Page 55 of A Tale of Two Dukes

‘It’s hard to believe that it’s all over,’ Viola said as she gazed out into the dusk.

‘We have been at war for most of my life, it seems. During the brief peace, I remember wondering where you were and what you were doing, and fearing I would never see you again. I know now, as I did not then, that you could easily have been killed on many different occasions. It hurts my heart to think of it even though it’s past and gone.

And so many people were killed or horribly wounded.

So much loss, death and suffering all over Europe and far beyond – I suppose it is understandable that everyone should want to run wild and celebrate the fact that it has finally ended. ’

Armstrong House was quiet and almost deserted, all of the servants who cared to do so having been given leave to go and enjoy the enormous fete that was happening just a few yards away.

She and Richard were standing looking out of the tall bedroom windows that gave on to Hyde Park; they had been watching casually to see if they could observe any of the fireworks or perhaps the balloon ascension.

Laurence Da Costa had kindly taken Ned and Robin with him and his older children to see the mock naval battle and all the other amusements of this jubilee holiday.

But Viola had only given birth to her daughter Leonie Emily a couple of weeks ago, and had no desire whatsoever to go out among the vast assembly of people and be jostled and shoved about.

She’d told Richard to leave her and join them, thinking it selfish to deny him sight of the spectacles, extraordinary things which might never be witnessed again, but he had refused.

‘I have an odd dislike of crowds, my love,’ he’d told her ruefully, ‘especially in the dark. I cannot help but think that the place will be swarming with pickpockets and all manner of other criminals. A habit of vigilance in such matters has been so trained into me that I would never be able to relax and take any pleasure – particularly not if there are sudden loud noises, which there are bound to be, to set me on even higher alert. If Laurence loses his watch tonight, or the whole thing ends with a frightened child in tears, at least I have warned him. And you would not be there to see it with me, so there is little point in it, to my mind. Why should you sit abandoned and alone while everyone else celebrates?’

And so he was here with her, and kissed her hair now, his hands gentle and careful about her still tender body.

‘I used to think of you when I was in danger, and my only regret was just the same as yours – that we had been separated so cruelly when we had had so little time together. All I wanted, all I want, is to be with you and our children, to make a life. No doubt there will be other victories to celebrate, and we will all enjoy them together.’

‘More victories mean more war,’ she said, leaning back against him. ‘We have all had enough of war, surely. There is no appetite for fighting to be found anywhere.’

The Duke of Ventris shook his head, his silky locks tickling her neck and making her shiver pleasurably.

‘I will believe that Bonaparte is done with France and with the rest of us when I hear from trustworthy sources that he is secure in his coffin. As long as that man draws breath, he will have an appetite for fighting and an unshakeable belief in his power to prevail against all odds. God knows he cares nothing for the deaths of others; all the thousands who worship him are merely so many chess pieces in his mind. And Elba is a few short miles from the Italian mainland: a curious choice of prison for such a man. A rowing boat with a determined crew could do it, or a fishing boat in no time at all. I fear these celebrations are somewhat premature – which is another reason I have no interest in joining in them.’

‘I hope you’re wrong. Otherwise we are all deluding ourselves, and have a rude awakening coming, and more tears to shed.

’ His words troubled her, and she had no desire to be troubled in this precious little moment together – but she knew he would not conceal his misgivings, nor tell her less than what he truly believed just because she was a woman, and his wife.

She would not wish him to. They were partners, and owed each other the truth.

She could not countenance any other kind of marriage now.

‘I hope I am wrong too. But whatever happens, you need have no fear that I will be drawn back into my old occupation. I have done with that – apart from anything else, I am far too grand these days to get my hands dirty as I used to.’

This was nonsense, since he proved daily with his children that he was not grand at all, but she did not dispute it.

‘And far too well known, I am glad to say, your grace. If there is trouble in Europe again and your invaluable assistance is needed, as I well believe it might be since they scarcely could have won the war without you, I hope it will be given from behind a desk.’

She felt his lips curve into a smile against her skin.

‘Who am I to tell my clever wife she is wrong? But I have no objection to stepping back and letting others play their part. I am a family man at last, after all. What an enormous contrast in my life, love, from a year ago till now. I still can hardly credit how fortunate I have been. Then I was my family’s disgrace, as far as anyone knew, living hand to mouth, facing danger and pretending I did not care, and now I am a wealthy and respected duke with a beautiful wife whom I adore, and a growing brood of children.

It could almost be a dream – I had many such dreams, alone and sometimes frightened – but then I put my hands on you, warm and alive, and know that it is all real, thank God. ’

His words were heartfelt, but he spoke them quietly.

The little scrap of humanity who might one day be Lady Ventris in her own right was sleeping peacefully in her crib beside the bed, and must not be disturbed by loud voices.

Viola had feared that the fireworks and all the other noises from the park and the streets would distress her, but she slumbered on still.

Perhaps it was too soon to say, but so far, she seemed of a placid disposition, which was just as well, because it was a noisy, boisterous household that she had been born into.

Her brothers had greeted her arrival with as much enthusiasm as could have been expected.

Ned had dropped a shy kiss on her dark head and looked at her miniature fingers in wonder as she clutched his hand, but Robin had shown scant interest in holding her and had said resignedly that he had known how it would be from the start, when he’d suggested puppies instead and nobody had listened.

But boys of their age could not be expected to show enormous interest in a bundle in a basket, and besides, they had been excited to fever pitch by the unprecedented preparations for the celebrations this week, with all London in an uproar.

This was all the more the case because they had missed the Great Frost Fair on the Thames this past winter, as they had all been effectively snowed in at Winterflood for months, and the pair had not ceased complaining about the unfairness of it ever since.

They were determined not to be cheated of any further pleasures, and had insisted on joining the crowds that gathered in public places to see the visiting dignitaries.

Viola suspected that this new fervour sprang chiefly from a misunderstanding of the nature of the Russian delegation, and an unfounded expectation that they would bring bears with them.

Gigantic bears of great and pleasing ferocity had apparently been a notable feature of the vast fair on the frozen river, or so the Da Costa children bragged, which was a particular cause of grievance for Ned and Robin, and would be for some time, no doubt.

So far this summer, they had not seen even the smallest, meekest bear, for which she could only be grateful. But she knew they lived in hope.

It had been a busy summer, after the harshest and longest of winters, which had seemed as though it might never end.

Viola had made her formal curtsey to Queen Charlotte as Duchess of Ventris once it had been possible to travel safely to London – and a very ungainly curtsey it was, perhaps understandably for a lady who had been well advanced in pregnancy by this date.

The Queen had not remarked on that, if she had noticed it, but had commented that the last time she had seen Viola, she had also been a duchess, but a different one.

Viola had acknowledged that this was true, but reassured her monarch that she was content with her present title, two dukes being enough for anyone.

Charlotte appeared to stifle a smile, and gravely agreed that she saw it might be so.

‘Your husbands are getting younger, too, and more handsome,’ she’d added, looking thoughtfully at Richard with her customary intimidating stare.

It was impossible to doubt that she knew a great deal more than she chose to say.

‘You are to be congratulated on your enterprise, Duchess, and any further alteration could scarcely be an improvement.’

‘That’s what I think,’ said Viola, smiling at her husband as he stood at her side, handsome in dark-grey velvet. ‘I am more than content, I assure you, your majesty.’

The Queen had smiled with perhaps a touch of pensiveness, and Viola had removed herself from the royal presence as clumsily as she had arrived.

In a huge hooped, high-waisted gown and tall feather headdress, it was hard for anyone to be graceful, she consoled herself.

At least she hadn’t fallen over, and her waters had not broken in the grand salon of Buckingham House and caused a great bustle there.

Going into labour – even giving birth – in the palace had been horribly possible, and more embarrassing than could be contemplated.

The long, boring day, with so much waiting about, just to speak with the Queen for a brief moment and receive her nod of approval, must be counted a success.

‘It’s good to have this time alone,’ she said now.

‘Well, not alone, but Leonie is quiet, and the house so peaceful for a change. Richard, will we ever be able to tell the boys the truth, do you think? It’s been preying on my mind, since their sister’s birth.

It seems wrong that they should think her only their half-sister, when she is so much more.

But they wouldn’t understand it all now, I know that.

It would be selfish and wrong to expect it of them – to burden them with the knowledge too soon. I must not be impatient.’

‘Few people would accuse you of impatience,’ he answered gently.

‘I’ve thought about it too, of course. And I believe that it is up to us to make sure that there is no distinction between half-siblings, as the world will see them, and full siblings.

I don’t know when they will be old enough to hear the story of how they came to be born.

Older than you and I were when we created them, perhaps, since I hope their young lives will be easier than ours were, with fewer pressures and responsibilities to age them prematurely.

I can only hope they will be ready to hear it one day.

There is no doubt that in the end, they deserve to know the truth, for their sakes as well as ours. ’

She sighed. ‘I must put it from my mind. It is a small worry, after all, when we have so much happiness in our lives. Who would have thought twelve years ago that we would ever manage this, to be here together, married, with our newest child, when our love seemed so hopeless for so long?’

It seemed they were both in a reflective mood tonight, as half of London ate and drank and laughed and danced and kissed a short distance away, and they stood apart from it in the shadowy room, wrapped up in each other.

‘It’s nothing less than a miracle,’ he agreed softly. ‘I hope I never grow so complacent that I take any of it, and most of all you, for granted. I do not mean to, I promise you, my dearest love.’

‘Be sure that you do not,’ she said, her voice catching a little with emotion, ‘and I will not either.’ Then she turned into his arms and kissed him. If they were missing fireworks and all manner of excitements outside, they did not care. They had each other at last.