Isabella spent most of the night, after Mr. Jenkins visit, doing her best to find a way to stave off her own issues with Mr. Smith before the Duke of Wintercrest could get involved. There was just one answer that she saw in her mind and she dreaded the thought.
The only way to appease the scoundrel and save the reputation of the duke and his family from having any more part in the matter was to go to the man himself and give him what he wanted.
She would stand before the horrid man and beg him for mercy. She finally resigned herself to it. It would most likely not cause him to retract his words, but satisfied that he had completely ruined her, he might just leave her alone.
Only then would she finally be able to pick up the shattered remains of her life. Perhaps she could get a new governess or teaching job somewhere far in the country, where such things about her were not known.
When Lady Louisa arrived home that night, she told her all that had transpired, as well as her plan of action. Lady Louisa wasn’t supportive of Isabella going to such drastic measures, but was unable to produce an alternate solution.
“Let us both just sleep on it this night,” Lady Louisa had said, “and perhaps, in the morning, something better will come.”
Perhaps it was the little sleep that Isabella got that night, but no other solution ever presented itself to her. By morning at breakfast, she was determined to her cause. She would go to the docks, confront the blackguard, and stop all of this before it got any worse for the Wintercrest family.
“Do you suppose that later this morning I might borrow a carriage?” Isabella asked Lady Gilcrest over their toast and jam.
“Of course, my dear. Do you have plans to go somewhere?”
“Well, I must go on an errand of sorts.” Isabella wasn’t sure if she wanted to share her plan with the rest of the family. A proper young woman prostrating herself before her villain wasn’t something she guessed the Gilcrests would be happy with.
“I hope it’s to buy a pretty new bonnet that you will actually wear,” Lord Dunthorpe said with a wink.
Isabella laughed nervously at the joke. She looked over at Lady Louisa from across the table. Lady Louisa was pleading Isabella with her eyes to change her mind.
“I’m afraid it isn’t a bonnet,” Isabella said finally, more toward her friend then Lord Dunthorpe. “I must do something, and if I don’t do it right away, I will lose the nerve altogether to do it.”
The whole family looked at Isabella questioningly. Even the Earl dipped down the corner of the paper that he had begun to read to inspect her. To the others, she most likely sounded mad, rambling in such a way. She knew that her dear friend, whom the words were meant for, had understood.
As the family was finishing their meal and preparing to go their separate ways for the day, a groomsman came into the room.
“I beg your pardon, my lord,” he said to the Earl. “There is a gentleman caller come to see Miss Watts.”
“So early in the morning?” Lady Gilcrest responded in a bit of shock.
“I am sure it is Mr. Jenkins again,” Isabella explained. "He has been giving me vital news, pertaining to my situation, as soon as he gets it. I apologize for the early hour, but would it be alright if I saw him in the small drawing room?”
Lady Louisa’s sorrowful brown eyes now lighted in hope. If the lawyer was here again, perhaps there was new information that could prevent her friend from her current course of disaster.
“Of course, dear,” Lady Gilcrest said, understanding the need for urgency. “If Mr. Jenkins is in need of a morning meal himself, have Julia here send in a tray for him,” she added as an afterthought.
Isabella walked down the hallway to the drawing room where the lawyer was told to wait for her. She found herself thinking about the goodness of the Gilcrests. Even Lady Gilcrest, presented with an unfashionably early guest, only thought of her guest’s well-being and comfort, enough to offer him a plate of breakfast.
She knew she was truly blessed to have found such a good friend as Lady Louisa. Even more, to have been adopted as part of the Gilcrest household since coming back to London.
She smoothed out the folds of her soft white cotton morning dress and fixed a loose curl at the side of her hair. It was more out of habit than anything else. Mrs. Mason had instilled in the ladies of her school the habit of always making sure they looked their best when hosting a guest.
Isabella opened the door and only took two steps into the room before freezing in shock. A gentleman figure stood before her, his back to her. He was leaning against a window and looking out on the street below as he waited for her arrival. It was not the thin, gangly silhouette of Mr. Jenkins, however.
“Christian?” Isabella blurted out without even thinking.
Like a dream, the duke turned around, noticing that he was no longer alone in the room. He looked over Isabella one time as if he was drinking her in for the first time all over again. Isabella couldn’t help but feel the catch in her throat, as she did the same in return.
“I don’t understand, Your Grace?” Isabella said, finally coming to her senses. “The groomsman said…”
“Yes, I apologize for the small fib. I was afraid if he told you I had come to speak with you…well, that you would not see me.”
“Not because I wouldn’t want to,” Isabella said, admitting to the truth, “but for your own sake.”
The duke crossed the room in three easy steps and took both of Isabella’s hands in his own. He relished, for a moment, the closeness he had missed so much over the past month. He opened his mouth to speak but before he could, a hurried voice called from just outside the still open drawing-room door.
“Isabella, look what Father saw,” Lady Louisa said as she came hurriedly into the room.
Lady Louisa stopped, frozen in place, recognizing the duke at once.
“Your Grace,” she said with a small curtsy.
“Well, I was going to tell Isabella the news myself, but I suspect I should give you the honor, Lady Louisa, since you seem to have the article in hand.”
“What article is that?” Isabella said, looking between the two.
The duke gently tugged on her hands and guided her to the sofa. He made sure to sit down right next to her. Lady Louisa also came into the room and sat in an opposing chair.
“While Father was reading the paper he found this,” Lady Louisa handed the newspaper over to Isabella.
Isabella looked at the duke, who relaxed back in his seat as he waited for her to look at the paper in front of her.
To her surprise, an entire page was completely void of any news except one piece of information. It was a letter- written, signed, and sworn to be authentic, by the Duke of Wintercrest, no less. It was a letter from Mr. Smith claiming that all his charges against Miss Watts were, in fact, false. It even went on to explain Mr. Smiths failed venture and his reasoning for the whole hoax.
Isabella couldn’t believe her eyes as she read over the words again. Not only had her name been cleared, but it was printed in such a way that every single member of the town would see it very obviously.
“When did you do this?” Isabella asked, confused and finding it hard to speak.
“Just this morning. I saw Mr. Smith a little after dawn. From there, I went straight to the papers and then to this house.”
“But how? Why?” Isabella continued to stammer.
Though this didn’t completely erase what had been said of her in the past, it was just about as close as she could ever expect to get. A public retraction on this level would be the talk of the town and, for once, in a good way about Isabella.
When she asked these bewildered questions of the duke, he sat up from his spot. He looked at her intently with his dazzling blue eyes.
“I think you know why,” he said in a deep, husky voice.
The room got very silent for a moment as the two exchanged a look.
“Your Grace,” Lady Louisa said, distracting their attention, “you must be starved. I will go and see that some proper refreshments are brought to you.”
“Thank you, Lady Louisa,” the duke said, knowing she was taking the opportunity to give them privacy.
Both waited till Lady Louisa had left the room before looking at each other again. The duke took both of Isabella’s hands into his and softly rubbed the naked flesh.
“Christian,” she said softly, looking down at their joined hands. “I appreciate all that you have done for me, I truly do. As much as I want this, I could never ask it of you or your family.”
“Don’t think on them,” he said, cupping her face and raising it to look at him. “Both Abigail and Mother have said that they would support any decision I make.”
“And you would have me now, in this state?” Isabella asked as tears welled in her eyes.
“I knew, the moment I walked with you down the lane in the dark that first night, that you were like no other. Your kindness, your love for my family, your ability to think and act in consideration of others, these are all things that I love about you,” the duke said, full of sincerity, as he gently stroked her cheek.
“I care not for titles or what others may think of us. You are the one that I have chosen. I want to be by your side, and have you by mine, through the rest of my life. That is, if you will have me?” The duke raised a brow at Isabella. She knew that he was teasing her.
“Yes,” she said as a single tear escaped down her cheek. “I will have you.”
The duke leaned in, lifting her chin slightly, and paused right before her lips.
“I am hoping that means you will allow me to kiss you now,” he breathed against her lips.
Isabella smiled at him and tilted her head up just a bit to encourage him to finish the movement. He smiled brightly before allowing a soft tender kiss to pass between them.
The duke kept one hand cupped at her face as he slipped the other around her waist, pulling her closer to him. Looking down at her, he kissed her again and again. Finally, she leaned her head on his chest, breathless.
“How do you feel about going to Gretna Green tonight?” he asked with a wicked grin as his chin rested on the top of her dark locks.
Isabella gave his tease a tsk. “I suspect we have quite enough gossip generated by us already this day.”
“Well, then I suppose I must wait for a proper wedding. Oh,” he said leaning back from her and reached into his jacket pocket, “I almost forgot.”
Isabella watched as he shuffled around in several pockets before finding what he was looking for. He pulled out his fisted hand. Taking Isabella’s, he laid inside a cold metal object. As he removed his hand, Isabella saw that it was her locket.
“How did you ever? I was certain that Mr. Smith would have sold it the moment he got his hands on it.”
“Turns out, he fancied to keep it as a trophy.”
Isabella noticed that there was an added object on the chain hidden behind the locket. She flipped it over to expose a delicate gold ring with a simple green emerald placed in the center.
“Oh, it's beautiful.”
“It was my mothers. She gave it to me this morning before I left.”
“And she knew who you intended it for?” Isabella said, a little unsure if she should have it.
“Of course she did,” the duke said with a deep chuckle. “Both Mother and Abigail are waiting very expectantly for me to return home with you on my arm.”
“They are?” Isabella said, again surprised.
“And Jackie,” he added.
Isabella’s face lit up and she stood in an instant.
“Let us go now,” she said hurriedly as she tugged at the duke’s hand. “I would like to see Jackie right away.”
The duke chuckled before getting out of his seat. He wrapped his arms around Isabella and kissed her softly on the lips again.
“I suppose my breakfast must wait, then. I have been bewitched by your siren song and am liable to follow you anywhere you lead. To my family’s home or rocky shoals, I care not. As long as I am with you.”