Chapter Twenty-Nine #2
Her feet stayed in time with the music, but Emilia’s heart beat a rhythm all its own. She could feel the fluttering of Nathaniel’s pulse in his wrist against her own.
“I believe this is our first dance,” his low voice brushed over her.
Emilia hummed in response. So many things about their marriage was unusual, but she would not change a single moment, for each one led her to where she was now, in Nathaniel’s arms.
As the music slowed to a stop, Nathaniel released his hold, bowing low in front of her.
His eyes locked on hers as he straightened and her stomach dipped at the heat she felt from his gaze.
She had never dared to dream of being loved like this—so fully and completely, with a love that did not overlook her brokenness and scars, but that helped sooth and heal each one.
“I have something for you.” Nathaniel took her hand again, pulling her towards the open doors and onto the lawn. The grounds were filled with guests. Groups of people conversed and laughed under the stars and twinkling lights.
Nathaniel passed them all, leading her towards the garden path. They walked further and further into the garden until the lights from the ballroom could no longer be seen.
“Where are you taking me?” Emilia laughed, quickening her step to match the duke’s.
“Unfortunately, there is no hedge maze on the grounds,” he teased. “But I know somewhere that is equally as private.”
They turned the corner and entered a walled area of the garden near the south terrace.
Trellises filled with blooming roses climbed up the walls.
The space was illuminated by flickering firelight from the library windows above them, and a trail of lanterns that led to a stone bench in the middle of the courtyard.
Tears stung Emilia’s eyes as she wrapped herself around Nathaniel’s arm, pressing in close to his side. “Did you plan this?”
A rare blush stained his cheeks as he nodded. “I noticed yesterday that the roses were finally in bloom, and I hoped you had not yet had a chance to see them.”
Emilia shook her head as the tears streamed down her face. “They are beautiful.”
“Absolutely breathtaking.”
Emilia felt his breath against her cheek and turned to find him intently watching her.
Her heart beat quickened as he reached up to cup her cheek.
She closed her eyes, waiting for his lips to meet hers, but instead all she felt was his hand brush against her neck as he lowered it to the necklace that lay on her chest. He slowly turned the dark green gem between his fingers, watching as the candlelight reflected off its surface.
“Sophie said the color makes my eyes look like emeralds,” she whispered, her throat tight.
“Sophie is right.” Nathaniel smiled, looking up at her again. “Though, I think I have something that may suit you better.”
He held out his hand, and revealed a small box. Emilia looked up at him in question. He lifted the lid, revealing a dainty, heart shaped gold pendant. Emilia’s heart stuck in her throat and she stumbled back a step in surprise.
“My locket.” Her voice came out strangled and broken.
“I found it buried in the sand that morning after you ran away,” Nathaniel explained, his own words heavy with emotion.
Emilia’s vision swam as she stared at the necklace she thought had been forever lost. “You kept it all this time?”
Nathaniel shrugged with a timid smile. “I believe there was always a part of my heart that hoped I would find you again. Ever since we arrived at Rosemore, I have been waiting for the perfect moment to return it to you.”
Emilia finally allowed herself to reach out and lift the locket from its box. The moment her fingers brushed the cool metal she laughed in relief that it did not disappear under her touch. She turned it over in her hands, again and again, tracing the intricate scrolling design engraved on its face.
“It is even more beautiful than I remember it.”
“I had the clasp repaired,” Nathaniel said. “Other than that, it only needed a little polishing. It is a beautiful piece in its own right.”
Emilia nearly burst into tears again. His words were so close to the ones Sophie had spoken to her the evening of the Langley ball. She opened the locket, the inside of it gleaming so brightly, she found herself staring at the reflection of her own tear stained face.
“It was empty when I found it,” Nathaniel said softly. “I hope there was nothing of great value inside.”
Emilia shook her head. “It has always been empty,” she replied.
Alexander had told her that the necklace belonged to their mother.
It was the only thing she had left of the parents she had never known.
She wore it every day, pressed close against her heart, waiting for something precious enough to be placed inside.
But like her own broken, battered and bruised heart, the locket had lain empty against her chest.
But as she held it now, it rivaled the most lavish gems. It had not become any more valuable after being held in the duke’s hands, yet it was his love and care that had restored the beauty it had always possessed.
A tear slipped down her cheek, blurring the image of herself reflecting in the metal.
She had spent so many years of her life wishing away her broken pieces. If she proved herself worthy of purpose, she could also be worthy of love. But love was never hers to earn, and her value was something that no person, and no title, could give or take away.
Nathaniel loved her, and it was not his love that made her special or her heart precious, but it was his love that helped her see that she always had been.
Emilia pressed the locket against her chest, smiling at him through her tears. “I love you,” she said between quiet sobs. “I dread to think where I would be if you had not saved me.”
Nathaniel stepped towards her, wrapping his arms securely around her waist. “You need not think about it. You are here, with me, and that is all that matters now.”
She rested her head against his solid chest, allowing the warmth of him to shelter her from the cool, spring night.
“But there is one thing you keep getting wrong, my love,” he spoke quietly against her hair. “It is you who saved me.”
Emilia could have stayed in this moment forever, and they did, until the light in the lanterns grew dim. The lively music from the ballroom drifted through the gardens and she smiled.
“We should return to our guests,” she said reluctantly.
Nathaniel’s chest rumbled with a groan, “I suppose we should.” He released his hold on her but before she could step back he pressed his mouth to hers in a breathtaking kiss.
Emilia melted under his touch, every brush of his lips feeling like the first breath of fresh air after a dark, stale winter.
“What I would not give to keep you to myself for the rest of the evening,” he murmured against her lips.
Emilia smiled. “We will have many evenings, for the rest of our lives, my love.”
Nathaniel placed a kiss to her forehead and took her arm, leading her back down the garden path.
“When must you return to London?” Emilia asked, breaking their comfortable silence.
Nathaniel laughed, “Are you so eager to be rid of me already?”
“No!” Emilia swatted at his arm. “I know how you value your duties in Parliament, and you have already been away for weeks.”
“There is not much that needs attention at the moment. I have far more important duties to attend to here.” The gleam in his eye sent heat crawling up Emilia’s neck.
“I am in no hurry to return to London this season,” he continued, his tone more serious.
“Charlotte will want to return in the fall, undoubtedly, but I am hoping I can convince her to wait until next spring. We can all return together. I am hoping by then word of your uncle’s misdealings will have spread, and you will not have to encounter them. ”
Emilia nodded in agreement, but her heart squeezed.
She had agreed with Nathaniel and Alexander’s plan to expose her uncle and Mr. Whitcombe and their crooked business schemes, but only under the promise it would be done with integrity and not out of vengeance.
It would be a small price to pay though if it gave Alexander a chance at a normal life.
“I have not yet had a chance to thank you for what you are doing for Alexander.”
Her brother had decided to remain hidden for the ball. The likelihood of anyone recognizing him was slim, but after spending so many years hiding, he was not yet ready to face society in any form.
“Family helps each other,” Nathaniel replied. “Has he decided to accept?”
“I believe so.” It would be nice having her brother so close again.
Their childhood had been so full of uncertainty and worry, Alexander had never had a chance to simply enjoy life and the beauty and pleasures it could bring.
She prayed that he would find even just a sliver of the healing she had found with Nathaniel.
As they stepped back into the light of the ballroom, the warmth immediately engulfed them. The warm smiles and laughter of their guests carried them across the room and sustained their weary bodies long into the night.
Emilia watched as Nathaniel and Charlotte skipped across the room to a lively dance, his rumbling laugh lifting over the strings of the orchestra.
She closed her eyes, and squeezed her hands closed tightly, trying to hold on to this moment for as long as she could, but she did not need to cling to it. This was not a moment that would simply disappear.
This was her life, and these people were her family.
Her fingers brushed against the locket now secured tightly around her neck and smiled, her heart overwhelmingly full.
These people were her home.