Page 109 of The Earl Takes All
It was a lovely afternoon. Troubles seemed far away, impossible dreams seemed possible. Edward half listened to the conversation. It was odd that he felt more at home here, but then he’d lived here longer than at Evermore. Some of his fondest memories of Albert had occurred here. When Allie was older he would bring her back, walk over the grounds and share stories of her father.
Julia was right about that. It wasn’t fair to deny her an opportunity to know and appreciate her true father. Edward didn’t want to take that away from her, or Albert.
She began to fuss. Standing, Julia took her from Marsden. All the men came to their feet.
“I’m going to take her for a little walk,” she said. “Give you gentlemen a chance to catch up.” Bouncing her daughter in her arms, she wandered away from the terrace into the sunshine, the nanny in tow.
“Fetch us some scotch, Locke,” Marsden ordered. “I detest tea. Always have.”
When the scotch was poured, Marsden raised his glass. “To love.” After taking a sip, he arched a brow at Edward. “You do love her, don’t you?”
“How can one not love that little girl?”
The wrinkles of his face shifted as he smiled. “I meant her mother.”
Edward shouldn’t have been surprised by Marsden’s ability to recognize his feelings. The man might be completely mad, but he wasn’t stupid.
Locke, on the other hand, straightened as though his father had walloped him on the side of the head. He leaned forward. “You love her? How the bloody hell did that happen? You’ve always disliked her.”
Edward grimaced. “Not as much as I let on.”
“Well, hell, that’s unfortunate. What are you going to do?”
“What can we do? The law won’t let us marry. Any children we have would be bastards. She would be ostracized. Allie’s future would be compromised. So I’ll deliver her to Evermore. She and Allie will live there while I’ll reside at one of the other estates.”
“Take her to Switzerland,” Marsden said.
Edward released a burst of harsh laughter, then sobered. “Albert told me the same thing, as he lay dying. ‘Take her to Switzerland.’ I thought maybe it was someplace he and Julia planned to travel, somewhere she dreamed of visiting, but when I asked her about it, she had no interest in it whatsoever. Why would he and you tell me to take her there?”
Marsden looked at him as though he were the one who was mad. “Because you can marry her there.”
Stunned by his words, Edward could do little more than stare at him.
The old man cackled. “Do you think you’re the first man to want to marry his brother’s wife?” He waved a hand through the air. “Oh, some people will turn their noses up at you, but to hell with them. These laws prohibiting those related by marriage from marrying are preposterous. The belief that a couple engaging in sex suddenly makes the entire family blood relations is madness.”
The irony of the mad Marquess of Marsden calling anything madness was not lost on Edward.
Marsden pounded his fist on the table. “Do you not pay attention to what goes on in Parliament? Of course you don’t. You’ve only just taken your place in the House of Lords. People have been trying to change those laws for years.”
“How do you know?” Locke asked. “You haven’t sat in the House of Lords since I was born.”
Marsden scowled at his son. “I read the newspapers.” He shrugged. “Sometimes someone might send me a letter asking my opinion. And I know a gent or two who took his lady to Switzerland.”
Scraping back the chair, Edward stood and walked to the edge of the terrace. “We just go to Switzerland. Live there.” He could manage the estates from there, periodically return to England.
“No,” Marsden answered impatiently. “You marry there, because they don’t care if people are related by marriage. Then you come back here. England recognizes the marriage. Julia is your legal wife. Your children are legitimate. One consideration: It is costly.”
As though lack of money would prove any sort of deterrent to him when he loved Julia so much. But why would Albert spend his last breath telling him to take her to Switzerland? Why would he—
He slammed his eyes closed as the truth nearly knocked him to his knees. Albert had known, known about Edward’s feelings for Julia. He thought he’d been so damned good at disguising them. All the drinking, all the sarcastic remarks, hadn’t fooled his brother.
With his dying breath Albert had provided not only the answer to a question that Edward hadn’t even known he’d be asking, but given his blessing as well.
Juliawatched as Edward strode toward her. She’d enjoyed watching him sitting and talking with the marquess and the viscount. It was obvious that for him this was home and they were family. They shared a very special bond, and she was extremely glad that he had it. She thought he might need them in the coming months, especially if being without her was going to be as difficult for him as being without him would be for her.
“Take a walk with me,” he said when he reached her.
She handed the sleeping Allie off to Nanny, intertwined her arm with his and let him lead the way through what she assumed had once been a beautiful garden, but now consisted only of weeds and overgrowth. Weather and years of neglect had taken its toll on trellises and benches, leaving behind only rotting wood.
