Defiance at Werewolf Keep (Werewolf Keep Trilogy) (13 page)

And then he met Lily and all his plans were thrown out the window. It didn’t take him more than a single day to know that he wanted this small, frail woman beside him forever. But it had taken a l
ot longer to accept that and to act on it. Now he knew what it was to feel intensely again, for better or for worse. And luckily, since that second night of the full moon, it had been for the better.

Once the denizens of the Keep had come around to his sharing his cell with Lily, life had become much easier. And with the overwhelming pressure to claim his mate finally lifted, he felt strangely light.
He knew that he could trust her, knew that she accepted him just as he was, and he knew that, though he didn’t deserve her, he had been given the greatest gift of all – her love. It humbled him.

He nuzzled her rioting hair and breathed in her sweet scent. Would he ever tire of it?

Content. He was content.

Not that everything was perfect. There was still Lily’s parents to deal with. He
could just imagine how well telling them about their plans was going to go. To middle-class Londoners, a low-class, Scottish ex-pugilist, considerably older than their daughter, would not be their choice of husband for their beloved only child. If he had a daughter he wouldn’t have let her anywhere near someone like him.

But like it or not, the Farnsworths were going to have to accept him. Lily was old enough to make her own decisions concerning marriage.
And she had chosen him, warts and all.

The lightness in the area of his stone heart bemused him. It felt like love, but with none of the pain he attributed to that emotion. Could love give instead of take? Could love lift him up instead of cast him down? Was it possible for someone like him, hardened to life for so long, to suddenly allow the vulnerability of such an emotion?

He didn’t know. But in this moment, he didn’t want to analyse it. Lily lay curled against his side, content to be there, and the world was beautiful because of it.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Lily heard the bell tinkle over the shop door as they entered. It was such a familiar sound, and yet it seemed to belong to a different life, a long ago memory of a different life. She let her eyes take in the shelves laden with colourful fabrics, the wooden manikin by the measuring table still dressed in a blue velvet gown her mother had made using new stock that had come in only a few months before.
It looked smaller somehow.

Behind the shop counter, head down as he tallied figures for his well-dressed customer, her father didn’t notice their pre
sence. It was her mother’s gasp as she came through the curtain from the back of the shop that drew his attention. He looked first at his wife, and then, noting her shocked delight, let his gaze travel in Lily’s direction.

When Henry’s gaze finally alighted on her, his mout
h dropped open in surprise, and tears came to his eyes as a big grin broke out across his face. He threw down the pencil in his hand, pulled up the table flap that allowed access to the main part of the shop, and ran toward her. She felt Will draw back a step behind her, as if temporarily giving her over to the small man. It was a constant delight to have this big, old war-horse, as he called himself, at her side ever-ready to protect her, but she appreciated this gesture.

Warm arms surrounded her tentatively, as if afraid that too much pressure might break her bones. Even that fear seemed to belong to the long-ago past. She might still only look like a slip of a girl, but she was strong and in much better health than ever before. If Will hadn’
t broken her bones during any of their often strenuous love-making sessions, hugs from her father and mother wouldn’t.

She tightened her arms around the small man and drew him in, enjoying the familiar scent of new fabric, lye soap and hair
pomade that was distinctly Papa’s own. When her mother joined the happy reunion, her father reluctantly let her go so that she could hug the older woman just as enthusiastically.

Tears and laughter filled the shop and
, glancing over her shoulder, Lily saw that Will was uncomfortable with the display. Pulling herself together, she drew back from her parents and reached back to link her arm with Will’s, drawing him forward.

‘Mother, Father, I would like to introduce
Mr William McManners. He, too, is a resident of Breckenhill Keep. It is he who has accompanied me home.’

‘Alone?’ her mother said on a
mortified gasp. ‘I thought you were in the company of a lady companion.’

‘That was certainly the case a few weeks ago when I went to Yorkshire. But much has changed since then. Will has been courting me, and he has brought me home
so that he could ask you for my hand, Father.’ Lily beamed up at the big man at her side, and he tightened his grip on her arm.

‘Courting? Married? Lily, this is too sudden. You cannot consider such a thing in your condition.’ Her father sputtered the words
, staring at Will as if he was the devil himself.

‘I am perfectly well, dear Papa, although I will need to remain at the Keep, especially now that Will and I are to be wed. Please be happy for me. I wanted you to give me away
. Will you do that for me? We can be married in three weeks. Until then I will stay with you.’

Lily knew that her parents would have difficulty handling the news. Her plan had been to ease them into it. But as soon as she had seen them, all thoughts of caution had flown from her mind and she had been desperate to share her happy news.

‘I am sorry Lily has dropped this on you so suddenly, sir. I would have liked to have asked your permission in ma own time, but your daughter is impetuous. Please be assured that I care deeply for your girl and will be the best husband I can be for her. She will want for nothing.’

‘You’
re a Scot? And a ruffian from the looks of you.’

‘Father, please. Will is a kind gentleman, well respected by all who live and work at the Keep. He is no ruffian.’

‘Enough airing of our linen in public. Come, daughter, bring this man of yours upstairs so we can get better acquainted. It is nearly closing time. Henry, finish up with Mrs Dawson and join us upstairs when you can.’ Her mother was all business as she hustled them through the gap in the counter and past the curtain, leading the way upstairs.

It was the smell of home that most struck her as Lily wandered around the small parlo
ur she had known all her life. The coal in the fireplace. The smell of lemon and beeswax furniture polish. The faint but unmistakeable odour of pipe tobacco her father availed himself of every evening after dinner. She had to blink back the tears as the bitter-sweet memories overwhelmed her.

‘Make yourselves at home while I put the kettle on,’ her mother said as she hustled out of the room, leaving Will and Lily alone.

Will made the most of the moment to wrap her in his comforting arms. ‘How does it feel being back?’

‘Li
ke I haven’t been away, and yet…it’s as if I’ve been gone for years. It’s most strange.’

‘Aye, likely it is. Your dah is none to
o happy at the idea of you marrying me.’

‘Yes, well, I didn’t think it would be easy. He never expected me to marry and leave home, you see. I was supposed to di
e by the time I turned twenty.’

‘
Ma poor lass, how you must have dreaded each passing day, thinkin’ it might be your last.’

‘Not dreaded. I was just
grateful for every day I lived past twenty. Each one was precious because it was more than what I expected to be mine.’

‘Aye, well, now you have a long life to look forward to.’

‘And yet I will value each day, in just the way I did before. Especially now that I have you by my side.’

He kissed her tenderly as her mother hustled back into the room with a tea service in her hands. She gas
ped at the sight of them, and her displeasure was as heavy as it was unspoken as she placed the tray down, none to gently on the table in the centre of the room.

Will blushed and released her. She had never seen him blush before. It was delightful.

‘How do you take your tea, Mr…McManners is it?’

‘Call me Will, please. I take it strong and with
out milk or sugar, if you will.’

The tea
poured, her mother settled herself into her favourite chair. Lily ached from the strained atmosphere. Desperately, she tried to think of some way to ease the situation.

‘I k
now you consider this sudden…’

‘Unseemly haste
, I call it. You know your father will not allow it. Especially if you plan to stay in Yorkshire. He will want you to live close by. You are feeling better, and I am grateful for it. You have no idea how grateful. But who is to say that you will not get ill again. This sudden good health may pass as suddenly as it came on. You need to be here so we can care for you.’

‘Mrs Farnsworth, I have lived with the condition Lily now has for nine years. I can assure you that she will not have a relapse. Her health improves with each passing day. Canna you see the
roses in her cheeks, even now?’

Her mother reluctantly looked at Lily and gave a grudging nod. ‘Yes, I can see how well she looks. It is the euphoria of finding herself in good health that has led to her misplaced affections. You should not take advantage of her, Mr McManners. Surely you can see that she has had little
experience with men and courting. If you tie her to you now and confine her to an asylum in the wilds of Yorkshire, what life is that?’

‘Mother
, please. You have no idea of what you speak. The Keep is a wonderful place and I have made many new friends and have purposeful activities to occupy my time. I am happy and healthy and expect to stay that way. Surely, you should be happy for me, too. I will visit often, I promise you. It is preferable to my death, isn’t it?’

‘Of course. But Lily, you hardly know this man. How do you know he is the sort to care for you when needed? At the moment
, he might shower you with attention. But that will not last. It never does. He will lose interest and start looking elsewhere. What will become of you then?’

‘
You do not know me, Mrs Farnsworth, so I will excuse your assumptions. But your daughter will be my woman and there will be none other, ever, for me. And I will give my life to keep her safe and well.’ Lily felt her heart lift at his intense declaration. If her mother couldn’t hear the sincerity in his words then she never would.

‘But do you love my girl?’ demanded her father
, entering the room with heavy steps.

Lily’s heart went from floating o
n air to the depths of despair in the blink of an eye. Of all the questions her father could have asked, did it have to be this one? She had no chance of winning them over to the wedding if her father didn’t believe Will loved her.

‘Father, marriages, good marriage have be
en forged on far less than love.’

‘If you had asked me that question even a few days ago,’ interrupted Will, ‘I would have told you I cared for her
deeply but couldn’t love her. But that has changed now. I donna ken how or even why, but that has changed. Do I love your wee lassie? Aye, with all ma heart. She’s ma true mate. I have waited a lifetime for her.’

Lily jerked her gaze from her father’s stern
countenance to Will’s. Was he lying to appease her parents?

But when his dark eyes met her own
, she saw the truth in them. He loved her! As he watched her face for her response, she began to smile. Then she laughed. Before she realised what she was doing, she was out of her chair and in his lap, kissing his face as she continued to laugh.

‘Lily Farnsworth, beh
ave yourself!’ her mother admonished stiffly. But Lily could barely hear her. The only person in the room at that moment was Will, and her love for him was deeper than the ocean.

‘What has happ
ened to the stone?’ she asked between gusts of exuberant laughter.

‘I have no idea
, Lily, love. One minute there was a stone where my heart should ha’ been and then there was flesh beatin’ only for you.’

‘Oh Will, I do love you!’

‘Good. I’d hate for it to be all one-sided after all we’ve been through.’

‘It would seem that there is not much I can say to change your mind,’ her father said.

She looked from Will to her father, the smile still on her face. ‘Just give us your blessing Papa, please. And be happy for me.’

***

Three weeks later, in a small, informal ceremony in the Church of England chapel two streets over from the Farnworth’s shop, Lily and Will came together to be married. The Carstairs and Hortons had made the trip down to share the special occasion and brought well-wishes from many of the other residents.

As Lily walked down the aisle with her
arm linked with her father’s, she couldn’t believe life could be so good. The tall, handsome man standing with the vicar at the front of the church was waiting for her. His usually fierce expression was missing. In its place was a kind of wonder, as if he wanted to pinch himself to wake up.

‘Are you sure about this
, Lily? It’s not too late. Just because he loves you doesn’t mean you have to give yourself to him. It might seem convenient – ’

‘Papa, please. We have been through this several times in the last few weeks. That man is everything I ever wanted but didn’t kno
w I could have. Be happy for me.’

With a grudging grunt, Henry Farnsworth tightened his grip on Lily’s arm
and then let it go, reflexively. She tightened her own grip. ‘I don’t break anymore. You can hug me as tight as you like. And you’ll never lose me. I’ll always be your loving daughter.’

With tears in his eyes, Henry kissed her cheek when they reached the front of the church. Trying to smile
, he turned to Will and gave him a gruff nod. When the vicar asked who gave this woman her father said, loudly and with determination, ‘I do,’ and placed her hand in Will’s. Then he stepped back to join his wife in the front pew.

When the final words were spoken and Will leaned down to kiss her tenderly, Lily thought her heart would explode with joy. No matter what life held from this moment on, she had this sublime moment when everything was perfect. Healthy, happy and surrounded with more love than one person deserved, nothing else could have been added to improve it.

‘I love you, Lily Mc Manners. I will for the rest of my life.’ Will said, nuzzling her cheek as they walked down the aisle and out of the church.