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“It isn’t for Rollo to decide,” Aidan retorted. “I am an adult. If he has any problem with that, shoving you down the stairs certainly isn’t the answer.”
“I think it goes deeper than that,” the dowager interrupted. “Mrs Kempton and Rollo have been in service to this family for years. There has been nothing they haven’t seen, or experienced, while working here. I think it is probably more protective rather than murderous jealousy or objection over your background. Alice was the daughter of a Lord, yet she got pushed down the stairs as well don’t forget.”
Aidan had to agree with her.
“What do we do now? If the footman has gone for the magistrate, Rollo is probably already half way to town by now.”
“I think we have that cup of tea Mrs Kempton brought up earlier. Then we can wait to see what the magistrate has to say when he gets here. Meantime, darling, you won’t be leaving my sight until I know everything, and the coward who has hurt you is caught,” Aidan informed his wife briskly.
He stood and tugged the bell pull several times. Everybody agreed to appear as nonchalant as possible until help arrived, but were a little surprised when Rollo answered the summons himself.
“We have decided to have that tea, after all, Rollo. Please bring some up for all of us,” the dowager ordered.
Petal eased around until she was sitting propped up against the pillows Aidan wouldn’t quit fluffing behind her.
“I am fine, really I am. I have just had a bump on the head that’s all. I shall be fine after some rest. Really, it is just a few bruises,” she protested, urging him to relax a little.
While having him fuss was wonderfully touching, it was a little discomforting to see the look Jerry shared with the dowager.
Jerry coughed as he tried to hide a smile at this uncharacteristic side of his brother while the dowager did, for once, look upon her younger son with evident fondness.
“You don’t mind, do you?” Jerry asked his mother suddenly.
He was aware of both people on the bed stopping to look at him but didn’t take the question back, or expand.
The dowager understood, and that was all that mattered.
“I learned my lesson with Alice. Believe me, when I tell you that to see your child so miserable is a parent’s worst nightmare. There was no way out of the situation, though. While it was horrifying that poor Alice died the way she did, it was at least a relief from the burden you carried; a situation I forced you into. I should never have enforced the archaic beliefs of my parents onto you. You should have been allowed to choose someone you found appealing.”
“But you have pushed and pushed for me to have someone you chose,” Aidan protested. “You have spent months parading Hornsby through my bedchamber every chance you got, and what about Edwards?”
The dowager smiled, completely undisturbed by Aidan’s outrage.
“Well, I rescued Edwards from a rather difficult situation. She needed some time away from the ton. You know, somewhere she could keep her head down while the gossip died down. When your doctor in London said you would need looking after, I suggested she might stay here with you. You posed no threat to her virtue. However, I did tell her she needed to guard everything you ate and drank, and that she should keep a close eye on you while you were vulnerable. I just didn’t think she would have matrimonial bells ringing in her ears,” she reported dryly. “Anyway, she did her job and indeed ensured that most of the staff stayed away. Although, it transpires that she has caused more trouble than she solved problems.”
“I’ll say. That woman was terrible. What on earth possessed you?” Jerry demanded, not bothering to ask what Edwards had done that had nearly driven her out of London. “You should have asked me to keep an eye on him, and told me what your suspicions were. I am here practically every day anyway.”
“You still hoped that I would consider her a saviour and be attracted to her, didn’t you?” Aidan’s tone was accusatory but held little heat.
The dowager shrugged. Now that she had confessed, she appeared to have lost some of her pomposity.
“Well, if it happened, it happened. You are married now, so it doesn’t really matter, does it?”
“It does when it nearly cost me the woman I love,” Aidan snorted.
Petal jerked and stared at him in wonder.
“Aidan,” she whispered, profoundly moved at the realisation that he could actually love her.
To Aidan, his adoration of Petal was perfectly natural. It was only when he realised that his wife was on the verge of tears that he realised what he had yet to tell her.
“It’s true,” he whispered. “To think of you not being a part of my life leaves me feeling as though I am lost at sea. There is a vast ocean around me I cannot find a way out of, and the darkness of it threatens to swallow me. I need you to keep my world steady. How could you doubt that I positively adore you?”
“I just thought your love was something that would have to develop in time,” Petal whispered.
Aidan shook his head chidingly at her.
“I love you,” she whispered. “It is the only reason I married you; and the only reason I married you. I cannot bear the thought of living without you.”
