Not Always a Saint (26 page)

Gordon knelt by Frederick Kelham's body and did a quick check for signs of life. Rising to his feet, he said, “That's one villain who won't be bothering you again, Lady Romayne.” His gaze moved to Daniel. “I charge more for saving client's lives.”

Daniel almost laughed. “Send me an invoice. I won't quibble about the price.”

Gordon returned a faint smile. “You get your wife up to the house. I'll take care of matters here.” He turned to Trevane, who had managed to limp along and join the group. “Are you the real Ivo Trevane?”

“For my sins, yes.” Trevane's voice was a croak.

Gordon said, “Send down every male servant in the house, Romayne. Then I trust that very efficient butler of yours will find me a bed and tomorrow morning you can tell me what the devil's been going on here!”

“I can give you a start on that,” Trevane said as he folded wearily onto the sand.

More than happy to leave Gordon in charge, Daniel guided Jessie toward the staircase. “I'm glad you're my wife again. I was contemplating whether you could get a Scottish divorce from Trevane. And if so, would you marry me again?”

“Of course I would! Would a Scottish divorce have been possible? I find that retrospectively comforting.”

“I'm not sure, but I certainly would have found out.” Arm in arm, they tiredly began climbing the steps. He gave exhausted thanks that there were railings on both sides, since they were useful in hauling tired bodies upward.

“I'm so sorry, Daniel. My sordid past could have got you killed tonight,” Jessie said in a constricted voice. Her head was bent and her hair falling every which way, obscuring her face.

“Is this the end of it?” he asked with weary humor. “No more resurrected parents or husbands or murders or murderous relatives?”

She gave him a tired smile. “Not that I know of. But I certainly didn't expect this, either!”

Panting, they reached the top of the stairs. By unspoken agreement, they headed for the gazebo and folded onto the wide, comfortable wooden bench inside. The gazebo was an elegant structure with a wall to act as a wind break on the side facing the new house. Daniel sat and pulled Jessie into his lap. Limp as a silk scarf, she cuddled against him, her head on his shoulder and her arms around him.

For long moments, they simply breathed together, regaining their strength and appreciating the fact that they were alive and well. Daniel finally broke the silence when he summoned the courage to ask, “Did you mean it when you said you loved me?”

She tilted her head back and caught his gaze, her aquamarine eyes transparent with truth. “With all my heart and soul,” she said quietly. “With you, I've found more passion than with my first husband, as much trust and kindness as with my second, and those qualities are allied with a warmth and intelligence that is all your own. I love you, Dr. Daniel, in all your aspects.”

Warmth flowered deep inside him, dissolving all the doubts and pessimism he'd felt when they first met. “I thought that I could never love with as much power and passion as when I was a youth,” he said equally quietly. “I love you, Jezebel Elizabeth Braxton Trevane Kelham Herbert. I must have had a premonition of this when I first saw you across a crowded room. I just wasn't wise enough to realize that I could love again.”

In the red glow of sunset, Jessie was the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen. An earthy goddess with endless resources of passion and loyalty. He kissed her with all the love and tenderness he'd discovered.

Coming up for air, Jessie said breathlessly, “It's perfectly obvious why I would fall in love with you! Julia and Mariah were quite firm on that point. But with my tarnished past, what do you see in me?”

“All the difficulties you've survived have made you who you are. A woman of strength and wisdom.” He brushed back her hair. “You bring me passion and joy, Jessie. Both qualities were sadly lacking in my life. I can imagine no greater gift.”

She pressed her cheek into his stroking hand. “You already had those qualities. I'm glad if I helped you find them.”

Realizing that it was time for an overdue revelation, he said, “You're the first woman I've ever lain with, Jessie. Rose and I had discovered each other's bodies with all the passion of youth, but only to a point. After she died, I buried that part of myself. I couldn't imagine loving again, nor could I use a woman without love. I thought I'd live the rest of my life celibate as a medieval monk.”

“That would have been an appalling waste!” Her eyes shot open like a startled kitten's. “I would not have guessed that from your lovemaking. Though knowing the honor in your soul, perhaps I should have known you would not take mistresses casually.”

“As a doctor, I know quite a lot about bodies, and how to touch them,” he explained with a wry smile. “It was a great delight to experience the pleasures as well as the pains.” He leaned forward for another kiss that swiftly turned scorchingly intense.

She melted against him as the kiss went on and on and on, accompanied by whispers of laughter and passion. When it finally became too cold to linger any longer, Daniel reluctantly set her feet on the marble floor of the gazebo and stood. “Time to go into the house and tell Pendry that help is needed below.”

She nodded and linked her arm in his and they ambled toward the new house. He asked teasingly, “Does this mean I'll be able to see that red dress again?”

Laughing, she said, “You will, sir. But there will be nothing so complicated as that tonight!”

So he kissed her again. Who needed a stunning red gown when he was married to the most beautiful woman in the world?

 

B
reakfast in the gallery had become a regular custom after Daniel, Jessie, and Beth settled into Castle Romayne. Jessie had suggested it rather firmly, and Daniel had come to love these quiet intervals with his wife as they talked about the day ahead. With Jessie's guidance, he'd become much better about savoring life's simple joys.

Jessie emptied the teapot by topping up their cups. “I never appreciated weather so much before. No matter how wild or serene the sea is, the view here is magical.”

“And today it's serene,” Daniel agreed. “I'll be spending most of the day at the hospital, training the new nurses in the morning and opening the infirmary in the afternoon.”

“A worthy day.” Jessie made a face. “It's my day for balancing the monthly accounts. Equally worthy but far less interesting.”

They shared an intimate smile. Daniel's hope of a wife who could manage all his business interests had been fulfilled better than he'd dreamed possible. It had taken her less than three months to take firm hold of his personal inheritance from his father and the Romayne properties. The Kelham estates she'd already had under control.

Peace was interrupted when a muddy Beth galloped into the gallery, accompanied by three equally muddy village children who shared her lessons, all of them clutching golden flowers. “Daffodillies!” Beth proclaimed triumphantly as she offered Daniel and Jessie a handful each.

“They're lovely.” Jessie buried her face in the blossoms, emerging with a pollen-dusted nose. “Spring comes so early here on the south coast.”

Beth's nurse, Lily, and the young governess they'd hired entered the gallery at a slower pace, though with muddy shoes of their own. “Sorry, my lady,” Lily said apologetically. “We were heading to the kitchen to put the daffs in water, but the little ones got away from us.”

As Jessie laughed, Daniel said, “The first flowers of spring are worth some exuberance.” He kissed Beth's rosy cheek. “Now off with you all! Lily can drop you into the horse trough to wash off the mud, and then on to lessons.”

The giggling children were rounded up and escorted out just before Pendry entered with a silver tray holding the morning post. It was neatly divided into two piles, his and Jessie's. After the butler left, they looked through their letters, which was another part of the daily ritual.

“Here's a letter from Julia,” she reported. “They'll want me in Kent for the opening of the Canterbury Zion House next month. That will fit in nicely since we were going to go there in April anyhow.”

Daniel opened a letter from his sister first. “All is well in Kirkland country,” he reported, “and my nephew is a paragon of infant beauty and brilliance.” He glanced up, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “Laurel adds that she is joking, but nonetheless, the brilliance and beauty are entirely true.”

“She'd be an unnatural mother if she didn't believe that.” Jessie patted her slim waist, which didn't yet show the miracle within. “Our offspring will be equally brilliant and beautiful.” She glanced at Daniel. “You're beaming.”

“I can't help it,” he confessed. “Procreation may be the most common of human miracles, but it's still a miracle.” Still smiling, he slit the seal on his last letter.

His smile vanished. “Jessie.” When she looked up inquiringly, he said, “Your father is dead. He passed away in his sleep. Apparently his heart gave out.”

She pressed a swift hand to her mouth, her eyes shocked and vulnerable. “As . . . as you predicted.”

“At last he's at peace,” Daniel said quietly.

She sighed. “I can't really mourn a man who was never my father in any good way. Who wrote the letter?”

“His housekeeper, Miss Ludley. Being a woman who knows her duty, she thought you should know.” Daniel glanced at the date. “The funeral took place yesterday.”

“So I'm spared the hypocrisy of attending and pretending I'm grieving,” she said dryly. “I'm a good actress, but not that good.”

Daniel read the final paragraph of the letter. “Miss Ludley says rather aggressively that your father left her all his possessions. Do you think that's likely?”

“Perhaps. She is probably the only person who truly mourns him. I won't challenge her statement. She was a poor spinster and would have been in dire straits if my father hadn't hired her as a housekeeper. My father wasn't a rich man, but I'm sure he left enough to give her a comfortable life.”

“You may take pleasure in the knowledge that your graciousness will surely infuriate her.” He hesitated, then added, “How do you feel? I've observed that it's often more difficult to deal with the loss of a bad parent than a good one.”

Jessie pursed her lips, then nodded. “That's it exactly. As long as my father was alive, there was a chance that he'd summon me to his deathbed and apologize for his behavior and say that he really did care for me. Now that I say that aloud, I know how foolish the hope was.” She drew an unsteady breath. “But it was real and now it's gone.”

“The loss of hope is always sad, but I suspect your mother will just be relieved.”

Jessie's brow furrowed. “She certainly will! Does this mean she's no longer a bigamist?”

“I suppose so, but her marriage to George Lester is still invalid because it was performed when she had a living husband,” Daniel replied. “You've been secretly corresponding with her for months now. Will she care about the invalid marriage as long as she knows your father can't show up on her doorstep breathing fire and brimstone?”

“She'd rather be married all right and proper,” Jessie said with conviction. “She wants to publicly acknowledge that I'm her daughter and she's desperate to meet Beth. But until now, she's been terrified that doing so might cost her everything she has.”

Daniel considered. “I could marry her and George Lester very quietly, but she'd have to tell him the truth first. Do you think he'd be horrified and put her aside if he knew she's been lying to him all these years?”

“From what she says in her letters, he dotes on her, so he'd probably be horrified, but more interested in correcting the situation than in destroying his family.” A wicked spark showed in Jessie's eyes. “She could tell him a version of the truth and claim that not long after Cassius Braxton threw her out, she heard he'd died. She believed that or she wouldn't have married George. Only now that he's really dead does she realize that she was an accidental bigamist.”

“Shock! Horror! Collapsing into George's comforting arms with wails of distress!” Daniel said with a grin, easily able to visualize the scene.

“Through Braxton's death, she also learns that her daughter survived,” Jessie said, getting into the spirit. “Joy! Bliss! Better yet, her long-lost daughter is married to a vicar who can quietly legitimize her marriage to George and no one else need know the awkward truth!”

“Perfect. When you write her about Braxton's death, will you suggest this?”

Jessie caught her breath, eyes shining. “Better yet, I'll suggest that she and George celebrate the discovery of the long-lost daughter and her vicar husband with a renewal of their marriage vows. A proper wedding with all her family there. Only she and George and you and I would know that it would be a true marriage, not a renewal of vows. Is that possible?”

Daniel laughed. “I'm not sure that Church law covers a situation like this, but why not? No one would be hurt by it, and it could be explained as a celebration to welcome you and Beth into her other family.”

“Then I'll suggest it.” Jessie joined Daniel's laughter. “Because I do know that my mother and George love a good time!”

 

The parish church of Saint Helen Bishopsgate was not in fashionable Mayfair, but firmly planted in the City of London, the heart of London's business community. The grand Gothic structure resonated with the music of its famous organ, and brilliant spring sunshine poured through the windows. It was a perfect setting for the renewal of wedding vows.

In the church foyer, Jessie bent to kiss Beth's curls. “Time to march down the aisle, little finch. You're an experienced carrier of flowers now, so show everyone how it's done.”

Beth giggled, then firmly grasped the handle of her flower basket in both hands and stepped into the church. Her gaze was fixed on her Daddy Daniel, who stood at the altar. In his clerical robes, Daniel looked like a particularly handsome saint who would dispense warmth and forgiveness to all who needed it. He certainly had given that to Jessie and Beth.

Waiting at the altar were George Lester and his best man, a friend and colleague of many years. A practical businessman, George had accepted the news that his marriage wasn't legal with surprising calm, and had entered gleefully into plans for the supposed renewal of vows celebration. Not only would it be a jolly party, but a chance to show off his beautiful new stepdaughter and her lordly husband.

Resplendent in cream satin, Jessie's mother whispered, “I'm as excited as if I was seventeen again!”

“You should be,” Jessie said as she straightened her mother's bonnet. It was the sort of thing a bridal attendant was supposed to do. She'd been delighted when Elizabeth had asked her to stand as witness. “This time you're marrying the right man.”

Her mother laughed, tears in her eyes as she gave Jessie a hug, knocking her bonnet askew once more. “Oh, darling, I'm so happy to have you in my life again! You're the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“No, George is,” Jessie laughed as she returned the hug, then stepped into the church to follow Beth down the aisle.

As she walked solemnly forward, she gave a special smile to her new-found half siblings. The two boys and two girls resembled George more than Elizabeth, and they had his good nature and practical good sense. They'd been delighted by the discovery of a half sister who was not only a baroness but had given them an adorable niece.

Old Mrs. Lester had a satiric glint in her eye and Jessie suspected that she wasn't entirely convinced by the “renewal of vows” story, but she was as practical as her son. What mattered to her was that Elizabeth had produced four healthy, intelligent grandchildren.

Jessie raised her gaze to meet Daniel's. He gave her a wicked smile that promised they'd have a very private celebration of their own when they retired for the night.

Because, thank the Lord, Daniel was not always a saint!