Chapter 22
All Duties Paid in Full.
“Izzy, Izzy, look at me!” Caspar said, jumping up and down on Izzy’s bed.
The little boy had been thoroughly overexcited ever since Beatrice had arrived with her husband, Lord Stonehaven.
To have Clemmie and Bea and Izzy together all at once was so thrilling to him he’d been thoroughly naughty all morning, but no one had the heart to scold him.
“Oh, you little devil, there you are! I am sorry, Miss Izzy,” Mrs Mabbs exclaimed, bustling into Izzy’s bedroom, which was already bursting at the seams. Clemmie, Bea, and Polly rushed about as Janet bore their good-natured advice with a placid smile, everyone intent on getting Izzy ready for the big day.
“Don’t worry, Mrs Mabbs, he’s just a little high-spirited today,” Izzy said with a laugh, as Mrs Mabbs caught the boy around the waist and hauled him from the room under her arm as if she were carrying a rolled carpet.
“I’m flying!” Caspar squealed, not in the least dismayed by this brusque treatment.
Bea closed the door after them, shaking her head. “He’s grown so much. I can hardly believe it.”
“I know, like a little weed,” Izzy agreed, picking up the letter she had received from Angel the day before.
The wicked girl had not said a word as Izzy had stood beside her, and they had wept together over their loss.
She had held Angel’s hand as Papa had committed Black Jack Baxter’s soul to the hereafter and not once had she spoken of her intention to leave.
Izzy opened the letter once more, reading the words again.
Dearest Izzy,
My best and only friend. I am so wretched that I cannot attend your wedding.
Darling Pops would have me ignore all these stupid mourning rules and celebrate with you, but I am not quite so brave as to endure the censure of everyone in the town, and even if I was, I would not hurt Mama so, for she would be mortified.
Besides which, Black Jack left me a mystery to unravel, a treasure to uncover, if you can believe it.
By the time you read this, I will be gone, but I will be back soon, once I have fulfilled the blood oath I swore to him and inherit the fortune he has left me, assuming I am clever and brave enough to find it.
Don’t worry for me, love, I’ve pirate blood in my veins, remember?
I’ll see you soon, my dearest friend. Be happy.
Yours ever,
Angel.
“These are lovely, Izzy,” Clemmie said, bringing her attention back to the here and now. Izzy smiled, tucking the letter away as her sister gazed down at the delicate necklace of deep blue sapphires and diamonds that Beau had given her as a wedding present.
There were matching jewelled hair combs too, and earrings, as well as two beautiful bracelets, and Izzy knew they would look splendid against the silver blue gown she had chosen to wear for the ceremony.
“I’m so glad you are going to stay in Little Valentine, Izzy,” Clementine said, watching as Janet secured the pretty combs in Izzy’s carefully arranged hair. “I think Papa missed you dreadfully while you were gone. If we all left him, he’d be rather devastated, not that he would ever let on.”
Izzy nodded. “I know. But I will be gone for a while, on my honeymoon. I’m glad he knows I’ll be back to stay, though. Not that it will be the same for him with us at the castle. I’m afraid the house will feel very empty.”
“At least he still has Caspar and little Daisy,” Bea said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “They’ll be a comfort to him.”
Izzy nodded as she lifted her chin so Janet could put the necklace on her, but she still felt rather guilty. It was foolish, she knew, for Papa was well-loved by everyone, and would never be short of visitors, but still she worried for him.
“There,” Janet said, stepping back to admire her handiwork.
“Oh!”
All the women sighed happily as Izzy turned to face them, and Bea fumbled about for her handkerchief, hurriedly passing it to Clemmie, who dissolved into tears.
“Oh, our l-little Izzy, all grown up and g-getting married!” she wailed, as everyone gathered around to comfort her.
The Vicarage, Little Valentine, East Sussex, 5th April 1816
“Are you all right, old man? You look a little dazed,” Hartwell observed, sitting at his ease among the debris of a splendid wedding breakfast.
The ceremony had gone off without a hitch, if you didn’t count the vicar sniffing with emotion at intervals.
“I am,” Ben admitted, staring at his wife, who was sitting with her father and sisters and laughing merrily. The sound wrapped around his heart, making it feel oddly light. “Dazed, that is. I can’t quite believe it.”
Hartwell nodded, looking oddly solemn for once. “You’re a lucky fellow. If ever I find myself a girl that suits me as well as your lady suits you…. Well, I shall snatch her up, just see if I don’t.”
Ben laughed and Lord Stonehaven, whom Ben had taken a liking to at once, snorted with amusement at this information.
“Whether she likes it or not?” Stonehaven suggested dryly.
Hartwell grinned, looking far more disreputable than Ben ever had as Boreas. “What’s not to like?” he demanded, waggling his eyebrows in a villainous manner.
Shaking his head, Ben endured the rest of the celebration stoically, even if he was becoming increasingly impatient to have his bride to himself.
But it was her day, her chance to celebrate with her sisters and her father, though she had kept the affair a small one, much to his relief.
The town still considered him a somewhat scandalous figure despite his elevation to heroic status, and he was looking forward to taking Izzy away, where there were no prying eyes and gossipy neighbours to chatter about them.
They’d face that when they returned, but hopefully by then some other poor fellow would be the focus of the town’s interest.
Finally, it was time to leave, and Izzy struggled to say goodbye to her father.
“Goodbye, Papa,” Izzy said, her voice wobbling with emotion. The reverend embraced her, his own eyes shining with tears while his face glowed with happiness.
“Now, now, no tears, child. We’ll wave you off when you leave on your honeymoon, and when you come home again, you’ll be back to stay.
Don’t you worry about me. Clemmie and Bea are staying for a few days to keep me company, and I’ve Caspar and Daisy, and Mrs Mabbs, and Mrs Adie and Polly. How could I possibly be lonely?”
Still, Izzy sniffled as she took Ben’s hand, and the two of them walked to the carriage that would take them the short distance to The Mermaid. They would spend the night there before they left the following day. Off on their adventures, as Izzy liked to put it.
Ben handed her up and climbed in beside her, watching indulgently as she immediately pushed down the window glass, leaning out like the hoyden she clearly was and waving to her family, calling goodbye and God bless as they waved and cheered in return.
Ben let her be until the carriage turned the corner out of sight and swayed dramatically.
She gave a little shriek as she lost her balance, and he caught her, hauling her into his lap before she fell on her backside.
“Alone at last, Miss Honey,” he murmured, doing his best to look like a wicked smuggler with nefarious intentions upon her person.
As ever, she just laughed, quite unconcerned. “That’s Mrs Midwinter to you, sir, and I warn you now, if you are thinking of taking liberties, you had best know that my husband is a dangerous man who will avenge my honour.”
“Will he, indeed?” Ben tried to look sceptical but could not keep it up as she slid her hands about his neck, watching him with an expression that stole his breath.
“I think I have loved you from the first moment I met you,” she told him, touching his cheek reverently.
“Looking so handsome, and so very dangerous too. What was a poor girl to do but fall head over ears in love? Though, to be fair, it may have been merely lust to begin with. It’s hard to be certain. ”
Ben gazed down at her, at this little slip of a girl whom the entire world, and most of all himself, had been determined to underestimate.
Only Izzy had been brave enough to come after him when the Revenue were hunting him down.
Only she had possessed the courage to rescue him, to fight for his life when he was so dangerously ill, and again when Alveston was such a threat.
He felt sure he did not deserve her, but he would.
No more would he skulk in the shadows. With such a woman by his side he could not only rebuild the castle and restore the family name, he could do anything.
Certainly, he could build a life for both of them, and a place where they could live together, with no secrets between them, no masks or hidden identities.
It was daunting, but he could not wait for what was likely to be the most thrilling escapade he’d ever set out on.
“I may have been the smuggler, pet, but you’re the one who stole inside my heart and found your place there, and lust may have played a part in that too. Do you mind?”
She snorted, pulling his head down for a kiss. “Not even a little,” she assured him, brushing her lips against his, setting fire to his blood as desire sparked to life in an instant. “Do you?”
Ben laughed and was only too happy to prove that he did not mind, not in the least.