Page 32 of A Countess Captured for the Captain
“I told you last night, Randolf, I think it is an excellent idea. Why should she remain here to spoil everything for us? All she does is cause trouble. Let her cause it elsewhere. She need not trouble us any longer,” she said, looking haughtily at Samantha, who fixed her with a defiant stare.
It seemed strange to think that for once, Samantha entirely agreed with Regina, though for entirely different reasons. Regina was insufferable, but Regina with a child would be unbearable. Samantha was desperate to escape the atmosphere of Hampton Manor – that was why she had run away in the first place and having returned in despair at the prospect of marriage to Reginald Spencer, she now found herself with a golden opportunity to finally have her heart’s desire.
“Her Grace speaks wisdom, Your Grace,” Nox said, as Samantha’s father pondered for a moment.
“These sorts of things are always regretted in the end,” he said, eyeing Samantha, who shook her head.
“But even if I did regret it, then it would be my regret, Father, and not yours,” she said.
Her father sighed. He had never shown a great interest in Samantha – she was not a boy, and therefore not an heir, and therefore little worth bothering about. The Duke was a man for whom reputation was the only matter of importance, and as Samantha’s reputation was already tarnished, it hardly seemed to matter if she damaged it further of her own accord.
“I assure you, Your Grace, I shall behave with nothing but honor toward your daughter,” Nox began, but Samantha’s father only snorted and waved his hand dismissively.
“You have already proved yourself quite the opposite of an honorable man. First you take my sugar and now you take my daughter,” he snarled, and Samantha was not entirely sure which he considered of more value – probably the sugar.
“And you would deny your daughter the happiness of marriage for that simple reason,” Nox asked, “because I am supposed to be a pirate? But now I have title and wealth, you can hardly deny that.”
“I did not suggest that I denied it, Sir. Only that if it were up to me, I would see you shackled and hanged for your crimes – Earl or not. But as the rest of society seems so readily to have forgiven you, there is little I can do to stand in your way. Samantha is a stubborn and willful child, who will get her own way come what may. If I refuse then you will marry anyway, so what is the point? Have your way and have your marriage. I have no care to the contrary,” he snarled, and turning on his heels he marched back into his study, as Samantha threw her arms around Nox and kissed him.
“At last, my father has done something to my benefit,” she declared, as Nox lifted her off her feet and spun her around in delight.
“Know this, Samantha,” Regina said, “you will no longer find yourself welcome in this house. Your father has no further need of you, not now that he has an heir,” and she ran her hand over her stomach, a victorious look coming over her face.
She was still standing by the drawing room door, smug in her victory. But Samantha did not care. She was glad to be rid of Regina at last and had no desire to be anywhere near Hampton Manor or to have anything to do with the heir that Regina was carrying.
“I am sure you will all be very happy without me, as I will be without you,” Samantha said, and she too turned on her heels and marched toward the door, followed closely by Nox.
* * *
Outside, Samantha turned and put her arms around him, breathing a deep sigh of relief. She felt as though a burden had been suddenly lifted from her, the hope of something far better now lying ahead. She had what she had always wanted – the freedom to choose. It was Nox she chose, and now they could look forward to the rest of their lives together.
“I am surprised your father agreed so readily, I thought he would refuse,” Nox said, shaking his head.
“My father will always do what Regina tells him. She has him wrapped around her little finger, and any excuse to be rid of me is one she would jump at. It is all she has ever wanted, that is why she encouraged my father to see me married off. She does not care who I marry, so long as I do marry,” Samantha said, taking Nox by the hand, as the two of them walked through the streets together, his carriage having been dismissed.
“We must make plans for the future, where to go and what to do,” he said, as they strolled through the park.
Samantha felt such a lightness of heart that she could barely think beyond the moment. She wanted the whole world to know that she was happy, but Nox was right, there was much to think about.
“A special license, that is what we need. Then we can marry where we wish, a little chapel somewhere, far away from prying eyes. Just you and I, Rebecca and Catherine, your uncle and aunt. My father will not come to give me away, Regina will forbid it. But I do not care about that, I want only to marry you, Nox. I would marry you right here, in this very moment,” she declared, pointing up to the boughs of an oak tree above them.
Nox laughed, taking her in his arms and kissing her.
“And if it were so simple then I would marry you here, too. But we must do it properly, I will speak to my uncle, he is a friend of the Bishop of London, he will know what to do. But you are right, we need only a few witnesses, simple vows, that is all. In the days gone by we would have married at sea, a captain could officiate, make right the vows, but here on dry land things are so very different,” he said.
Samantha nodded. He was right about doing things properly, but she was so caught up in the joy of that moment that all of that seemed secondary to the very simple act of one person declaring their love for another. Gone was any sense of duty or of obligation. She could not imagine marrying anyone but Nox, of feeling as she did for anyone but him. He had proved his love for her, and she for him, and now there could be no barrier to their marriage, one which was born entirely of love and which she knew would bring only happiness.
Chapter Sixteen
News of the betrothal between Samantha and Nox spread as quickly as the scandal of the kiss on the night of the ball. It was soon known across the capital that the former pirate – as Nox was becoming known – now the Earl of Brimsey, had proposed marriage to Lady Samantha Crawford and that remarkably her father had given permission for the marriage to take place.
Reginald Spencer was furious, more so because his pride was wounded than because of any genuine affection for Samantha, and though he protested vehemently, he had no grounds for doing so. There could be no objection to a legitimately arranged marriage, however much the injured party might protest.
Nox’s uncle was, as was to be expected, relieved that the matter was settled, and he made arrangements with his friend, the Bishop of London, for the granting of a special license by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Such a license removed the tedious necessity of the reading of banns of marriage, the formal preparations in a parish church, and the public nature of a marriage service.
Samantha and Nox were to be married in a private chapel belonging to Nox’s extensive London estates, a quiet and unassuming place where those they wished could gather for the happy day out of sight of prying eyes. Samantha could not contain her excitement and she had gone to stay with Rebecca and Nicholas, the former helping her to prepare for the day which rapidly approached and had now arrived. They were waiting for the carriage and there was much excitement.
“I remember how nervous I was on my wedding day,” Rebecca said, as she placed a tiara which had belonged to Samantha’s mother on the bride’s head.
