Page 21 of Bernadette’s Dashing Doctor (The Bookshop Belles #4)

CHAPTER 21

Order In The Court

C haos erupted. Bernadette felt a little faint, but she didn’t want to miss a second of this. She and Marie scrambled up from their seats, peering past Louise to see if it was really true. Estelle was a little slower, but she too got to her feet.

Their father stood there in a beam of light, large as life!

But also… Glynn had just told the court he wanted to marry her. They’d shared one kiss, which was beautiful and everything she’d ever wanted in a kiss, and then he’d rejected her. Well, she’d make him wait a long time for an answer if that was the case. He had some explaining to do first!

The judge shouted for order and a man in a wig walked to the gallery to remind the women to be quiet. He might as well ask a bird not to fly. Their father had returned! Louise waved frantically and Matthew saw them all together. His hands covered his heart and he bowed to them.

He was alive!

As the court finally quieted a little, the judge called out, “You claim to be Matthew Baxter?”

“I am he,” their father said firmly, walking towards the front of the court.

Bernadette drank him in with her eyes, relieved beyond belief to see him. His coat looked travel-worn, he seemed a little thin, and his hair was longer than she remembered, tied back in a queue, but he was clean-shaven, tanned, and looked healthy enough.

“Is there anyone in the court who can vouch for your identity?” the judge said, peering at Matthew over his glasses.

Lord Ferndale rose and cleared his throat. “I can easily do that; we have been acquainted these thirty years. That is indeed Matthew Baxter, of Baxter’s Fine Books, and I am jolly well delighted to see him again, hale and hearty!”

“It is very good to see you too, Arthur.” Matthew grinned at Lord Ferndale. “And I look forward to being introduced to all these fine sons-in-law my girls have managed to find in my absence.”

The judge said, “In that case, I daresay the court can rest. I declare the original petition void as the reasons for it no longer apply. As Brutus Baxter’s father completed the appropriate legal steps to appoint his guardians, that matter is not in question. You are dismissed from the court.”

The solicitors at the table groaned with disappointment. They’d probably been counting on this to run for a year at least.

“Now will you please get those women out of my courtroom?” the judge barked.

“Crotchety old man!” Estelle laughed, but she was already pushing at Marie to get out of their row of seats.

Matthew had spun around as soon as the judge dismissed the case, and rushed back towards them. They met him in the aisleway and flung their arms around him, clinging tightly and all talking at once. Bernadette could hardly believe her father was really here!

“What happened ?” she chorused along with the others. “Where have you been?”

“I promise I’ll tell you everything,” Matthew said, half-laughing as Louise squeezed his ribs hard. “And it seems you all have a great deal to tell me, but come. Let us get out of this court before the judge has us charged with disturbing the peace. Are you staying in a hotel somewhere, Arthur?” He looked at Lord Ferndale, who had come to join them.

“No, no, Renwick has put his townhouse at our disposal,” Lord Ferndale said cheerfully. “A good thing too, with such a crowd!”

Matthew had a horse, which was being held by a street urchin outside the court, and Bernadette realised that he had ridden right up to the doors and raced into the hearing.

“You’ve been home to Hatfield,” she said as they all gathered in the large drawing-room at Renwick’s townhouse.

“Indeed, I arrived this morning, spoke briefly with Mrs Poole, and realised I was urgently required here. Hired a horse and rode straight to London, to arrive just as you were receiving a very dramatic proposal.” Matthew grinned, enveloping her in a great hug. “You’d better introduce me to your young man, ‘Dette. Did someone say he is a doctor?”

“He’s not my young man,” she said, even as she flushed to the roots of her hair.

“Well, not yet, since I haven’t given my consent.” Matthew looked at her closely. “And I’m not in a hurry to do so, either, so we have plenty of time to talk about it. Unlike Estelle! How soon am I to be a grandfather?”

“You are already a grandfather,” Estelle laughed, which made Matthew’s eyes fly wide.

“What?” he gasped.

“She is teasing you, Papa.” Marie shook her head at Estelle. “I have two stepsons, is what she means, Renwick’s boys. They are fine lads; I cannot wait for you to meet them!”

“Well.” Matthew laughed, and then he looked around at them all with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “I am glad to hear you have all been busily expanding the family, and I must tell you, I have also done my part.”

They all stared at him, and he grinned, obviously enjoying himself. “Do you recall your mama’s cousin, Céline Fenouillart? You never met, of course, but they exchanged letters for many years.”

“Of course,” Marie said at once. She had taken over the shop’s correspondence once their mother passed. “She’s the one who wrote to you telling you about all the books being looted and burned from French chateaux!”

“Indeed.” Matthew’s smile was fond. “I found her, after an extensive search, in Limoges, at the end of February. Just days before Napoleon landed at Cannes and chaos erupted.”

“We thought it must have been something like that.” Louise nodded. They were all hanging on his every word. “And you had to go into hiding?”

“Yes… if it was just me, I might have been all right. Thanks to conversing with your mother in French all those years, I could pass for a native and I had excellent forged papers. But Céline had her two sons with her, Philippe and Pierre, and Philippe is sixteen - the recruiters tried repeatedly to get him to sign up, to the point of force. We went into hiding and tried to make our way to the western coast when things quietened down as Napoleon headed north, but there was not a boat to be had.” Matthew spread his hands. “I could not leave them, nor the books.”

“Books?” all four sisters chorused, and they were joined by Renwick and Ferndale this time.

Matthew chuckled. “Indeed. I sent some of what I found home, but some of the books were so rare and valuable I did not trust anyone to take them. By the time I found Céline and her boys I had a whole cart full.”

“And do you have them with you still?” Renwick asked eagerly.

“You have found a husband after my own heart, I see,” Matthew said to Marie. To Renwick he replied, “Yes, they are safe in Hatfield, along with my wife.”

“Your wife!”

“I married Céline… I had to, in order to bring her and the boys across the border into Spain with me, and from Bilbao we were finally able to take a ship for England.” Matthew’s smile was almost sheepish. “I married Céline out of necessity, but… I do also love her a great deal, and she loves me. I hope you are not upset with me, girls…”

“Never!” Bernadette said firmly, and her sisters agreed with her. “Mama has been gone a long time, Papa. I know she would have wanted you to be happy, and she loved Céline. She would be delighted that you have found happiness in each other.”

“And now we have brothers!” Louise exclaimed. “Oh, I cannot wait to meet them. What an adventure you have had, Papa!”

“Tell me more about these books,” Renwick said, and Marie started laughing.

“I apologise, Father, he is very single-minded about books…”

“And he is not the only interested party. Have you a catalogue, Matthew?” Lord Ferndale butted in.

Matthew grinned. “I had a little time aboard ship to begin one, but it might simply be easiest for the two of you to go through the collection with me, now I have it safely at the bookshop.”

“An excellent notion,” Lord Ferndale approved. He eyed Renwick. “I suppose we shall have to civilly negotiate who can buy what, hm?”

“At least we will have first look, before any advertisements are sent to the newspapers,” Renwick consoled.

“And I regret to advise you that I will not be giving friends and family discounts,” Matthew said. “I did not smuggle these books through war-torn France and risk my life for them more than once for nothing! I planned to sell them to raise enough to richly dower all four of my girls - though from the brief information Mrs Poole passed on, it seems as though only Bernadette might still need a dowry?”

Bernadette sneaked a glance at Glynn, who stood at the edge of the group hanging on Matthew’s every word. Glynn’s expression turned blank and wooden as Matthew mentioned her dowry, and then he turned and walked stiffly away.

Matthew noticed, and Bernadette felt his eyes on her, but they could not speak of it at that moment, not with everyone clamouring to ask him more questions. Renwick, Mr Yates and Mr Jackson were all eager for a private audience to assure Matthew of how happy they were in their marriages to his daughters, and how well they would provide for their wives without any need of a dowry. Any conversation with or about Glynn would have to wait.

After a hearty meal and much carousing and many tales of shared adventures - although they didn’t talk much of the fires because Bernadette, Louise and Marie had decided not to worry poor Estelle too much - Bernadette slipped out into the back garden to breathe the crisp autumn air.

She coughed with the amount of soot and smoke that came with it, and couldn’t wait to return to Hatfield in the morning. What an incredible, emotional and exhausting day they’d all had. What a sensational entrance on the part of their father. And a step-mother and brothers waiting to meet them in Hatfield.

No wonder Papa looked so happy and healthy despite his adventures - he had the love of a good woman by his side.

Of course she missed her mother, but in some ways this was a second chance for all of them. Perhaps Céline might also be interested in herbs? She might have some extra knowledge that Bernadette’s own mother had not passed down to her.

Footsteps sounded behind her. When she turned, there was Glynn.

“I’d be happy to leave you be if you want a little serenity. It was all a bit raucous today,” he said, his expression diffident.

“It was at that, but you can come and sit,” she shifted over on the stone bench to make room.

The moment he sat, she let her displeasure be known. “You’re hopeless.”

“I am?” He sounded offended, but he had no right to be, in her opinion! It was she who had every reason to be cross!

“Very.”

“May as well let me have it then. Just about everyone else in your extended family has given me a set down, so I suppose it’s your turn.” He smiled wryly.

“You asked my father before you even asked me. You asked the court before you asked me!” That was the bit that hurt. Actually, no, there was more. “I know you enjoyed our kiss. And then you pretended I didn’t even exist. How was that supposed to make me feel?”

“Well I…”

“... And then you stand up in court saying you want to marry me, without even asking me first?”

“That’s…”

“You asked my father? He’s barely been back in the country a day! I’m glad he hasn’t given permission.”

Silence.

Bernadette stood up and started pacing, trying to keep her temper in check.

“I thought it was what you wanted?” Glynn said softly.

“What I wanted?” Bernadette repeated, incredulous. “I want to be wooed!” She stamped her foot. “I want to be wooed and… and be loved and not spoken about like some parcel to be handed over from one person to another.”

He drew in a sharp, shocked breath and said, “You’re absolutely right.”

“Good,” she sat back down on the bench, satisfied he was finally listening to her.

“I am hopeless,” he said, echoing her earlier statement. “Hopeless at love, and… I find myself hopelessly in love with you.”

“Now, you see?” she exclaimed triumphantly. “Was that so hard? More of that, if you please.”

“That’s just it. It is rather difficult. And your father talking about a dowry just now makes it even more difficult than before.”

“That’s silly. A dowry will help enormously!”

“Difficult for me . I want you to be happy and comfortable, but what can I offer? I work at the grace and favour of Lord Ferndale, and later, if I am so lucky to still be employed, for Felix… who is also your brother in law.”

Bernadette tapped her foot impatiently, but held her tongue.

He sighed and said, “It hurts my pride not to be able to offer you a good house and a future of comfort that I have made. Everything I have is more or less borrowed and bestowed by others.”

Bernadette rolled her eyes. “I am in a great deal of discomfort and annoyance right now, because of your pride. Have you not noticed how much you are already part of this family?”

Glynn slumped with the realisation. “I want you to keep your dowry, though. I cannot accept it. There must be a way we can put it in a family trust so that if I fall out of favour and lose what I have, you will not suffer?”

“This is not wooing,” Bernadette snapped. “This is making excuses. Woo me. Now!”

“I love you,” he blurted hastily.

“Good. I love you as well, you silly goose. Now stop making me miserable and kiss me.”

He did as she commanded, and it was even better than their earlier kiss. This one had privacy, a cool autumn night and no interruptions. They both gave in to the kiss, matching each other’s enthusiasm and tenderness. Warmth spread through her whole body as he held her in his arms.

When they came up for air, Bernadette said with a giggle, “That’s an excellent start. In time, I’m confident you’ll convince me to marry you.”

He quietly laughed, and promised, “I will work on my pride.”

“Good,” she kissed him again and it was a complete delight.

A little later, she asked him, “So, what did you mean outside the courthouse about a plan, if things didn’t end up going our way?”

“Renwick offered me his carriage, and I was going to ask you to elope with me to Gretna Green.”

“You definitely would have asked me first, would you? You wouldn’t have just bundled me in?”

He laughed a little louder this time, and she joined in. Soon they were kissing again, and it felt perfect.