The Other Countess (34 page)

‘Where did you find her?’ he asked rudely. ‘I thought she’d gone to family.’

Diego ran out of the stable to help Ellie descend. Her legs almost folded beneath her as they had made long hours in the saddle with only one night’s stop on the way. Will
swung his leg over Barbary’s flank and slid to the ground.

‘She had. But that was not an acceptable arrangement.’

‘And what arrangement, pray, is this?’ sneered James. ‘Do you think to insult your bride-to-be by bringing a paramour into the house? And what of our mother and sister? How are they to greet her?’

Will bit his cheek to prevent himself lashing out at his brother. James did not know the full story. Of course, this looked bad unless he had all the pieces of the picture.

‘The Lady Eleanor is the only bride-to-be, Jamie. I ask you to treat her with courtesy.’

‘What about Jane?’ James seized his brother by the shoulders, drawing him to his chest, hissing the words in his face. ‘Or have you forgotten her so easily because this girl bewitches you?’

Will squeezed his brother’s wrists, putting pressure on so he had to let go.

‘You forget yourself, James. I do not owe you an explanation even though I had fully intended to give you one. My study in an hour.’ With that, he turned his back on his brother and offered his hand to a very quiet Ellie. ‘Come, love, you must be tired after our journey. I will ask my mother to attend you.’

The countess did not question her son’s actions before the servants watching the drama in the yard; she merely smiled at Ellie and led her towards her old room.

‘Mother, if you would be so kind as to attend me in my study too,’ Will said with formal politeness. ‘I have something I wish to say to you.’

The countess dipped her head, appearing the model of ladylike behaviour. She waited until they were up the stairs and out of sight before peppering Ellie with questions. Where had Will
found her? How was she after the loss of her father? Where was her baggage? Why was she so thin? Ellie answered as best she could but all the while conscious of her fragile position in the household. She hated being the cause of a division between the brothers and feared the lady must resent her heartily.

‘Lady Dorset, please believe me when I say that I do not mean to harm anyone in your family.’

The countess shook her head and tutted as she helped her out of the horrid grey gown. ‘I know, my dear. Come, let me find you something to wear. This is fit only for the rag bag.’

Ellie didn’t think her aunt would like that, but then, she had no more in common with the countess than a sheep with a thoroughbred palfrey.

‘I will ask the servants to bring you something to eat in your chamber and water for a bath. If I know my son, he has barely stopped all day and you must be very tired.’

Ellie thanked her, watching with something like wonder as the maids bustled around her, doing the tasks she was so used to performing herself. The hipbath was full and scented with oil, her meal served, all she had to do now was luxuriate in the hot water and count her blessings without worrying about tomorrow.

If only she could stop thinking about it.

Will paced the study, conscious of James’s glare boring between his shoulder blades, but he refused to start his explanation until his mother arrived. She glided into the room and kissed his cheek.

‘It is a joy to have you home, my dear,’ she said. ‘We were worried when we heard you had ridden off without a word to anyone.’

He handed her to a chair. ‘Thank you, Mother. I couldn’t speak before I left because I’d no idea what I would find at my destination.’

‘The Lady Eleanor?’

‘Yes. I had to discover for myself what had happened to her.’

James made a rude noise. ‘You’ve quite destroyed her, you know, brother, bringing her back here. Everyone will draw the same conclusion as I as to what she means to you.’

‘Then everyone would be quite wrong, wouldn’t they?’ Will snapped back. ‘I intend to marry her.’

The countess took a breath, marshalling her arguments. ‘You are promised to another, Will.’

‘No, I’m not. The Lady Jane saw fit to end our betrothal before it even began. She gave me my dismissal at Greenwich.’

James jumped to his feet. ‘So long ago! And you didn’t tell me?’

Will shrugged. ‘What’s to tell? That she didn’t think me good enough for the Percevals?’

‘Is this true?’

‘Why would I lie?’

James shook his head, reassessing his assumptions about his brother and the lady. ‘Why, the cold witch, to let it go so far!’

‘James!’ scolded his mother. ‘You cannot know what she was thinking.’

‘She was thinking that I was not moral enough for her, Mother.’ Will grimaced and poured three glasses of sherry for them all.

‘It’s an insult to our family!’ declared James. ‘I could wring her neck!’

Will had hoped his brother would swing to his defence once
he knew that he had been jilted, but his vehemence surprised him. It was as if he took it far more personally than Will did.

‘It is somewhat of an embarrassment, I suppose.’ Will sipped his sherry philosophically. ‘But I’ve begun to look on it as something of a blessed deliverance. And, besides, I wish to marry Ellie.’

His mother turned the stem of her glass carefully in her fingers. ‘Will, she may have a Spanish title but she has no dowry.’

‘I know.’

‘She’s the alchemist’s brat,’ slid in James, quoting Will’s own words back at him.

‘That’s true.’

‘So why do you have to marry her?’ asked his mother. ‘She’s not … you know …’

Will smiled and shook his head. ‘No, Mother, you are not going to be a grandmother just yet.’

‘So why?’

‘I love her.’

His mother swallowed that unpalatable nugget of information. ‘I suppose I had guessed as much, but does she love you? How do you know you aren’t just her port in the storm, a convenience now she’s been left alone in the world?’

‘Because she’s refused me once, Mother, for my own good, no less. I let her go then but I won’t this time. I haven’t called you here to discuss whether or not I’ll marry her, just how we’ll achieve this.’

Will hated condemning his family to an uncertain future just so he could have his heart’s choice, but he was not going to change his mind now. He would see them all right. It would take longer, be a struggle, but he would manage somehow.
Cecil had mentioned the possibility of investing in a trading company; this year’s harvest had been much better than the last; he just needed time and a lot of luck.

And, with Ellie to help him, the prospect was not so terrible.

‘Very well, my dear, let us think what must be done,’ his mother said bravely. ‘We’ll need the Queen’s permission; our position at court is such that we dare not go against her. And you’re still a ward of Burghley; he must be consulted.’

Will kissed her hand. ‘Thank you, Mother. James, are you with us?’

His brother threw back his head and gave a bitter laugh in surrender. ‘Why not? I wouldn’t know what to do with a comfortable life, would I? Let’s plan this madness. But I’ve one question.’

‘Yes?’

‘Who’s going to tell Tobias he won’t be getting that horse after all?’

Will had not taken Ellie’s agreement to his proposal for granted. He knew that once the euphoria of escaping her uncle’s family faded, his lady would next think of saving him from himself. She had shown on more than one occasion that her instinct when facing trouble was to flee; this time he was determined she should stay the course and become his wife. Then they could work their way through the rest of the difficulties together.

The footman he had set to watch the corridor outside her room was in place when he finally came upstairs.

‘Is the lady within?’

‘Aye, my lord, she’s not ventured out.’

‘Thank you. You’re dismissed.’

The footman bowed and headed for the servants’ quarters. Will waited until he was sure the corridor was empty before tapping lightly on the door and slipping inside without waiting for an answer. As he had predicted, Ellie was not sleeping peacefully in her bed but sitting fully dressed in the window, her face resolute.

‘Will!’ She sprang to her feet. ‘What are you doing here at this hour?’

‘Come to see you, of course.’ He waited by the door, knowing what was going to come next.

‘Then maybe that’s for the best. I wanted a private word.’ She toyed nervously with a pearl brooch on her stomacher.

‘Oh yes?’ Will plucked a flower from the vase on the bedside table and twirled it in his fingers.

‘I … I’ve been thinking.’

He smiled grimly. ‘I notice you do a lot of that.’

‘Well, yes, that’s true. And I decided that this won’t do. What about Jane?’

Will grimaced. ‘What about her? She ended the betrothal, not I.’

‘Oh, oh dear.’ Ellie frowned, assimilating that piece of information, putting it aside for later. ‘But still, I can’t ruin your family.’ She let go of the brooch and brushed a finger over her father’s notebook that lay on the table beside her. ‘The Hutton’s have done that once already.’

He would let her make all her arguments. ‘So what do you intend to do once you so nobly abandon me?’

‘I … I thought that I could learn a trade. Dressmaking perhaps.’ She gestured to the sewing kit that he had
saved for her along with the other mementoes of her old life.

He spluttered with laughter. ‘Ellie, you can’t sew a straight stitch!’

She looked quite offended. ‘I’ll have to learn. There’s not much choice for a woman. Knowledge of Latin and Greek is not much in demand.’

He moved in closer. ‘There is something you have that is most eagerly wanted.’

She frowned at him, trying to keep her distance. If he put his arms around her, she would be lost. ‘What is that?’

‘
My true love hath my heart, and I have his
. You have my heart, Ellie. You can’t leave me to a loveless future – you aren’t that cruel.’ He looped his arm round her waist and tucked the flower in her hair, petals pink against the dark locks.

‘But, Will …!’

‘No, it’s no use. I’ve made up my mind and my family has agreed. You promised to marry me in Snowslip, so there’s no going back on your word. You’re already the wife of my heart so the ceremony is no more than a formality. As for dowry, there is more to life than money. I could be the richest earl in the kingdom and still be miserable.’

Ellie wriggled in his embrace, trying to see his expression clearly. ‘So you want to be poor and miserable instead?’

He kissed her forehead lightly. ‘Not miserable.’

‘But when you tire of me and resent me for bringing nothing to this match –’

He placed a finger on her lips. ‘Hush, love. Have a little more faith in me. I am going into this with open eyes. It is not what I planned, but neither is it the end of the Dorsets’
fortunes. We will work our way over the obstacles. My father was rich but lost it all. I’m poor now but I’m convinced with hard work and sound investments I can reverse our fate.’ He rubbed his nose against her cheek. ‘And I only have a chance of being wise if I have a practical-minded wife at my side.’

‘Oh, Will.’

‘Not “Oh, Will”. I want to hear you say “Yes, Will”.’

Ellie sighed, wondering why she was fighting this so hard when it was what they both wanted. It was time she made an investment of her own and trusted to love. ‘Then I suppose I must say it: yes, Will.’

‘Thank you, darling.’ Will ran his hands over her back, moulding her to him. ‘I want to stay with you tonight. I fear if I leave you, you’ll take it into your head to run off again.’

‘I won’t,’ she promised, meaning it. Their fates were entangled now, there was no unlacing possible. ‘And you shouldn’t stay.’

‘In my eyes, you are my wife. Take pity on your poor husband: I won’t sleep unless I’m beside you. You’re bound to get into more trouble if I leave you alone.’ He lifted her off her feet and carried her over to the bed.

‘I think I’ll be in more trouble if you stay.’

‘This isn’t wrong. We are betrothed. There’s no going back for us.’

Ellie shivered in anticipation. ‘You mean it?’

He nibbled her fingertips. ‘Every word. Our future together starts here.’

24

The Queen was still holding court at Greenwich when the Dorset barge appeared at the river steps. First on shore was the earl, finely dressed in gold velvet, the same colour as his hair and beard. His brother followed, his dark hair skimming the shoulders of his dark blue doublet. Next came the younger children, a handsome pair in white (though the boy had a smudge on his knee from where he had fished over the side of the vessel). The Countess of Dorset descended arm-in-arm with a pretty dark-haired lady, both in severe black of mourning. If their clothes were old and only recently altered to fit the new styles, then no one was saying, because such a splendid family, one of the first in the realm, could be said to set the fashion, not slavishly follow it. Their retainers came next: an exotic blackamoor in green satin, a fierce red-haired man with a glower to sour milk, and six maids-in-waiting. There was much to entertain the onlookers as the baggage was unloaded, including the shrewish conversation between the red giant and the fairest of the maids, ending with him receiving a clip around the ear.

The family however was not there to see this altercation. They were met by Robert Cecil and conducted into the palace
for an audience with the Queen. Waiting outside the royal apartments, Cecil drew Will aside.

‘You are absolutely sure about this, my lord?’ He glanced at Ellie who was studying the pictures with great concentration, trying to pretend she didn’t know they were discussing her.

‘Yes, I am.’ Will laughed. ‘I’m a hopeless case, Cecil: there’s no saving me from myself.’

‘She’s a lovely girl as I have always said, even when you held another opinion.’

‘Don’t remind me,’ groaned Will.

‘My father’s agreed to the match – he won’t stand in your way. Said you were entitled to choose the mother of your children even if you all had to live on turnips for the rest of your days.’

Will sincerely hoped that wasn’t to be his fate.