His Christmas Angel (A Regency Holiday Romance Book 8) (5 page)

For the first time in her life, she wished her father would go straight to hell. He had almost ruined her life—almost.

Now, now, she had a shot at claiming her own happiness. She would claim that happiness with Clarence by her side.

Smiling, with contentment in her heart, she fell asleep, knowing she was protected from the villains in her life.

“Are you certain one of us shouldn’t accompany you?” Tiny asked, as Clarence readied himself to leave Evesham House. “I could come with you, and Lucky…well, Lucky could stand guard here.”

“No…I want you both to stay here and take care of Lady Ann. Guard her, and don’t let anyone you don’t know enter this house. You don’t know her father—so keep him at bay. I will be in your debt, if you do this for me.”

“You are our mate,” Lucky said. “We always take care of our friends.”

“Too right,” Tiny said. “We shall protect your damsel in distress. No blackguard shall touch her, well, not until your wedding night, eh?” He gave Clarence a cheeky wink.

Clarence chuckled at Tiny’s quip. “I don’t relish the thought of going to my mother and father and telling them that I need to marry Ann as soon as possible—they shall look quite severely upon it. They shall put up a fuss, of that much I am quite certain.”

“I don’t see an issue with it,” Tiny said. “She is a comely enough wench, and she is nobly born—so why would they have issue with it?”

“Tell them that she was being forced into an untenable situation,” Lucky said wisely.

“Aye, what Lucky said,” Tiny agreed. “’Course I’m not exactly certain what untenable means, but it sounded good.”

“Thank you. Wish me luck…I think I shall need it,” Clarence sighed heavily, and marched out the door. He felt as if he was going to his execution.

*****

Clarence sat with his parents in the Blue Saloon. His mother looked quite apoplectic and his father—well, his father didn’t look any less angered. He looked as if he needed to go to his club and have a few rounds of fisticuffs.

“No,” Marietta said softly. “You will not marry Lady Ann. I thought…I thought your time spent in Wiltshire would have cured you of your lovesickness. I see…I see your father and I were quite mistaken. Oh, Clarence, why…why do you persist in being so besotted with that fickle creature? I do not understand it, not one bit. It saddens me to see you in such a desperate state.”

He made to stand up, and sat back down when his father motioned for him to do so.

“Clarence, you stay right where you are, until your mother and I have aired our grievances.”

“I shan’t hear anything else said against Lady Ann,” he said stubbornly. “The both of you have never liked her. You have always been against what I feel for her.”

“Clarence…” His mother sighed. “She doesn’t love you. She…she has refused your every advance, and she has only agreed to dance with you on past occasions because…well because you are Ginny’s brother—she felt as if she had to—not that she wanted to. She feels a certain sort of loyalty to you. Your life with her—it wouldn’t be happy, and I shan’t relegate you to that kind of existence. You deserve so much more, my darling boy.”

“Your mother’s words hold weight to them, Clarence. Men are supposed to take younger wives, Son. Not older ones.”

“And yet,” Clarence said, trying to keep his voice civil, “There isn’t much difference in age between you and Mama, is there? You were both born in the same year. You are only months apart.”

His father cleared his throat. “We are not talking about your mama and I. Our union was fruitful, and we loved each other when we were married. You can’t say the same thing about you and Lady Ann.”

“I love Ann, and that is enough for me. I do not care one fig about the age difference between us. She doesn’t look older than me, and she shall come to love me the same way I love her—given time.”

“You might love her—but there you have it, she doesn’t feel the same way about you,” Marietta said, sighing heavily. “She has come to you out of desperation. You are her only means of escape. I beg of you, do not be her means to an end. I beg you not to lower yourself like that.”

“You cannot tell me what to do, anymore,” Clarence said stubbornly.

“You—you will always be our son, Clarence. You might think you are independent of us now because you have your own fortune, but…” his father sighed.

“I didn’t come here to argue, Papa,” he said tiredly.

“And we do not want to fight,” his mother countered.

“You do not sympathize with her plight at all? Can you honestly tell me that? You…you of all people, Mama. You should be properly indignant on her behalf. Her father is attempting to use her to settle his debts. In essence, he seeks to sell her off—and he has picked the highest and ugliest of bidders, surely—surely you cannot want to relegate her to that sort of life. It shall be utter hell, Mama. I wouldn’t wish that sort of life on any girl out there—not even Lady Doris deserves such gruesome fate.”

“Sir Wilfrid is a hard man, you are right about that. He—he will not be an easy man to live with—but she shall prevail. All women do. We women are a strong lot. She shall do what so many before her have done—she shall survive,” Marietta said, attempting to keep herself distant.

“I will marry her with or without yours and papa’s blessing. If I don’t—her misery shall be my misery—and I won’t do that to her. I won’t sentence her to that kind of life, and go and marry the woman that you want me to marry only to pine for Ann. I shan’t live a life of regret. Would you wish that sort of a life on me?”

“Well, he got his stubbornness from you, Etta, darling,” his father said, sighing.

His mother sat up straighter. “No, he inherited his obstinacy from you, my love.”

His father chuckled. “I think mayhap, he inherited it from us both—which, is troubling, Etta. He will do as he says. He will stay true to his word—and to his heart. He will marry her no matter what we do or say to the contrary and I have to confess, I am not overly fond of Lord Broadway.”

“Neither am I, when it comes right down to it. And Sir Wilfrid…he is a beast,” Marietta confessed.

“Then, my love, should we stop fighting what will happen anyway?” Valentine asked.

“Aye. We cannot fight someone who is twice as stubborn as we are, can we?” Marietta asked.

“Indeed we cannot,” his father said, shaking his head. “I do not like to take on losing battles.”

“Let us hope that Clarence’s union will be as fruitful as ours has been, Valentine. And if it isn’t, there is always Cyril.”

“He loves her…so all he has to do is get her to love him,” Valentine mused.

“Well, he is a devilishly handsome boy, he shall win her over given time,” Marietta said. “She would have to be mad not to love him.”

“It looks as if we shall have to go and procure a special license for Clarence and Ann,” Valentine said, sighing heavily. “It is a task I certainly do not look forward to, and Clarence, I hope you have the money for it. This is something I shan’t be paying for,” his father said, a devilish twinkle in his eyes.

“Yes…and I suppose…” Marietta sighed heavily. “I suppose I shall have to part with a few frocks and trinkets. Ah, what we do for our children.”

“Thank you, Mama. Thank you, Papa.”

“We put our children’s happiness above our own. If you are content to have Lady Ann as your wife for life—then who are we to stand in your way? She is a good-natured enough girl. She shan’t make waves within the family. I only pray she can give you the heir you require. You will marry her, posthaste, and then, it would be in your best interests to retire to the Country for Christmastide and into the New Year. Lord Broadway is not an easy fellow to content with,” his father said. “He shall be mad as hell when he discovers that you have taken from him the woman he believes he owns.”

“We already planned to spend Christmas at Evesham Hall,” Clarence said softly.

“Such a lovely place at such a beautifully wondrous time of the year. Mayhap, we shall join you as it draws closer to the holidays,” his mother said. “And Valentine, we still have Cyril—mayhap, he will take our advice when it comes to choosing his wife.”

“I wouldn’t hold your breath, Etta, my dear. It seems we raised our children well. They know their own minds—and their own hearts.”

“You always told me to marry for love, Mama, and I am going to marry for love,” Clarence proclaimed.

“I had always imagined that your prospective wife would love you as much as you love her,” Marietta said sighing heavily.

“She will. We have to give her time. I do not think she reviles me, and her father did keep my letters from her.”

“You were writing to her? You naughty boy,” Marietta gasped. “You know that is simply not done.”

“Seems he is a chip off the old block in more ways than one,” Valentine said, grinning like a madman. “I sent you a few love letters as well, if you do recall.”

“Oh, Valentine,” Marietta said, sighing, though her eyes were dancing. “Promise me one thing, Clarence. If you cannot secure her love before you marry—and I doubt you can, as you shall marry in such haste, but promise me that you shall secure her loyalty. She will be loyal to the Deville family—and to you. Make certain of that, my son.” She stood up, “I take my leave now. My maid and I shall endeavor to pack enough things that will see Ann through the next few weeks. I think I have a few items that I haven’t worn yet that she can have, Clarence. I shall make certain to pack my newest frock for her. It is such a pretty little confection, it is the loveliest shade of pink…and I shall be most grieved to part with it, but every bride deserves a lovely gown to wear on her wedding day. She might have to have the frocks altered slightly, although, I think she and I are about the same size.”

“Thank you, Mama,” he said softly.

Clarence stood up, and watched his mother sashay out of the room. “Now, Son,” his father said, “It looks as if he we have a few things to get accomplished. I…I wish you would see sense, but I know you won’t. Heed your mother’s words. Ensure that no matter what, Lady Ann remains true to you. Tell her that in no uncertain terms. She comes to you—she is at your mercy, and therefore, you can ask a few things from her. Ask her to give you her word, and tell her that once you marry—there is no going back.”

“I think she already understands all of that, Papa.”

“I hope—no, I pray you are right, Clarence. We can attempt to make this a quiet affair, and you can depend on the family not to spread the news too far, but Ann might have a few people to contend with. Ginny won’t give her any hassle but I can’t say the same thing about my mother. She gave your own mother a stern talking to before she married me, and she won’t let Lady Ann off without doing the same thing to her. She herself did not have an easy time of it when she came to England with my father. I think she suffered a lot—and the only thing that saw her through her trials was the love she had for my father. She loved him enough to change her entire world for him—I am not entirely certain that Ann would go to those same lengths. I don’t know if she’s strong enough.”

“I think Lady Ann can survive Grandmamma,” he said.

“You think? My darling son, my mother is a bit like the Spanish Inquisition when she has a bee in her bonnet. She won’t like the fact that Ann has suddenly seen you as a prospective husband so she can escape the man her father has chosen for her. Mama doesn’t like the fact that Ann has been giving you the brush off all of these months—you know how protective she is of her family—and she thinks you are good enough for a princess, so Lady Ann should view you as a prince.”

“Aye, I know,” Clarence sighed heavily. “There is no possible way to keep her from Ann is there?”

“None whatsoever. Once I tell her about your impending nuptials, she will want to see if Ann is worth her weight in gold. You easily forget…my mother was as in love with my father, as you are with Ann. I see a lot of my mother in you, Clarence—and a bit of my father as well. Her strong indomitable spirit is much like yours, and she is just as romantic and as passionate as you are. As for Marietta’s parents, I doubt they will be at your wedding, much like Cyril, they will have to miss it. Although if you can wait until after Cyril returns from Oxford—they would probably make the trip with him.”

“It won’t be much to miss, Papa. I don’t want anything lavish. I just want the vicar, Ann, me, and the witnesses.”

“I took as much from the expression on your face. You can’t wait to make her your wife. I expect you still think you are dreaming. Well, my boy, in six months when the reality has set in—I pray you won’t regret your decision this day. I pray—I pray, she will give you everything that you want—and everything that you deserve.”

“Why six months, Pop?”

“Because that’s usually when the honeymoon is over,” his father gave him a wickedly devilish grin. “You will be a fine husband, Clarence, I only worry—I only worry that Ann shall not hold up her end of the bargain.”

“Why do you think we made a bargain?” he asked softly.

“A woman in her desperate situation must have made you some kind of promises. I am certain she pledged to be a dutiful wife to you.”

“She did.”

“Hold her to that, Son. No matter what—hold her to that.”

Maybe his father and his mother were right. He didn’t have Ann’s love—so he had to make sure he had some sort of assurances—and her loyalty was the next best thing.