Chapter 20

CHAPTER TWENTY

“ W here have you been?!” the Earl of Stonefield’s angry voice rang out over the garden, echoing off of the stone walls.

“Father,” Cecil intervened, placing himself between Madeleine and the Earl.

The Earl turned his angry gaze to his son. “What was your sister doing out all night?! Her absence, as well as yours, was noticed. Your mother pled illness on your behalf, but it was not convincing as we had received all of our guests together as a family. Your good health was clear for all to see. It was clear that they did not believe the excuse. Now I repeat, where were you?”

Madeleine stepped forward, her chin up, shoulders back, braced for whatever might come. “I was headed to Gretna Green.”

“Gretna Green?! Why would you be…?” Understanding dawned in his eyes. He looked at Herbert Mowbray then at Percy. “Which of you wished to dishonor my daughter?! Which of you wished to destroy her reputation and that of this family?!”

“Her reputation has already been tarnished,” Mowbray replied, indignation returning to his voice. “I only wished to save her from herself.”

“What did you just say?” The Earl looked as if someone had punched him in the stomach. “Did you dishonor my daughter?! I believed you to be an honorable man.”

“I did not dishonor your daughter,” Mowbray reassured him, shaking his head in protest. “It was this one who did the dishonoring,” he gestured towards Percy in disapproval. “It was Percival Hardy, Duke of Greyhall that I was attempting to save her reputation from.”

The Earl’s eyes swung to Percy. Anger, hurt, and disbelief clouded their depths. “Greyhall, what did you do?”

“I love your daughter.” Percy stepped forward to stand beside Madeleine.

Madeleine looked up at Percy in surprise. “You love me?”

Percy turned to meet her eyes. “I love you,” he replied, reaching up to brush a lock of hair out of her face. “I now know that I always have.”

“What did you do to my daughter, Greyhall?” The tone of the Earl’s voice held a warning. Madeleine feared that her father was about to challenge Percy to a duel.

Percy looked up to meet the Earl’s eye. “I did not dishonor your daughter, Stonefield, but I do wish to marry her.”

Madeleine gasped in surprise. “Marry me? What about the curse?”

Percy turned his gaze back to her and smiled. “There is no curse, my love. Laura Knight killed Francis. Her death was the act of an evil woman, not that of a curse. I was foolish to believe such a thing and to allow it to come between us.” He cupped her face with his hand, brushing his thumb across her lower lip. “Marry me, Monkey, and make me the happiest man on this earth.”

Madeleine looked up at him in shock. She was speechless. Percy took it as hesitation. “I know that you never wished to wed, and this is not how I would have wished for us to come together, but I promise you that I will make you happy. I will love you all the days of my life until the end of time itself.”

Madeleine was stunned. “I do not want to die,” she blurted out in answer.

“Die?” Percy asked, his brow furrowed in confusion. “I will not let Laura Knight touch you.”

Madeleine shook her head. “Not Laura.”

Percy frowned in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I do not wish to die giving you children. I do not wish to be the cause of someone else’s pain.”

Madeleine watched the color drain out of Percy’s face. “Madeleine,” he breathed.

“When your mother died, her death nearly broke you and my mother. It nearly broke me. It did break your father. I cannot be responsible for inflicting that kind of pain on those that I love. I cannot be responsible for what I saw in your eyes that day.”

“Oh, my beautiful darling,” Percy whispered, kissing her forehead and pulling her into his arms. “That is why you did not wish to wed? All of these years, this has been the shadow that tormented your heart?”

Madeleine nodded. “I cannot be responsible for causing such pain.”

Cecil looked at his sister, his eyes filled with compassion. “You are not as the Duchess was. You are strong, healthy. Percy’s mother suffered from illness for many years. She was not strong. Yes, women die in childbirth, but that does not mean that you will be one of them.”

Madeleine looked up into Percy’s eyes, searching his face for answers. “Cecil speaks the truth. My mother was not strong in body. She had not been healthy for many years. I would love any child that we might create together, but we need never have children if that is what you wish. There are ways to avoid conception. My grandmother knew the ways of such things.”

“Blasphemy,” Mowbray protested.

Percy glared at Mowbray, causing the man to shrink back in fear.

“If I were you, Mowbray, I would not speak unless asked to,” Cecil advised. “I still have not ruled out challenging you to a duel.”

Mowbray gulped and fell silent once more.

Madeleine looked up into Percy’s face. “Do you mean what you said that we need not have children? What of an heir?”

Percy shook his head, cradling her face sweetly. “My darling, all that I need in this life is you. There has never been another who has made me feel as you have. I can live without an heir. I cannot live without you.” He leaned forward, resting his forehead against hers. “Marry me,” he whispered against her skin.

Madeleine’s heart was full to the point that it felt like it might burst. Every part of her being loved him. The idea of wedding another man and never knowing Percy’s touch again had been more than she could bear. Now, here he was standing before her, offering her everything she had never known that she wanted. “Are you certain?” she breathed, afraid to hope. “What about your love for Francis?”

“I am certain. I do not love Francis. I lied to protect you from the curse. A curse that I now know does not exist.” Percy smiled, kissing her hands gently. “Marry me,” he murmured against the sensitive flesh, causing shivers of delight and longing to pass over Madeleine’s entire being. “Be my wife. Say yes.”

“Yes,” she whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Yes!” She wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Stonefield, a word?” Percy requested.

The Earl cleared his throat. “Indeed,” he replied, clearly uncomfortable with such a public display of affection towards his daughter.

Percy smiled at Madeleine. “Go and rest. I will find you after.”

Madeleine nodded.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you,” she breathed.

Percy took a step back and turned a stern eye on Mowbray. “You come with us.”

“I do not believe that I am needed here,” Mowbray protested, taking a step backward.

Cecil walked up behind Mowbray to ensure that he did not run. “Move,” he commanded, and all three men entered the house together.

“Madeleine,” the Countess’ voice called to her from the kitchen doorway. “I believe that we should talk.”

Sighing, Madeleine nodded and followed her mother into the house. “Mother, I am sorry.” Her mother raised a hand to quiet her.

“Did the Duke compromise your virtue?” Her mother stared her straight in the eyes as if to gage the honesty of her answer.

Madeleine shook her head. “He did not.”

Nodding, her mother motioned for her to sit at the table where the cook had prepared her a meal from the night’s leftovers. Madeleine steeled herself for a long lecture about what she had done to the family and how she had nearly ruined them all. She prepared herself for the worst. Instead, when the Countess sat down opposite her, she had a knowing smile on her face. “Then there are some things that you need to know about married life. There are things that you need to know about your future.”

Percy, Cecil, and the Earl stood in the study drinking. They had interrogated Herbert Mowbray within an inch of his sanity then, once they were satisfied that he had never meant anyone any harm, they let him go. Before they had released him, they had made him swear upon the memory of his ancestors that he would never breathe a word of what had transpired pertaining to Madeleine to another living soul upon forfeit of his life.

“The lad looked as if he might soil himself,” the Earl snorted. “You can be an intimidating foe, Greyhall.”

“He has nothing to fear from me as long as he holds to his word,” Percy reassured the Earl.

“He had better keep to his word. Honestly, I believe that he will. You put the fear of God in the man,” Cecil noted with amusement.

“In spite of the foolishness of his actions, it appears that he meant well,” the Earl pointed out. “I misjudged the lad as a match for my Madeleine, but I do believe that his motives were honorable.”

Percy nodded at the acknowledgement of the Earl’s mistake. “As we have established, I am also to blame.”

“Were you any other man, I would have challenged you to a duel for my sister’s honor,” Cecil stated pointedly.

“Love makes fools of us all,” the Earl acknowledged. “I remember all too well how it was when I courted the Countess.”

Cecil’s brows rose in surprise then he shook his head. “I do not wish to know, Father, what transpired between you and my mother before you were wed.”

The Earl chuckled, shrugged his shoulders, and sat down in one of the chairs that scattered the room. “We were all young, once.”

“I will say that I would much rather have you as a brother, Percy, than to have Mowbray in the family,” Cecil admitted.

“We have always been brothers, my friend, and we always will be,” Percy replied, lifting his drink in a toast before downing it and setting his empty glass down on a side table. “I must go and speak with Madeleine. She should know that she is now safe from scandal. Once I have spoken with her, I must return to Greyhall to speak with the magistrate about Laura Knight.”

The Earl nodded. “Yes, go and put my daughter’s mind at ease.”

Percy nodded and left the study. No sooner had he entered the foyer then Madeleine’s hand shot out of the library door and dragged him inside. To his surprise he found the Countess awaiting him there. “Madeleine, what…”

Madeleine placed a single silken finger against his lips to silence him. “Mother has something to tell you. It is important. Please listen to her.”

Percy nodded, kissing her finger, then took a seat across from the Countess. Madeleine took a seat beside him. He reached out and took her hand in his, squeezing it gently. “Your father gave us his blessing as did your brother.”

Madeleine smiled. “As do both of our mothers and your grandmother.”

Percy’s brows rose in question. “My mother favored you; it is true. It is a blessing of a kind. You never met my grandmother. She died before you were born. It is a sweet thought, I grant you, but you need not convince me of the rightness of our union. I love you, and that is enough.”

“It is more than that,” the Countess answered. “You are aware of your grandmother’s people.”

“I am aware,” Percy nodded. “Most people are. It was quite the scandal in her day.”

“Indeed, it was. She was not treated as she should have been,” the Countess agreed. “After you, Cecil, and Emily were born, when I became with child with Madeleine, your grandmother sent me a missive summoning me to Greyhall. When I arrived, she sat your mother and me down to speak with us. She was very mysterious at first.”

Percy nodded. “It was her way.”

“She spoke of her people, her life, her gifts,” the Countess paused, lost in her own memories of that day. “She said that she had the sight.”

Percy nodded. “She did. She did not always share what she saw, however. If she chose to share with you, then it was a great honor.”

“It was indeed a great honor,” the Countess affirmed, “but what she had to say was not for me. It was for you and Madeleine.”

Percy’s brow wrinkled in question. “About us?”

The Countess nodded. “She said that you and my daughter were destined to be together. That you would both live long and happy lives together, and that your children would equally be blessed.”

“Children?” Percy’s brow wrinkled in question. He looked to Madeleine for an answer.

Madeleine squeezed his hand. “Children.” She smiled reassuringly up at him.

The Countess went on with her story. “Your grandmother saw it all. She knew of Madeleine’s struggle before any of us ever did. She made certain that I knew that you would have children and that you would both live to a very advanced age. I know now that she meant for this message to be delivered to Madeleine but that she herself would not live long enough to tell her of it.”

“Do you believe in your grandmother’s visions?” Madeleine asked.

“I do,” Percy nodded. “When she did choose to share a vision with us, she was never wrong.”

“Children,” she whispered, hope entering her voice. “We can have children.”

Percy smiled, gathering her into his arms. “I would have loved you no matter what you decided.”

Madeleine gave him a tear-filled smile. “Now, you will have more to love.”

Percy’s heart felt so filled with joy that he thought it might burst. He lowered his forehead to Madeleine’s. “The more love, the better. I love you so much. In truth, I always have. From your ten-year-old hand in mine at my mother’s funeral service to you stomping on my foot angrily at the ball, I have loved you through it all. I cannot believe that it has taken me this long to see it.”

“I love you,” Madeleine breathed. She melted into his body, not caring that they had an audience. “I have always loved you and I always will.”