamphlet on the uprising in France.

“It’s a crazy business, these reformers,” said Eliza. “Lord Ashworth thinks it will all blow over but I wonder where it will all end.” She had always suffered from weak eyesight, but she only indulged in spectacles when she needed to read. When her brother remained silent, she removed them and peered directly at him.

“Is something wrong, my dear?” Eliza asked. “Really Robert, you look positively peaky. Are you unwell?”

Robert thought carefully before answering. “Perhaps some bad game at dinner last night. But really, I’m fine, do not concern yourself.”

“Funny, we all ate the same thing and everyone here is well. Ah, perhaps you were just unlucky.”

Eliza put her pamphlet down and rose to embrace her brother. “So, Robert, it’s a beautiful morning to be sure, but what brings you this way so soon after our visit?”

It was hard to speak a lie to his sister, so Robert removed the brooch from his green jacket and handed it directly to Eliza. “Your brooch has been found, and as you were so distressed I wanted to return it to you as soon as possible.”

Eliza’s eyes opened wide in delight, and she embraced Lord Robert and kissed him gratefully on the cheek. “Where on earth was it? Did you send your men back to the meadow for a new search? Oh, I’m so glad, for I thought I’d lost this forever.”

“Let’s just say it was recovered.”

Lord Esher saw the question in his sister’s eyes, but thankfully she did not press him, so he sat down in her seat and idly picked up the pamphlet she had been reading. Yet he could no more digest the words on the page than get the image of Chastity out of his mind. Flashes of her desire as they’d made love last night perpetually haunted him. He felt sure he had made the right decision, yet he couldn’t stop the aching that troubled him now.

Eliza rang the bell for a servant and the moment the man appeared, she ordered some fresh tea. When the servant returned with the tray, she poured them both a cup and handed one to her brother. When he took it, she crouched low beside him, and took his free hand in her own.

“You know, when we were children, if you hurt yourself, I would know it. Even if I didn’t see you fall. We looked out for each other, you and I, which meant learning to read each other, and sensing the other’s joys and sorrows. Something pains you now Robert, I can feel it, almost as strongly as if I were feeling it myself.”

“You are right, sweet Eliza, I am troubled. But forgive me, the pain is too raw, and I cannot talk of it yet.”

His sister rose to the feet, and picked up her tea from the table. “It’s something to do with Chastity, isn’t it?”

“Please, don’t ask me questions I beg of you.”

“We were all speechless when we learned of your marriage, Robert. Tom Warren can be irresponsible, but what he did left us all aghast. We would have stood by you, whatever you decided to do, even if it meant putting Chastity aside. But I have watched you with her, brother, and there is something you have together that I suspect neither of you had apart. I don’t know what has happened, and again, we will stand by you, of course, whatever it is you decide to do. But think very carefully, dear brother, before setting on any course of action that cannot be undone. You have found something I think many of us will never find. Don’t lose sight of that.”

How can I confide in my sister
? There was no cure for the ache he suffered. He simply listened to Eliza without interruption, then nodded quietly when she finished.

“I must return home. It pains me to speak of this, Eliza, so please, do not ask me for particulars. But you are correct in thinking my marriage is at the root of my sorrows, I will not deny you that.”

“Well, I hope whatever it is can be fixed, for she’s a dear charming girl, and I for one am glad to know her, humble origins or no.”

“Some breakages are beyond repair. I’m sorry, I must return. Give my regards to Lord Ashworth.”

“Of course.”

And with that, Lord Esher rose from the chair, and with a gentle kiss to her forehead, made his farewell to his sister. As he left the room he felt a void in his heart, and he wondered silently if it would ever heal. He closed the door quietly behind him, and embraced the sad ride home.

The journey to her father’s inn was a bitter one, and Chastity cried the better part of the trip. A chest containing some clothes, a few jewels and a little money rattled on the back of the cart behind them, and though it was more than she came with, those things meant nothing to her for they signaled the end of her marriage. Lord Esher sat stone-faced beside her in the carriage. He could have let a man drive her back but some explanation was warranted to her father and he would not tell the full tale to a paid subordinate.

Not one word was spoken, and when at last they pulled up in front of the inn, Chastity almost fainted from weariness as she rose from her front seat.

Robert caught her in his arms, and when she opened her eyes she saw a brief glimmer of concern, which was quickly hidden behind a mask of coldness. He put her to rest against the cart step, and then jumped up to retrieve her chest.

Her father,
Henry Howard, must have heard the carriage outside, for he dashed out the front door to greet a potential customer. Yet he looked stunned when he saw his son-in-law and daughter outside.

“What is this, sending her back so soon?” It was said in jest but the smile quickly left his face when his daughter and son-in-law both refused to smile with him.

“I will not talk of it in the street,” said Lord Esher. “We shall discuss this inside. Do you have a man that can carry this chest?”

“No, but I can help you.”

“Very well.”

Mr. Howard did not lie, he was accustomed to carrying large barrels of both beer and wine so he had a strong back, and was fitter than many a man half his age again. He took the chest in by himself, leaving Lord Esher to escort in his wife. Sick and weary, Chastity was grateful for his arm, and held onto him tightly.

The inn was quiet. There were no guests at the present time, and Lord Esher led Chastity to the table where he had reveled with his friends the night they first met. To Chastity, it seemed a lifetime ago.

“A pint of ale for us all, if you will,” said Lord Esher.

In hardly anytime at all, Henry Howard returned with the ale and sat at the table with his daughter and son-in-law.

“So what’s this all about then? Judging by the long look on my daughter’s face I’m guessing this isn’t just a social call. Has she done something to upset you?”

Chastity watched as even now, her husband struggled to find the words to describe this terrible affair. Her finger slid into a cut in the surface of the table, chiseled out by some dagger drawn in jest or earnest, she knew not which and cared even less.

At last, her husband found his voice.

When he finished telling the tale, Mr. Howard sat back and looked his son-in-law directly in the eye. “Well, here’s the thing, Lord or no, my Chastity is no liar so something is out of place here. It seems to me you’re condemning her when you can’t possibly be in possession of all the facts.”

“I wish there were another interpretation of the circumstances, I really do, but things are what they are.”

“Sounds to me like you just want rid of her regardless. I thought you would be more of a man, you being a great Lord and all. It’s all farcical is this, you’re just sending her back ‘cos you’ve had your way and you’re tired of her. At least be a man and speak the God’s honest truth.”

Lord Esher rose to his feet. “You’ve said enough, and I have nothing more to say. I will see to it your daughter is well cared for and will want for nothing. But the marriage is at an end.”

Perhaps he did not mean to insult her father, but when he rose to leave Lord Esher threw a gold sovereign down on the table to cover the cost of the ale. Her father mistook his meaning and angered, rose to his feet also and withdrew a dagger from its hilt at his side.

Chastity gasped and instinctively pushed back hard into her chair. Luckily, Lord Esher was a skilled swordsman and knew well how to dodge an assassin’s blade. He wrestled with the inn-keepers arm, banging his palm face down on the table between them until the older man dropped the weapon to the floor. At once, Chastity leaned forward on the table to take her father’s bruised hand in her own.

“Ignorance must run in the blood,” said Lord Esher. “Were it not for the unusual circumstances I would see you in the stocks for that. As it is, I’ve seen enough trouble for one day and I wish nothing more than to be far from here.”

Without a glance to Chastity, Lord Esher roughly straightened his jacket, and stormed outside. Chastity listened to the cart as it rolled away, but then slumped down on the table, her heart breaking with despair.

“Well girl, are you going to tell me all that’s going on, or will I have to beat it out of you?”

Tears welled up in her eyes, and unable to answer any more questions, Chastity shook her head sadly. She rose and ran up the stairs, slamming her old bedroom door behind her. Alone with her grief, she fell down in a heap on the hard mattress and sobbed into her old straw pillow. Lord Esher’s face was all she could see through the tears. She loved him. She had lost him. And now she wanted to die.

Lady Sudbrooke had ordered the finest silks and satins. No expense was too great for her wedding, she would show her friends the most spectacular wedding of the year. Her seamstress worked frantically at her gown, sewing a bow here and tying a knot there, getting everything as perfect as possible for the big day.

Caroline raised her hands in the air to allow the woman to secure some lace to her bodice.

“Careful now,
Betty. There must be no wrinkles or creases, not one.”

“Yes m’Lady.”

“Make one tear in that French lace and I shall dock it from your wages.”

The servant bowed her head and got on with the job. There was a knock at her chamber door.

“See who it is and hurry about it.”

“It’s Mr. Warren, madam.”

“Ah, let him in.”

“But it’s bad luck for a groom to see his bride before the wedding,” protested the maid.

“Nonsense, child. Don’t keep my husband waiting.”

The servant scurried away and let the groom into the chamber.

“Leave us,” he said. Betty closed the door quietly and the couple was left alone.