AFTER LEAVING BELLEHAVEN, Jack stopped at the first decent posting inn, engaging a chamber and sleeping through the rest of that day and the following night. Since he’d told his mother before leaving Dorrie’s party that he wasn’t sure when he’d be back, there was no need to hurry. Feeling better after his slumbers, he set out again.
During his long hours on horseback, he pondered ways to solve the dilemma with Belle. While he ached for her pain and understood her reasoning, he wasn’t about to simply let her go. So after arriving the following morning, he went straightaway to ask his mother’s advice.
“Jack!” she cried as he entered her study. “What a pleasant surprise! I hope this means all went well at Bellehaven…” Her words trailed off as she studied his face. “It did not, did it?”
For a moment the images ran through his mind: Belle’s cold, expressionless eyes; the bleeding burn beneath her ear; Rupert’s triumphant face as he was led away. “No, Mama. It did not go well.” In a few concise sentences, he told her what had transpired.
Though she gasped when he relayed what Rupert had done, she did not interrupt. After he finished, she remained silent, obviously pondering what he’d told her. “Do you still want her?” she asked at last.
“Still want her?” he echoed angrily, stung by the repetition of Belle’s question to him. “How can you, another woman, ask me that? None of it was her fault!”
“Calm yourself,” she soothed. “Of course I don’t blame her. But many men would—’tis the way of the world. Although I reluctantly agree ’twould be best not to urge Belle to press charges, every feeling revolts against letting Rupert escape the consequences of his acts.”
Jack smiled bitterly. “Oh, I believe the consequences will be severe enough. Rupert, a creature of London, forever banned from returning to England? Forced to live the rest of his days among ill-bred colonials and a handful of natives? Did I not feel that retribution worse than death, I would kill him myself. I will be tempted to do it yet…if he has crippled Belle’s spirit so severely that she will never consider my suit.”
“She feels strongly about the damage wedding her might do to your position, does she not?”
“Yes, much as I’ve tried to convince her that does not matter to me. I want to spend my life with her, if we have to flee to the Outer Hebrides to do it.”
“I don’t believe anything that drastic will be required. I can’t help you with the…other thing—” his mother’s face hardened and Jack knew she was recalling what Rupert had done “—but there is a good deal I can do about Belle’s standing in society.”
For the first time since leaving her, Jack’s spirits brightened. “Tell me how!”
“After checking several sources, I discovered that the Germaynes possess some very influential relations.”
“Indeed! And you would nose that about town?”
His mother gave him a reproving look. “As if I were some jumped-up Cit trying to pander influence? Certainly not! No, I shall call upon the lady of the family, apprise her in confidence of the facts, and what she chooses to do then is up to her. However, gossip mill that the ton is, society will probably winkle out the relationship eventually. If after a suitable interval the family makes no move to embrace Belle, I might have to let slip what a shame I think it that Lady Belle endured what she did, given that her mother is cousin to Lord Cowper’s aunt.”
“Cousin to the aunt of Lady Cowper?” Jack burst out laughing. “Are you sure?”
“My dear, ’tis too important a matter for jesting.”
“Should Lady Cowper choose to support Belle, acceptance would be nearly assured. You think she might?”
His mother shrugged. “Emily Lamb was ever a dear, clever girl, and is now thought to be quite the nicest of Almack’s Patronesses. I believe she might take up Belle’s cause. Even if she does not, few among the ton would want to risk slighting a relation of the Cowpers.”
“Brilliant, Mama.”
His mother gave him a regal nod. “Thank you, my dear. I like to think not all of strategy for which you were mentioned in the dispatches came from your dear papa.”
Jack’s excitement faded a bit. “If this gambit doesn’t succeed, your open support of Belle could still tarnish your reputation—and Dorrie’s.”
“’Tis possible. Dorrie and James must decide for themselves what they wish to do. As for me, if one cannot employ the assets one has to the benefit of one’s children, what good are they?”
Jack kissed her hand. “Mama, you are a marvel.”
She grinned at him. “I did produce two rather excellent offspring, did I not?”
A knock sounded at the door and Dorrie peeped in. “Jack, I thought ’twas your voice I heard!” Entering the room, she continued, “Mama explained why you left the party so abruptly. I do hope your errand prospered!”
“Not yet, poppet. But Mama and I are working on it.”
“I wish to offer my support, as well.”
“That’s generous of you, little sister, but you needn’t risk your reputation. Nothing shall be done until you are wed. I don’t want my choices to taint your life—or to cause problems between you and your betrothed.”
“It will not. As soon as Mama apprised me of what had transpired, I informed James. I told him I wouldn’t marry him unless he could willingly support my family in this.”
“And he agreed?” Jack asked, impressed, amused and touched by his sister’s staunch support.
“Naturally.”
“He must love you very much—little tyrant!”
Dorrie smiled. “He does. I had only to bid him imagine what it would be like, were we to be parted with no chance of marriage, for him to understand how you feel about your Belle. I convinced him to confide in his papa, and though he vowed to wed me regardless of whether his sire approved what you plan, after hearing Lady Belle’s story, the earl announced that they would stand with us. The Winstons, you may recall, are cousins to the Ancasters and the Howards. Given our own connection to the Wentworths, the Sudleys and the Beauvales, we’re already a fair way to conquering the ton, don’t you think?”
Jack gave his sister a hug. “Thank you, poppet! I can’t tell you how much this means to me.”
She hugged him back. “As if I would ever give up my big brother! Family is everything, Jack.”
“Grateful and humbled as I am by your support, ladies, I must warn you that, even if you succeed in establishing Belle, she…she still may refuse to marry me. From the first she’s emphasized how much she prizes the independence she has won. And after this last episode, she has reason enough to be wary of men.”
His mother gave him a thoughtful look. “You do want to do this, regardless of whether or not she accepts you?”
“Of course!”
His mother patted his hand. “Then let us begin. You can worry about persuading her later.”
ON A LATE-SPRING morning a month later, Belle rode out to inspect the fields at Bellehaven. Grain waved its emerging tassels in the freshening breeze, while vegetables in the kitchen gardens grew in a collage of green and blossom hues. Belle found a small measure of peace in the eternal rhythm of germination, growth and harvest.
The supportive presence of Watson and Mae—Jack must have dispatched them the instant he arrived in London—and the passage of time were helping to heal her wounded spirit as it had the scrapes and bruises on her body. Only the still-tender flesh beneath her ear had not yet completely recovered. But although even her critical eye could not now discern within the puckered scar the outline of an “R,” she thought she must feel it carved on her soul forever.
She’d pulled up her mount to speak with one of the farmers, when a pony cart careened toward her. A moment later, Jem brought the vehicle to a skidding halt.
Impressed as she was by his skill at the ribbons, she was about to reprove his recklessness, when he cried, “You needs come back. A powerful lot of visitors done arrived!”
Though her pulse leapt at the news, she immediately steadied it. If Jack were calling, the boy would have said so. “Who is it, Jem? I’m not expecting company.”
“Don’t rightly know, my lady, but one of ’em be that silver-haired gent who visited you in Lunnon.”
“Lord Egremont?”
“I expect so. You best go entertain ’em.”
Not Jack. But then, she didn’t expect Jack. They had nothing to say that hadn’t already been said. Egremont, however, would provide a pleasant and much safer diversion.
“I’ll go make myself presentable. Please tell Lord Egremont and his party that I will join them shortly.” As she rode back, she wondered who Egremont had brought with him. Agents from the Jarvis case, perhaps?
A half hour later, her riding habit exchanged for a morning gown, she walked into the parlor—and stopped short. By the hearth, conversing with Egremont, stood Jack.
Shock and a painful mix of emotions—gladness, sorrow, regret, resignation—held her immobile. While she hesitated, Egremont came to her. “Belle! I’m relieved to see you looking so well. You had a…difficult time of it. I’m so sorry I failed to send Carrington soon enough.”
Though Jack had yet to approach or speak to her, simply having him in the same room made it difficult for her to concentrate. “It—it wasn’t in any way your fault.”
“You are too gracious. Nothing can make amends for your suffering, but we have news that, I hope, will please you. The captain has discovered new information that leads us both to believe it is time for you to return to London—and resume your proper place in the world.”
“My proper place?” Belle repeated. “But how—”
“No questions yet! We’ve brought someone who will explain it all. Carrington, if you’ll do the honors?”
A tall lady, who in her agitation Belle hadn’t noticed, rose from the sofa. A lady whose dark hair and familiar eyes immediately identified her as Jack’s mother.
Jack’s mother. Here at Bellehaven. For an instant, Belle thought she must be hallucinating.
“L-Lady Anne,” Belle stammered, pulling herself together. “What a wholly unexpected honor!”
“A pleasure to meet you, too, Miss Germayne. Jack, Lord Egremont, since we’ve made our own introductions, perhaps you could amuse yourself with a game of billiards or a stroll about the lawn while we chat?”
“I believe we’ve been dismissed,” Egremont said dryly.
“As you wish, Mama,” Jack said. His gaze moved to Belle and lingered, triggering the automatic, immediate connection that always crackled between them and squeezing her chest with an anguished yearning. “Belle,” he said softly, making of her name a caress. “Until later.”
After the men exited, Lady Anne turned to Belle. “It must be very disconcerting, having your home invaded in such a manner! But I hope to shortly explain everything.”
Lady Anne gestured to the sofa. Still numb with shock and confusion, Belle obediently took a seat.
“When Jack confided to me what had befallen you after your mother’s death,” Lady Anne began, “I was as outraged as he, and pledged to help him right the wrong that had been done you. I commenced trying to determine whom we might call upon to support us—and discovered your mother to be a distant cousin to Earl Cowper, whose wife, Emily, you may know, is both Lord Melbourne’s daughter and a Patroness.”
“Indeed! I had no idea of the connection. Though quite honestly, I cannot see what difference that makes, as I am a stranger to them and likely to remain so.”
“Come now, child, you are a relation, however remote! Forgive me, but I took the liberty of confiding your story to Lady Cowper—a discerning and compassionate woman. She is anxious to meet you and offer her assistance. I believe she means to sponsor your introduction into society.”
Belle stared at Lady Anne, not daring to believe such a reversal of fortune might be possible. “But how could she hope to win me acceptance, when all the ton knows I was Lord Bellingham’s mistress?”
“Miss Germayne, be her birth high or low, no woman can fail to recognize the absolute control men exercise over her life in matters of law, marriage and finance. In one area only do we ladies rule—determining who will be admitted into society. If Lady Cowper supports you, the other Almack Patronesses will, as well. Add to them Lord Egremont and his connections, plus those of our own family, and you have already won over nearly half the ton.”
“But what of Lord Rupert?” Belle asked, her hand unconsciously rising to the scar at her throat.
Lady Anne sniffed. “You needn’t worry. Apparently he was heavily involved in a scandalous scheme to traffic in young girls, and escaped arrest when he returned to London only by bribing a jarvey to drive him to the docks, where he bought passage on the first ship leaving port. As for the scar, I brought you this.” Lady Anne reached into her reticule and pulled out a pearl-beaded choker. “I wasn’t sure of the size, but your maid can adjust it. Try it on, my dear. Ah, only wait until you see yourself in your glass! I predict you will start a new fashion.”
Belle fingered the necklace Lady Anne had hooked around her neck, knowing by touch that it completely covered the scar. “I hardly know what to say.”
Lady Anne patted her hand. “This has all been so sudden, I know. You needn’t decide yet what you wish to do. Now, there are several others waiting to see you.”
Lady Anne walked over to tug on the bellpull. Belle expected, with both anticipation and dread, that she would summon the gentlemen to rejoin them, but when the door opened a few minutes later, two young women entered.
The first was the girl who’d been riding in the park with Jack and Kitty, whom Belle assumed must be Jack’s sister. The second was the young lady who’d accosted her in the theater lobby—Bellingham’s daughter.
“Miss Germayne, so good to meet you at last! I’m Dorrie, Jack’s sister, and your sister is now one of my dearest friends. My fiancé, Lord Winston and I, plus all his family, will be delighted to welcome you into society.”
“As will I,” Miss Bellingham said. “But first, please accept my most profound apologies! Not until I insisted the solicitors let me examine Papa’s will did I learn what you had done for my mother and I. ’Twas both generous and compassionate. I can never thank you enough.”
“You needn’t thank me,” Belle replied, feeling a bit overwhelmed. “The wealth rightfully belonged to you.”
“By right, perhaps, but by law it would have been yours, had you not acted as you did. I should be even more grateful if you will allow me to play some small part in rectifying the…the wrong my father did you.”
After a rap at the door, Watson entered to ask, “Should I show in the other folks now, your ladyship?”
“Please do,” Lady Anne replied, turning to Belle. “If you will forgive me for giving orders in your own home?”
Her mind flitting from thought to thought as she tried to comprehend the possibilities offered by this unexpected support, Belle hadn’t yet found the proper reply when another lady entered the room. “Kitty?” she gasped.
Her sister halted on the doorstep, her eyes widening. Then she ran across the room and threw herself into Belle’s arms. “Oh, my dear Constance, it is you! Until this moment, I didn’t dare believe it was true!”
Not for nearly seven years had Belle been embraced by a member of her own family. Tears welled in her eyes as the girl clung to her.
Finally Kitty let her go, wiping away tears of her own. “But here I am, standing about like a watering-pot, when I meant to introduce you to your family!” She motioned to the older couple now coming toward them. “Constance, this is Aunt Mary and Uncle Thaddeus.”
The gray-haired woman stared at Belle and clutched her husband’s arm. “Sweet heaven, Thaddeus, how she resembles our Kitty!” The old gentleman, too, appeared astounded.
“Lord Bellingham was an infamous rogue, stealing you from us,” Kitty said hotly. “Dorrie’s brother said he told you Uncle Thaddeus didn’t want you, when in truth he paid the innkeeper to tell us you were dead. He even had a tombstone erected for you!”
“You mean,” Belle said slowly, “Bellingham never contacted you about me?”
“Contacted us?” Uncle Thaddeus said. “No! Until Captain Carrington found us two weeks ago, we had no idea you were not buried beneath that marker. If I’d had even the slightest reason to suspect you’d survived, I should have searched the length and breadth of England for you.”
“But we can be a family again now, can’t we, Constance?” Kitty asked anxiously. “I know you must be angry with us for…for abandoning you, but please say you will give us a chance to start again.”
“I was never angry with you. And I would love to be a family again, but—are you sure you wish to associate with me? I may bring discredit on you all.”
“No longer,” Lady Anne inserted. “Miss Germayne, you will shortly be received by some of the best society in London. But now, everyone, I believe we’ve overwhelmed Miss Germayne quite enough. If you would all withdraw to the library, I believe Watson is bringing tea.”
Before leaving, Kitty hugged her, and Aunt Mary squeezed her hands, as if not quite believing Belle to be real. After they went out, Lady Anne smiled an apology. “Forgive me again for usurping your authority.”
“Since I scarcely know what I am about at the moment, let me thank you for your assistance.”
“There is one last thing I wished to mention to you—my son, Jack. Please, before you object, indulge me. I am not privy to what has passed between you, nor do I wish to be, but I know my son loves you. Nor does he give his affections lightly. I assure you, if any man can be loyal for a lifetime, it is my Jack.”
“I don’t doubt his constancy,” Belle acknowledged.
“As for protecting your independence, you can have your solicitors draw up documents giving you full control over your own wealth. Jack will not object.”
Belle smiled. “Nor do I worry that Jack covets my fortune, such as it is.”
“Then, Miss Germayne, I must ask, do you love my son?”
“Yes,” Belle replied simply. “But I don’t know if that will be enough.”
Jack’s mother studied her for a moment. “Rupert?”
Belle nodded, relieved that Lady Anne seemed to understand, knowing she could never bring herself to explain what he’d done. Or how it made her feel.
“I won’t insult you by saying I understand what you’ve experienced. But neither has anything in your life prepared you to imagine the joy of marrying a man you love and respect, sharing his life, bearing his children. If you let the…barbarity Lord Rupert committed keep you from reaching for happiness, then though you never see Rupert again, he accomplished his aim.” Holding Belle’s gaze, she said softly, “Don’t let him win, my dear.”
Leaving Belle to absorb her words, Lady Anne rose. “Jack is waiting to speak with you. This has been a morning of shocking surprises, and as I can’t promise that he will not again press his suit, if you would prefer some time to compose yourself, I will send him away.”
It would be better not to see Jack until she’d ordered her tumultuous thoughts, reflected upon all she’d learned and decided what she meant to do next. But knowing he was so near, the need to see him, talk with him, outweighed caution and prudence.
“I will receive him,” she heard herself say.
When the door opened a few minutes later, Belle had to avert her gaze. She’d not had long to reflect, but already she’d begun to realize what an incredible gift he had offered, believing in her, traveling for weeks about England to trace her origins, enlisting his own family’s support, bringing about a reconciliation with her nearest kin. For which he had demanded nothing but her love, freely given. Could she not match his courage?
She heard him stop before her. “If you cannot even look at me,” Jack said, his tone wry, “then I fear whatever plea Mama made on my behalf was not forceful enough.”
“Your mother is a very wise lady,” she replied, gazing up at last into the face so dear to her, it made her ache.
“If that means she’s recommended that you marry me straightaway, I agree.”
“Oh, Jack, how can I ever thank you? But still—”
“Belle, I don’t want your gratitude! Besides, whatever I saw restored to you was already yours by right, as much as the property and wealth you returned to Bellingham’s family. Over the next few months, you will be able to regain your place in your family and society. Much as I still want you for my wife, I can withdraw my suit while you establish yourself in your new life. All I beg is that while you do so, you will let me stay your friend.”
Belle smiled, love for him melting some of her anxiety and trepidation like the sun dispersing a morning mist. “You’ll never take more than I gladly give?”
He smiled back. “Never. When I rode to Bellehaven that day, fearing Rupert might have harmed you, knowing I might never see you again, I realized that I would gladly accept whatever part you are willing to give me in your life. So, shall we let our bargain stand?”
Gratitude welled up that he was not pressing her for a decision now. “Our bargain stands.”
SIX MONTHS LATER, Belle sat beside Jack as his carriage conveyed them to her house in Mount Street. So much had transpired, she mused as she studied the dear, familiar profile of the man beside her. She’d been introduced at a ball given by Lady Cowper herself, attended by all the Patronesses and every notable in the ton, including Wellington and the Prince Regent. Thereafter, no one with aspirations to society had dared slight her.
In fact, to Belle’s great satisfaction, with the influence of the important connections Lady Anne had amassed added to her own charms and handsome dowry, Kitty had drawn the attention of several highly eligible suitors and ended her Season engaged to a fine young nobleman possessed of large fortune and an old, respected name.
The highlight of the succeeding summer had been attending the bride as Dorrie and Lord Winston pledged their vows, followed by a long visit to Carrington Grove. Jack had delighted in showing her around his estate. Though she’d feared the intimacy of living in the same house, he’d treated her throughout with meticulous respect.
In fact, did she not know for certain he was a man of deep passion—and occasionally glimpsed the banked heat in his eyes—she might believe he no longer desired her.
For he had been true to his word, an ever-present friend who never demanded more. With the acceptance of society and his steadfast affection, she’d slowly begun to regain her confidence and self-respect. And as her recovery accelerated this past month, she’d begun to chafe at the limited nature of their relationship.
“Did you dance the leather off your slippers tonight?” Jack asked, breaking into her thoughts.
“Nearly,” she replied with a chuckle. “Sometimes I wonder whether ’twas wise to have wanted to join the ton. We’re scarcely home one night in ten, I’ve danced until my feet blister, and ’tis only the Little Season.”
“I’m thankful to have claimed a fair number of those dances—no mean feat, given your crowd of admirers.”
It was a perfect opening, if she now had the courage to take it. “Jack,” she said, her heart beginning to thump against her ribs, “speaking of admirers, is…is your obliging offer still open?”
For a few, very long moments he said nothing.
“Of course, if you’ve changed your mind,” she added, glad the dimness of the carriage lamps masked the heat rising in her cheeks, “you’ve every reason—”
“Of course I’ve not changed my mind,” he interrupted. “Belle, do you mean to say you’re finally ready?”
“To marry you? To be your wife in every way? Yes.”
Jack seized her hands and kissed them, then gave a shout of delight, dissipating her concern that he now had reservations about wedding her. “We shall have the banns read this very Sunday.”
“Well…we’ve waited so long, I don’t think I wish to wait for the reading of the banns.” She knew the instant her meaning penetrated his consciousness, for his whole body alerted and a dazzling smile lit his face.
“Sweeting, though I don’t wish to deprive you of the usual pomp and ceremony, if you’re of a mind to hurry, I happen to have a special license I’ve been saving for just such an eventuality. Do you wish to make use of it?”
“I do. For months now, I’ve been struggling to rid myself of the ugly memories of Rupert and what he did. Once, long ago, you showed me what loving can be. I want you to help me banish the nightmares for good, replace them with the joy and wonder only you can show me.”
His fervent grip on her hands bespoke his eagerness. “We can be married tomorrow and begin tomorrow night.”
“I was rather hoping perhaps we could begin—now.”
“You are that sure you are ready?”
“No. But I trust you to stop whenever I ask you. Do to me whatever I tell you. Jack, I want to end tonight with you in my bed.”
“As you wish, then, my dearest love.” Cupping her face in his hands, he kissed her gently. “Tonight and every night to come.”
Then, a grin lighting his face, he banged on the carriage wall and commanded the coachman to spring the horses.