The Last Broken Promise (27 page)

“No!” Iona shrieked like a banshee. “This is not how it was supposed to be. You were to marry
me
. You were to make
me
your duchess. Not some back-country wench with no aspirations to better herself. I was going to reign over the ton like a queen.”

“Jessamine St. John could be no better. She is perfect,” Finn corrected the hag. The raving woman was hustled away from the ballroom by two burly servants. Finn spoke now only to the woman he loved, “And I would be honored and blessed if you would accept my hand, my heart, and my ducal coronet.” He knelt at her Jess’s feet like a knight of old, pledging his fealty to her.

“What about your vow?” she asked him in a trembling voice. “I don’t want you to ever regret this night’s work.”

“I see now I need to pray over that reckless promise. God will show me what to do. I know He will. And whatever that might be, I know He means for us to share it. Marry me, Jess.”

The lovely young lady nodded her assent, through joyous tears.

“Is there anyone here who can perform a marriage ceremony?” Finn shouted to the onlookers.

“What now?” asked a stunned Avansley. He’d meant to host the ball of the season. But it seemed he would be hosting an unorthodox wedding that would be talked of for years to come.

“Jess?” Finn asked.

“Now,” she agreed.

“If you are both sure that is what you want, I can and I will conduct the proceedings,” replied an elderly old gentleman in a cleric’s garb. “Though, in truth, we will all just be witnesses as you make your vows. For only the Almighty can bless your union.”

He pulled a small tattered bible from the pocket of his waistcoat. He began to read a well-worn passage,

“If a man
vow
a
vow
unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.”

He stopped and let the crowd absorb what he’d just said. Then the preacher continued, “That comes from the book of Numbers, chapter thirty, verse two. It is especially appropriate as this man and woman will shortly be making solemn vows to each other. Don’t you all agree?” he asked the assembly. Seeing the multitudes of smiles and nods the old man continued, “With this verse, I commend you both to the Lord. We stand, as your brothers and sisters in the Faith, with you each, as you make your holy promises to each other. You may commence.”

Finn lifted Jess’s hands. He kissed her palms, one after the other, and began speaking in a deep true voice. “Jessamine St. John, I love you with all that I am. With all that I have. And with all I ever hope to become, in the Lord. I’ll cherish and protect you all my days. And, if it be God’s will, your name will be upon my lips as I pass into eternity.”

The love for him in Jess’s eyes was deep and abiding. “Finn McLeod, I promise to love and honor you all my days. I’ll joyfully bear our lives’ hardships and troubles, but count them all blessings because I can share them with you. I pledge my life to yours, now and forever.”

Finn drew her tenderly into the shelter of his arms and sealed their vows with a deep, passionate kiss. The crowd erupted into cheers and applause.

And that is how a pirate duke married an aspiring nun, both of them wearing somber black, in a rowdy midnight ballroom. And it is also how they started their lives together and shared a promise that was never, ever to be broken.

“Duchess, I don’t think you should be making your bow to the new king in your condition.”

The starched and prissy maid Finn had hired for her was a trial. The woman sported tight disapproving lips and a sour expression. She instructed Jess endlessly on comportment. The haughty tutoring, of course, was not needed. The new Duchess of Maitland had been raised in a household that was the American equivalent of royalty. Her father had been wealthy and the younger brother of a duke. Her eldest brother held the title now. And her two other brothers were accorded lords in their own right.

Jess lovingly rubbed her hands over the neat, round mound of her belly. “I’m sure you’re making too much of my pregnancy, Nancy,” the beautiful young aristocrat soothed.

“I agree with Miss Jess,” huffed Tirzah. “They ain’t no shame in a married woman carrying a babe. Specially one that’s wanted as much as this one is.”

The black woman had made the voyage across the demon Atlantic Ocean under duress. She’d never been a good sailor. And she was purely tired of all this fussing and primping. Nothing was going to make Miss Jess any more beautiful than she was. The girl had fairly shone with an inner angelic light ever since she’d married the Duke of Maitland. And the babe she was carrying only added to her astounding splendor. All the fancy clothes in the world couldn’t add to her beauty a whit.

Course, that fine white gown Miss Jess was wearing didn’t hurt. It was almost a match to the one they’d sewn for Rory out of the China silk they’d found in the attic of her plantation house all those years ago. This one was constructed of priceless satin. And it was encrusted with so many jewels, Tirzah wondered if the slim girl would be able to make her way up from the deep court curtsey she’d been practicing all across that wide awful ocean.

“It’s just not the done thing. A woman, especially a high-born woman, stays hidden away when she’s enceinte,” the twitchy servant droned on.

Her arrogance was annoying. But Jess dared not give her the upbraiding she so richly deserved. The new Duchess of Maitland was at pains to do nothing that would humiliate her beloved husband.

But the Duke, who entered the receiving room just in time to hear the spiteful maid belittle his wife, was not so constrained.

“Go fetch your wages from my steward,” he ordered with a hard, cold glare. “Your services are no longer required.”

“But your Grace,” sputtered the alarmed woman. “She has no idea how to go along.” The hapless woman had the poor judgement to point at Jess with an accusing finger. “You will be made a laughing stock in front of the whole court.”

Finn scowled down at her. “
She
is the Duchess of Maitland and your better in every regard. I will require your apology before you take your leave.”

“I humbly beg your pardon, Milord.” The beleaguered woman sank into a deep curtsy.

Finn snapped his fingers in disgust to get the maid’s attention. “Not to me, you silly twit. Make your apology to my wife, the Duchess.”

“Of… of course, Your Grace.” Nancy stumbled over both her words and her feet as she rushed to make another equally impressive obeisance to Jess. Then the poor frightened woman scurried from the chamber like the vermin she was.

“Why didn’t you dismiss that horror?” Finn asked as he made his way to his wife’s side.

Jess smiled at the sight of her handsome husband. He looked awe-inspiring in his formal court suit. It was entirely black except for a pristine white shirt and neck-cloth. And, of course, it was fitted to his superb masculine body like the proverbial glove. Since her arrival in London a fortnight past, Jess had heard more than one stylish matron sigh over the sight of His Grace, the Duke of Maitland.

“I don’t want to do anything to bring shame to you, Finn,” Jess confessed. “And all this is so strange to me. Everyone says what they don’t mean and acts like they’re you’re friend when they may, in truth, despise you. It’s all very confusing. If I knew for certain Connor has delivered that plaguey letter to Mr. Bassett, I wouldn’t have sailed to England in the first place.”

She thought of how she’d entrusted the missive to her brother the night she’d married. It was still a question as to why the spy master and the French pretender hadn’t made an appearance at the Avansley ball. Both had disappeared from Savannah that night. It was troubling. As was the veiled threat made by Hellwise Smithe. Somehow, she was certain the two were connected in some devious way. But Jess didn’t ponder long on Arthur Bassettt’s fate, for her husband distracted her.

Finn’s chuckle was low and intimate. It set the fine hairs on the back of Jess’s neck to rising. Usually when she heard that particular seductive sound they were tucked up, alone, in their huge be-curtained bed. As it transpired, Jess had not needed that
night before the wedding talk
Dorcas had always promised her. She and her new husband found they were perfectly suited in every regard.

He pulled her from the tufted stool in front of the ornate dressing table. He gathered her into his arms. He whispered into the pink shell of her ear. “You could never be the cause of shame to me, Duchess.”

She shivered involuntarily in his arms. The movement caused him to smile down wolfishly into her eyes.

“You all ain’t alone, you do recall that, don’t you,” the black woman’s voice brought the pair up short.

“I ain’t got no issue with a man and his wife lovin’ each other with they whole heart and body. But they’s a time and they’s a place for what y’all is up to. And this ain’t neither one. We gots us a king to go meet. And Miss Jess, that Nancy done run off for she put your crown on.”

Tirzah held up the cornet. It was a dazzling jewel. One that should, even now, be delicately encircling Jess’s tumble of fairy-like golden hair. Instead, it sat in the fat black woman’s ample hands. The diamonds the making up the pendant and band twinkled in the firelight and flickering candles of the chamber.

Finn had last seen the ducal cornet upon his mother’s head as she’d majestically entered a ball at Maitland House over fifteen years past. Now, his wife would wear it with distinction to meet the king.

“Let me do the honors,” he requested as he held out a steady hand to receive the priceless jewel.

Tirzah smiled wide as she gave him the little crown. She watched as he lifted it. With great precision, Finn settled it upon his beautiful wife’s tresses.

“You are, by far, the loveliest, wisest, kindest, and most alluring woman I’ve ever known,” he said as he raised her hand. He kissed its back and then he pressed a far more intimate kiss into her palm. “How is it that I have been so fortunate as to become your husband?”

Jess smiled up at him through a quick wash of tears. “I often ask myself how have I been so fortunate as to become your wife, Your Grace?”

“Well, I believe both
Your Graces
better stop your billin’ and cooin’,” scolded Tirzah. “Cause that no-account Griffin is coming down the hall, right this very minute. And I can see he’s draggin’ an Indian girl behind him. And she ain’t none too pleased with him, by the look of her.”

Trifle was a very popular dessert during the Regency era. It is quite simple to make. If you don’t want to go to the trouble of making custard, whipped cream, & pound cake, you can use instant vanilla pudding, Kool Whip, commercial jam, and Sara Lee frozen pound cake. Though the taste of the
real
thing is far superior!

• 3C milk
  
• 3/4 C sugar
  
• 1T corn starch
  
• 3 eggs
  
• 1/4C cream sherry, rum, or a non-alcoholic, flavored coffee syrup like Toriani
  
• 3/4 lb sliced pound cake
  
• 1C whipped cream
  
• Fruits of your choice or a jar of good jam
  
• Nuts of your choice
  

Scald milk. Combine sugar & cornstarch, stirring well. Add eggs to sugar mixture. Beat well until blended. Stir some of the hot milk into egg mixture, this is to temper the eggs so they don’t curdle. Add to remaining hot milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until thick & custard coats a metal spoon. Cool completely. Add sherry/rum/coffee syrup. Put cake, custard, and fruit in layers w/ whipped cream & nuts on top. Garnish with cherries. Fruits that may be used: peaches, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, crushed pineapple – really any fruit/jam that is your favorite. Or even a combination of fruits is nice. I let my trifle sit in the frig over night to develop a nice flavor. This dish is best made in a tall, clear glass bowl so your guests can see the pretty layers. I use a footed Pyrex bowl. But I’ve seen huge trifles made in crystal punch bowls, served in crystal punch cups for Southern wedding dinners. So beautiful!

1. Who was your favourite character and why?
   
2. Who was the character you disliked the most and why?
   
3. Did you personally relate to any specific character on a Spiritual level?
   
4. Did the Lord speak to you personally in response to something you read?
   
5. If you had to describe your
   take-away
   from
   The Last Broken Promise
   in one sentence, what would it be?
   
6. What is one practical, measurable change you can incorporate into your life as a result of your reading this novel?
   

I’m a forgiven Christian, a happy wife of 39 years, a proud mother of two grown children, and a spanking brand new Grandmama. Over the years, God has been so, so good to me. I’ve been a busy public school teacher, a mediocre opera singer, a toe nail painting dog groomer, a bad caterer, and now it seems a hopeful writer. Because God has blessed me, I’ve been published in many genres- newspapers, magazines, blogs, books, and even screenwriting. One of my scripts, ‘Angel in the Aisles’, won a Silver Telly for excellence in cable broadcasting. Another, a modern day version of the Bible story of Esther, was produced into a full length movie entitled ‘For a Time Like This’. Last year, several of my novels made the best seller lists in their respective categories. And the cover for my contemporary,
Birdie Saves The World
, recently placed fourth in an international book cover contest- it was the only small press book to do so!

I continue to be amazed at what God can do with the very little I have to offer
.

I’m hoping you enjoyed
The Last Broken Promise
. Writing it, I thought and prayed long and hard about vows and promises. I admit, I’ve broken too many of them in my life. Even though I know how highly God values honesty, I still sometimes fall short in keeping my word. The Bible has a lot to say about the holiness of keeping vows. I am struck by how often I bend and even break simple promises. Most times, sadly, I do it for my own convenience. Sometimes I break faith, with myself, others, and even the Lord just because I’m frightened. Writing
The Last Broken Promise
helped me realize how I wound myself and others when I don’t keep my promises. Even the tiniest broken vow is a lapse in my faith. My prayer for you, as well as for myself, is that God will show us every time we miss out on keeping a promise. And that His grace will help us all become more diligent in keeping the faith. I want to please the Lord. And I believe learning to keep
all
my promises will please Him. What do you think? Love Never Fails, Grace Walton

Questions or comments? Contact me at:
http://www.gracewalton.wordpress.com