Chapter 28

CHAPTER28

“Henry? Henry!”

Henry nearly fell out of his chair in relief at that voice. He jerked up from the table in the sitting room, where he had been working, only to realize the tone of that voice wasn’t quite right. It wasn’t Isabella who had been calling him, but Irene.

“I’m in here,” he called to the open door. She appeared a few seconds later, flushed from her running, her hair wild. “Did you find her?”

“Of course I did.” Irene smiled as she closed the door behind her and moved into the room. “You need to do a better job of searching your grounds. She’s been hiding in the walled kitchen garden.”

“Ah.” Henry sat back down again with a huff. He had never thought to look there. “She talked to you?”

“She did, and you will not like what she said. God’s wounds,” she muttered, turning in a circle and wringing her hands together. “She made me promise to keep this a secret from you.”

“Secret? What secret?” Henry was on his feet again, desperate to know.

“I cannot keep that promise. Not when I know I am the cause of all of this.” She turned back to face Henry. “I apologize, for I am the cause.”

“You’re not making sense, Irene.”

“Then listen carefully.”

Irene told him all that she had discovered. Henry was reeling, not just from Mary’s attempts at manipulating him, but the fact she had succeeded in driving Isabella away from him. He let out such a long series of curses that Irene laughed.

“I apologize for my words,” he said in a rush.

“Do not apologize for that. After what she has done to my sister, I only wish to agree with you.” Irene waved the matter away before her smile fell. “Yet, you see now why Isabella has been distant with you. It was to protect me only. I am so sorry I have caused this. What happened between Lord Burton and me… it just happened.”

“You would not be the first to let passion dictate your actions.”

Henry could hardly blame her for it. His reputation was hardly that of a saint in that area, and he knew the truth these days that if he and Isabella had ever courted traditionally, he might have found it difficult to stay away from her. He certainly would have made up inventive reasons to get rid of their chaperone for a while.

“What do we do?” Irene asked, holding out her hands.

“I know exactly what we should do.” Henry smiled as a plan began to form. “You have your dowry, Irene, do you not? We have added to it.”

“Yes.” She nodded.

“And do you love Lord Burton?” he asked. “I know what I am to suggest might be hasty, but pray, think it through to avoid any scandal befalling the family. Do you love him? Could you be happily married to him?”

She didn’t even hesitate. Her smile broadened.

“With all my heart.” Her simple answer had him mirroring that smile.

“Then, I say it’s time you and I paid a visit to Lord Burton.” He snatched up his tailcoat from the chair and strode out of the room, with Irene at his heels.

“Now?” she asked in surprise.

“Now. Between you and I, Irene, I do not trust Mary to keep her mouth shut about what she saw. Some way or another, she would let it slip. From what I have seen of her lately, she enjoys causing Isabella misery too much to hold herself back. So, we must stop this before it can become a scandal.”

Irene didn’t dispute his words.

He arranged the carriage in a rush, and the two of them left within the next few minutes. They rode through town towards Jeremiah’s house. Upon their arrival, Henry announced their presence to the butler. At once, he showed them through to the garden, where Jeremiah was practicing his fencing skills with his brother.

Lord Burton broke off when he saw Irene and tossed the sword to his brother before walking towards them.

“Irene?” he called to her.

He took her hand and kissed the back of it. The obvious affection had Henry’s stomach tightening with anticipation.

It’s just possible this plan might work.

“I do not believe you have met my brother-in-law properly.” Irene nodded her head at Henry. “This is His Grace the Duke of Sutterton.”

“You are most welcome here, Your Grace.” Lord Burton offered a friendly smile and bowed deeply in greeting.

“Thank you, Lord Burton. I apologize for coming unannounced, but there is a grave matter you and I must discuss with Lady Irene.”

“Of course.” Jeremiah’s expression became serious, and he urged Henry on with a wave of his hand. “What is the matter?”

“It is the fact that you and Lady Irene were seen when you were…” Henry struggled to say the words.

“Ah.” Jeremiah clearly didn’t need to hear the words. He took Irene’s hand in his own and turned towards her. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be,” she said with a small smile. “There were two of us there at that moment, were there not?”

“But who saw us?” Jeremiah asked in a panic.

“Someone who intends to cause trouble for us all.” Henry held up a hand, pleading with Lord Burton to let him finish, for the man looked ready to speak again. “Yet, with your help, I think we can avoid all of that. First off, may I ask you how strongly you are devoted to my sister-in-law? If the devotion is anything small, then I will not go on with my suggestion.”

“I am completely devoted, Your Grace.” Jeremiah took a tighter hold of Irene’s hand. “I am no great wordsmith, no poet, but believe in my strength of feeling for her, I beg of you.”

“Good man.” Henry smiled, seeing there was a way out of this mess. “Then here is what I suggest happens next.”

* * *

Isabella saw Henry riding towards her atop his horse. She tugged the reins of her mare, trying to turn the animal round.

“Time to go,” she pleaded with the animal and nudged her towards the trees.

The mare snorted in surprise at the movement but abided by the order, flying between the trunks with speed.

“Bella!” Henry called after her, yet he was faster than her today.

Even as Isabella rode away, he caught up with her. She jumped over tree trunks and fallen logs, but he seemed to gain ground, no matter what she did to get away. Uncertain whether she could continue to escape him on her horse, she came to a sudden halt by the lake in the middle of the trees on the estate.

Flinging the reins over the nearest tree branch, she jumped down and began to hurry around the lake.

“You cannot run from me our whole lives,” he pleaded with desperation in his tone as his horse appeared beside her own.

He tossed his reins over the same branch and leapt down with greater alacrity than she had managed.

Running around the lake, she didn’t let up her pace. In her gut, she felt the way he must have hated her for all her running. She couldn’t blame him for it, but she’d rather run than say anything cruel to drive him away from her. She couldn’t do that, no matter what Mary may have threatened her with.

“Bella!” he shouted again as he ran around the lake, following her. “I know what she did! I know what Mary said to you.”

The sudden words brought Isabella to a stop.

She skidded to a halt at the side of the lake. It was so abrupt that she nearly lost her footing.

“Careful!” he called, continuing to run after her.

With her feet sticking in the mud, Isabella turned back to face him.

“What did you say?” she asked anxiously.

He knows. How can he know?

“I know what Mary said to you. I know the threat she made. This ends now!”

At his words, she backed up, scarcely able to believe it.

She warned me not to tell him, and I didn’t.

Her feet ended up in the shallows of the lake. With her thoughts caught up in what had happened, she didn’t look where she was going. Tripping on something beneath her, she fell backwards.

“Bella!”

She fell under the water. The shallows disappeared into deep depths. Isabella’s eyes opened under the water, and she saw the bubbles around her mixing with the murky blue hues. Her hands pushed against the riverbed, trying to force herself back up again, but the skirt of her gown had become entangled in reeds, and she couldn’t pull herself out.

There was splashing around her. She turned to see what was happening when a pair of hands reached for her. Henry’s face appeared above her in the water before he took her waist and tried to tug her upwards. When she didn’t move, she pulled at his bicep, pointing at what was wrong. He must have seen it, for his other hand reached for the reeds. He was stronger than her, and he pulled the reeds out at their roots. They came away, releasing her skirt.

Isabella pushed upwards as Henry pulled her. Their heads emerged above the surface, and Henry pushed her towards the shallows. She coughed and spluttered, with his hands never leaving her, not once.

“Th—thank you,” she stammered between her coughs.

“You have a habit of ending up in the water. And falling over.”

“I’m clumsy!” she pointed out.

“I noticed.” He laughed.

His laugh was sudden, and it captured her attention. As her feet found shallow ground, she turned to face him. His hands were still on her waist, and this time, she touched him too, clinging to his biceps.

They were both soaked, their clothes sodden and their hair stuck to their temples, with rivulets of water dripping off them.

“Are you all right?” he asked in a panic.

One of his hands ran over her. He cupped her cheek and tilted her head back so he could look more closely at her neck, then his eyes moved to her shoulder and down her arm.

“I’m fine,” she assured hurriedly. “What were you shouting? You know? You know what she said? She told me not to tell you, or she would…” Isabella broke off, swallowing uncomfortably in fear.

“All for Irene. All for your sister,” Henry said in a rush with a smile breaking through. “The kindness in you. You were prepared to make yourself miserable, to see her safe.”

“What sister would not do the same?” Isabella pulled on his arms. “She saw them together. Lady Paulbridge said she was going to spread lies about them doing much worse than stealing a quick kiss. Irene would have been ruined. Lord Burton’s mother, who wishes so much for a fine marriage for him, would have surely not allowed the marriage then. What else was I supposed to do?”

“Tell me!” Henry replied without hesitation, then his voice softened. “If Mary ever does anything like this again, you tell me, Bella, please.”

He raised his hand back to her cheek and brushed the water away from it. Isabella felt cared for at that touch. It prompted her body to lean towards him. They stumbled together in the shallow water of the lake, but this time, they remained standing.

“You can trust me, with everything,” he whispered. “You need to know that.”

“What happens now?” she asked. “If Lady Paulbridge finds out that you know—”

“Her threats won’t work.” Henry shook his head.

Isabella’s stomach knotted at his words.

“What do you mean?”

“Irene and I visited Lord Burton this afternoon and explained something of what had happened.” He continued to smile as he talked. “Lord Burton proposed to your sister before I could even finish the suggestion. He didn’t hesitate. He loves her, and your sister seems equally enamored with him, so I don’t doubt they will be happy.”

“They’re to be married.” Isabella raised her hands to her mouth in shock. “It is fast!”

“Not as fast as our marriage,” he reminded her with a chuckle. “The point is that they shall be safe from gossip. The betrothal will be announced in the papers tomorrow. Anything Mary could say now would be tempered, for people will know they intend to wed. Don’t you see, Bella? Your sister is safe. Mary can’t harm her anymore.”

Isabella breathed deeply as she lowered her hands from her mouth.

Henry did all of this?

“You saved her from harm,” she whispered, staring up at him. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

She flung her arms around him and embraced him tightly. He laughed as he caught her and stumbled on his feet.

“Careful, or we’ll end up back in the water.”

“I don’t care. I just want to thank you.”

As she clung to him, she felt herself being lifted off her feet. He wrapped both arms around her waist and held her tightly against him as he walked the two of them out of the water and back onto the riverbank.

“I can’t believe it, I just can’t,” she kept whispering repeatedly.

“You pulled away from me because of all this?” he asked in her ear. “I feared you may hate me because of what I told you about not having children… and my father.”

“What? No!” She pulled back far enough as he lowered her to her feet, to look him in the eye. “I understand why you did it. That night at the ball, I was ready to tell you that I could move past it. That we could be as we were, then Lady Paulbridge spoke to me.”

Sharp curses escaped Henry’s lips. His fury brought a smile to Isabella’s lips.

There truly is nothing between them. He cares for me, and I do him. Why should I not tell him the truth about how I feel? All of it!

“You could move past it?” Henry asked slowly. “For there is something else I must tell you about that resolution, something I’ve been thinking—”

“I love you.” The words were out of her lips before she could stop them.

Henry froze and stared at her, his lips parted.

“Y—you do?” he stuttered.

“I do.” She nodded. “All my pulling back was only because of Lady Paulbridge, nothing more, Henry. I need you to know that.”

“Thank God!” He tipped his head back and called the words to the heavens again, then bent down towards her, kissing her hurriedly. It was fast and chaste compared to their other kisses, yet it mattered just as greatly to Isabella as if it had been the most passionate of kisses. “I love you too.”

The words overwhelmed Isabella. She clung to him and kissed him again. When they parted, it was some minutes later. Their hands were entwined, and their hips were pressed together, their sodden clothes still dripping water.

“What do we do now?” Isabella asked, afraid to disturb their happy moment yet knowing she had to. “About Lady Paulbridge?”