Page 13 of Chloe and the Devil (Regency Spinsters Alliance #2)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“Send for the doctor and have warm water and clean bandages brought up to the green bedchamber immediately,” Chloe instructed Cramer as Lucien carried an unconscious Rose into St. Albans House. “Follow me,” she instructed him as she hurried across the entrance hall toward the wide staircase. She didn’t doubt for a moment that Lucien would be able to carry Rose up the twenty or so stairs to where the bedchambers were situated.

As she had thought, he wasn’t even breathing hard by the time he reached the top of the stairs and followed her down the hallway to where the guest bedchambers were situated. He knew the way only too well, having often stayed in one of those rooms himself.

Chloe moved quickly to turn down the green bedcovers once they were in the bedchamber. She waited until Lucien had gently placed Rose down, with her head resting on the pillows, before she turned to bury her face against his chest and burst into tears.

Initially, there had been an eerie silence in the park after Richard Appleby had fired his pistol. All of them, including Richard himself, stared at each other as if they could hardly believe they were still standing.

Then Rose, who had moved to stand protectively in front of Chloe, had given a shocked gasp before she slowly collapsed onto the ground.

Lucien’s groom had joined them by this time, having heard the pistol shot and responded, as no doubt Lucien had instructed him to, by rushing into the park wielding a pistol of his own.

Lucien had issued instructions for a shocked Appleby to drop the pistol, which he promptly did, and for the groom to then keep the other man in place by keeping his pistol pointed at him.

In the meantime, Chloe had dropped onto her knees beside her friend. A red bloom of color was clearly visible, and growing, on the bodice of Rose’s cream gown.

After that, Chloe was barely aware of Lucien issuing instructions to his groom to tie Richard Appleby’s hands and for him to then be placed inside the carriage. The journal, hidden in a pocket inside his cloak, had been taken from him. All at pistol point. Lucien had then gently lifted Rose into his arms before striding purposefully toward the carriage.

Chloe had dismissed her own carriage in favor of joining Lucien, unable to take her eyes off the unconscious Rose for a moment, fearing her friend might expire if she did so.

But the fear and tension of the past hour was now taking its toll, and Chloe could no longer stop her tears from falling.

“What on earth is going on here?”

Chloe turned to see her bewildered father standing in the open doorway of the bedchamber, a perplexed Lily behind him. She had totally forgotten that the other couple were spending the evening together at St. Albans House.

“Is that Rose?” Lily gasped as she stepped past Chloe’s father to enter the room and hurry to the bedside.

“I believe the doctor, when he arrives, will confirm that it’s a shoulder wound only,” Lucien assured evenly as he slowly released Chloe. “A through and through, which, although painful, should heal quickly.”

“Explain all, if you please,” Chloe’s father demanded of his friend.

* * *

Explain all? Lucien wished that he could. But he needed to speak with Chloe privately before he discussed the details of this situation with his friend, the man who was Chloe’s father.

“It’s all my fault,” Chloe choked out as she pulled away from Lucien and rushed across the room to throw herself into St. Albans’s arms instead. “If I had never written those stories, there would have been no journal and Appleby would not have been able to bully Rose into stealing it. Nor would he have been able to blackmail me. Then Rose would not have been shot by him when she accompanied me to the meeting in the park with my blackmailer!” she sobbed incomprehensibly.

Resulting in a bewildered expression on St. Albans’s face as he looked at Lucien over Chloe’s shoulder.

“This is not your fault,” Lily told her firmly. “Your stories are wonderful. You did not force Rose to steal your journal, her brother did. He is also fully to blame for shooting his own sister. He should not have been stealing from or shooting anyone!”

St. Albans looked even more bewildered. “You learned all that from what Chloe just said?”

“No, of course not, my darling,” his future wife soothed. “I called upon Georgiana Stapleton this afternoon, and she explained the situation to me.” She grimaced an apology at Chloe. “I promise you I did not tell another living soul.”

“Including me,” St. Albans bit out grimly.

Lily instantly placed her a hand upon his chest. “I trust you would not ask nor expect me to break a confidence.”

His expression instantly softened. “Of course not.” His jaw tightened as he turned to Lucien. “But I would have thought Hellsmere knew better than to take my daughter into danger.”

Lucien had expected the admonishment. “I?—”

“He did not do so, Papa,” Chloe cut in. “Rose and I followed him to the place where he was to meet with my blackmailer, after I learned that man was Rose’s brother Richard. She told me that Appleby is not only an inveterate gambler, but he has now become an opium eater too. Rendering him not just dangerous but unstable.”

“You still should not have put yourself in danger by following me to the park,” Lucien rebuked.

“Where your safety is concerned I shall do exactly as I choose,” she told him pertly.

“The last time you disobeyed me, I spanked your bottom. Next time, I will ensure you do not enjoy it quite as much as you did then?—”

“Could we focus on the matter at hand?” St. Albans requested with a pointed raise of his eyebrows. “Where is Appleby now?”

Lucien was still looking at Chloe’s cheeks, blushing after she had obviously realized their conversation was far too familiar for them to be only the friend and daughter of St. Albans.

Lily’s chuckle said she had also noted the intimacy between them.

Lucien gave an impatient shake of his head before turning to St. Albans. “He is tied up and in my carriage, where my groom is keeping him prisoner at pistol point.”

St. Albans nodded his approval. “He tried to blackmail Chloe, you say?”

“He— Yes.” It was still not Lucien’s place to tell St. Albans of the stories Chloe had been having published.

The doctor arrived before St. Albans could question him further, brought up the stairs by Cramer.

“Come, my love,” Lily encouraged her future husband as she tucked her arm into the crook of his. “I will explain all to you while the doctor examines his patient.” She turned to smile at Chloe. “All will be well, I promise you.”

“Thank you.” Chloe’s smile was a little shaky but also showed relief. They both knew that Lily would ensure St. Albans’s understanding on the matter.

St. Albans could be heard grumbling, “Once we are married, there will be no more secrets between us” as the betrothed couple departed down the hallway.

All was well, as Lily had predicted, within an hour or so.

The doctor had confirmed Rose Appleby had only a shoulder wound, and that the bullet had indeed gone through and out the other side. It would be a little sore for a few days, but she would make a full recovery.

Her parents had been informed of the incident, and, for the moment, Rose was to remain at St. Albans House.

Chloe and Lily appeared to be hatching some plan where Rose did not return home at all, nor would she be forced into marrying the Earl of Kingswood.

Richard Appleby had been arrested for shooting his sister and attempting to blackmail Chloe. Hopefully, the time he spent awaiting his trial and then serving his sentence for those crimes would be enough to break the pattern of his gambling and imbibing opium.

If not, Lucien was afraid the younger man was destined to meet a very sorry end, and far more quickly than might be expected of such a young man. Not at his hand, but because the opiate would destroy what few brain cells the younger man had left.

Lily had explained all to St. Albans, who, when he met up with his daughter again, had told her how proud he was of her writing accomplishments.

They still had to deal with the problem of Chloe being the author, Charles King. Far too many people knew about that now for it to remain a secret. But Lucien had an idea how even that could be overcome, and in such a way that Chloe would be able to continue with her writing career and remain in Society.

Chloe eyed him curiously when the two of them were finally alone together again in her private parlor. “My father did not seem in the least surprised when you threatened to spank my bottom again earlier?”

The hour was late, but St. Albans and his Lily had already retired for the night. Probably together.

Lucien was in no hurry to be parted from Chloe after the fright he’d received earlier when she appeared at the park. If Rose Appleby hadn’t stepped in front of Chloe then she would now be the one with a bullet hole in her shoulder. Or worse. For that act alone, Lucien intended to ensure Rose Appleby was removed from her toxic family and her unwanted betrothal to Kingswood brought to an end.

“No,” he now answered Chloe’s observation.

“Well?” she prompted when he added nothing further.

Lucien grimaced. “I might have told him of my feelings for you earlier today.”

Her eyebrows rose to her hairline. “You might have?”

“Yes,” he confirmed. “At the same time that I asked if I might have his permission to marry you.”

“You asked— You—” Chloe spluttered. “What did he say?”

“Yes.”

“But— You— I cannot— He said yes ?”

Lucien nodded. “He did.”

Chloe stared at him for several seconds, obviously stunned at this revelation.

Lucien had felt uncomfortable about St. Albans not knowing of his own deepening relationship with Chloe. It had seemed underhanded, and as such was unacceptable to both Lucien’s honor and his loyalty to his closest friend.

Thankfully, St. Albans had heard him out before making any comment, negative or otherwise.

“Do you love her?” he then asked.

“Deeply.”

“Will you remain true to her?”

“Always.”

“Is she your soulmate?”

“She is,” he answered without hesitation, despite what he had told Chloe to the contrary just days ago.

His friend thought the matter over for several seconds. “Do you promise not to make me a grandfather before I have become a father again?”

Lucien’s lips quirked into a smile. “That I cannot promise, I am afraid. Our connection is…volatile.” He chose the word carefully, knowing that it still did not begin to describe the physical reaction he and Chloe had to each other.

St. Albans grimaced. “Say no more on that subject.” He shuddered. “Please!”

He chuckled at his friend’s reaction. “Except to tell you that I am as deeply in love and besotted with Chloe as you are with your Lily.”

“I thought as much.” The other man nodded. “Then I cannot think of a finer man I would so happily entrust my darling daughter’s future happiness to.”

Chloe now looked stunned at this development rather than happy, Lucien recognized with a wince. Whether at his audacity in discussing his feelings with her father before discussing them with her, or because it had never been her intention to marry him, Lucien wasn’t sure.

“Should you not have discussed this with me first before asking my father’s permission?” Chloe immediately answered that question.

“I should have, yes, but the opportunity arose, and I decided to make use of it. I am sorry if I overstepped,” he added stiffly. “Your father has obviously given his approval, but that does not mean you are not perfectly at liberty to refuse my proposal.” Even if his chest ached at the thought of her doing so.

Her brows rose. “I do not recall your having made one.”

“Ah.” He winced. “Let me correct that oversight.” He took her hand in his as he dropped onto one knee. “Chloe?—”

“Should you not say something else before getting down on one knee and proposing?”

Lucien drew back. “Something else…?”

Chloe rolled her eyes in what was almost certainly a Men! gesture. “I know we are already lovers, and I would like us to continue to be...”

“But…?”

“But you have not told me you love me!” She glared at him. “Considering the further upheaval my marrying would cause to the Spinsters Alliance, I could not even consider the proposal of a man who is not deeply in love with me.”

“Not deeply in love with you?” Lucien choked out incredulously. “I adore you. Worship you. Admire you. Respect and revere you. You are my soulmate— Yes, I know what I said, but it was not true. You are my soulmate, Chloe. I love you so much, I was willing to risk alienating and losing the friendship of the man who has been the closest thing to a family I have had these past thirty years by asking him for his daughter’s hand in marriage.”

“And if my father had said no?”

Lucien drew in a shuddering breath. “Then I would have hoped to persuade you into going with me to Gretna Green and jeopardized your father’s friendship and goodwill toward me forevermore. Please, Chloe,” he beseeched. “I love you, and I know I will do so until the day I die. Will you please consent to becoming my wife, whom I will love, worship, and adore for eternity?”

* * *

Chloe was still slightly in shock from the events of the evening. She had never seen someone shot before. Or dealt with the bloody aftermath.

Having Lucien now confess his love for her and propose marriage on top of that upset seemed surreal.

“Darling, I have no wish to hurry you into giving me your answer,” Lucien drawled, eyes twinkling with laughter. “But while you are thinking about my proposal could you please bear in mind that I am much older than you and my knees will not remain happy in this position for too much longer?”

Chloe chuckled at the ridiculousness of his comment. Lucien was as fit and able as a man half his age, the same as her darling papa. Probably because the two men sparred regularly together with sword and in the boxing ring.

“Yes,” she told him happily. “My answer is yes.”

“I believe, with my advanced years, I might have forgotten the question?—”

“Wretch!” She grasped hold of both his hands and pulled him to his feet so that he was now standing in front of her. “I love you, Lucien. I have always and will always love only you. And I would be proud and honored to be your wife.” She had never thought such a fantasy could ever come true.

“My darling!” Lucien bent to claim her lips with his.

A passionate kiss that lasted for several long minutes, the two of them moving to the couch so that they could be closer still. Chloe sat on Lucien’s thighs, their arms wrapped around each other, as they continued to kiss and taste each other.

They might have stayed that way for hours had it not suddenly occurred to Chloe that the scandal of her being revealed as the author Charles King had not been resolved.

She gave a shake of her head. “I do not want to make you a part of the scandal that is sure to ensue if I am ever exposed as being the author of those stories published in the newspaper,” she told Lucien.

He smiled. “Do not worry, my love. I have an answer to that dilemma which I think will result in your stories becoming more popular, not less.”

She frowned. “What is it?”

He tapped her playfully on the nose. “Wait and see.”

Waiting and seeing, it transpired, resulted in having the Prince Regent himself act as Chloe’s escort to her father and Lily’s wedding on Saturday. Where the prince then proceeded to proudly introduce her to everyone they spoke to as the author Charles King, along with the comment, “Ain’t she clever,” and “She’s to become Hellsmere’s duchess shortly too!” The Prince Regent, it transpired, was an avid reader of the Charles King stories.

No one in Society, it seemed, was willing to go against the Prince Regent’s opinion on the matter. Which meant that Chloe was now accepted by all of Society as being the author Charles King and the future Duchess of Hellsmere.

* * *

The wedding between Lady Chloe St. Albans and the Duke of Hellsmere took place only a week later, after the duke had asked permission of the other members of the Spinsters Alliance.

The speed with which the marriage ceremony was able to take place was made possible by the Special License approved of by the Prince Regent.

Nine months to the day, the duchess gave birth to their daughter, Elizabeth Mariah. A full three months before the birth of the twin daughters of the Duke and Duchess of St. Albans.