“What happened? Why are you here?”
“Son.” Rafe heard his father’s voice. “There was a fire in your barn last night.”
“The horses?”
“All safe, but you inhaled smoke and got hit in the head with a piece of flying wood.”
The doctor’s hands probed gently along the side and back of Rafe’s head. When he opened his eyes, the doctor’s face suddenly came into view. Rafe jerked.
“What is it?
“I can see you. You’re fuzzy, but I see your face.”
“It’s possible the recent blow helped you regain your sight. Possible, but not likely,” the doctor concluded.
“I don’t care how it happened,” his father said. “I’m just glad it did. This is wonderful.”
“Temper your excitement,” the physician warned. “This might only be transitory.”
Rafe ignored the doctor’s remarks. “Father, I must talk with you privately.”
“Of course. Please excuse us.”
Rafe heard the haughtiness in his father’s voice and smiled. The doctor nodded and scurried out of the room.
His father pulled up a chair by the bedside.
How did Rafe tell him what he suspected? Ralph was his father’s son, too.
* * * *
The days went by slowly after the excitement of the fire. Ellie helped her mother prepare for the few overnight guests and the neighbors who planned to attend the dinner and country ball.
“Ellie, go outside for awhile,” her mother said. “The first of our guests won’t begin arriving until afternoon. You look peaked and all this help without complaining is getting on my nerves.”
Ellie glanced across at her smiling mother and then at the open window. Outside the sun shined. Restlessness filled her, but the only place she wanted to go, she had to avoid. Her father had said Rafe’s parents had arrived and planned to stay with him until he fully recovered.
She put down her feather mop and walked toward the door. The fresh air beckoned her outside. She’d visit her mare. Nothing else, she promised herself.
Father and several other men arrived home as she entered the shadowed barn. They didn’t see her.
“The barn is well on its way to being finished. Having extra workers hired from the village has helped get the job done in record time,” her father said.
“The duke is certainly happy about his son’s recovery. Can’t blame him. No one wants their heir to be blind,” Mr. Brown, the short, stout husband of Mrs. Brown, remarked.
“It is nothing short of a miracle,” Ellie’s father agreed.
“Strange, though, that the half brother hasn’t been seen, and now the news is he’s headed for the continent.” The tall man standing by her father shook his head. “I asked the duke about it, but he raised his eyebrows in that way he has when you know you’ve stepped over the line. He obviously doesn’t want to discuss anything regarding his second son. Seems suspicious, but I’m not going to start any rumors. Don’t want to make the duke angry. Rather not have him as an enemy.”
“Some matters are best left between families,” Ellie’s father stated bluntly.
Ellie tiptoed back out of the barn. Rafe had regained his sight! Her heart trembled with despair. Every mother with a beautiful daughter would be after him for a son-in-law. Her chances just went from a little hopeful to no hope at all.
She didn’t want to witness the disappointment in his eyes when he saw she was not beautiful. Maybe she wouldn’t have to see him.
Interesting
was how she’d heard one of her suitors describe her appearance. Only in Rafe’s imagination could she be more. Even then, he’d probably remembered her as the rather plump, plain, dark-haired sister. Thank goodness he’d not be able to come to the ball.
If they did meet again, she’d be engaged to a proper gentleman, putting all her childhood dreams out of reach.
* * * *
The weather was perfect for the Saturday gathering. A cool breeze came through the open french windows as the small country quartet tuned their instruments. Ellie hurried upstairs after dinner to check her appearance and collect herself. She stood at the window imagining what might be happening at Rafe’s hunting lodge. As far as she knew, his parents were still in residence. She hadn’t overheard any further conversations regarding Rafe and had decided she’d best not ask questions.
Her mother stepped into Ellie’s room. “Ellie, what are you doing upstairs? The musicians are ready to start playing. Lord Marshall asked me about you. I assured him you would be right down.”
“I will be, Mama.”
“Whatever is the matter? You haven’t been yourself these past few weeks.”
“Deciding on the man I’m to spend the rest of my life with is a very serious matter, Mama. I have been pondering my future.”
“Good. It’s time you married. Although, you’ve shown no particular preference for any of the young men that have been interested in you in the past. Both your sisters have made advantageous marriages. As I told you the other day, I expect no less from you.”
Ellie gathered her silk shawl tight around her shoulders. “I’m ready. Let’s go find me a proper husband.” If her mother noticed the cynical tone in her daughter’s voice, she ignored it.
Feet dragging, Ellie followed her mother downstairs. Lord Harvey Marshall stood at the bottom, a smile on his round face. He was a cheerful sort, liked by his male friends and viewed as a nice man by the ladies. His brown hair had begun to thin on top, and Ellie noted the beginning of a paunch. He’d make her a dependable husband.
“May I have this dance, Miss Upton?” Lord Marshall bowed.
She curtsied, took his arm, and they entered the crowded ballroom that had been decorated with fragrant flowers and numerous candles. Couples had begun to arrange themselves in sets around the dance floor. Ellie smiled at familiar faces and took her place across from Lord Marshall.
Lord Turner nodded to her from farther down the row. This promised to be a trying night. Pasting a smile on her face, she stepped forward to the music.
* * * *
“Son, I really do not believe you are recovered enough to go to a country ball,” the duke reiterated for the fourth or fifth time. “Your neighbors will certainly understand your not attending.”
“I’m fine, father. I hope you and Mother will come with me. I overheard Baron Upton inviting you the other day.”
“Why is this so important?”
“This is my first outing after regaining my sight. I can face all the curious at one time and get it over with.”
And see Ellie.
She hadn’t been able to visit, not with his parents in residence. He thought about her every day. The feel and taste of her haunted him. Were there any consequences to their actions? He needed—no, he wanted—to know.
His eyesight continued to improve and was now as good as ever. He’d hoped she would send him a message, but knew that wasn’t possible, either. Tonight, he intended to see her and talk with her.
“Booth, you make a fine valet,” Rafe said as he studied himself in the mirror.
The last week he’d spent much time outdoors, and his paleness had been replaced by tanned skin which the whiteness of his cravat intensified. His coat and trousers were a hunter’s green and his vest white with gold thread. Tonight, he appeared every inch the duke’s heir.
“If you insist on going, then your mother and I will accompany you. She thought I’d not be able to dissuade you. I’m sure she’s almost ready. Let’s go downstairs and have a glass of brandy while we wait.”
“We’ve missed dinner,” Rafe said as they stood in his study. “If we don’t hurry we’ll miss a good part of the dance also.”
“I shan’t keep you waiting.” His stepmother smiled from the doorway. “I’m ready.”
* * * *
Ellie hid behind a large fern and fanned herself. Lord Marshall and Turner had kept her dancing every set. Lord Turner had gone to get her some lemonade, and she took the opportunity to run away. Both men had suggested a walk outside, but she’d delayed the outing since she hadn’t decided which man’s offer to accept.
Lord Turner, a marquis, had been married once for a short time and lost his wife during childbirth. He was a quiet, plain, unassuming man, but noted as being intelligent and quite involved in political affairs.
Lord Marshall had never been married. He was much more social and an avid hunter. To Ellie there was not much to differentiate between the two men. Lord Marshall’s estate was closer to her parents’, and he and her father had many common interests.
She shrank further into the corner as she spotted Lord Turner looking for her. This was silly. Ellie started to move out from behind the fern when the crowd went quiet and everyone’s gaze went toward the entrance.
Ellie’s heart skipped a beat at the sight of the tall, raven-haired man standing beside her parents and his. Rafe. His eyes roamed around the crowd, and Ellie hid again. Her hands went clammy and her stomach queasy at the thought of Rafe seeing her. Her new gown and hairdo had her looking her best, but she did not compare to the golden-haired, rosy-cheeked beauties gathered in this room.
Sliding quietly toward the french windows, she slipped out into the cool air and hurried into the darkness. The damp ground wet her slippers. She pulled her shawl close against the chilly night. All of her was cold, except her face where she was sure her cheeks glowed red with embarrassment. How could she face him after what they’d experienced together?
“Ellie.”
She heard his voice, and her heart sank. Spinning around she confronted him. “How did you find me?”
“Why were you running away?”
“I asked first,” she said and tilted her chin.
His laughter sounded loud in the quiet. “Always ready to defend. Your lovely gown caught my eye just as you flew out the door.”
“I did not fly. I walked calmly outside. It is much cooler out here. The ballroom had become quite stuffy.”
“At just the moment I arrived?”
“You are late.”
“Fashionably,” he quipped and started to advance toward her.
Stepping backward, her foot sank into a small hole, and she lost her balance. His quick hands caught her and pulled her body against his. Placing her hands on his chest, she pushed.
“Let me go.”
“You were pleading the opposite only a week or so ago.”
“I did not plead, and it’s very ungentlemanly of you to say such a thing.”
“I warned you when you came to my residence that there might be consequences. I’m not a gentleman all the time.”
She stared into his dark eyes. They seemed to capture the light from the stars. “It’s true you got back your sight?”
“As good as new. Come inside where I can see you better.”
“You’ve seen me many times before.”
“When you were a young girl, but not as the woman who came to me and pushed herself into my life.”
Heat flushed Ellie’s cheeks. “You’re embarrassing me. Go away. No one knows about us and there are no consequences. You are free to take up your life as if I’d never visited you.”
“But I am responsible for what happened between us. It is up to me to rectify my mistakes.”
Her heart sank at his words. She was a mistake? Well, she refused to have a man marry her because he felt he had a responsibility to her. She swallowed around the tightness in her throat.
“You do not have to worry. Lord Marshall has asked to court me and my father has agreed. He will make me a very proper husband. You can forget all about the silly girl who invaded your life. Pretend it never occurred.”
“You are going to marry me
,
”
Rafe said.
“Why? Guilt is not a good enough reason to wed.” Ellie walked around him to go back inside.
“Wait.” He reached out and grabbed hold of her shoulder.
She flinched. Her bruise hadn’t gone away. She’d covered it with her shawl, but the soreness and discoloration still remained.
Rafe glanced at her, puzzled, then stepped up and pulled her shawl from her shoulders. “Booth told me you helped get me out of the fire. He did not mention your injury.”
“It is nothing.” Ellie pulled her wrap back around her.
“Saving my life is nothing? My parents would not agree.”
“No one knows or needs to. As I said you are free to pick up your life just as it was before you were injured.”
“Come with me.” He held out his arm.
“No. You go inside first. I don’t want anyone to see us returning together.”
Rafe clasped his hands around her cheeks and tilted her face toward his. “You will marry me,” he repeated then bent to scatter light kisses across her forehead, cheeks, chin, and mouth.
Ellie couldn’t stop the sigh from escaping between her lips. Rafe pulled her body tight against his. She felt the evidence of his desire against her stomach. Sadness overwhelmed her. That didn’t mean he loved her. He’d marry her out of obligation, and then she’d have to watch as he admired the beauties of the
ton
and began to regret his impulsive decision.