Page 50 of The Duke's Last Dance
“He talked to me, yes,” Catherine replied. “But that is not why I came to see you. Do you need any help arranging the wedding gifts or getting them elsewhere? There are many of them, and I would hate to see one or two get ruined because of all the people here.”
“I had not thought of that. Perhaps we ought to move them elsewhere, but the wedding breakfast is coming to a close and I do not believe that we will be any better for moving the gifts now,” Edward shrugged. “Thank you for the concern, though, Catherine.”
“Of course, Edward.” She smiled, and then she got up. “If you’ll excuse me.”
Edward nodded, and Catherine walked out of the room. She walked up the grand staircase slowly, as if she were in a dream.
Nicolas still loved her, and he meant to fulfill the promise he had made to her all those years ago when he gave her the brooch. He loved her so much he was willing to throw away his inheritance to be able to marry her.
She reached her room, and then she pulled out the small brooch that Nicolas had given her when he made the promise. It was old, faded, but it still had a bit of a shine.
That brooch was something like their love. It may have been an old love, and it may have faded for a bit, but it was starting to shine brightly again. If she were able to get the brooch cleaned, she would feel better about wearing it in public.
That was exactly what she would do once everything had settled down after the wedding breakfast. She would have Miss Amelia take the brooch into town and find a jeweler to clean it for her. She wanted the silver polished and the gem shining again. It was not a big brooch, so she could imagine it would not cost much to have done.
She sat on the bed, holding it in her hand, before letting out a happy, dreamy sigh. She had been told that her lover still loved her, and she now knew why she had seen him with Miss Alexia so often. He didn’t want to be with her.
She would simply have to remind herself of that every time she saw him with Miss Alexia. Lord Lockhart lovedher, not Miss Alexia, and she was happy to hear it. Now that she knew that she could sleep peacefully again, and perhaps she could even understand that there was more she could do before she was able to marry him.
She lay back on the bed, closing her eyes as she did so.
Today had been quite the day, and it was not even half-over yet. The wedding breakfast was dying downstairs, and she knew in her heart – she knew – that there was nothing more she could do to be happy today.
Lord Lockhart still loved her, and she loved him. All was right with the world.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Now that he knew Lady Catherine’s feelings and she knew his intentions, the rest of the day passed well enough. He took Miss Alexia away from the wedding breakfast, saying that his mother and he would like to check on his father. His mother gave him a look, but Miss Alexia only gave him a whining answer about why she ought to be able to come too.
It took everything in Nicolas not to yell at her right there that he didn’t want her coming because she was so self-centered that everything had to be about her all of the time, and he wanted to focus all of his attention on his father when he was with him.
That had been this morning. Now, as the sun was setting outside the windows, Nicolas paced outside his father’s door. His father had been getting better, for a time, but his health had taken a turn for the worse, or so it seemed.
His mother sat on a chair nearby, anxiously awaiting news from the doctor. Neither of them said anything as they waited, but he could tell that his mother was as worried as he was; more so indeed than he was. He was only worried that he would not get a chance to tell his father that he was to marry Lady Catherine no matter what he said.
The door to his father’s bedchamber opened, interrupted his thoughts.
“How is my husband?” His mother voiced the question that he wanted to ask but was too stubborn to say aloud.
“The duke is fading, and there is nothing more I can do for him. We must allow the illness to take its course. Duchess Maria, Lord Lockhart, I think ‘tis time you prepared to say your goodbyes. I cannot tell you when the illness will take him from you, but I can tell you that he will never recover as we once thought he might.” The doctor shook his head. “I am sorry to have to say it so bluntly, but… there it is.”
Nicolas felt his stomach knotting up and could only imagine how his mother was doing. He turned to look at her.
She looked as though she was handling the news well, but he could tell that as soon as the doctor had left the room, she was going to break down.
The doctor excused himself, and then he left. Nicolas watched his mother as the footsteps faded down the hall.
As he had thought, she began to sob uncontrollably. Nicolas sat down and pulled her into a comforting embrace. Her face hid in his shoulder, and all he could do was hold her close and tight. It was not necessarily where he would have liked to be, but he knew that there was going to be nothing else he could do until she was calm enough that he felt comfortable leaving her with a housemaid as her caretaker for the moment.
With her sobbing so uncontrollably, that was not yet to happen.
The housemaids waited to see what he was going to do, and when he didn’t summon one of them, many of them hurried off. It was not an exciting job, being asked to watch over someone who had just found out that the love of their life was probably going to die soon. One dutiful housemaid stayed behind, probably knowing that if she didn’t, someone would have to do the job anyway.
“Oh, Nicolas…” His mother finally said something. “Nicolas…”
“I know, Mother,” he replied. “I know. ‘Twill all be all right.” He hugged her close again.
Then, he turned to the housemaid.
