Page 35 of The Duke’s Bride (The Duke’s Alliance #6)

Beau waited whilst the footman flung open the front door with a flourish. He half expected the guards to attempt to rush in, but he was able to step outside accompanied by Mr Culley without being accosted.

However, they had only reached the bottom step when all four ruffians approached.

He turned to the curate. ‘I thank you for your attendance here, Mr Culley. My wife and I are most grateful you were able to come at such short notice and conduct our wedding service.’ His voice carried wonderfully, and he was certain that anyone within half a mile now had this interesting nugget of information.

‘I was honoured to be asked, Mr Sheldon, and I wish you and Mrs Sheldon all the happiness in the world.’

Beau offered his hand and it was shaken with enthusiasm. The four men would have had to be deaf as wheelbarrows not to have heard what they had said. He looked around at them and to his amusement they slunk off, no doubt to inform both Mr Fenchurch and Sir Frederick they were too late to interfere.

The carriage trundled out through the archway and he acted as footman. ‘I hope my man has paid you handsomely for your services, Mr Culley.’

‘More than generous, but I would have conducted your service for nothing. The important families around here might not be sympathetic, but middling folk and the villagers were scandalised at what was being attempted. Mrs Sheldon has a lot of friends although she might not realise it.’

‘Thank you for telling me. We will be removing to my property. I have a living vacant and it is yours if you would like it. There is a substantial vicarage, an acre of land and a decent stipend that goes with it. I shall send Bishop with the details in a day or two.’

He had made this offer when the cleric was safely inside the vehicle as he feared he might have been embraced otherwise.

‘Thank you, I should be delighted to accept. There is a young lady in the village I should like to marry and now I shall be able to do so. You will not regret your decision, sir.’

Beau stepped away, happy with his accomplishments that morning. If the bishop had been at his residence in Ely he would not have been home in time to prevent an unmitigated disaster.

Was it possible that Mrs Alston was right, that his movements had been directed by divine intervention? He never gave his faith much thought. One believed in God because it was what one did. If he was honest he probably paid lip service rather than true devotion when he attended church on a Sunday.

This was of some comfort to him, as he felt wretched about marrying Viola without having told her who he really was.

He must let his family know and tell them there would be a second service in the family chapel, as there had been for Perry and Sofia, when he eventually returned.

The Duke of Silchester always married at Silchester Court and he had broken this tradition today.

He would rectify matters as soon as possible.

He would send Bishop to Elveden to have the house prepared. God’s teeth! He had no idea how many of her staff she would wish to bring with her – or even if the rooms on the nursery floor were habitable.

There was no time to waste if they were to effect the move before it got dark. Bishop was waiting to speak to him in the entrance hall.

‘Sir, I have located two diligences and the necessary farm horses to pull them and have sent word to Elveden to set things in motion. Is anything else you wish me to do?’

‘I shall eat with my new family and then return with you to make sure everything is as it should be when Mrs Sheldon, my children and my mother-in-law arrive later today.’

When he broached the subject of staff, Viola reacted oddly. She did not seem particularly pleased with his question. ‘Presumably the nursemaids will accompany the children, your personal maid and that of Mrs Alston, but is there anyone else you particularly wish to come with you?’

‘It is all very well, Edward, demanding that we transfer immediately to your house, but we are hardly prepared. What will happen to the remainder of my staff? Will they now be out of work? What about my horses and my carriages? Will they also be redundant as we are combining two households?’

‘I think this is something we must discuss once we are safely at Elveden. I have a nasty suspicion we have not heard the last from Fenchurch and I will be in a better position to protect you when you are living on my property. Maybe it would make sense for Fenchurch and his family to become tenants here?’

‘Why should he be rewarded for turning against us? If he is working for Sir Frederick, then I do not wish him to set foot upon my son’s property.’

‘Then he shall not, sweetheart. The staff can occupy themselves cleaning the house from top to bottom and making it ready for whoever might be living there in future. They will not be laid off. You have yet to answer my question about who you wish to bring with you. My house is fully staffed but I am prepared to accommodate any servants that you will feel more comfortable having around you.’

‘That will not be necessary, my love. Only the nursemaids and our personal dressers will be coming with us. Which reminds me, I have yet to receive a visit from any of the candidates I wish to interview for the position of governess, and the snow has been gone for some time.’

‘That is certainly strange. You must look into it as I imagine a post with you would be something any governess would like to have. Did you wish Thomas to go away to school when he is ten years of age?’

‘Certainly not. I would like to employ tutors for him – I think those public schools do nothing but harm to a child’s character.’

‘I was educated by tutors and then went up to Oxford. That will be ideal for our son.’ He deliberately used this term.

‘We have much to organise and discuss about the future of our children and ourselves but that can wait until we are settled together and there is no further annoyance from Mr Fenchurch or your neighbour.’

Beau had almost said that none of his brothers had gone away to school but remembered in time that she did not as yet know how many siblings he had. There was nothing he could do until Richard returned from Ireland and confirmed that Fenchurch had sided with the opposition.

The children were so excited by the new arrangements that there was no time for him to dwell on things that he could not remedy at present.

The servants had been given permission to bring the trunks down the main staircase, so their luncheon had been accompanied by the thumps and bangs that this entailed.

‘When do you expect us to be at Elveden, young man?’

‘Come before dark, ma’am; it is safer to travel in the light. I am leaving now to ensure that everything is made ready for you. Children, you had better check your playroom and nursery to see that nothing you require has been left behind.’

They scampered off and he stood up and nodded politely to his mother-in-law and then kissed his wife on top of her head.

As he did so he inhaled her unique aroma, a mixture of cloves and rose water, he thought, and it inflamed his senses.

Her hair was soft beneath his lips; he was eagerly anticipating being able to run his hands through the length of it.

She looked up and her smile was loving but somehow lacked the radiance it had before.

Was she already regretting this hasty union?

They had the rest of their lives to get to know each other and he was quite certain, even if it took months rather than weeks to achieve this, he would eventually win her love again and be able to share her bed.

* * *

All too soon Viola and her family were travelling from Fenchurch Manor for the last time.

Well, probably not the last time as no doubt she would visit when Thomas was resident there.

She sincerely hoped she had not made a catastrophic error by marrying a man whom she was now convinced had not been entirely open with her about his past.

The removal of various precious pieces of furniture and the larger items that she wanted with her in her new home could take place over the next few days as long as the weather remained clement. Also, her summer clothes remained in tissue paper in the box room and they would have to come too.

‘I have not had my bride clothes made, Mama. I think I should like to go to Town, and this time stay at Grosvenor Square, and replenish my wardrobe and that of the children. I expect you would like some new gowns too?’

‘That would be most agreeable. However, I think it might be wise to change the staff and have the house cleaned from top to bottom before we visit. Grosvenor Square will be busy in a few weeks when people return from their country estates for the Season which starts, as you know, sometime in April.’

‘I am not sure I am prepared to mingle with the ton .’

‘Despite the fact that you are no longer a titled lady, you are the wife of a wealthy and powerful man and your children are aristocrats. So why do you not wish to go when there are others around?’

‘I only had the one Season, but I was aware that I was looked down on as inferior to those born with blue blood.’

‘That might well have been the case ten years ago, but it is not so now. In any case, daughter, there is no obligation to make morning calls or attend parties in the evenings if you do not wish to do so.’

‘I wonder if Edward would agree to transfer my entire staff from Fenchurch to Grosvenor Square? Then those who are there can be dismissed without reference and I shall be confident I am surrounded by those I trust.’

‘I cannot see why he would object. I think it a fine idea.’

They had both forgotten the children were listening avidly to everything that was said. She should not have mentioned her insecurities in front of them.