A License to Wed: Rebellious Brides (20 page)

“What’s that?” Duret leaned closer. “Forget what?”

Will pivoted and slammed the man back into the damp, slimy rock wall. He drove the letter opener up into Duret’s chest in one quick motion. Experience had taught him exactly where to aim in order to inflict deadly damage. He never took pleasure in a kill, but when it was necessary, he did not hesitate.

Duret grunted in pain and shock; gurgling sounded in his chest.
“Je suis mort,”
he uttered, eyes wide with disbelief.

“You forget that I too am no gentleman.” Will said dispassionately as he watched the life drain from Duret’s body. “I was born a bastard, and a bastard I shall remain until my dying day.”

“I can hardly take my eyes off of her,” Elle said to her father the following day as they walked arm in arm on the beach with Susanna running ahead of them, darting in and out of the water line. “She’s so precious. And all this time I’ve thought her…” She broke off, her voice choking with emotion.

“Her mother is quite precious as well.” The Marquess of Aldridge smiled down at her. Her chest squeezed. The years had not been kind to her father. Time—and perhaps grief—had slowed his gait, and heavy creases lined his forehead, but his silver eyes still sparkled with the vitality she remembered so well. “I feared the two of you were forever lost to me. To have you restored to us is more than I could have wished for. I will always be grateful and indebted to Will for bringing you home.”

Her chest tightened at the thought of Will. They hadn’t had a moment alone together since the incident yesterday. Since then, he’d either been in the library behind closed doors with Sparrow and Ogilvie or out at the local gaol interviewing one of Duret’s men who had survived.

She gazed ahead at her daughter, who slipped into a tiny alcove where she herself had often hidden as a girl. “Do you think she will accept me as her mother?” Despite her initial enthusiasm, Susanna had grown shy and reticent around Elle, often hiding her face in her grandfather’s side whenever she tried to engage her.

“Without a doubt.” He gave her hand, which rested on his arm, a reassuring pat. “Few people can resist your natural charm. Allow her the time she requires to adjust to her new circumstances. Much has changed in her life.”

“I hate to think of the years I’ve lost with her.”

“You have many more ahead. You must focus on that. You will enjoy her come out, her wedding, grandchildren—”

It was ridiculous, but alarm stirred in her at the thought of losing her daughter to adulthood. Especially when she’d just found her. “Let us not leap too far ahead.” She managed a smile. “I want to enjoy her girlhood first.”

“And so you shall.” His gaze roamed over her face, as though he couldn’t quite believe his daughter had been restored to him. “What of Will?”

“What of him?”

“Is it true that he is Susanna’s father?”

She halted, shocked. “Where did you hear that?”

“So it is true. I cannot fathom that Will would dishonor you so.” He looked off over the sun-glistened water. “I begin to see why you insisted on marrying Laurent in all haste.”

“It wasn’t like that with Will. And Laurent knew the truth about the baby. I never dissembled with him.”

“I do not mean to distress you. We needn’t speak of it again. Whatever he has done, Will restored you to me and saved both you and Susanna from being taken a second time. I cannot forget that.”

Elle exhaled. Duret was dead, although she hadn’t heard the details of how it had happened. She wondered if Will would ever tell her. Just as she wondered what the future held for them.

“Cosmo will be overjoyed when he returns home to discover you here,” Aldridge said, changing the subject.

She inhaled the salty sea air, relishing the scent of home that she’d missed so terribly. “I can hardly believe my brother has pledged his troth to one woman. Mari must be very special.”

“That she is.”

“Where exactly did they go?”

“To the Lake District. Susanna came to us just before they married and both felt it unwise to leave her so soon after coming into our care.”

“I am grateful to him and Mari for looking after Susanna. Will says they adore her.”

“We all do.”

She squeezed his arm. “I cannot wait to see Cosmo again.”

“They’ll return any day now, I expect.” True contentment shone in his face, making him suddenly seem younger and more robust. “And then our family shall truly be complete once again.”

Will wove a path through the rows of apple trees. Susanna’s nurse said the girl had gone for a walk with Elle, but he’d seen no sign of them thus far. The orchard had always been one of Elle’s favorite places, and he could well imagine her bringing their daughter here. He was anxious to find her. They had much to settle between them.

Exhaling, he shook out his arms, trying to loosen the tension in his muscles. His frank talk with Aldridge this morning had gone as well as he could have hoped, given Will’s egregious transgression with Elle all those years ago. He winced, remembering the disappointment in the older man’s face.

Halting by one of the trees, he leaned back against the scaly brown bark and inhaled the fresh, sweet scent of the ripening fruit above. He’d spent many hours studying beneath these trees, and the solitude of the orchard had always helped to clear his mind.

His thoughts were so wrapped up in Elle and their daughter that he hardly noted the apple that fell with a thud by his feet. Until the tinkle of girlish giggles filtered down from the leaves, followed by a smoky laugh that could belong to no girl.

Stepping away from the trunk, he tilted his head upward to find two pairs of legs dangling from a thick branch not too far overhead—one possessed scrawny limbs that were mostly covered by the child’s cotton pantaloons and fancy frilled voile. Next to hers were long and lanky limbs, mostly concealed by a faded muslin skirt, but still revealing enough to showcase shapely calves, trim ankles, and dainty feet encased in dusty leather half boots.

He smiled.

“What have we here?” he called up to them. “You almost lobbed me in the head.”

Susanna’s small anxious face leaned into view. “Are you well, Mr. Naismith? We didn’t intend to do you any injury.”

His heart tugged at the anxiety in the girl’s expression. “It is quite all right. I am used to your Mama dropping apples on those who displease her, and she has good reason to be angry with me.”

Elle’s amused visage appeared next to the girl’s. “Do I?”

“Are you teaching our…your…daughter to follow your tree-climbing, apple-dropping habits?”

“I have always found those particular skills to be most useful.”

“Do you intend to come down anytime soon? I wish to have a word with you.”

“I suppose we’ve no choice but to abandon our post.” Grabbing hold of a branch above her head, Elle pushed to her feet and reached out to help the girl up as well. “Nurse was adamant that I return Susanna to her studies in a timely manner.”

The girl clutched her mother’s hand and rose gingerly to her feet. Looking down, her feathery brows drew together. “Climbing up was much easier than going down.”

“If you fall, I will catch you,” Will said, his chest full of feeling. “I won’t let you get hurt.”

They slowly made their way down, with Elle gently instructing the girl on where to place her feet and hands. When they were close enough, Susanna dropped out of the tree and into Will’s waiting arms.

“There now,” he said. “I’ve got you.” She hung tight to his neck, her small, warm form nestled into his chest. An overwhelming feeling of tenderness came over him, and his throat felt so full it was hard to swallow.

“Thank you, Mr. Naismith,” she said in a small voice, her usual exuberance muted.

Elle dropped down beside them, her silver eyes sparkling. “You did an admirable job, Susanna.”

The loud clang of a bell sounded from the direction of the manor.

“Oh, that is Nurse summoning me.” Susanna wriggled out of Will’s arms, and he reluctantly let his daughter go, setting her on her feet safely to the ground. “It is time for my lesson.”

“You had better run along, then,” Elle said. “We wouldn’t want to anger Nurse.”

Susanna set off running for the house but paused and turned back. “Thank you for the tree climbing lesson, my lady,” she said shyly.

Elle’s rosy cheeks glowed. “You are most welcome.”

A tentative smile flashed on the girl’s face before she pivoted and dashed off in the direction of the clanging bell.

Will gazed after her. “She’s a beauty.”

“She hasn’t called me Mama since we found her in the secret passageway.”

Will turned to her. “Much has suddenly changed in her young life. I suppose we must give her time to adjust.”

“You will want her to know you are her father.”

“In due time. I do not wish to overwhelm the girl with too many changes at once.”

Elle swatted dust from her skirts. “I’m not terribly patient, but I can wait as long as it takes for her to become accustomed to having me around.”

“Could you also become accustomed to having me around?”

“You are Susanna’s father,” she spoke carefully. “You will always be welcome here.”

His gaze traced the familiar lines of her beloved face. Aristocratic cheekbones, clear wide-set silver eyes, plump, perfectly shaped lips. “Will you welcome me in your bed again, this time as your husband?”

Her wary eyes met his. “Do you still want that after everything that’s occurred? Have you truly forgiven me for keeping the truth of Susanna’s paternity from you?”

“There is nothing to forgive. My reaction, my anger after I learned about our daughter, was misplaced.” He reached for her hand and lightly stroked the silky patch of skin on the back of it with his thumb. “The blame is mine, all of it.”

She shook her head against his words. “That isn’t true. I should have told you sooner, but I was confused and afraid. We were running from Duret and then matters between us became more intimate. So much was happening at once. But I have no excuse for not telling you the truth except to say that I am a coward.”

“I see what you mean. Stealing highly sensitive documents from Napoléon’s most malevolent general is definitely the act of a pigeon-hearted female.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Do not make sport of me.”

“And then, once we reached Langtry, you managed to help free me and fool Duret, saving us all from certain death. Another lily-livered act.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You are the one who saved us.”

“Your ingenuity and bravery made such an outcome possible. You acted more valiantly than some of my best agents.”

She searched his face, as if she found his words hard to comprehend. “But you were so angry with me for lying to you. Rightfully so.”

“In truth I was furious with myself. What kind of man takes a girl’s innocence and abandons her to face the consequences alone?”

“You were off saving the world.”

“No matter should have been more pressing than the business we left unfinished,” he said vehemently. “I should have realized you might be with child. I should have deduced that is why you married Laurent so quickly.”

“You were off saving your agents’ lives—”

“Instead of putting the pieces together in a logical manner, I foolishly allowed my own insecurities about the circumstances of my birth cloud my judgment. I just assumed you chose a nobleman over a lowly bastard.”

“Never,” she said softly. “I would never freely choose anyone over you.”

“You were an innocent who ended up in France, lost your daughter and spent years in confinement because of my actions.” He felt an upwelling of guilt and self-contempt. “It is I who should ask for your forgiveness.”

A corner of her plush lip quirked upward. “Will you also shoulder the blame for the war between England and France? You do seem intent on carrying all of the world’s ills on your back.”

“Do not acquit me so easily. I deserve your censure.”

“I know exactly what you deserve.” She smiled, saucy and wicked, looking so much like the young girl at the pond that his gut ached. “And I plan to see that you feel the full weight of my retribution.” She placed the palms of her hands against his chest and shoved him back against the tree.

He went willingly and felt the harsh bite of the ragged tree trunk through the back of his shirt. “I cannot undo your suffering.” He stopped short when her hands went to the placket of his breeches. “What are you doing?”

Her focus was on her fingers as she undid the first button. “Stay still and take your punishment like a man.”

He was already half-aroused. “I cannot undo your suffering,” he repeated, licking his dry lips. “But I can rectify the situation at least by making things right between us. Say you’ll marry me.”

Her fingers stilled and her full attention centered on his face. “I forgive you for whatever trespasses you feel you’ve committed against me. There is no need for us to marry to assuage your guilt.”

“It’s not like that.”

“There is much to untangle between us.” She set her jaw, and he understood she’d be as immovable as a stone wall on the matter. “There is no reason to rush to the altar.”

“Six years is hardly rushing.” Reaching into his pocket, Will pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to her. “I have always wanted to marry you. Nothing has changed.”

She took the aged paper, noting the blue tax stamp on the top left and an envelope bearing the seal of the Archbishop of Canterbury hanging off the bottom of it. She skimmed the words…marriage may be publicly and lawfully solemnized…without the Publication or Proclamation of the Banns of Matrimony…

She looked up. “What is this?”

“It is a special license to wed.”

“But how could you have possibly managed to get it when we’ve only just returned to England?” Confused, she turned the paper over and back again. “And this is quite old.”

“Six years old to be exact.”

Her mouth dropped open. “How can that be?”

“When I left you the evening of your birthday, I rode to London to obtain a special license because there was nothing in the world I wanted more than to make you my wife. Not out of obligation, but out of deep and abiding love, and a healthy dose of lust. I intended to return the following day but the urgent Home Office assignment waylaid me.”

Confusion marked her beautiful features as she stared at the license. “I was always so certain you felt obliged to marry me.”

“There has never been a day when I didn’t wish you were mine. And that is even more true today. I love the woman you’ve become even more than the girl I left behind.”

“Oh, Will.” Tears filled her eyes. “I can’t believe you’ve had this license with you all this time.”

Even when he’d thought her forever lost to him, he’d kept the license. It was a link to her, however tenuous, a reminder of how close he’d come to having everything he wanted. He took her into his arms. “Say you’ll marry me.”