AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Felicity fussed with the skirts of the white gown; it was virginal, and yet it implied a maturity she hoped to live up to. How bold she’d been in the coach! Clearly, that luxurious conveyance had some effect on her virtue in that it made her want to throw it out the moving window. How gentle Alfred had been, and yet how determined. Was this what married life might be like? If so, those novels of Jemima’s were in desperate need of amendment. For example, there had been no mention of such an intimate kiss as he had bestowed on her, but would she have credited it, had it been in front of her, in writing? She would not.
The clock chimed, and she made her way to the window; when she parted the curtains, she gasped. It was so like the dream she’d had, that awful night when Mr. Bates had imparted his terrible news. A flock—herd—pack? An assemblage of any animal she might imagine congregated on the lawn: mice, dogs, oh, the colts! There were cats and wolves, a paucity of birds, which was odd; there were beavers and stoats and small woodland creatures she’d never seen before. She put a hand on the glass and the other on her heart, and in their fashion, they bowed to her. The second chime of the clock told her they had spent a quarter hour looking upon one another. She stepped back, and the animals—beings—versipelles, all turned as one and made for the park. They reached the edge of the wood and began their transformation to their human selves; she let the curtain drop. Surely Alfred had organized this, an opportunity to accept his charges as her own, without bringing anyone to the blush.
It was, she thought, a wonderful compromise.
Felicity made her way through the silent house, its quiet unlike that of Templeton House’s desolation; while empty, it was not bereft of life. And yet, she experienced a pang of loneliness. It was too strange that she found herself to be the only creature within its walls, and she all but ran out of doors.
Small, flickering lanterns lined a path to illuminate her way to the clearing, where she paused. Light spilled from torches all around the edge of the circle, and the fullest moon she’d ever seen rode high in the sky and shone its light down like a benediction. Heaps of flowers were piled on the flat stone and hung in garlands from the trees. Marshall and several other humans in their Sunday best stood back from the edge, and they were soon joined by the souls of Lowell Hall, dressed in clean but simple clothing, very like those she’d discovered in the cottage with Jemima.
Mr. Bates, Miss O’Mara, and Mr. Gambon joined her at the entrance. She held a hand out to Mr. Bates, who grinned and slipped something into her palm.
Then Alfred stepped alone from the shadows on the opposite side of the circle and moved to stand before the stone.
“Felicity Blakesley, née Templeton,” he said, his voice taking on a power that leapt through the glade. “Do you come to this holy place of your own free will?”
“I do.” She lifted her chin. “I am humbled by the trust you and your pack have put in me. I swear to return this honor”—her voice broke—“to return it every day I live.”
“There was a script to be followed,” he grumbled and held out a hand. “Come.” She arched her brows. “Please.”
All present laughed as she walked into his embrace.
He addressed the crowd. “There were words to be said, in tribute of Lupercalia and the great debt we owe to Mars and Laurentia despite the strife they caused.” He looked down at her. “And et cetera. But as ever, my duchess cuts to the quick and wastes no time.”
“Are we not wasting time now?” She whispered this, she was sure she did, and yet everyone laughed again.
“Felicity, Duchess of Lowell,” Alfred intoned, stepping away. “Do you declare me your mate, before all my people, in this holy place, on this night of the most sacred moon of all our year?”
“Wait! I have something for you. I wasn’t sure, I didn’t know what to do, but it was in my mother’s jewel case, and you’ll have to wear it…differently.” She held out a chain from which suspended a ring. “This was my great-grandfather’s,” she said, her hand trembling. “I know convention has it that only ladies receive rings, but I did not think it fair, and I suspect we shall start a fashion.”
All in the clearing held their collective breath. He lowered his head. She slipped the chain over his head, and he lifted the ring to hold it against his heart. “I thank you most sincerely,” he breathed, and she saw, in his eyes, Alfie fighting to be free.
“I couldn’t think what to do and so consulted with Mr. Bates.” She lay her hand over his, over his heart. “He thought of the chain.” She patted his chest where it lay.
“Isn’t he clever,” Alfred growled, and she heard his Second snort. “I still need you to say the words, love.”
Love!“I declare you my mate, Alfred, Duke of Lowell, before all our people, in this holy place, in this beloved place, in our home. On this most special night of the year.”
She tipped up on her toes to kiss him and heard a squeak. “Wait.”
They turned to see Mary, Mrs. Birks, and Mr. Coburn move into the inner circle. Mary carried a flat package arrayed in bright, colored paper and held it out to her. “It’s your birthday, Your Grace. And Valentine’s Day. And Lupercalia! Ooh, you’ll get some bride’s gift for certain.”
“Is this what it is?” Felicity took the parcel, and Alfred shook his head.
“It’s from us.” Mary Mossett was like to fly up into the boughs, she was so excited. “Many happy returns, mum!”
Felicity struggled to remain composed. “This is the finest day I’ve ever had, I can assure you.”
“Open it.” Mary bounced up and down until Mrs. Birks hissed her name. “It’s not like we made it or nothing, but we did find it. Well, a few of the wolves that be doing Mr. Bates’s bidding in Town did come across it when some terrible bad people tried to sell it. And then the Alpha said, he said, why don’t we be making it a gift to you, like? Because he could just give it to you, but if it came from us, it would be even more special. I don’t know that anything from the likes of us is better than a gift from theAlpha—”
“Mary.” Felicity laughed. “Here, hold this while I remove the paper. It is rather large, isn’t it? I can make out something like a frame… Oh, I am awful for trying to guess at a gift when all I need do is—”
Her parents’ faces smiled out at her. Her own little face, rosy-cheeked and bright-eyed, looked happier to be seen than anything in this world. She remembered this image almost before she remembered anything; she remembered being held in her father’s arms, her mother beside him, as he pointed to each figure and asked her who they were. “Mama, Papa, me!” she would cry, and they would laugh as though she were the cleverest creature ever born. She touched her mother’s face, and her father’s, and her own, that child who had known love and knew it again.
“This is the greatest gift I could be given on this night. You have returned my first family to me even as I so happily join my second.” She looked around, tears in her eyes. “I cannot thank you sufficiently for such kindness. I can only promise I will always return such kindness, a thousandfold, to all of you, forever.”
Alfred tapped her on the shoulder. “Now?” she asked.
“Now,” he said, Alfie swirling in his eyes, his body already changing, not frightening but fascinating. Tucking her gift under her arm, she turned toward a lighted cottage, up the hill from the clearing and her new pack, and ran.
