Chapter Thirty
With a heavy heart, Nate watched from the study window as Lady Luxton stepped into her regal carriage. The nanny entered after her, carrying little Henry. Seeing the child disappear into the coach produced a crushing sensation in his chest.
Helen did not take kindly to rejection. She would use the boy to punish him. And he’d likely never see his child again.
He knew in his heart the child was his. He’d felt the connection as soon as they’d met. The carriage rolled down the path to the gates of Villa De Lacey, passing through them for the last time.
Exhaling, he turned to Bridget, who had just finished sticking the last of her mother’s letters, which she’d found torn to pieces in Eliza’s dresser drawer, together.
She glanced up at Nate, her lovely blue eyes filled with pain. “How is it possible to know someone your whole life—to live in the same household together—and yet know nothing about them?”
“Oh, it’s possible,” Nate said, coming to sit opposite her.
“When I was betrothed to Helen, I knew nothing about her true personality. In my eyes, she was an angel with a good and loyal heart. If any man had tried to tell me differently, I would have challenged him to a duel. Yet, I could not have been more wrong. And as for my brother—well, I always knew what he was, but I never imagined he’d sink so low as to…
” He shook his head, not wanting to offend the lady by finishing his sentence.
“But I was living with a killer, and I trusted her. I knew the way she insisted on wearing full mourning for Papa as though she were his widow was strange, but I never saw the evil inside her. I thought she was acting out of devotion and maybe love.”
Nate let out a short laugh. “Do you know, that’s what Frederick said about my brother. He betrayed me because he thought he was trying to save me—that too was an act of love of sorts. But that’s not love. It’s only the way an evil person tries to justify their actions.”
Bridget nodded, and Nate’s heart wrenched for her. Betrayal from someone close to your heart was a cruelty no one needed to endure.
“The other guests will be leaving,” Nate said. “Why don’t you stay up here while I see them off?”
Bridget squared her shoulders and stood up. “No,” she said. “Let’s do this together.”
*
“Well, this place is simply marvelous.” Madam Bouffant’s sapphire and diamond floral brooch sparkled on Lady Eamont’s bosom as she sashayed toward her awaiting coach with her husband and daughter in tow.
“It’s exactly as Wordsworth described it.
Isn’t it, darling?” She flashed a smile at Lord Eamont as though they were the happiest couple in the world, one who’d just been on a lovely holiday together.
Lord Eamont nodded, but his face and voice remained impassive. “Yes, my dear. Wonderful.”
“It’s a pity we must leave so soon,” she addressed Nate.
“But as you know, Lord Eamont and Lord Dodsworth are summoned by the king to Lady Caroline’s trial, and I have a wedding to plan.
” She grabbed Lydia’s arm and pulled her close, while making no mention of Adelia.
“It is going to be the wedding of the century. Only the best for the future Lady Dodsworth.”
Lydia gave her a tight smile and nodded in agreement. “That’s right, Mama.”
Bridget marveled at the woman’s ability to live in a fantastical bubble of her making. If life was not what she wanted it to be then she simply made it so, and sadly for them, her family appeared to play the same game.
She watched Nate as he bowed to his guests, and they climbed into their carriage. Together, it seemed, they breathed a sigh of relief when it pulled away. Then they turned to the next guests.
Mrs. Harley hung her head as she approached her carriage, still ashamed of her actions.
She’d followed Bridget and left her injured and bleeding in the thicket overnight.
Still, Bridget held no animosity toward the woman.
The poor creature had been treated abominably by Lady Darby.
Besides, Eliza’s anger and venom toward those she viewed as the enemy made Bridget want to steer clear of vengeance and grudges.
So, she reached for Mrs. Harley’s gloved hands and said, “I do hope you will come see us again.”
The woman raised her head and gazed at Bridget. “You are too kind, but you can’t mean that—not after what I did to you.”
“I do mean it.” Bridget squeezed the woman’s hands. “What you did was wrong, but I believe you acted under a great deal of stress.”
Mrs. Harley swallowed. “Thank you. I don’t know what will happen to us now. Lady Darby is sure to disown us.”
“You mustn’t let her bully you. I am no expert, but I am certain that if someone were making such demands of me, not to mention berating me on a daily basis, my womb would shut down altogether. What you need is time away from Lady Darby. I do wish you’d consider staying a bit longer.”
Mrs. Harley’s face lit up and she turned to her husband who, in turn, glanced at Nate.
“I think she’s right,” Nate said. “You should stay.”
Bridget smiled, pleased to see that after all the death and darkness, Nate had chosen to forgive his friend.
Mr. Harley straightened his back like a man who’d just had a heavy load taken off his shoulders. Then he turned to his wife and said, “There’s no need for us to return. Indeed, it would be oppressive to do so. This is not London. We have enough to survive on out here, at least for the meantime.”
“How wonderful!” Bridget embraced Mrs. Harley.
“What’s going on here?” Frederick said as he and Lord Dodsworth approached in their traveling clothes.
“Harley and his wife are staying,” Nate said. He looked up at the driver. “Turn the coach around and unpack their trunks,” he instructed.
“Staying?” Frederick said. “Do you mean—is the housemaid Sarah…”
“No,” Mr. Harley snapped.
“Sarah has been sent home to her family,” Nate said. “The ordeal was too much for her. Not to mention her behavior—she is gone. We intend to hire more experienced and reliable servants going forward.”
“Well, I’d like to say you’ve become boring, old boy.
But our stay at Villa De Lacey was anything but tedious.
I daresay, all of London will soon be abuzz about Windermere’s infamous ‘murder inn.’ Half the ton will beseech you with requests to come and stay once the king is finished with his trial. ”
“Well, we don’t intend to have a repeat performance.” Nate embraced Frederick and turned to Dodsworth.
“I do hope Lord Westerly will allow you back in London to attend my wedding,” Dodsworth said.
“Then you intend to go through with it?”
“Of course. I promised Lydia her freedom and shall give it to her, just as she has given me mine. She and her sister will live as Lady Dodsworth and Mrs. Jefferson under my roof, and they shall want for nothing, including children if they so please. They no longer need to fear their mother, and Jefferson and I will no longer need to fear persecution.”
“I’m pleased for you,” Nate said.
“I’m pleased for me, too.” Dodsworth smiled and slapped Nate’s shoulder with obvious appreciation and affection.
Bridget realized it had to be a relief not to have to hide his true self anymore, especially with an old friend.
He stepped back. “Well, then. I must be off now, or I shall have to answer to the king,” Dodsworth said.
Nick grinned and nodded.
The two men climbed in their respective carriages, and Bridget stood beside Nate and watched as they rolled down the pathway toward the gates.
“I think we should take a stroll in the garden,” Harley said, taking his wife’s arm in his. And the woman who’d looked so frail and meek when she’d first arrived gave her husband a radiant smile.
Bridget understood her sudden transformation. She knew what it meant to feel hopeful again.
Just then, Aunt Marianne exited the villa and walked toward them. “That’s everyone gone, then,” she said when she reached them. “And you’ll be pleased to know, Mr. Squires, that all the guests settled their accounts with us before departure.”
“Everyone?” Nate raised his eyebrows.
“Everyone,” Aunt Marianne repeated. “I presented each with a detailed invoice this morning.”
“Even Lord Frederick?” Nate inquired.
“Yes, even Lord Frederick,” she replied.
“Well, I’m amazed,” Nate said. “Perhaps Frederick is changing his old ways.”
“I hardly think so,” Aunt Marianne said. “It was Lord Dodsworth who took care of his expenses.”
“Of course, it was,” Nate said. Love him or hate him, Frederick was who he was, and he would likely never change.
“Now if you’ll excuse me,” Aunt Marianne said, “there are servants that want hiring and need training.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Brixton,” Nate said. “Villa De Lacey wouldn’t have a chance without you.”
Aunt Marianne kept a straight face, but Bridget knew she was pleased. It was as if she’d renewed her faith in the inn after learning the problem lay within her own household.
When they were alone again, Nate offered Bridget his arm and said, “Shall we?”
She looked up at her beloved ancestral home with its Lutetian stone walls and pale-blue shutters and smiled. “Please,” she said.