Message from a Lady, page 6
“I am also quite ruined,” she said.
“Only if Society ever learns of the kidnapping.”
“Or that we were alone in the middle of the night without a chaperone in sight.” Johanna tilted her head back and grinned at him.
“Are you suggesting that I have ruined you?” he chuckled.
She looked away. “I’m certain that kiss has ruined me for any other gentleman. Goodness.”
Peter bit back a grin. Goodness indeed. “I can promise that it won’t be the last, if you will have me,” he whispered beside her ear.
She sat up so quickly that they almost lost their balance. Then she turned toward him the best that she could. “What are you saying?”
“I am saying that I love you. That I have loved you for at least a year. That when I thought you were lost to me forever, a part of me died inside. I cannot offer you much Johanna, but I do know that I don’t want to live without you, if you will have me.”
“Have you?” she nearly cried. “I’ve wanted you for months. And I’ve loved you,” she quickly added. “I just thought you’d never come around.”
“I am serious that I cannot give you much. Not the life that you are accustomed to living.”
Her face softened. “None of that is important to me, Peter. You are what matters.”
Peter believed her, but would the same hold true in the future? Only time would reveal the answer. “Now, please turn around before you fall off the horse.” She was leaning precariously backward. “I’d hate for you to be injured.”
Johanna offered him a grin before she straightened, faced forward and then snuggled back against him once again.
“Your grandfather and father may reject my offer,” he warned.
“Then we will have two choices,” she answered. “I’ll let everyone know that you were alone with me all night after having rescued me from a dastardly criminal, which will see me ruined. Or we can sneak off to Gretna Green. I am quite agreeable to either.”
Peter chuckled. “Scotland would be less ruinous to our reputations, so I will have a carriage prepared to whisk you away if rejected.”
JOHANNA MUST HAVE DRIFTED off, but she could not have slept long as it was still dark when she opened her eyes.
“Where are we?”
“Nearing Hartfield Park.”
Now she was fully awake. “How long have I been asleep?”
“Nearly two hours. I didn’t wish to disturb you.”
“I am sorry.” Johanna quickly apologized.
“I am not.” Peter’s voice was low and comforting. “These last days could not have been easy. It’s no wonder you fell asleep.”
She recalled her eyes getting heavy as they rode and perhaps it was because she was finally safe and with Peter.
“I enjoyed having you in my arms and the weight against me. I look forward to a future of the same, just not on a horse.”
Her face burned at the idea of sleeping with her head on Peter’s chest and a part of her warmed at the very idea. Especially after the kiss he’d given her earlier.
“It appears the household is awake,” Peter murmured.
Johanna straightened and looked down the hill to Hartfield Park, the home where she’d been raised.
“Why would everyone be awake at this hour?”
“They likely found it difficult to sleep with you missing and after receiving a demand for ransom to be paid today. I know that I haven’t slept since I learned you had gone missing, and they’ve known five days longer than I have.”
“When did you learn?” she asked.
“Yesterday, and I left for Hartfield Park immediately.”
“You haven’t had the opportunity to sleep.” She chuckled. “I am certain grandfather will provide a room where you can rest.”
“It just will not be yours,” Peter grumbled before he kissed the top of her head.
As much as she wished to remain with him in this manner, Johanna would also be glad to be down from the horse. As soon as they stopped outside of the massive doors to the manor, Peter slid from the horse’s back and then lifted her to the ground.
Her knees nearly gave way as she was not used to being on a horse for so long.
“Can you walk?” Peter asked with concern.
“Yes. I just need a moment.” She glanced at the manor once again. “At least we will not be waking anyone with our early morning arrival.”
Peter offered his arm and escorted Johanna to the entry, but the door was opened by Walters, an aged butler who had been with the family since before her birth.
“Lady Johanna!” he exclaimed.
“Good morning, Walters. Can I assume my family is awake?”
“Yes, they are in the sitting room. I shall advise them of your arrival.”
“That is not necessary, I will go to them.”
Johanna then led Peter to the sitting room where her family had gathered. Even her mother was awake, clutching a handkerchief in her hand.
When she entered, her mother rose, crossed the room, and drew Johanna into her arms. “I was so frightened for you.” She drew back. “You are unharmed?” Her eyes bore into Johanna’s.
“I am well. Nobody harmed me. They just kept me locked away. Mr. Storm helped me escape.”
Her mother turned to Peter and reached out a hand and grasped his. “Thank you.”
Tears glistened in her mother’s eyes and Johanna realized this was the first time that she’d ever seen her mother cry. She was always such a proper stoic woman, and it was nice to see some tenderness.
“Who took you?” her grandfather demanded.
Johanna told them everything that had happened from the moment their carriage had stopped to when she and Peter arrived here. During the telling, her brother had pressed a glass of brandy into Peter’s hand while tea was delivered for her. She’d like to have a drop of brandy herself since she was the one who had gone through the terrible ordeal.
“He was going to kill you?”
“Yes, so that I could not identify him as the captor.”
“This couple. Who are they?” her grandfather demanded.
“I never knew their names.”
“They are gone too,” Peter offered. “They overheard plans for their demise and left the manor and Lady Johanna behind.”
“I thank you for saving my granddaughter, Mr. Storm,” her grandfather said. “I will see you rewarded.”
Peter stiffened and Johanna glanced from him to her grandfather and back again.
“All I ask is that when you return to London that you don’t speak of this matter to anyone. I will protect my granddaughter’s reputation.” He stood. “I’ll see that a carriage is prepared for your return. It is not necessary you remain. The family and I must discuss how best to handle this situation.”
The room stilled and went silent.
Johanna looked to Peter. She would not allow him to be dismissed in such a rude manner, especially after he had rescued her, but waited until he said something.
His face grew somber, and his jaw tightened.
Johanna rose and went to stand beside Peter. “Mr. Storm will remain here. He’s not slept and cannot return at this time.”
“He cannot remain here,” her grandfather countered. “People may assume...”
“Assume what?” Alden, her older brother asked.
“That they are courting or betrothed,” her grandfather said in disgust.
She slipped her arm into Peter’s once again to keep him by her side because she feared that he might change his mind about marrying her.
His arms were tight beneath his jacket, and she noted that his hand was fisted.
“Actually, Lord Chedworth, I do not need a reward for saving the woman I love, other than her hand in marriage.”
Alden grinned and lifted his glass toward Peter. At least one of her family members wouldn’t mind.
Her grandfather’s face hardened. “Just because you rescued her from a madman’s schemes does not give you the right to marry her. I’ve been clear from the moment you first called on Johanna that you were not worthy of her. She will marry a duke, marquess, earl or an heir to one of those titles.”
“No. I will not,” Johanna said, finding strength to defy her grandfather because Peter stood with her, and she knew that Alden would support her. He may be the only one, but at least she had him.
“I believe Storm has earned the right to marry Johanna,” her father said as he came to his feet.
“You and I will discuss this later,” her grandfather barked.
“No, we will not.” Her father’s words nearly echoed Johanna’s. “I lost my sister because you made the same demands of her, and she married a man she loved instead of a title. I should have stood up to you then. I will not lose my daughter for the same reason. If it is her wish to marry Storm and if she loves him, then she has my blessing.”
“She certainly does not have mine.”
“As she is my daughter, yours is not needed.”
Goodness, Johanna had never seen her father stand up to Grandfather before.
“I stand with my husband,” her mother said and looked to Johanna. “Will Mr. Storm make you happy?”
“Yes, very much, mother.”
“That is all I need to know.”
“We will just see if he still wishes to marry her when I withhold her dowry.”
“I never wanted her money, Lord Chedworth.”
“She does have a dowry that you do not know about,” her father said. “While I’ve been living here, under your thumb, I’ve been saving my own fortune because I anticipated that this day might come. Neither I nor my children need anything from you, and I can support my family.”
“Then support them away from here,” Grandfather barked. “This is still my home and my estate and if you cannot respect my wishes, then you can all leave and only return when I’ve kicked up my toes.”
“If that is what you wish.” Her father nodded. “We shall go pack our things. I should have left years ago.”
Johanna blinked, shocked at this turn of events. Alden grinned and tossed back his brandy before quitting the room. Her mother, father and younger sister followed, leaving Johanna standing alone with Peter.
“This is all your fault young lady. I hope you are happy with the destruction you have caused.”
In truth, Johanna suffered not one smidgen of guilt.
Epilogue
Though Peter wished to wed immediately, he had bowed to the request of her mother and father to wait a month so as not to invite gossip.
However, her hope failed when Turnbell was caught boarding a ship in Dover. The kidnapper’s plans for fleeing to the Continent quickly came to an end with his arrest. Within a day, the newssheets in London detailed his crimes. Unfortunately, Johanna’s name was not left out, nor was Peter’s, thus there was renewed speculation about their relationship. All of London knew that Johanna’s grandfather insisted she marry a lord and wondered if they were now marrying only so that Johanna wouldn’t be ruined.
“I love him,” she had finally exclaimed loudly at a ball because she had grown tired of the gossip.
Peter had been standing away from her speaking with friends when he heard her declaration and turned. “I hope that is me you claim to love?” he asked loudly.
The room had gone silent as those gathered watched them both carefully in hopes that there would be further gossip. They may have even hoped that she claimed to love someone else.
Johanna had grinned. “You know it is and in a sennight you will be my husband.”
“If only the days did not pass so slowly my love,” he declared and crossed floor and took her hand in his.
In that moment, the violins began a waltz, and he drew her to the center of the floor. By the time the music ended, and because of how scandalously close they had shared the dance there was no further speculation about Johanna and Peter marrying for anything other than love, but that if they shared such another dance so closely, she did risk ruination.
A week later they wed before friends and family, though Johanna’s grandfather was absent and had been spending his time to make certain Johanna’s father gained nothing from the estate except that which was entailed upon his death.
Peter also learned that despite the confidence and assurance displayed by Johanna’s father, he was not as wealthy as he claimed. The knowledge had come to light when he confessed to the family that he barely had the funds to rent a home, let alone provide for them, right before he began collecting his wife’s jewelry so that it could be pawned.
Peter had stopped him from doing so. They had made it possible for Peter to marry Johanna and he would not see her family destitute, which had brought him to the door of the Duke of Danby.
He had hated to ask his great-uncle for anything and had anticipated how His Grace would crow when Peter requested assistance.
That had not been the case, however, and after discussing the circumstances, Danby had sold him an estate not far from London. The manor was large enough for Johanna’s family and one that she and Peter had hoped to start, and Peter set to building his future and his fortune, with the assistance of Johanna’s father who had far more knowledge of land management than Peter ever would.
He also never thought he’d wish to live with in-laws, based on the fact that Peter hoped to never have his mother move in with him. Her visits were stressful enough. But Johanna’s family was everything but intrusive, and he enjoyed living in a home with others in residence. It reminded him of when he was living with his brothers, sisters and parents before he went off to make something of himself.
Except, he hadn’t done anything grand until he met Johanna, and her family was welcome to live with them for as long as they wished.
All those memories floated through his mind as he cradled his son, not even three hours old, in his arms.
Peter glanced across the chamber to Johanna, who was fast asleep after her grueling labor.
It was exactly a year ago today that he had rescued her and kissed her for the first time.
There had been many kisses since, as there would be many more in the future.
His heart swelled with love for both her and his son, and Peter realized that as much as he hated to admit it, Danby had been correct and had made it possible for Peter to have everything of which he had ever dreamed. Though, he would never admit as much to His Grace. Doing so would make him more unbearable than before.
With a chuckle, Peter glanced down at his son, and ran a finger across his soft cheek.
“At least Danby can turn his attention to your aunts,” he whispered. “It is time that Deborah and Sarah married, and I shall not stand in my great-uncle’s way in seeing it done.”
Thank you
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Thank you for reading MESSAGE FROM A LADY, the sixth book in the Spirited Storm Series, written for inclusion in SUNFLOWER SEASON (no longer available)
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Excerpt – Christmas Spirits
If you have not had the opportunity to read the other stories in the Spirited Storms series, might I suggest you start at the beginning. However, it is not necessary that they be read in order, and each can be read as a stand-alone novel or novella.
Christmas Spirits
Copyright © 2015 by Jane Charles
BENJAMIN,
I am very much aware that you have been avoiding me since the wedding of Mr. Jonathan Bridges and Miss. Genviève Mirabelle nearly a year and a half ago. Your excuses in the past have been flimsy at best, and I will accept no more. You will attend me in Yorkshire, with your equally absent siblings, and remain at the castle through December 26th. If you wish to stay longer, I have no objections. However, you must present yourself to me no later than December 17th. If you fail to do so, the retribution will be harsh and long in duration.
Danby
One
Danby Castle, Yorkshire ~ December 17, 1816
Benjamin Storm, Earl of Kenley, eyed his great-uncle, the Duke of Danby, with trepidation. For the past year and a half Benjamin been able to avoid His Grace, but no longer. The threat in the missive was non-specific, but he was not about to take any chances. While he wasn’t exactly certain what His Grace could actually do to him, his great-uncle was the Duke of Danby and held almost as much power as Prinny or the Prime Minister.
“Where are your siblings?” His Grace demanded. “I was very specific that you bring them with you.”
Benjamin resisted the urge to pull at his cravat and sat straighter in the chair before His Grace’s massive desk. “I have no idea where Nathaniel is, though last I heard, he was in India.” That was months ago. His brother could be anywhere right now and if he ever bothered to write, Ben would know where that was.
His Grace frowned.
“As you are well aware, Abigail delivered a daughter a few weeks ago and cannot travel.”
“Your sister is not my concern,” Danby ground out.
