His Christmas Match (A Gentleman's Guide to Once Upon a Time) (40 page)

Thirty-Four

Noah’s
plans were finalized, and he descended the stairs in search of Lady Jillian
only to be brought up short by a trunk being carried out the door by his
footmen. Were they leaving already?

Rosalind
breezed through the door.

It
wasn’t Lady Jillian leaving but Rosalind. His heart pounded and panic
surged.
 
“Where are you going?”

“Home
with my family.”

He
reached out to her and grasped her hand. “Why?”

“I
live there and am no longer employed by Lord and Lady Sandlin. It is only
right.”

“No,
you need to remain here, with me.”

A
smile pulled at her lips. “In time,” she whispered.

Rosalind
really shouldn’t live beneath this roof if they were not married, and there was
no other reason for her to do so, but he didn’t want her to go. It could be
weeks before they wed, and he didn’t like it one bit.

“What
of the painting?”

Her
smile disappeared. “I don’t think I should be present. This is between you and
Lady Jillian.”

Noah
glanced around. This was too much of a public area for them to have this
discussion.
 
He grasped her hand and
pulled her to the small parlor where he had placed the portrait and covered it
with a cloth.
 
“She brought you into this
matter by using your family.”

Rosalind
opened her mouth to object, but Lady Jillian entered. “Lord Felding, this is
where you have disappeared to.” She turned her head and practically glared at
Rosalind and sniffed when she noted Noah still held Rosalind’s hand.

He
turned to face her. “We will not be married, Lady Jillian.”

She
hitched a brow and a mouth curved into a half smile.

“Perhaps
I should leave,” Rosalind insisted pulling her hand from his.

“No,
you shall stay,” Noah ordered. “Lady Jillian, please be so kind to close the
door unless you wish for everyone, servants included, to overhear our
discussion.”

She
did as he bid before coming further into the room.
 
“I see no reason for there to be further
discussion, Lord Felding, I believe I was perfectly clear in my intentions.”

“Yes,
you were,” he agreed before turning to the painting.
 
“However, before you go about ruining an
entire family, perhaps you should first explain this?”
 

Noah
pulled the cloth from the front of the paining, and Lady Jillian gasped. Her
face lost all color as she brought a hand to her chest and stumbled back.
 
“Where did you get that?”

“My
sister collects works of art. She obtained it some time ago.”

“There
weren’t supposed to be anymore. He swore.”

* * *

Rosalind
watched as Lady Jillian sank onto the settee; her eyes were wide with
horror.
 

“Who?”
Noah demanded.

“Nico
Bianchi,” she whispered then blinked and looked at Noah. “I am sure that was
not his real name, but he affected the Italian accent well enough.”

“How
many of these paintings did you pose for?” Noah demand.

Rosalind
rushed across the room.
 
Noah was too
harsh. She understood he was angry and bitter because of what Lady Jillian
demanded and the threats she had made, but couldn’t he see her humiliation at
the moment?

“How
old were you?” she asked gently.

“Sixteen,”
Lady Jillian whispered as she blinked back tears.

Rosalind
settled beside her. “Tell us what happened.”

She
jerked her head to Rosalind.
 
“As if you
really care. You are only here to share in my humiliation.”

Rosalind
was struck by Lady Jillian’s malicious tone but took no offence. She understood
the defensive reaction well.
 
She had
spoken in such a way when she was a child to keep others at a distance and to
protect her family.
 
“I assure you, I am
not.”

“My
maid, who I thought was my friend, suggested I have a portrait done as a
surprise for my father.”

“Is
this the maid you used to play with?” Noah asked.

Lady
Jillian nodded. “I hadn’t realized that she hated me and my family.”
 
She sniffed and rose from her seat crossing
to look out the window.

“I
thought it a grand idea, and she was to take me to an artist she knew.” Lady
Jillian’s tone was flat but neither Noah nor Rosalind interrupted her. “At
first she remained in the room with us, but as the sittings became more
frequent, she would leave the two of us alone. I had no idea how many sittings
were necessary for a portrait,” she laughed bitterly. “Nico seduced me with
words and made me believe he had fallen in love with me.” Lady Jillian turned
to them. “He did not physically seduce me,” she insisted. “But he might as well
have.” She sniffed and returned to staring out the window.
 
“Eventually he convinced me he wished to have
portraits that only he would see and could gaze upon until we could be
together. In my naivety, I believed him and allowed more and more of my
clothing to disappear.” She gestured to the painting before taking a
handkerchief from her sleeve and dabbing at her nose.

“Then,
one day my maid disappeared. I was to have another sitting, but she had run
off.
 
As it had been a week since I had
seen Nico, I couldn’t wait for my maid to return, so I took a hackney to his
studio.”

“He
was gone,” Rosalind guessed.

Lady
Jillian nodded. “The entire place was empty save for a few rags and brushes.”
She sniffed. “A week later my father received the first portrait with a demand
for payment, or Nico would sell the remaining ones to the public.” She looked
down. “I had never been so humiliated in my life nor felt more foolish.”

“Or
betrayed,” Noah offered.

“Father
paid for seven more portraits, similar to that one, before Nico claimed that
there were no more.
 
Everything was done
through different messengers and even though Father had investigators try to
locate him, Nico was never found.”

“And
your maid?” Rosalind asked.

“She
never returned either.
 
Her parents lost
their position in the house because they knew their daughter was being courted
by an artist even though they had no knowledge of what the two were doing to
me.”

Lady
Jillian turned to face them. “My mother and father kept me from those beneath
me in status. I never understood because the servants seemed far
more happy
than I. The first friend I ever had, or thought I
had, was my maid who came to the house when I was ten.” Tears flowed down her
cheeks.
 
“Because of her, I fell in love
with an artist. I didn’t care that he was not of society.
 
He made me believe that he loved me too all
the while he was painting the portraits knowing he was going to use them to
blackmail my father.”
 
Her back
stiffened. “In the end, I learned my parents were correct. You cannot trust
anyone especially those with no standing in the
ton
.”

“And
because the Valentine children began their life in less than ideal
circumstances, you assume they are unworthy.”

“It
is true. Look at what maid and artist did to me.”

“Yet,
look at what you have done,” Noah said bitterly. “The blackmail and threats you
have made are no different than what was done to you, yet you hold yourself
over them looking down your nose at those you consider beneath you.”

Lady
Jillian blinked up at him and her mouth opened, but no words came out.
 
She drew back as if just now realizing she
was doing exactly as the artist had done. “It is different,” she said insisted.

“No,
it is not.”

Rosalind
stood.
 
She wouldn’t allow this
discussion to turn into an argument. It didn’t matter now.
 
The truth was laid before them, and it was up
to Lady Jillian and Noah to decide how they proceeded forward.

“We
can’t marry, Lady Jillian,” Noah said after a moment.

“Because
of the painting?” she asked.

Was
she so naive that she didn’t understand it was her behavior?

Noah
pushed his fingers through his hair. “You know it is not.”

Lady
Jillian nodded.
 
“We will not suit.”

“I
don’t love you,” he said kindly if such words could be said in a caring manner.

Lady
Jillian looked to Rosalind. “You love Miss Valentine.”

“And
I love Lord Felding,” Rosalind added.

She
nodded. “I assume you will hold onto the painting to assure my silence.”

“Yes,”
Noah acknowledged.

Rosalind
glanced between the two of them. “No.”

Both
Lady Jillian and Noah blinked at her in surprise.

“To
do so make us no better than the artist who destroyed her trust.” Rosalind said
to Noah as she lifted the painting from the stand and handed it to Lady
Jillian. “Take this and do with it what you will, and I will trust that you
keep my secret.”

Lady
Jillian stared at Rosalind for a moment before accepting it. “Thank you.”

Rosalind
grasped the cloth and placed it over the front so nobody else could view Lady
Jillian’s humiliation.

“Rosalind,
are you certain?” Noah asked quietly.

She
wasn’t certain but knew all of these wrongs did not make anything right.
 
Lady Jillian had been hurt, and she was not
going to add to her pain.
 
“I choose to
trust that Lady Jillian will do the right thing.”

Lady
Jillian simply nodded and turned from the room. Her shoulders slumped as if she
had been beaten or perhaps simply just weary.
 
Noah and Rosalind followed her into the hall.
 
Phillipa stood there and gazed at the covered
painting with longing.

“This
was in your collection?” Lady Jillian asked.

Phillip
nodded.

“Why
did you have it or even want in?”

Phillipa
looked up at Lady Jillian with a puzzled expression. “It is a beautiful
painting and should be admired. Not hidden away.”
 
Then she shook her head, “Though I understand
why you would wish for no one to ever see it.”

“You
admire it so much?” Lady Jillian asked in surprise.

“Yes,”
Phillipa admitted. “But it is yours now, and I can only hope you don’t choose
to destroy it.”

Lady
Jillian studied her before a sad smile formed on her lips.
 
“You may keep it.” She handed the painting
back to Phillipa.
 
“I only ask that it is
never displayed where others can view it.”

Phillip
grinned. “Thank you, and I promise nobody will ever see it.”

Lady
Jillian gave a quick nod. “Then I hope it brings you pleasure.” With that she
turned to face Noah and Rosalind.
 
“I
will inform my brother that we will be leaving. I wish you well.”

Noah
drew Rosalind back into the parlor after Lady Jillian disappeared up the
stairs, and Phillipa took the painting away. He closed the door and pulled
Rosalind close.
 
“We did it. I am free to
marry you.”

Rosalind
glanced up moved by the love that shown in his eyes.
 
“I do feel sorry for Lady Jillian.”

“As
much as I hate to admit it, so do
I
.”

She
laid her head against Noah’s chest. “Perhaps one day she will find someone who
does love her.”

Epilogue

Candlelight
flickered throughout the chapel. It was Christmas Eve, and soon the pews would
be full of residents attending midnight services.
 
But at the moment, the front pews were filled
with Noah’s family as well as Rosalind’s while the two stood before Vicar
Grant. Penelope and Sandlin stood at their elbows to witness their union.

Meadows
delivered the special license only five days earlier but did not remain so that
he could return home to his family.
 
Noah
had wanted to be married at that moment, but Mrs. Grant insisted preparations
needed to be made.
 
The two would not
share in a wedding breakfast, and as soon as the ceremony was complete, they
would take their seats to attend services. Only after they returned home would
Noah finally be alone with Rosalind, his wife.

“You
may kiss her now,” Vicar Grant grinned.

Noah
turned to Rosalind who smiled up at him. Happiness shown in her deep blue eyes.
He lowered his mouth and kissed her tenderly as a bride should be kissed on her
wedding day. Once they were alone tonight, however, the passion and desire that
had been building since their night at the inn would finally be unleashed and
sated. He might not allow her to leave their set of rooms until Twelfth Night
had passed.