Chapter 14

14

Lord Brooke was in residence at Bluffton Castle, where he had gone to lick his wounds in solitude. Though as he sat at the breakfast table reflecting on the past few weeks, he came to the conclusion his solitary state had not proven at all helpful. Perhaps it would have been better if he’d embarked on the dissolute career he’d always disdained, numbing his senses with wine and women and reckless spending. But while that might have drowned out the reproachful voices in his head temporarily, he did not think it would have raised him in his own esteem. In fact, he knew it would not. And, as he was feeling lower than he ever had in his life, he didn’t think descending into the depths of depravity was quite the prescription he needed.

But the word “prescription” unfortunately brought to mind Bella’s doctor-husband, and he was plunged back into a maelstrom of confusion and pain and found himself too depressed to do anything but sit there and stare unseeingly into his coffee. He wished he’d never read the note she’d left, as seeing written in black-and-white how relieved she was that she didn’t have to marry him when all he wanted in life was to marry her was a continual torment to him. So when the post was delivered at just that moment he reached for it eagerly, as if it were a rope thrown to a drowning man.

However, it only served to remind him of his distress.

Lady de Ros had written that she was arranging a marriage between her oldest grandson and a newly discovered young relative of hers, who was in residence at Afton Manor and to whom she would be leaving her personal fortune. “I trust you will have no objection to this alliance, as I have been told you are about to embark on an arranged marriage yourself,” she wrote.

Lord Brooke looked up from the letter, shocked and dismayed. Allow his beloved sister’s son to enter an arranged marriage, with some so-called relative who had popped up from who-knew-where and was most likely a fortune hunter? He would not stand for it! He had always been opposed to arranged marriages, from the time he was a child and he had seen his own sister forced into one. That had been the primary reason he hadn’t intended to submit to the alliance that had been arranged for him . But when he had met Lady Isabelle again and found himself so enchanted by her, he had fooled himself into thinking that perhaps he had been mistaken in his opposition to such an arrangement. Perhaps, in his case, his parents had chosen just as well as he would have chosen for himself.

But what grief that thinking had brought him. He now knew that he would have been far better off had he met Bella without that godforsaken arrangement obscuring matters. One of the many questions that plagued him was whether Bella had eloped with the doctor in part as an act of rebellion against her mother and the arrangement she’d made for her to marry him.

And what did Lady de Ros mean by saying he was about to embark on his own marriage? He supposed since she didn’t go about much, she’d had no opportunity to hear what had really occurred. Rumors that Lady Isabelle had eloped with her physician were already spreading. That was the other reason he had buried himself at Bluffton Castle: he could not bear the sympathetic glances he had begun to receive from his friends, and the expressions of glee on the faces of his enemies. It had been obvious to all of London that he had been courting Lady Isabelle before her elopement. And now it was just as obvious that she had jilted him.

He left the breakfast table and went upstairs to pack a small bag. He would pay a visit to Lady de Ros and get to the bottom of this affair. It was his responsibility to protect his poor nephew from the distress his mother, and Lord Brooke himself, had experienced when marriages had been arranged for them. And while doing so he could hopefully forget, for a few moments at least, the woman who had broken his heart.

On the same morning Lord Brooke received a letter from Lady de Ros, Issie received a letter from Bella.

Dr. Jordan, who had been watching her face as she sorted through her correspondence, could tell by her expression that it was from her cousin even before she spoke.

“James!” she said, holding the letter up to show him. “Bella has finally written to me!”

“Don’t keep me in suspense. Where is she?”

Issie looked back down at the letter and her brow wrinkled when she saw from whence it came. “She’s here in Oxfordshire, though I would have never been able to find her. I’ve never even heard of Afton Manor.” There was silence while she read. “She’s writing to tell me where she’s living and begs me to write to her there. She is serving as a companion to Lady de Ros.” There was another pause. “It doesn’t appear that she knew I was in residence here, and writes that she hopes her letter finds me.” Issie looked pleadingly at James. “Can we go and see her, today?”

“Of course. I’ll call the carriage while you change,” he said immediately. He knew how devastated Issie had been when they’d returned from their wedding in Gretna Green and Bella was not at Fenborough Hall. Traveling to Scotland and back had taken more than a week, and Issie had been sure Bella would be awaiting her when she returned. And when she was not, Issie had racked her brain trying to figure out where her cousin might have gone, picturing her in all sorts of dire circumstances and blaming herself for leaving London without first speaking with her cousin. A few days ago, Issie had gathered her courage—and now that he’d learned how her mother had mistreated her, he knew how much courage it had required—and had traveled to Warwickshire to ask her great-aunt if she’d seen or heard from Bella. It was doubtful Lady Dutton would have helped even if she’d had any information to offer, but it had become clear that she did not know any more than they did. The trip was not a total waste, however; they had at least learned that Bella had disappeared from the townhouse on the same morning Isabelle had, which explained why Bella had not joined them at Fenborough Hall. It appeared that Bella had never received Issie’s note, as Lady Dutton had seen it, and Issie knew that if Bella had found and read it she would never have left it for Lady Dutton to discover.

Surprisingly, Lord Dutton had been very concerned about Bella and had treated Issie far more kindly, asking that she inform him as soon as she discovered Bella’s whereabouts and offering to assist in the search.

Issie and James had decided to travel to London and question the staff still in residence at the Duttons’ townhouse, but before they could do so they had received Bella’s letter.

Therefore, James was more than willing to take a journey that he found, after consulting a map, was only sixteen miles. And he would have traveled much further to appease his wife’s anxiety. That was his duty as her doctor and her husband.

That afternoon Bella and Lady de Ros were seated in the drawing room when they heard the sound of a carriage in the drive. They looked at each other, and without a word quietly smoothed their skirts and sat up straighter in their seats in a manner that was so strikingly similar that their familial ties would have been evident to anyone who had been present to observe them.

A few minutes later the butler entered, announcing: “Lady Isabelle Jordan and Dr. Jordan,” and Issie was suddenly in the doorway. She curtsied to Lady de Ros, but upon catching sight of Bella, she ran to her side and hugged her. Bella, who had risen at the couple’s entrance, hugged her back just as tightly, and Lady de Ros and the doctor smiled at each other at the joyous reunion that was unfolding before them.

“Oh, Bella, don’t ever do that to me again!” Issie was saying, laughing and crying at the same time. “I was so worried about you! Why did you not go to Fenborough Hall? Or at least write to me weeks ago?”

But Bella, as happy as she was to see her cousin, still had not recovered from her shock when she’d heard the butler announce her name, and wanted that clarified before they discussed anything else. “Issie, I don’t understand. Why were you presented as Lady Isabelle Jordan ? You can’t be married to Dr. Jordan ?”

“Why can’t I? What’s wrong with that?” Issie asked defensively, and it was obvious by her reaction that she was accustomed to receiving criticism of her marriage. Bella winced inwardly at the thought of how Lady Dutton must have reacted.

“Nothing is wrong with it; if it’s true I couldn’t be more delighted. But the last time I saw you, you told me you were to marry Lord Brooke.”

“What? That’s not possible—” Issie paused and thought back to the hectic events of a month earlier. “Oh, I suppose there was a point, right after James rejected me, that I planned to marry Lord Brooke instead—”

“You never told me you ‘planned’ to marry him,” Dr. Jordan interjected, and was ignored.

“—but James came to see me the very next morning and apologized and we eloped to Gretna Green. I thought you’d be at Fenborough Hall to meet us upon our return. I assume you didn’t receive my note?”

“No. And I suppose you left London before my letter was delivered.”

“I must have; I’ve had no correspondence from you. I have been frantic with worry.”

The inhabitants of the grand salon were so preoccupied with explanations and apologies and rejoicing that they failed to hear another carriage arrive, and their only warning of the next visitor was when the butler announced: “Lord Brooke.”

Issie, who had felt a little guilty that she’d broken her unofficial engagement without even a word to the other participant, whirled around to face him as he walked into the room, instinctively grabbing her cousin’s hand. Bella was similarly shocked to see him, but her emotions were not so easily defined. As soon as she’d discovered he and Issie were not married, or even engaged, she’d felt such relief that it had made her weak, and when she’d seen him so unexpectedly she’d been grateful Issie was holding on to her because otherwise she might have collapsed. She wondered if he’d been ill; he was paler than usual and he looked fatigued. But he still appeared the most beautiful sight in the world, to her. And when their eyes met she read a similar message in his gaze. However, the expression of joy that had erased the tiredness from his eyes changed a moment later to one of great sadness, even bitterness, and she was suddenly stricken with shame that she’d never told him personally of her deception and apologized for it. She hadn’t had a chance to ask Issie if she’d informed him of it, either, so Bella still did not know if he’d been told. It had not yet occurred to her, however, that if he did not know that she and Issie had exchanged identities, he would have spent the last month believing she was the one married to Dr. Jordan.

Lord Brooke was possibly the most aghast at the sight of Lady de Ros’s visitors. He couldn’t care less that Miss Grant was there, though he was relieved that no lasting harm had come to her after Lady Dutton had treated her so shabbily. But he had never expected nor wanted to see Bella again now that she was lost to him. Particularly not in the company of her new husband, whom she was so enamored of and who had apparently saved her from the awful fate of marrying him. However, he could not control his reaction when he first saw her, before his mind had caught up with his heart, when their eyes had met and he had fooled himself into thinking he had read in hers the same unspoken message his were sending: “I love you; I am heartbroken without you; you mean everything to me.”

There was a long silence as everyone stared at one another, which was broken at last by Lady de Ros. “Good afternoon, Lord Brooke. How good of you to call.”

He turned to look at his hostess in surprise, as he’d forgotten her very existence. But her greeting reminded him that there were meaningless formalities to engage in, and he bowed to her and murmured a response.

He then nodded to Bella and Issie, with a murmured, “Lady Isabelle, Miss Grant.” Both ladies bobbed a slight curtsy in response.

Lady de Ros then gestured to her fourth guest. “Lord Brooke, may I present Dr. Jordan to you.”

Lord Brooke turned to look at the doctor, and it appeared to those watching as if he was about to refuse the introduction, but he finally gave a slight nod, and said, “Dr. Jordan,” to which Dr. Jordan responded with an equally slight nod, perhaps even slighter, and a murmured “Lord Brooke.” It was noted by those observing that neither mentioned meeting the other was “a pleasure.”

Lady de Ros invited everyone to take a seat and they did so. Lord Brooke, having regained some of his composure, looked over to where Bella and Issie sat side by side and said, “I hear congratulations are in order.”

He hadn’t intended to be vague, but neither young woman knew to what he was referring. They had just found each other after weeks apart, and so that was at the forefront of their minds, not Issie’s marriage. Besides, he seemed to be looking at Bella, not Issie, though it was difficult to tell, as they were seated so close to each other. But Dr. Jordan, who was feeling slightly affronted at the arrogant manner in which Lord Brooke had reacted when introduced to him, and whose masculine vanity was suffering anyway at the newfound knowledge that this good-looking son-of-an…earl had been his rival for Issie’s affections, took it upon himself to respond. “Thank you, Lord Brooke,” he said. “Lady Isabelle and I are very happy.”

Lord Brooke, who had turned to look at the doctor when he spoke, immediately turned back toward Bella with such a burning look of reproach and despair, that she instantly realized he had not been informed of who she really was, and was suffering under the misapprehension that she was married to someone else. She couldn’t bear to let him continue to believe this, as she had until recently held the same mistaken belief about him, and the distress it had caused her had been nearly unbearable .

But just as Bella opened her mouth to speak, she heard Issie say: “I am sorry, Lord Brooke, for not formally releasing you from our engagement, but it did not seem to me that you wanted to marry me anyway. You looked at me that first time we met as if I were a bug you’d prefer to squash.”

Lord Brooke’s anguished expression changed to one of confusion. “I beg your pardon,” he said, and it was obvious he thought Issie had lost her mind.

Bella put a restraining hand on Issie’s arm. “He doesn’t know who we really are,” she said. “Unless you told him?”

“No, I never did. But didn’t you?” Issie asked.

“I did not have the opportunity, either.”

Lord Brooke interrupted them to say: “If one of you would tell me now, I’d be delighted to know what you’re talking about.”

Bella turned to look at him. “I am more sorry than I can say to have deceived you this way, but I am actually Arabella Grant, Lady Isabelle’s cousin. This young lady is the true Lady Isabelle,” Bella said, nodding at Issie. “My cousin is in poor health—we did not deceive you about that—so she did not feel like she could participate in her London season and begged me to take her place. I had no idea the two of you were engaged or I would have never agreed to do so.” Bella gave Issie a sideways glance that caused Issie to turn red and lower her head in embarrassment. It was obvious that, while Bella was not one to hold a grudge and very quick to extend forgiveness, this omission on Issie’s part would take her a little longer to forget.

“Then she is married to Dr. Jordan?” Lord Brooke asked, and though he had been taught it was impolite to point, he felt in this case he could be forgiven this solecism and gestured to Issie. And then, to verify what he felt was the most important piece of information that had been disclosed, he asked Bella, “And you are unmarried?”

“As of this moment,” Bella said, and though her eyes were watery, her irrepressible grin had peeked out.

Lord Brooke closed his eyes briefly and murmured, “Thank God,” and Bella felt like saying “Amen” to his brief prayer but restrained herself. He then opened his eyes and, jumping up from his seat, went over to Dr. Jordan and offered him his hand. “May I offer you the sincerest of congratulations,” he said warmly, shaking Dr. Jordan’s hand vigorously, to that man’s amazement.

He then turned to Issie. “Lady Isabelle, it is I who must apologize to you. I never thought of you as a, what is it you said, a bug I wanted to squash? I was horrified at the thought of an arranged marriage and would have appeared discontented when presented to any young woman. I was also displeased by your mother’s unkind treatment of you, and your obvious unhappiness. But I can see that you’ve matured into an attractive, sensible young lady, and I truly am delighted that you’ve made a match based on love and mutual esteem, instead of that cold-blooded union our parents had arranged for us. May I kiss the bride?” he asked, waiting first for Issie’s nod and then looking toward the doctor as well before kissing Issie briefly but enthusiastically on the cheek. Issie was blushing a little, and Bella was, too, as she couldn’t help comparing that cousinly kiss with other, far more passionate kisses Lord Brooke had bestowed on a different “Lady Isabelle.”

“And now, with your permission, Lady de Ros, I would like to hear a longer explanation—and apology—from the erstwhile Lady Belle, in private,” Lord Brooke said, looking at Bella in a way that conveyed that she had not been unconditionally forgiven and he still intended to exact punishment. But as Bella was not the least bit afraid of Lord Brooke, who she knew was incapable of behaving cruelly to her, the thought of whatever penance he might exact didn’t alarm her at all, and instead caused her to feel a tingle of anticipation.

“I am not sure if I should give my permission,” Lady de Ros said, to the couple’s dismay, and they both turned to look at her, Bella saying, “But…Rossie…”

“I assume you’re here in response to my letter, Lord Brooke,” Lady de Ros continued, ignoring Bella’s protest, and Lord Brooke nodded in confirmation of her statement. “Then I should tell you that I recently discovered Arabella is a relative of mine, and I intend to arrange for her to marry my grandson so that she can officially return to the family and live at Afton Manor permanently. I also intend to leave my personal fortune to her upon my death.”

Bella, who knew nothing of the letter that Lady de Ros had written to Lord Brooke, or of her plans for her, was stunned. However, she had no intention of agreeing to them. Before she could say so, Lord Brooke intervened.

“Lady de Ros, as your grandson’s guardian, I unequivocally refuse to give my consent to such a match. Because, though I am adamantly opposed to arranged marriages, I am determined to make an exception and arrange a marriage for myself.” He then turned to look at Bella. “With Miss Grant.”

Bella put out her hand to Lord Brooke, and he grasped it and raised it to his lips. Issie, who had only just realized that Bella and Lord Brooke were in love, was a little put out by his stated intention to marry Bella. Even though Issie loved her husband and knew he loved her, she still was slightly possessive of the cousin who had been the only one to love her for so long, and she had had a different plan in mind. “But…she was to live with me and Dr. Jordan at Fenborough Hall,” she said.

“I am sorry, young lady, but she was to live here with me,” Lady de Ros contradicted her.

“I believe Bella should be the one to decide where she will live, and I’d like to put another option before her,” Lord Brooke said, still retaining his beloved’s hand and pulling her in the direction of the door.

Bella was more than willing to go with him, but looked back over her shoulder to say, “Excuse me for a moment,” before disappearing through the doorway, as she did feel it was rather rude to leave her cousin alone with her grandmother. Lady de Ros was just the type of haughty older woman who unnerved Issie so. (At least that’s how her grandmother appeared, though Bella knew that she wasn’t really like that.) But Dr. Jordan would watch over Issie now, Bella reminded herself, and felt a pang very similar to the one Issie had felt earlier. It was difficult for Bella to relinquish her role as Issie’s protector, even though she had always assumed she’d happily do so. Some habits were hard to break, and it had been her responsibility to love and protect her younger cousin her entire life. Even when that had led her into her present predicament.

Her present predicament, being very familiar with his nephew’s estate, had guided her into the library. He opened his mouth to speak, but then silently and abruptly pulled her into his arms and held her tightly against him. She hugged him back just as hard, and after a few moments spent holding each other as if daring anybody or anything to try to separate them, he finally said, echoing Issie’s comment, though he did not know it, “Don’t ever do that to me again.”

“What exactly am I not supposed to do, my lord?” Bella asked. Lord Brooke pulled away from her and led her to a backless chaise in front of the window, where they both sat facing each other, Lord Brooke still holding one of Bella’s hands and gently caressing it.

“You are never to leave me again. Not for one day. Not for one hour,” he said possessively, and though some might rebel at such a statement, Bella was thrilled by it.

“I would gladly promise such a thing if it were possible, but I can see that there might be circumstances where it would prove impractical.”

“How dare you talk to me of practicalities at a time like this,” he said, before kissing her. And his kisses were so convincing that Bella was ready to promise that she wouldn’t leave his side for one minute, if she had been given the opportunity to speak. Though after a few moments in his embrace, she realized that speech was overrated, and that feelings could be communicated just as well, if not better, by touch, and so she concentrated her efforts on convincing him how much she loved him by running her hands through his hair, lightly caressing his neck, and measuring the breadth and strength of his shoulders. It appeared he had a similar goal in mind, as his hands were slowly tracing the contours of her back and waist, as if he were a potter and he was molding them together. However, contrary to the command he’d just given her never to leave his side, he pulled back suddenly, jumping up from the chaise and walking away from her.

He was breathing very rapidly and it took him a moment to catch his breath so that he could speak. “Bella, we must be married immediately,” he said.

This seemed entirely reasonable to Bella, who nodded her agreement, as she was also out of breath and didn’t know if she could speak.

“But first, please explain to me why you pretended to be your cousin, why you did not confide in me even after it was obvious I’d come to care for you, and then compounded everything by allowing me to believe you’d married someone else!”

And Bella, stabbed to the heart by the pain she heard in his voice, got up from her seat to run over and throw herself into his arms, holding him tightly in an attempt at consolation. “I am so very, very sorry; I never meant to hurt you. I know exactly how you feel, as I thought you were married to Issie.”

“What?” Lord Brooke asked, before breaking away from her, and backing up even further when she instinctively followed him. “No, please stay away from me, Bella, while you explain. I can’t concentrate when you’re so close,” he said, his gaze darting over her face and figure so longingly she began to tremble and saw the wisdom in what he was saying. She returned to the chaise while he threw himself into a chair opposite, and then she proceeded to explain in more detail the reason for her masquerade, telling him of how ill Issie had been when they’d first arrived in London and how she’d begged Bella to take her place, and how Bella had reluctantly agreed.

“I never expected to fall in love with you during what was supposed to be my one season masquerading as Lady Belle, but, after I did, I wanted to tell you who I really was. However, Issie persuaded me to wait until the season was over, so that Lady Dutton would not have to know we’d deceived her. And if you knew how badly Issie has been treated, first by her mother and then her great-aunt, you’d understand why I wanted to protect her from Lady Dutton’s wrath,” Bella said, and she saw from Lord Brooke’s expression he did understand, to some degree, and sympathized. “In Issie’s defense, I never told her of my feelings for you, or I’m sure she would have told me about your arranged marriage. And that last night, in the gardens, I was going to tell you the truth, but that is when you told me you were engaged to Lady Isabelle. And I thought you’d merely paid court to me because you thought I was her.”

“What? How could you have thought that ? If I hadn’t become enamored of you almost from the first moment we met I would have never pursued you. I had no intention of fulfilling our mothers’ plans for me and Lady Isabelle to marry and, since our engagement was never official, I had decided to convey my lack of intentions by not paying her any attention at all. If I hadn’t run into you in the halls of St. James’s Palace, and quite literally been bowled over by you, I would never have even called on ‘Lady Isabelle’ during her season. I have quite an aversion to arranged marriages, you know. My sister was forced into one, and was very unhappy as a result.

“And I was very right to think Lady Isabelle and I would not have suited,” Lord Brooke said, shaking his head and smiling at the thought of just how unsuited they were to each other. “I know you adore her, Bella, but I’m very grateful that she’s now Dr. Jordan’s responsibility and not yours. Hopefully, he will not give in to her every whim, as you apparently do.”

“I do not give in to her every whim. But I could not help indulging her a little. She was so very deprived for so long, you can have no idea,” Bella said.

“I think I have some idea, and I’m glad she had you to look after her,” Lord Brooke said, with a warm smile. Bella’s loyalty toward her cousin was one of the reasons he loved her so very much. He could only be grateful she was so generous with her affection, and that she was also willing to bestow it upon him. But Bella startled him when she became very serious all of a sudden and said: “I am not sure I will suit you any better than Issie, Lord Brooke.”

“What foolishness is this? I seem to recall you saying you loved me, and you can be in no doubt now of my love for you.”

“Of course I love you, quite desperately, so much so that I had thought any prospect of happiness was over when I was forced to give you up. But, unlike Issie, I was never trained to be the wife of an earl. I have none of the qualifications your bride should have,” she confessed. “You should look higher for a wife, my lord.”

Lord Brooke stood and crossed back over to Bella’s side. “What are these so-called qualifications? I could never find a woman more suited to me than you, Bella. Should I tell you what my qualifications are? I require a wife who is compassionate and forgiving and intelligent, and if she happens to have the most luscious figure ever possessed by a mortal woman, well, that’s an unexpected and much-appreciated bonus,” Lord Brooke said, whispering that last qualification into Bella’s ear, before dropping a kiss on her neck. And then he spent a few more minutes demonstrating to Bella, without the use of words, just how very well they were suited to each other.

But there were still explanations and plans to be made, and eventually they returned to their earlier conversation. “I’m glad you ended up here after you left Lady Dutton’s. I was very concerned about you, even when I didn’t know ‘Miss Grant’ was actually the woman I loved. Though I have no idea how you ended up with Lady de Ros. Are you really related to her?”

Bella nodded. “You mustn’t tell anyone, but she is my grandmother.”

Lord Brooke shook his head in disbelief. “You are going to have to explain all of this to me again, very slowly, after we are married. I used to think myself quick-witted, but that was before I met you and your cousin and became involved in your convoluted schemes.”

He stood up, drawing Bella with him. “You did agree to marry me immediately, correct? That was not a passion-induced fantasy of mine?”

“Since you are quite sure that you want to marry me, I will marry you as quickly as it can be arranged. I suffered terribly, too, this past month. I have no desire to be separated from you a moment more than I have to.”

Lord Brooke’s heart was so full he thought it might burst at this declaration from the woman he loved. He contented himself with kissing both of her hands in acknowledgment and farewell, as he knew if he took her in his arms again it would be quite awhile before he could bring himself to leave. “Then I will go to London immediately and procure a special license. I’ll be back in two days and we can marry the day after.”

Bella had no objection to this plan, though one problem had occurred to her. “But what are we to tell people, after we are married, when they recognize me as Lady Belle?”

“The truth: that you’re Lady Isabelle’s cousin, and you are so alike that even Lady Isabelle’s great-aunt had difficulty telling you apart.”