The Earl and the Wedding Crasher (The Brides of Elderglen #3)

Epilogue

EPILOGUE

" I should be the one to do it."

Louisa levelled an even stare at Cedric, and then smiled as he wilted backwards in the carriage, raising his hands in surrender. "I'm not saying you can't do it, my love. You are strong and I know you can. But I am saying that you don't have to shoulder this burden alone. I can help you. I can do this if you need me to."

Louisa reached across and stroked her finger gently down his cheek, relishing the love and concern in his eyes. "My darling, you are too sweet for words. I know you would do anything for me. But I promise you I'm fine. And I know myself, and I need to do this alone."

Cedric still looked dubious so Louisa leaned forward and kissed him softly. "Trust me?" she whispered softly against his lips.

Cedric gazed at her, a maelstrom of emotion swirling in his bright blue eyes. "I do." he whispered back.

Louisa smiled as she pushed open the carriage door. "Wait for me here? I won't be long."

As Louisa ascended the steps to the front door, she was keenly aware of the rustling of drapes in the rooms either side of it. The servants must have heard the carriage pull up and seen her on the stoop. She took a breath and raised her hand, knocking firmly on the door.

There was a pause, long enough for Louisa to panic that she would simply be refused admittance entirely. As she dithered, wondering whether to flee back to the carriage with her tail between her legs, the door swung open and she came face to face with a tall, hard-nosed butler.

"Can I help you, my lady?" He boomed.

Louisa gathered her strength back up. "I am here to see Lady Bettie Beaumont. You may tell her it is Lady St Vincent."

She noted with some satisfaction that the butler got even stiffer when he heard her surname. Still, he stood firm. "I'm afraid I am not aware of Lady Bettie sending invitations for any visitors today, Lady St Vincent. Do you have an appointment?"

Louisa raised her chin definitely. "I do not. But rest assured, Lady Bettie will wish to hear what I have to say."

The butler's reluctance to accept this was finally overruled by his inability to leave a Lady standing on the doorstep. He stepped aside to allow Louisa entrance, and tilted into a bow. "If you would be so kind as to wait here, my lady. I shall inform Lady Bettie of your presence."

He glided away, leaving Louisa to take in her surroundings. She had never been to the Beaumont residence before, and she cast her eye over the opulent entrance hall. Pretty tapestries. And the statues too. It's a wonder they can fit any people in here.

Her judgements were interrupted by a polite cough, and she turned to find the butler had returned. He gestured for her to follow him. "Lady Bettie would be most pleased to see you over tea in the drawing room. I will show you the way."

Louisa barely kept herself from scoffing at the idea that Bettie Beaumont would be 'most pleased' by anything at all relating to her, but nonetheless followed him along the corridor and into a bright, airy drawing room.

Bettie was sitting in an overstuffed wingback armchair, a pot of tea beside her and a book in her hand. Louisa recognized it - she was sure she'd read the same one in St Vincent's library, back when she was avoiding Cedric and her duties every chance she got.

The butler led her to the chair opposite Bettie and announced, "Lady St Vincent, my lady."

"Thank you Evans, you can go." Bettie dismissed him with a wave of her hand, and Louisa remembered how brisk she could be. Bettie stood slowly in order to face her. Louisa tried hard not to stare at the soft round swell now only partially disguised by her flowing day dress. Bettie cleared her throat and Louisa's eyes snapped up to meet hers. Bettie glared, challenging her for a moment, before sighing. "Oh sit down, Lady St Vincent."

Louisa sat slowly, watching as Bettie did the same. She looked tired, Louisa thought. She was hiding it well enough but there were shadows under her eyes that Louisa could swear hadn't been there the last time they had met. Well I suppose the last time we met was at her wedding and it's not like things went swimmingly then or since, is it?

Bettie's voice broke through the tense silence. "I must say, I am shocked Lady St Vincent. I would have thought someone would've taught you the appropriate manners befitting an earl's wife if you weren't blessed with the knowledge already. Don't you know it's incredibly rude to pay a visit on a lady without prior invitation?"

Louisa laughed hollowly. "Frankly, Lady Bettie, I don't give a damn." Bettie's expression turned from a snake appraising her prey into genuine shock at Louisa's outburst. Louisa continued, ignoring her outrage. "To be perfectly honest, I am struggling to understand why I should care a jot about whether you think I'm rude when you have so callously abused myself and my husband.

Bettie gaped. " I abused you? In case you have quite forgotten, you ruined my wedding." Her hand unconsciously dropped to her stomach as she said it, and the anger burning in Louisa dimmed slightly. She could never understand Bettie's predicament first hand of course, but she knew the girl had limited options given her situation and had clearly gone for the one she hoped would work best.

Still, Louisa was no longer willing to be the shy little wallflower. Standing outside, she had worried that her confidence would only carry her so far and that, faced with the woman who had tried to break her, her self-assurance would crumble. She was pleased to find that in the wake of Bettie's accusations, that was not the case.

"I apologize for my part in your plight. But I am afraid you're quite mistaken if you think I will just lie down and allow you to spread vicious rumors about me in an attempt to ruin not just my reputation but also my husbands. He chose me, Bettie. Cedric and I are married, happily I might add. And I'm sorry for what that meant for you but it is not our fault and we do not deserve such vitriol. I will not stand for it."

Bettie was quiet. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean," she tried, but the protest was half-hearted and both ladies knew it.

"I will not tell you again, Lady Bettie. I expect you to leave me and my family alone. Do not talk about us and desist with your awful rumors. If you don't I shall have no choice but to retaliate with attacks of my own. After all, you can't possibly think that you are the only one with a tongue?"

Bettie's cheeks bloomed scarlet, mortification evident across her slight features. "I-," she hesitated, twisting her hands together tightly. "I apologize, my lady. I was hurt and angry. I was cruel. I shall not talk of you again."

Louisa searched the other woman's face for signs of falsehood, but Bettie seemed the most genuine Louisa had ever seen her. She nodded, satisfied. "Thank you. That is all. I apologize for intruding on your day, Lady Bettie. I shall leave you to your peace."

As Louisa stood, the door opened and Evans appeared silently. "My lady," he bowed as she walked past him.

"Thank you, Mr. Evans ," Louisa said brightly, noting his startled yet pleased expression at being addressed. She thought she heard a hiss of annoyance from Bettie but didn't turn around.

As she entered the carriage again, Cedric grasped her hands carefully. "My love? How did it go? Are you all right?"

Louisa beamed at him, wrapping him in a hug as the carriage jolted forwards and began its journey back to St Vincent. "It went so well Cedric, better than I had dreamed. I was firm and stern and I stood up for our family so fiercely. And Lady Bettie has agreed to stop her campaign against us fully. I don't wish to be bold, Cedric, but I am quite proud of myself."

Cedric squeezed her hands. "My love you should be bold. You should be so bold because you have entirely deserved it. I am so proud of you. You've done our family wonderfully proud."

Louisa beamed and relaxed back into her seat. She stared out of the window at the countryside rushing by, and felt Cedric's hand resting loosely in hers. She thought of their home, and their children, and how wonderful everything was turning out to be. She hoped this feeling would last forever.

"Abigail, stop now. It's rude to monopolize guests."

Theodore laughed and clapped Cedric on the back. "Ah leave her, Pembroke. She's a delight. You carry on, little lady."

Abigail beamed at the praise and launched into the fourth rendition of her favorite hymn. Cedric failed to suppress his smile. Louisa's family had been in the house for only a few hours, and yet Abigail had already decided she wanted them to stay forever. She was thriving on the doting attention of Theodore and Margaret, and their willingness to indulge her theatrics. Cedric supposed it stood them in good stead at least, when their boy grew older.

She finished her song and the adults clapped obligingly. Abigail bowed deeply. "Would you like another one?" she asked brightly.

Even Theodore's smile became slightly fixed at that suggestion. Alexandra came to their rescue. "Abigail, my sweetheart. Your Aunt Louisa tells me that you tell such beautiful fairytales. Come over here and tell me one?"

Abigail couldn't believe her luck. As she bounced over to Alexandra and started bombarding her with possible stories, Cedric bit his lip. He had known in his heart that the children were being cooped up too much for their own good, stuck here at St Vincent with just himself and Louisa and the staff for company. He had told himself that it was necessary at first, while they adjusted to a world in which they were poor little orphans.

But seeing Abigail blossom at the attention from her new extended family had made him suspect that he had been wrong after all. He had been nervous when Louisa told him that her entire family were visiting all at once. But Penelope had complimented Abigail on her braid and Evelina and Gabriel had bought her a doll, a beautiful thing of china and silk that Abigail had taken with an awestruck expression, and cradled gently to her chest. She had refused to put it down ever since, and Cedric suspected she was still scarred by her memories of the fire and knowing that she had been left with nothing.

Kenneth had not been left out by his new aunt and uncle, and had been given a teddy bear that was almost as large as he was. Cedric had to bite back a painful reminder of his mother, and her insistence that boys should not need toys and comforting soft things for they needed to learn to be men, and men had to be tough. He had turned away then, unable to let his friends and Louisa's sisters see him in such a way. But he felt his wife's hand on his arm, a soothing reminder that she was there, that she loved and knew him, that he was no longer alone.

Now, the gathering had turned raucous and so Cedric turned on his heel, craning to spot little Kenneth. The boy had been shy when faced with the loud rabble of family members descending on them, even when bribed with the bear, and Cedric was concerned that he'd found himself stuck in a corner somewhere and unable to escape the hubbub. Cedric didn't want Kenneth to grow up not being able to seek respite and make his feelings known. He wanted to do right by him, be more than either him or his brother had received growing up.

Cedric needn't have worried. Kenneth had soon found himself under the wing of Gabriel's daughter Eliza, and while he had been initially concerned about the attention of so many adoring adults, Eliza had firmly steered him away from them and their praise of Abigail, in the direction of the toy carriage set Cedric had dug out of the attic some days prior. The bear perched on the window seat behind them and Cedric watched Kenneth cackle with glee as the older girl pretended to drive her carriage off the edge of the table-turned-clifftop.

Cedric smiled as James sidled over to the two of them, hovering over Eliza's shoulder. He knew that Louisa's father had been trying harder to be more considerate to his daughters and their families, but he also knew that James wasn't exactly a man with natural fatherly instincts. He wondered if he should step in, maybe try and bridge the gap somehow, but his nephew had always been an observant boy.

Kenneth looked up at the man with innocent wide eyes. "Would you like to play carriage crash, sir? It's ever so fun. We have a third carriage."

James swallowed thickly and coughed. "Yes. Yes, I'd like that." Eliza furnished him with a carriage and some horses and soon the three of them were laughing together as they pushed the carts around the small table. Cedric snorted as Kenneth insisted they unhitch the horses before throwing the carriages off the cliff.

"At least he cares about animal life I suppose. God rest the souls inside the carriages though." Cedric turned with a smile. Louisa had extricated herself from Alexandra and Penelope and stood at his elbow. Baby Peregrine slept soundly on her chest.

Cedric reached out and stroked the boy's soft downy hair. "Leave it to Notley to name his child Peregrine ."

Louisa hit him lightly on the arm, struggling to suppress her laughter enough to not disturb the baby. "Behave. I think Peregrine is a lovely name."

She closed her eyes and rocked side to side. Cedric watched her move. She was born for this. She's a natural. I wonder how she'd look holding our child. The thought should have scared him, and yet all he felt was a warm glow at the prospect. He had been so fearful of not doing right by Peter's children, of failing his brother in death as he had in life. But looking around, seeing Kenneth bounding out of his shell and Abigail thriving on the attention of Louisa's family ( my family now too, he reminded himself), Cedric felt a sense of peace overtake him.

Louisa caught him staring at her and raised an eyebrow. "Do you see something you like, my lord?" she asked wickedly.

Cedric pulled her close to him, mindful not to squash his baby nephew. "Yes. I see you, my wife, and a child. Our child."

She was puzzled for a moment before her eyes cleared and her mouth popped open. "But- Cedric you said-"

"I know what I said. But I'm a different man now, Louisa. A happier man. I have you. I think I could have a child if it meant having one with you."

Louisa smiled slowly. "Well, my darling. I rather think I could have a child if it meant having one with you too."

The End?