Honor Reclaimed (All About Honor) (28 page)

Elle met them in the hall when they
returned to the residence, “How is he?
 
What did he say?”

Thomas put his arms around her and
held her close to him, “He is alright.
 
He wanted us to tell you that he loves you.”

“He actually told you he loves me”,
she asked, her voice thick with unshed tears?

“Yes honey.
 
He is also very concerned that Alex is
provided for in case anything happens.”
 
John replied.

“Oh lord.
 
You do not think they will find him guilty do you?”
 
Elle was terrified.

“I do not see how, but strange
things can happen and it is best to be prepared.”
 
Thomas wished he could spare his sister the torture she was
going through.
 
“He wants to see if
there is any way to have Alex named as his heir.
 
I do not see how.
 
The law is clear.
 
If the
child is born out of wedlock, even if
he is acknowledged by
the father
, he cannot inherit entailed property.
 
He would be eligible to inherit Drew’s
property in Virginia because that is his outright and not involved in the
family estate and he can leave him his earned income that does not result from
the entailed estate.
 
Either way
Alex should have a reasonable income and be well provided for.
 
Who would have ever thought that Andrew
would prove to be such good father material?”
 
Thomas chuckled.

“I did.”
 
John surprised them by saying.
 
“He has always loved my children.
 
He plays with them so much when he is around that it is like
having an extra child in the house.”

“You should have seen him when he
saw Alex the first time and realized that Alex was his son.
 
It made me cry to see the tears in
Drew’s eyes.
 
He hates that he
missed the first five years of Alex’s life.
 
I feel so sorry about that.
 
I let my stubborn pride prevent our happiness.”
 
Elle, still in her brother’s protective
arms, finally broke down in tears.
 
“I have so much to make up to him.
 
I just hope I get the chance.”

Kissing her on top of her head,
which was buried in his chest, Thomas assured her, “We will do everything in
our power to insure that happens.”

Thomas and John spent the next three
weeks lining up witnesses to speak in Drew’s defense.
 
They were pleasantly surprised to find so many gentlemen
willing to testify that they had also enjoyed La
Donna’s
favors.
 
All they could imagine was
that these gentlemen figured that there was safety in numbers and they had to
credit Sir Alex’s pressure on his son’s behalf.
 

Drew still hated to make a public
spectacle of the woman, “Do you think you could arrange a meeting here with
both La Donna and her father, and the three of us?
 
Maybe I could talk some sense into them.
 
If they knew the kind of questions that
would be put to them in court they may think twice.”

“You may have a point.
 
It just might work.
 
I will see if I can make arrangements
for a meeting tomorrow, we are running out of time.”
 
John hoped it might work.

“Excuse me your lordship, can I
speak with you for a moment?” the guard stepped into the room indicating that
he need to speak with Thomas in private.
 
“The lady’s father is here and wishes to have a moment with your
client.”

“I will speak with him first.”
 
Thomas replied.

“Sir Nicholas, I was hoping to speak
with you again today.
 
Why don’t we
step into the investigation room with the others and see if we can come to some
arrangements for keeping this matter out of the public eye.”
 
Thomas held the door open and invited
the two to enter.
 
“Please be
seated.
 
I think maybe we can work
something out between us.
  
First things first, there is
no way that the charge of rape
will hold up in court.
 
We now have
at least a dozen men that were willing to swear in court that they have bedded
your daughter.
 
It seems she has
been a busy girl. Rather than subjecting yourselves to the humiliation, I would
advise you drop the charges today.”
 
Thomas did not even try to spare their sensitivities.
 

“I am here to take care of
that.
 
After our last conversation
I did some investigations on my own.
 
I have found that everything you said was true.
 
You have my profound apologies.”
 
Turning to Drew he said, “I will be
retiring to our country estate and you will not hear from me again anytime
soon.
 
I know that a mire apology
is not sufficient.
 
If you feel you
need to call me out, you would certainly be within your rights.”
 
The gentleman was obviously disgraced
to find himself in this position.

“No sir, I would rather just put
this behind me and get on with my life.
 
I was to be married three weeks ago.
 
I want to see to that as soon as possible and return to my
estate in Virginia.
 
I just want to
ask, why, why me?”
 
Drew was
seriously confounded.
 
“I know there
were others she could have named with greater titles, larger prospects, why
me?”

“She seriously liked you.
 
When she found out she was with child
she wanted to find a man that she thought would be responsible and take care of
her and the
baby.
 
She also thought if you lived in Virginia, far away from her
reputation her in London, that someday she would be able to live down her
reputation.
 
She really wanted to
be a good wife.”
 
Sir Nicholas’
voice broke.
 
“She was my only
child, all I had after her mother died.
 
I indulged her and spoiled her terribly.
 
It was my fault she became so willful and I will never
forgive myself.
 
It is because of
my over indulgence that she is dead.”
 
With this last statement the man imploded emotionally in front of them.

The room was absolutely silent
except for the sobs coming from a totally distraught father.
 
Too stunned to move for a minute or two
the four men sat like statues.
 
Finally reaching out and placing a hand on Sir Nicholas’ arm Drew asked,
“How did it happen?”

“When she found out that I was not
going through with the charges, and that I would not insist that you marry her,
she decided to get rid of the baby.
 
She was able to get her hands on something that would induce a
miscarriage.
 
She was too far
advanced in her pregnancy.
 
The
baby died, but it was not expelled from her body.
 
She developed an infection and did not recover.
 
Sir Andrew, the child was not
yours.
 
She told me everything when
she knew she was dying.
 
There was
no one after you though.
 
She
really thought she had a chance to win you over.
 
Despite everything she was my baby and I will miss her
terribly.”
 
He was trying
desperately to pull himself together.

True to his word, Sir Nicholas
dropped all charges and Drew was released within the hour.
 
He wanted nothing more than to go
straight to Elle and beg her forgiveness then hold her in his arms, but he had
to go home and delouse first.
 
He
did not know if he would ever feel clean again.
 
Escorted home by his father, he scrubbed and rinsed,
scrubbed and rinsed, repeatedly until his skin was raw from the effects of the
lye soap he used.
 
His clothing was
burned immediately.

Finally deemed sufficiently clean,
Drew made one stop on his way to the Lewis residence.
 

Just before dark the carriage pulled
up at the Lewis townhouse and Drew presented himself at the door.
 
The door was thrown opened and Elle
flew into his arms, jumping up and grabbing him around the neck then showering
kisses all over his face.
 
Drew
laughed and swung her around and around.
 
“I love you,” she kept repeating between kisses.
 
Drew responded the same way.
 
Gwen and Eirian were waiting their
turns to congratulate him when the lovers had finished their greetings.

Once the greetings were over, Drew
invited everyone to enter his two carriages and accompany Elle and himself to
the church.
 
His father would meet
them there. The stop he had made on his way was to make arrangements with the
minister to perform the marriage rites as soon as he could return with his
bride.
 
“I am not willing to take a
chance of anything else happening and I did not want to spend another night
alone without you,” he told Elle.

Drew and Elle withdrew with the
Reverend for a few minutes of discussion before the minister would perform the
ceremony.
 
Once satisfied that both
parties were in agreement about their desire to be wed and understood the
sanctity of marriage, he escorted them to the front of the church, where their
family waited to witness the exchange of vows.
 
Thomas and Gwen attended them at the altar as their
witnesses.
 

Once the ceremony was completed,
Drew and Elle received the well wishes of their family and then retired alone
to Drew’s townhouse.
 
Alex was to
spend the next few days with Thomas and Gwen to allow the couple to adjust to
their new relationship.

The front door to the mansion opened
as the carriage drew to a halt in front.
 
Drew took Elle’s arm and escorted her up the steps.
 
Once inside
they were
greeted by Roberts, Drew’s butler
.
 
“Congratulations, your lordship.
 
With your permission, and on behalf of the staff, I would like to
welcome Lady Eleanor to Braybrooke House.
 
We look forward to serving you Madame.”

“Thank you Roberts, and please
convey my thanks to the rest of the staff.”
 
Elle was still having trouble believing that she was finally
mistress of her own household.

“Your orders have been followed to
the letter, sir.
 
I hope everything
pleases you.
 
If not, you have but
to ring for assistance.”
 
Roberts
bowed his way out of the hall.

“Well my dear, shall we adjourn to
the master’s chambers?”
 
Drew could
not help the rush he felt when he thought of the night ahead.

Drew escorted Elle up the stairs to
their chambers.
 
When he reached
the portal to the master’s chambers he released her arm to open the door.
 
He then scooped her up in his arms and
carried her across the threshold.
 
He slowly lowered her allowing her body to slowly slide against his, he
then gathered her to him.
 
Placing
his forefinger under her chin, he raised her face to look up at him.
 
Starring soulfully into her eyes, he
saw the reflection of same deep abiding love he felt for her.
 
He lowered his lips to hers and
drinking her into the very depths of his soul.

Once they again became aware of
their surroundings they discovered the dinner Drew had ordered, accompanied by
chilled champagne, ready and waiting for them in their candle-lit
bedchambers.
 
The table had been
set in front of the
fireplace which
was laid to just
take the evening chill off the room.

Drew pulled the chair out for Elle
to be seated.
 
Once she was settled
in her chair, he leaned over to place a gentle kiss on her lips.
 
When he would have pulled away from
her, Elle reached up and running her finger through his thick black curls and
held his lips to hers.
 
Their lips
began to work against one another moving, nipping, sucking, as their tongues
fenced in a lover’s game.
 
Bracing
himself, and taking a deep breath, Drew pulled away.
 
“God, I love you,” he moaned.

“I love you too.
 
I never thought I could be this
happy.
 
Thank you.”
 
Elle was on the verge of tears of joy.

“No Madame, it is I who should thank
you.
 
I still cannot fathom that
you believed in me and trusted me without fail.
 
I have repeatedly let you down, yet you have consistently
trusted me and stood by me.
 
I plan
to spend the rest of my life making it up to you.
 
I love you.”
 
He
kissed her again.