Page 4 of Loving an Earl
What did she think? Truly think? The tension drained from her body, and she inhaled and exhaled in relief. If Henry had said he wanted heirs, she would have performed her wifely duty in the marriage bed, even if she didn’t know exactly what that entailed. But she could only think about how relieved she was because he didn’t. And sad for Henry. About how lonely a life he’d led never having loved again.
“If that is what you want, I will agree. But if you change your...”
“I won’t. Someday, when I’m gone, you will find a good gentleman to love and one who will love you in return, give you babies, and you will thank me. Do not waste your innocence and love on me.”
Her mouth opened to speak, but words escaped her. There were so many things to thank Henry for, but she didn’t know where to begin. For however long he had left, she would take over her papa’s role in the earl’s life and be his closest friend and confidant.
Chapter Two
The following yearflew by with daily rides with Henry, picnics, and stimulating conversations. He treated her as an equal, sharing everything with her. She also accompanied him on his visits to his tenants. The time they spent in London for him to sit at his place in the House of Lords was not as fearful as Lilly had believed. They attended the opera and the theater but refused all invitations to private balls and small dinner parties. Henry had no yearning to relive his early years in London. Lilly was thankful he felt that way because she had no desire to mingle with strangers or to be gossiped about.
She spent much of her time with Henry’s young cousin Emmeline, and Lilly was thrilled to have a friend. Henry’s maternal uncle, Baron Connolly, had married a younger woman after his first wife’s death, and his new, young wife had given him a daughter named Emmeline. At eighteen, Emmeline had married Mr. Aiden Fitzpatrick. At twenty-two she became a widow. The young widow Fitzpatrick was a Godsend to Lilly, teaching her everything she needed to know about London’s social scene and more gossip and stories than she had room for in her memory.
Lilly couldn’t have been happier or more content with her life. Thinking back to the day she’d married Henry, she would never have believed what a wonderful life they would have together.
Until it was no more.
The sun shone bright that early spring day, making it feel warmer than it was. Henry and Lilly had the cook pack them a picnic lunch, and they headed out for their usual ride. During the past year, she’d become quite a horsewoman and loved to race Henry. And the true gentleman that he was, he always let her win. Today was no exception. Only when Lilly pulled the reins on her mare and glanced over her shoulder, her heart stopped, and she cried out, “No, no, no!”
Turning her horse around, she bolted back toward Henry, lying on the ground at an awkward angle, his loyal bay beside him. Jumping off Rose Petal, her heart in her throat, Lilly dropped to the ground. Henry’s eyes stared up at her sightless. Even though she recognized death, she clumsily felt around his neck for a pulse. Nothing. She threw her head back and screamed and screamed until no sound emerged. Tears and anguish clogged her throat, and she covered Henry with her body and sobbed.
“My lady.” A gentle hand touched her shoulder, and she ignored it.
“Go away.” Her voice was broken and hoarse.
“I can’t. His lordship is gone. I must escort you home so he may be retrieved.”
“I can’t leave him alone.”
“He won’t be. My eldest son will stay with him.”
With these kind words, Lilly finally mounted her horse, and the local farmer, Mr. Mahoney, held Rose Petal’s reins and walked them back to Langford Manor. Many members of the household met them, no doubt seeing them approaching and wondering where their lord was.
Wilson, the butler, helped Lilly down from Rose Petal, a panic-stricken look on his face. “Where’s his lordship?”
Eyes wide and mouth open, Lilly couldn’t speak. No words could get past the lump in her throat.
Mr. Mahoney, standing beside her, eyes cast down, removed his hat, clutched it to his chest, and said in a voice laced with sadness, “He is dead. Appears to have fallen off his horse.”
Every fiber in Lilly’s body wanted to yell out that he wasn’t dead and that Henry would never fall off his mount, but she stood, tears silently rolling down her face as Mrs. Pemberton and Campbell each had an arm around her waist.
After that, everything was a blur. Henry’s body was returned, prepared, and laid out in the public drawing room. Messages were sent to his cousin and his solicitor, who would inform his nephew of his inheritance. Emmeline sent word that she was ill and couldn’t travel, but she insisted Lilly come to London and stay with her. They could mourn Henry together. Nothing arrived from the new earl, and Lilly shivered with dread. How could someone be so cold as not to attend his uncle’s showing? In her mind, she already disliked the young man she’d never met.
Standing in the family cemetery, a cold, windy rain blasting her body, her heavy cloak doing little to keep her dry as the wind blew off her hood. Lilly watched with burning eyes and a heavy heart as Henry’s casket went into the ground. A sadness she’d only felt once before when her papa died settled inside her soul. She’d been too young when her mama died to remember. Her heart was broken and her throat sore from all her crying as her mind screamed,why Henry?He’d become her everything. How would she survive without his love, friendship, and guidance?
As she rested that evening on the chaise longue before the blazing hearth in her bedchamber, Lilly closed her eyes and tried to sleep. Her bed didn’t interest her. Even though she and Henry hadn’t shared it, he’d visited her nightly, hugged her, and kissed her cheek. Sleeping without their nightly ritual didn’t feel right.
The next day, Lilly had her belongings moved to another room as far down the hall as she could get from her and Henry’s old chambers. It was a smaller room but no less lovely. And she may as well prepare for the arrival of the new earl. Of course, he might not come here at all and instead move directly into Henry’s London residence in Mayfair, corresponding about the estate and earldom through the family solicitor and Henry’s estate manager. Having never received word from his nephew during the year of their marriage, Lilly also didn’t know whether he was married or single. Did she now possess the title of Dowager Countess of Langford? Only time would tell.
*
Mr. Edmund Weston,Mr. James Caldwell, and Andrew Hampton, the Earl of Quincy—the three owners of Mayfair Imports and Exports—each traveled from the West Indies on different ships with cargo holds full of goods to sell in London and beyond. As Edmund’s ship traveled up the Thames on a bright clear day toward the docks and their warehouse, the tension of the long trip eased from his shoulders.London. He had been traveling for business for nearly eight years, ever since the inception of their company—the last three of those years with only quick stops in London.
The years had been full of adventure, hard work, foreign politics, women, gambling, and much more. But recently, he’d missed his life in England and decided to come home with plans to travel less. It was time to put down roots and prepare for the earldom which would one day be his. Uncle Henry was in good health, as far as he knew, but he was getting up in age. Edmund figured it couldn’t hurt to be prepared.
After settling business affairs in London, he was going to Langford Manor to see his uncle and spend time learning his day-to-day routine. He would visit the tenants and ease any concerns they had about him taking over at some point. He wanted to make his uncle proud and know he was leaving everything in good hands. Give him no regrets about never marrying and producing an heir.
Finally standing on solid ground, Edmund’s body swayed as though he were still on the open seas. He was used to the feeling, so he went about his business. By the end of the day, Quincy and Caldwell, his business partners, also arrived safely to port and Edmund sighed with relief. They’d had a relatively calm voyage, but calm waters didn’t always mean safe travels. Pirates could come upon them at any time.
