Page 39 of A Sonata for the Fiery Lady
Melisa just smiled and nodded her head. “I think today is our wedding day,” she said happily as she looked up into his eyes. They both smiled lovingly at each other as they listened to the priest recite the wedding vows in Italian. Never before had Oliver heard such beautiful words being spoken as he followed the priest’s guide, vowing to love and cherish Melisa the rest of his days. Once the short ceremony was over, they thanked the priest, and Melisa handed him several notes.
“Mio caro, questo e troppo,” the priest exclaimed, telling Melisa that she’d given him too much money.
“No, padre, ci hai fatto un grande favore,” Melisa replied, ensuring the priest that he’d done them a huge favour by marrying them this day without any questions or concerns.
As they left the church, Melisa and Oliver gathered their things once more and headed down the lane to the Davone estate. They walked hand in hand, observing the landscape around them as they returned to their cottage as husband and wife. It was no matter to Melisa that she didn’t have a grand wedding ceremony with every family in Town as witnesses. She only wanted her and Oliver to live happily together for the rest of their lives in Italy.
Chapter 21
Some six months later, Oliver was playing a common English song on the piano as Melisa instructed Signornias Gabriella and Vivian how to perform a ballroom dance. The entire family had joined in on the lesson as Signore Davone danced with his eldest daughter in what they referred to as a large dining room. To Melisa, it was perfect for lessons and dancing and was also her favourite room in the castle with the large dome ceiling overhead. Signor Peters acted as Signornia Vivian’s dance partner, but that only seemed to cause the young lady to giggle more.
As Melisa guided the two pairs through the dance while Oliver expertly played the song, Melisa was mindful to move slowly as her large stomach continued to grow, signalling to all that soon she would be with child. Everyone had been very careful with Melisa ever since she’d started to show, and though it sometimes frustrated Melisa when the servants were insistent they do everything for Melisa when she was very proud of what she was able to accomplish on her own, sometimes it was nice to feel so well looked after.
“Perdonami per l’interruzione,” said a footman as he came into the grand room, asking his master to forgive him for interrupting their lesson. “Ma c’e un signore inglese che chiede una Signorina Melisa Stanton.”
Melisa’s eyes widened as she realized that the footman had just told Signore Davone that an English gentleman was looking for her, but only by her original name. Melisa quickly looked at Oliver, fear clearly showing in his eyes as well.
“Non c’e Signorina Stanton qui. Di a quest’uomo di andare via,” Signore Davone responded with, telling the footman to tell the English gentleman to go away since there was no Miss Stanton living at this residence.
But Melisa was quick to speak up, too curious to let the man go. “Signore Davone. Let me speak to this man. Since he is English, perhaps I may be able to assist him,” Melisa said, hoping her employer would agree to her request.
“Always so kind at heart, Mrs Trenton. Si, you may go,” Signore Davone agreed as he turned his attention back to his eldest daughter. Oliver began the song again as the two pairs began the dance. Melisa exchanged a look with Oliver, trying to muster up a simple smile as she followed the footman back to the front of the house.
As she neared the foyer, Melisa thought she was going to faint. There, her father stood alone, looking around the front of the castle nervously. As she approached him, she noticed that he looked rather tan and had lost quite a bit of weight around his middle.
“Father?” Melisa called out, her voice capturing Lord Stanton’s attention so quickly that he whipped his head towards her as a large smile came across his face.
“Dear God, I’ve finally found you!” he called out as he quickly closed the space between them, wrapping his arms around her in a show of affection he’d never displayed before. “Oh, I’m so sorry. You’ve changed so much.” He stepped back from her once he noticed how round her stomach had grown.
“Father, what are you doing here?” Melisa asked, still shocked that she was facing her father once more, and the fact that he seemed happy to see her.
“I’ve searched for you since the day you left town. I’m so sorry, Melisa. I should have listened to you a long time ago when you tried to tell me about the Duke. What a horrible disaster of a man he turned out to be,” Lord Stanton said in a hurry. Melisa was frightened by her father’s condition and quickly called out to the footman.
“Ti preghiamo di consegnare un vassoio da ten el salotto. E di ’al maestro che e arrivato mio padre,” Melisa said quickly to the serviceman, surprise clearly on his face as he hurried back into the grand room to tell the news. She’d told him to tell Signore Davone that her father had arrived and that she’d need a tea tray delivered to them.
“My goodness, you sound just like an Italian,” Lord Stanton said as Melisa started to lead him down the hallway to the drawing room. To Melisa, her father looked quite unwell by the way his hands trembled.
“Father, you must tell me all of what you’ve done. You look rather different that I am worried for you,” Melisa said honestly as she helped her father into a chair, noticing how his hair had started to grey around the temples, turning his blond hair white.
“Oh, my dear, it’s been rather miserable,” Lord Stanton said as Melisa sat in a chair next to him. She was surprised when her father then took her hands in his.
“Magistrate O’Reilly was the one to have discovered your plans, having had Constable Williams following Mr Quinn since the death of his father,” Lord Stanton explained, surprising Melisa that her father knew of her husband.
“So, you know about Mr Quinn, then?” Melisa said softly. She had no regrets in all that she’d done to escape England, but now that she was faced with her father, she mentally prepared herself to receive a lashing from her father.
“Indeed, my dear, there is much I know about Mr Quinn that I fear that even he does not know,” Lord Stanton said with a weaksmile. “When the magistrate woke me, I raced to the ports as fast as I could to stop you, but it was already too late.”
“I felt so terrible that you had fallen,” Melisa admitted, tears coming to her eyes.
Lord Stanton sighed heavily then as he nodded his head. “Yes, it took some time to recover, but I am all well now. That fall has been the least of my worries. Once the news reached your mother, she fell terribly ill in all manner of dramatics. And of course, the Duke broke off the engagement, our family name falling into ruin,” Lord Stanton explained with a shake of his head.
“But,” he added, “I couldn’t be happier that it did. Two months after you left with Mr Quinn, Lord Smithers was discovered in the bedchamber of a daughter of a Duke. The daughter said Lord Smithers forced himself upon her, so the man was jailed and tried for adultery. It turns out, Lord Smithers was practically penniless on top of the fact that he had a serious womanizing problem.”
Melisa simply couldn’t believe her ears as she thought about the last time she’d faced both Lord Smithers and this young lady. She hoped the young lady had heeded her warning and hadn’t lost her innocence to such a horrible man. A part of Melisa was glad to hear that fate had finally caught up with Lord Smithers and he was currently paying for all his misdeeds, but she wasn’t sure why her father was here now.
“But, Father, I don’t understand why you are here now. Surely you want nothing to do with me now that I’ve dishonoured you,” Melisa said, removing her hands from her father’s grip in fear of what he planned to do to her. “And I’ll have you know that I’m a married woman now and will not go back to England with you,” she quickly added as her anger rose.
“I will admit, Melisa, that there was a time when I was furious with you. I paid Magistrate O’Reilly a handsome fortune to track you down. I had every intention of dragging you back to England, married or not, and making you repay all that you’d stolen from me,” Lord Stanton admitted, though there was no anger in his voice. “But, after the truth surrounding Lord Smithers all unfolded, great understanding came to me. I then understood why you would do such a thing, and in the end, I can’t fault you for running away.”
