Authors: Sarah Thorn
I will try to explain to the General that he is unwell. I hope I shall be able to prevent his death.
Her father was a hero. How awful it must have been, seeing men slain in front of him. But he hadn't run away. He also had enough feeling to realize that not everybody was able to handle the horror of it all. And her father a friend of the Duke of Longford? She quickly opened the next letter.
My Love. As always I love you. May the days until we are reunited go quickly. Being apart
from
you is too much to beat at times.
I feel I ought to tell you about John, the Duke, as I left the story unfinished in my previous letter.
By some miracle, I managed to convince General Parker that John is ill, not a coward. John is to be sent back to England on the next ship. He will go back to Fairfax Hall where I hope he will make a speedy recovery.
My love, I hope you are managing at Froome Lodge. It is
an awfully
large property for you to
manage
alone, in my absence. I promise you when I return
I
will assist you all I can. Please make sure all our tenants
are looked
after in this difficult time. And remember if you need money, Anderson and Jenkins are looking after the accounts.
What was Froome Lodge and who were Anderson and Jenkins? She hastened to the next letter. It was a different color and in her mother's hand.
My darling husband.
I hope you are well. Every day I pray to God that he will deliver you free of injury from the terrible war you are fighting. Know that I love you and always will.
I was very interested to hear your
account
of the desertion of the Duke on Longford. It was an act of great friendship on your part, speaking to the General and having his sentence commuted. But I fear the Duke doesn't appear to have appreciated it very much. Back here in England, he has spread
word
that it was you who deserted and he who helped you. Unfortunately, my love, he is a Duke and people seem to believe him. When I go
into
the village now, people shout insults at me. They call me the wife of a coward and a traitor. Many of the tenants have refused to pay their rent. In fact, my darling, I am at a loss to know what to do. I fear we may lose everything.
Jane gasped. So they had been well-to-do. Her father had been a man of means. It seemed they'd owned an estate of some sort. In the bottom of the box, there was a
grubby single
card in
plain
gray paper.
Royal Artillery, Woolwich Barracks, London.
Dear Mrs. Glossop,
It is with deep regret that I must inform you that your husband has
been killed
in action. He died in a battle close to the Belgian town of Allery. He was our bravest
officer,
and
he
is a great loss to the regiment.
My condolences
Captain J.H. Auburn.
Why had her mother never shown her all this? Why had she kept it hidden from her? She would never know, but she wanted to find out about Froome Lodge. She put the
letters back
in the box and put her mother's things into a bag.
*****
The horse-drawn ambulance came the following morning. They put Jane's
mother
in a straight-jacket. Jane cried, and screamed at them not to do it, but they insisted she was too violent and needed to
be restrained
. Jane gave them the bag with her mother's things and kissed her mother on the cheeks. Her mother looked at her vaguely. Jane hoped she didn't know what was happening to her.
''I'll come and see you very soon. I love you'' she cried as they slid her into the box like vehicle.
After her mother had gone, Jane sat in the kitchen and wept. Reading the letters had made her realize how much her mother and father had been through. It must have been an awful time. She busied herself rearranging the lounge where her mother had slept. She would turn it into
a nice
sitting room again she promised herself.
The knock at the door was so loud it made her jump.
''Wait, I'm coming,'' she shouted. When she opened it, the Duke of Longford was standing on the doorstep, his carriage and footmen neatly lined up behind him. A few of the villagers were standing around looking at the spectacle.
''May I come in?'' he asked.
''I have nothing to say to you.''
He wasn't used to rejection. ''I have something to tell you which I think you will want to
know about
. It concerns your late father and his property.''
Jane considered for a few moments and stood aside. ''It's not much of a house for a Duke,'' she said.
''Perfectly adequate.''
''Come into the kitchen,'' she said. He followed and sat in a Windsor Chair. ''Tell me what you have come to say. I'm busy.''
The Duke
was taken
surprised by Jane's indifference to him. ''Very well. I have come to tell you what happened
between
my family and your father.''
''I know what happened,'' she said. ''Your father told everyone my
father
was a traitor, a deserter. But he wasn't. Your
father
was.''
The Duke took off his hat and put it on the pine table. ''Yes. That's correct.''
''And you have known about it all these years and done nothing. You let my mother live in poverty.''
''No, that's not correct. I didn't find out until recently. My father never told me any of this. I found out
completely
by accident.''
''How?'' Jane put her hands on her hips, like an angry mother.
''I asked the estate manager to draw up an inventory of all the properties I own. One on the list was a place called Froome Lodge. It was the only house I'd never heard
of,
and I was interested to see when it came into the estate.''
''Froome Lodge. That was my father's,'' she exclaimed.
''Yes. Here are the deeds. It's yours again.''
''What?''
''It's yours. It does not belong to my family. It belongs to you. I'm giving it back to you. Along with my sincere apologies.''
Jane stood open-mouthed and looked at the document in her hand. It was
new
and embossed with her name. A sixteen bedroom house with three thousand acres of land, two hundred and fifty tenants and an annual rental income of twenty thousand pounds. ''What happened?'' she asked. ''Why did my mother give it up.''
This was
the part the Duke dreaded most. ''A man who works at Anderson and Jenkins told me the story. When my father spread the word that your father was a deserter, your mother's tenants stopped paying rent. They
simply
refused to finance a deserter's wife.'' He began to wring the gloves he just
taken
off. ''Your father was killed very soon
afterwards
. My
father
took advantage of your mother then. He told her he would take over the running of the estate and pay her the rental income, less a fee. What in fact he did, was take over the running of the estate and pay her nothing. He stole it from her.''
''But how? You can't just
steal
a property.''
''Well he did. Remember he was the Duke of Longford and your mother the wife of a deserter. No lawyer wanted to help her.''
''Now it all makes sense.''
''That's why nobody talks
to
you in the village. And that's why nobody wanted to dance with you at the v
illage
Spring Ball. Everyone believes you're a deserters daughter.''
Jane shot him a confused look. ''How did you know about that?''
''I was there.''
''No you weren't.''
''I was. I saw you. On the village green with your friend and you were very upset.''
''Were you spying on me?''
''Yes. I'll admit I was. As I said before, I noticed you one evening in the village. I thought you were the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.'' Jane blushed. ''I wanted to find out more about you. I thought perhaps you would be attending the Spring Ball, so I dressed as an ordinary farm hand and went to find out if you had a husband or a suitor. When I found out you had neither, I sent you the invitation. It was a mistake I can see that now.''
Jane looked at him; he was no longer so self-assured.
''However, I have corrected as well as I am able, the wrong my father did to you. You have your property back.'' He stood up. ''Anderson and Jenkins are expecting you to contact them. You are rich Jane. I bid you
farewell,
and I wish you all the best in the future.'' The Duke began to walk to the door.
''Wait.
Wait.
'' He stopped. ''It must have taken a lot of courage to come here today. You didn't have to give me the property back, but you did. For that, I am very grateful. I.......''
''The idea of offering to marry you was insane. Please forgive me. I don't know why I thought it could ever make up for what had happened.'' He smiled, almost laughed. ''It was a ridiculous idea.''
''Then why did you consider it?''
''Because, Jane Glossop, you are the kind of woman I have always
dreamed of
. Now, good evening.'' He closed the door behind him.
Jane kneeled down in the middle of the corridor and looked again at the deeds in her hand. She jumped up and ran to the door. The Duke's carriage had gone. Without shoes, she ran over the green and down the road.
''My
Lord
. A woman is running after us,'' a footman shouted through the carriage window.
''What does she look like?'' the Duke asked?
''Quite beautiful.''
''Stop. Stop now,'' the Duke ordered. He got out of the carriage and stood in the middle of the road as Jane ran, barefoot, towards him.
When she reached
him,
she was breathless. He waited
patiently
until she could speak. ''My Lord......I..........I........thought
about.............
what you
said.......
about me.''
''What exactly?'' he asked.
''The part when you told me I'm the kind of woman you've always dreamed of.''
''Yes. I'm sorry. Very embarrassing.''
''No, no,'' she was beginning to recover from her sprint. ''No, I liked it. I liked what you said, very much.''
''Well, thank you for telling me. My carriage is waiting, I must.....''
''No, you don't understand. I'm asking you to court me.''
He laughed. ''Court you?''
''Yes, I would like to know you better.''
''Why?''
''Because I too find you attractive in many ways. I would like to know you better.
With a view to
a future alliance.''
''Do you mean marriage?''
''Perhaps. Yes.''
''Splendid.
This has
turned out to be a much better day than I thought. Driver, take the carriage back to Fairfax Hall and come back for me in the morning. I will be staying at the inn this evening.''
*****
Jane wasn't sure whether she should or not, but her reputation in the village was already
poor
, and her mother was no longer at home. So she did.
Lying naked under the Duke,
she
felt truly feminine for the first time in her life. As he made love to her, she held his arms and kissed the side of his face. He whispered
loving
things to her, his thrusts increasing in intensity. Jane opened to him and wrapped her legs around his strong back. When she felt his body tighten, hers began to shake. Soon she felt a warmth flowing into her and the first orgasm she had had with a man crashing over her.
He didn't want to move from her. He remained inside her for as long as he could, placing kisses on her face and neck. When the moment came, he slipped from
her
but kept his body intertwined in hers.
They didn't speak for a long time. He broke the silence. ''Your mother has been moved to Fairfax Hall.''
Jane sat up. ''What?''
''I am President of the Board of Governors at the
Sanitarium,
and although we do our best, it remains
a grim
place. It pained me to see your mother there. I thought it
may
be a pleasant surprise for you to know that you mother will have her
own
room in Fairfax Hall. I have employed a
full-time
nurse and the services of an expert doctor. I am not saying she will recover, but she will be more comfortable.''