Chapter Fourteen
Darius opened the letter from his brother, anxious to read the response from Anthony.
Skimming past the salutation and updates, he found what he sought.
He sat down and read, relief filling him.
As much as he hated to request a favor from his youngest brother, knowing he’d have to do something in return, he’d done so for Ellie.
Now, he could tell her she could host her Twelfth Night ball.
He sat back, pleased that his brother would disguise himself as him for the masquerade. He’d criticized Anthony’s penchant for disguises for years and felt more than a little guilt for his personal judgments. Now, he was grateful that Anthony had ignored his censure.
Sitting forward again, he lifted the letter, intending to read it in its entirety, but his mind went to what costume to wear.
He couldn’t dress as a Roman emperor or a Persian, as that would show too much of him.
He could simply wear a domino, but the mask would need to cover his entire face.
Anthony was a bit shorter and broader than him, so an animal costume like a bear would work best, but the idea of spending the entire night in such a costume if he was able to attend made him shudder.
The domino with a full mask would work best, as the cape would hide Anthony’s frame and face, and if Darius was actually able to host with his wife, he wouldn’t be too uncomfortable.
Having made his decision, he moved his gaze back to the letter and read the full two pages. Anthony always did have much to say. He and Lissa were down in Kent and would be leaving soon, but had stops to make along the way. No exact date was given.
That did make him uncomfortable. He would have to write a letter explaining his costume in the event he could not be present.
He would then bring Ellie into his confidence about the ruse so she could help Anthony pretend to be her husband and greet guests.
He would simply tell her he had affairs that needed urgent attention, but didn’t want to ruin her ball.
He didn’t like the idea of Anthony posing as him, but it would make Ellie happy to host the ball, and so he would accept the consequences.
Even as he thought of her as he’d last seen her, in her bed riding him hard and screaming out her ecstasy, he grinned.
He’d never known such an enthusiastic lover.
She was anxious to learn all there was to know about the art of lovemaking, and he was very pleased to show her.
Footsteps just outside his study had him slipping his brother’s letter into the top desk drawer. He’d just closed it when the door opened and Ellie breezed in, Mrs. Torbett hurrying behind her as usual.
“Oh, Darius. I didn’t know you were in here. I just wanted to write a quick note, and your study was closest. We can go to the parlor.” She gave him a warm smile.
“Actually, you are just the person I wished to speak to. Then I would be pleased if you used my desk for your note.” He rose and held his hand out to his chair.
Ellie turned to Mrs. Torbett. “I shall write it up and have a footman deliver it to you.”
“Very good, my lady.” Mrs. Torbett gave a quick nod before scurrying out of the room.
He hadn’t realized until just that moment how perfect his housekeeper was for his wife, who also moved about the house quickly.
Ellie strode forward and stood just a bit closer than was normal for a conversation, laying her hand on his chest. “What is it you’d like to discuss?”
That she often touched him, and others, reminded him of his mother, as she did so as well. He had to admit it was a trait he enjoyed, and he wished he could be as comfortable doing so, especially with his children.
“I have decided that a Twelfth Night ball is exactly what we need to truly begin the New Year properly.”
“Oh, Darius!” She flung her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss. It wasn’t a simple kiss of appreciation, either, as nothing was simple about Ellie. She thrust her tongue into his mouth and pressed her body against him.
He wrapped his arms around her, very pleased that his decision had made her so happy.
When her pelvis began to rock against his own, he felt himself grow hard. They had yet to make love in his study, or specifically on his desk. Even at the thought of her lying on her back, her skirts thrown up, her bountiful bosom unsecured, his body turned them in that direction.
“Mother! Mother! Peter needs you!”
He broke the kiss at the sound of Maggie’s voice. “It’s Maggie. She’s downstairs.” His daughter had never come downstairs alone.
Ellie pulled away from his arms and spun toward the door. “Maggie! We’re in the study!”
He almost covered his ears at her yell before he followed her out the door. They’d just reached the parlor when Maggie burst out, “There you are! You must come upstairs. Peter fell.”
As Maggie ran past them to ascend the stairs, he glanced at Ellie, whose face had paled.
“What do you mean he fell?” He strode for the stairs, Ellie next to him, his chest tightening with dread.
Maggie spoke over her shoulder but continued upward. “He was standing on his chair, explaining how birds take flight, when he lost his balance and fell. I think he hurt his ankle.”
Though his daughter wasn’t a physician, the fact that Peter hadn’t fallen onto something, or hit his head, helped Darius to think more clearly.
“What did Anna say?”
“He won’t let her near him. He just keeps wailing, ‘Mama.’”
That his son wanted his mother had Darius feeling like a failure. Would Peter ever stop missing Dinah and embrace Ellie?
Ellie glanced at him, her gaze sympathetic. “The poor dear. I know he wants his mother, but I promise I will do all I can for him.”
Maggie had reached the main landing, and they were about to step onto it with her when she spun around, halting their progress.
From the corner of his eye, Darius saw Ellie teeter at the sudden stop in her forward progression.
His heart stopped for a moment at the thought of her falling down the full staircase, and he grabbed her about the waist.
She grabbed his arm as she steadied herself, her hand securely on the balustrade. She looked at him, her face filling with her blush. “Thank you.”
That she was embarrassed for almost falling down the stairs had irritation striking through him. He turned toward his daughter to reprimand her, but Ellie spoke first.
“Maggie, why did you stop?”
Maggie shook her head as if they were daft. “Peter doesn’t want our dead mother. He wants you. Now hurry.” And off she went up the last five steps.
He felt Ellie suck in her breath at Maggie’s words, no doubt as surprised as he was. But he was very pleased. Still, he didn’t release her until they’d made the top of the stairs, where Maggie waited impatiently.
As they all started down the hall, Ellie spoke, though her voice was a bit shaky. “Why would you think he calls out for me? I’m sure, being hurt, it makes him want your mother more.”
He didn’t understand why Ellie would question what he felt was a Christmastide miracle. His children had spent so much time with Dinah, every day, that it had to have been a significant emotional adjustment to have her no longer in the nursery.
Maggie spoke over her shoulder, “No, he doesn’t, and neither do I. She never wanted us. She just sat near the window reading or sewing on the settee. Or she would write letters at her desk in the corner. Sometimes she’d yell for us to be quiet when we disturbed her.”
His step faltered at his daughter’s revelation, his surprise complete.
“That doesn’t mean she didn’t want you, Maggie.” Ellie’s voice was soothing.
“No. But she told us she didn’t want us. She said we were ‘Father’s little problems.’ I like you much better, and so does Peter.”
Darius felt his wife looking at him, but he couldn’t meet her gaze.
Dinah had lied to him. She’d deliberately kept him from his children, having told him he needed to leave her alone with them, but her sole purpose was to take her anger at him out on them.
Didn’t she care that they were the innocent ones?
Fury burned inside him, and he curled his fingers into his palms to keep from showing it. “Maggie, you are not my problems. You are my joy.”
Maggie shrugged. “We know. She was just unhappy and wanted everyone else to be, too.”
He had a sinking feeling that Maggie had heard that from a servant, because as smart as she was, he doubted she’d come to that observation on her own.
The sound of his son crying came to his ears, and he strode forward faster. As he entered the nursery, he found Peter on the floor, his foot on a pillow, his cheeks wet from his tears. The nursemaid paced nearby.
After hearing what Maggie told them, Darius rushed forward. “Peter.” He knelt beside his son, whose bottom lip trembled.
“I fell. I want Mama.”
“She’s here, Peter.” Maggie ran forward and sat on the floor next to him.
Darius looked to his wife as she entered, a soft smile on her lips even though Peter started wailing again.
In that second, it struck him. He loved her.
Or did he? He’d never been in love. But as she knelt at Peter’s feet, Darius felt it in his heart. He loved his wife.
“Now, Peter, you must stop crying and tell me what has happened, so I know what to do.”
Peter’s wailing stopped immediately, and he sniffed as he pointed to a chair that was tipped over. “I was showing Maggie how a falcon flies and the chair tipped. I tried to jump, but something happened.”
The nursemaid, who’d been cowering not far away, stepped up. “My lady, his foot caught on the leg, and he screamed when he fell. I didn’t know what to do, so I brought him a soft pillow. He wouldn’t let me do anything else. He just cried for you.”
Ellie set her hand on the nursemaid’s shoulder. “You did well, Anna. That’s what I would have done. Now, if you could please have some chips of ice sent up, that will be a great help.”