Noah’s head was reeling in circles. Standing right in front of him was Emmeline.

Emmeline! The love of his life, that he thought was dead.

Her body was a burned husk, for God’s sake. He had mourned her passing for months, had felt his soul die within him, and had grieved that his life was going to be a long stretch of bleakness as she was gone–but now she was alive!

How is this possible?

The Duke couldn’t dare trust his eyes but they were telling his mind that his long-lost love was standing right in front of him. Noah’s mind flew back the dark days of his life–days when he had felt his hope gone, and days when he had sworn that if he didn’t get revenge for Emmeline, he would never live in peace for the rest of his life. One especially-aggravating day was the one when his grandmother had fallen ill and his mother had tried to get him to move on from Emmeline.

He spun to his mother. “How is this possible?” then a thought so impossible came to him as he saw how close his mother and Emmeline were standing. “Mother…you did this?”

“I did,” The Duchess replied, with the same smile on her face, and then he remembered.

“But how?” Noah pressed.

“Sit, Noah, before you fall down,” The Duchess ordered.

Numbly Noah stumbled down the stairs but instead of going to the sitting room, reached out for Emmeline’s hand. When it was willingly given, he pressed the back of it to his cheek, wanting and needing to feel the warmth of it, to tell him she was alive and he wasn’t dreaming.

With her hand pressed to his face, Noah’s mind darted back and his fragmented thoughts solidified on one moment that had scarred him.

“I know…Noah…please, I understand that you’re mourning Lady Emmeline Grant but the Noah I know is not one the one I’m seeing now. Son, you have to let her go, keeping up with this is only trapping her soul here and making you a shell of your former self.”

Noah’s eyes widened and he spun his mother before repeating it, “That time, you were testing me…weren’t you?”

The Duchess smiled, “I was but do you remember what I had said after that?”

“You said…” Noah reiterated the words and it was when they were coming through his mouth, he realized the true meaning of them. “You said love… love will come back to me someday. Was that another of your tests Mother?”

“It was and you passed both of them, Noah. I’ve never seen such true love in all my years. You held on even to the very shreds of hope after there was no reasonable cause to keep believing that she was alive.” Duchess Newberry smiled.

“But…how?” Noah repeated as he was still amazed.

“The tale is a long one. Let us sit.” The Duchess proposed again. “The first thing I need you to know is this was the most feasible way to save Lady Emmeline’s life.”

Noah still couldn’t believe that his mother was the mastermind behind this miracle while he had been so preoccupied with investigating the wrong Duchess. His grandmother had tried to do something but his mother had outdone her. He was totally confused. He finally obeyed and followed his mother and beloved to the sitting room chaise and made sure Emmeline sat beside him–he was not going to let her out of his sight.

Noah marveled that how his mother had seen his distress and grief and had not even given him a clue to her actions. Maybe his mother should have been an actress instead of a Duchess. Overall, Noah didn’t need to dig into the underlying factors, the torrid step by step, he was just overjoyed that Emmeline was alive.

“Noah?”

The Duke snapped to attention, “I’m sorry?”

“Did you and my brother find some middle ground?” Emmeline asked kindly.

“We came to an understanding but it wasn’t easy. Leverton kept believing that I had something to hide or that I was tricking him somehow. We even came to blows once…or thrice. Hostilities were ever on the horizon.”

Emmeline huffed–a lovely sound that Noah swore he’d sear into his mind.

“That stubborn mule, when is he going to learn?”

“But how did you do it, Mother?” Noah pressed.

“I will tell you but we need to wait,” the Duchess smiled. “Another party is coming.”

“Who is–?” the sound of a screeching carriage’s wheels and the doors blasted open. Noah spun on his chair to see Leverton rushing in with frantic pace. He then spotted the lady sitting on the chaise and his face showed it all.

“EMMELINE!”

The Duke of Leverton was standing there with his hand braced on the door jamb, his coat askew and his hair windswept. Though he had come by carriage, the Duke looked like he had just bolted off his horse, as his face was sporting the rigorous red of exertion, his golden eyes were wide, and his breath was frantic.

Noah felt Emmeline pull her hand out of his hold and she stood, “George.”

The Duke’s eyes snapped to Noah, who was standing as well, and to the Duchess of Newberry who was still daintily seated, before focusing solely on Emmeline. He stumbled inside and grabbed at his sister’s shoulders and pinned her with his eyes.

“Emmeline?” George asked faintly, “How is this possible?”

“If you would care to take a seat, Your Grace” Duchess Newberry inserted kindly, “We will tell you.”

Duke Leverton’s eyes darted up to the seated woman, “We? We? Are you’re telling me that that the two–three of you were in collusion…against me?”

“Not against you, George,” Emmeline rolled her expressive eyes. “And Noah wasn’t a part of it. Come, sit, we’ll tell you all about it!”

Emmeline took her seat beside him, and Noah met the golden glare that was directed at him.

“I’m as much in the dark as you are, Leverton.” Noah mollified, while he unashamedly took Emmeline’s hand. “Let’s just listen to what they have to say.”

“Very well,” Leverton said, as he tore his eyes from the two and looked to the seated Duchess and then back to his sister.

Noah’s mother began speaking, “You see, I have been a victim, for twenty years, of your grandmother’s tyranny, and lately, I fear her insanity. The previous Duke, my beloved husband, was a very strong and wise soul, who truly loved me, but she never approved of the match and grew to hate me.”

“I started to recognize the depth of that hatred after my beloved died, and she replaced my mourning clothes–which, although hastily made, were appropriate for a modern, young widow–with dreadful, heavy, old-fashioned gowns that were a chore to even wear. I was so filled with grief, I let it go. I didn’t care what I wore. Indeed, I was in a daze for weeks.”

“As I started to emerge from my mind-numbing grief, I gradually realized all the meals I ordered were being replaced by your grandmother’s choices. Everything to do with the running of the manor, and indeed, the grounds, and the holdings reverted back to her rule, as it had been before her son’s marriage to me. If that had been done in a spirit of caring and concern, I would have welcomed her actions. But it wasn’t–power and money were the only things important to my mother-in-law. She became more and more narrow minded, tyrannical, and even cruel.”

“Of course, my overwhelming concern was for you, Noah, the brightest, kindest, the most well-behaved child there ever was. With every particle of my being, I protected you from her domination and sent you off to school as soon as you were of age to go. In fact, that is why you spent that summer with your uncle, whose estate was next to Leverton’s–to keep you away from your grandmother’s bullying.”

“With you away, my son, she focused more of her evil on me–it seemed to give her a sense of power to make me miserable. I had no surviving family to turn to, and I became afraid, very afraid. I finally comprehended that I could trust no one. Favorite servants–my own lady’s maid–disappeared, and were replaced with her hand-picked minions. “

“Things would be shifted in my rooms, and in cupboards, my mail moved from where I had last put it. Favorite items were ruined or simply vanished. At times, my door was locked after I had retired for the night, and just as stealthily opened in the morning. I remember clearly the first time I noticed a nasty aftertaste to my after-dinner sherry. That night, I slept for twelve hours straight, and woke with a terrible headache and dulled senses. When it happened again, I drew the conclusion that once a month, at the full moon, my beverage was being drugged. I would surreptitiously pour out the strange-tasting liquid, and feign sleep. Somehow, that made it easier to get through those days each month and gave me a sliver of control over my life. I never had the courage to find out what happened while your grandmother thought I was sequestered in a locked room and in a deep sleep.”

Totally shocked, Noah turned to George, seeing his own horror mirrored on the other Duke’s face. He started to speak but silenced himself as his mother went on.

“Once, I went to pay a call on a neighbor that my mother-in-law didn’t approve of. Halfway there, the carriage pulled off the road. I signaled the coachman and asked what was the matter. He replied that we needed to wait awhile. Mystified, I sat quietly waiting for over an hour. Finally, the carriage started moving, slowly turned until facing the way we had come and went back to Newberry Manor. Still not understanding, thinking there was a problem with the horses, all was made plain when I looked up and saw my mother-in-law gloating down at the carriage, laughing in triumph. Truly, I was a prisoner of the Dowager Duchess, and my own home became a gaol.”

“For the past twenty years, I have always been afraid. Afraid of the food I was eating. I was afraid of what might happen while I was sleeping. I was afraid whenever I spoke, that I would say something that angered her. Over the years, I found life was decidedly better if I did as the Dowager Duchess wanted. And that is why the old witch didn’t realize that this one time, I acted on my own, to keep Emmeline, my son’s chosen bride, safe.”

Overwhelmed with this revelation of decades of abuse, the others all started asking questions, talking over one another. Noah’s mother adamantly refused to reveal the details of how she had managed Emmeline’s kidnapping, or who she had gotten to help her–as they had done her a great favor and she wouldn’t expose them to censure. Or worse, as the Dowager Duchess still had much power. Although Emmeline was safe, nothing had yet changed in Noah’s mother’s life.

Noah and George were still confused over the whole episode, and while overjoyed to see Emmeline alive and safe, they were yet under the pall of melancholia that months of grief had enshrouded them in. Together, they respectfully demanded a more in-depth explanation of the past months’ deeds.

“When I spoke with Emmeline at the ball and realized the depth of her feelings for Noah, I advised her to do whatever she could to help their relationship along, to work with George, so he would approve the match. I had thought my urgings would push Emmeline to succeed in overcoming her family’s prejudice. But when I returned to sit with the Dowager Duchess and heard her quiet ramblings, I learned she had planned Emmeline’s death, and I knew I had only that one chance to act. Again, I won’t tell you who I spoke with, but I will say that I was able to make arrangements that very night, for Emmeline and her coachman to be abducted and taken far away, and kept safe. Those plans weren’t enacted for a couple of weeks, not until Emmeline went on her visit to her dear friend. Each day, I prayed she would be safe, and that I could get her to safety before my mother-in-law’s hired killer struck. Emmeline was safe as long as she stayed home.”

Still very calm, and smiling slightly, the Duchess continued. “You see, I had one other piece of intelligence that night. Your grandmother, although not believing it, had been told by her physician that her liver was diseased–that it was the cause of her yellowing skin–and that she had a short time left on this earth. Perhaps that sickness traveled to her mind, or to her heart, I don’t know. But I have often thought, these past months, that her insane action in ordering Emmeline’s death was the product of a diseased body.”

“My overwhelming concern was to keep Emmeline safe, for Noah. I didn’t think much beyond that. When I saw how deeply Noah was wounded by her supposed death, I was encouraged that I was doing the right thing. Truly, the two truths–Emmeline’s disappearance and supposed death, and her enforced captivity in that safe place–were blurred together in my mind. What was starkly clear was that the Dowager Duchess paid an assassin to eliminate Emmeline, and with her disappearance, your grandmother thought she succeeded. Had she ever found out that the girl was still alive, she would simply do it all over again–and next time, we might not be successful in keeping her safe.” The Duchess smiled and sat back, sure she had made everything clear in all their minds.

George was still baffled on some points, however. Turning to his sister, he asked, “What did you think was going on? Were you forced to cooperate with your abductors? Did they hurt you?” His anguished voice matched the torment in his eyes.

Emmeline looked down, then at George, then at the Duchess, everywhere but at her brother. Finally, she said, “Well, the coachman, Mr. Allen, knew some of it. He pulled the coach off the road and told me it was in need of repair. Very soon, another carriage came, and he bade me switch over to it, so we might be on our way and home before dusk. He was acting strangely, though, and I will admit,” here she blushed deeply and again looked down at her hands, “that I thought Noah had perhaps arranged a rendezvous, perhaps with the intent of going to Scotland…”

George turned a fierce gaze on Noah, who leaned back and said, “I had thought about it and that would have been the best action I could have taken! But I didn’t, Leverton, truly. Once, I even thought of petitioning the Regent to collude this matter but that was done away with also. I had nothing to do with any of this!”

Emmeline rushed into the conversation, “He didn’t, George. In the new carriage was a letter for me. Oh, and a woman servant named Abigail–she has been a very dear companion these past months. But the letter, it was from the Duchess, although not signed, and laid out the Dowager Duchess’ plans to have me assassinated. Once I read that, I was so frightened, not just for my own life, but for what Noah would do when he found out the Dowager Duchess had schemed against him, that I went along with every arrangement made for me.”

Emmeline looked over the Duchess and the two shared a long, deep gaze of understanding. Both knew the reality of being the gentler sex, of being a victim of situations and people stronger than themselves. This, George and Noah, would never understand.

George, ever practical, was the first to utter what was in the back of all their minds. “So, what now? I will personally see that Emmeline is kept safe if I have to build a force of three hundred to guard Leverton. But what of the Dowager Duchess? She is a cask of volatile gunpowder waiting to explode. And many can be hurt should that happen.”

The Duke of Newberry, with his beloved by his side, finally felt whole. “I will take care of her, as I should have done these past months when I realized how far her mind has gone from reality. She always refused to retire to the Dowager’s Lodge on the estate, but I will have her removed to there as soon as it can be readied. Leverton, it might be wise if you sent some of your men to make up a guard force that is loyal only to you. I’ll send for new servants from London who haven’t been poisoned by my grandmother’s vileness.”

Turning to his mother, he inquired, “Mother, which physician has been treating her? I must speak with him and learn more about her illness.”

George's lips were thinned, “Speaking of body, what was it about the burnt carcass that we thought was Emmeline’s?”

“A peasant girl who was Emmeline’s age and body shape had died,” the Duchess of Newberry replied, “The person helping me thought to have her body found in the woods, to keep the Dowager Duchess from every suspecting Emmeline’s escape. As with so many other things in life, I went along with it, but insisted her parents were compensated, without their knowing the whole story.” The Duchess looked confused, and the men, in their minds, filled in the blanks in her story–obviously, the body had been stolen with the girl’s family none the wiser.

The men were awestruck that the unassuming Duchess had come up with a plan so detailed. Independently, they both were determined to find out who her accomplice in the bold plan was, and reward him greatly for his endeavors.

“I took the thousand pounds from your account, Noah, because I knew you wouldn’t look there until the last moment.” His mother said, “It was to sustain Emmeline at the place she was taken to. Take heart, son, you’ve provided for her even while you didn’t know it.”

Emmeline inserted, “And George, Mr. Allen our coachman, is fine. He was very brave and loyal, and fiercely guarded me the whole time we were gone. Once he brought me back here, I sent him to visit his family; as they, too, think their loved one has departed this world.”

Emmeline then shot a look at Noah, whose face was sporting an expression immersed with shock and awe before he spoke. “Mother…you did all this, found all this courage in yourself, for Emmeline?”

“For all of us,” Emmeline replied, while covering Noah’s hand and looking at him before looking at George. “You two finally got to work together, and to understand one another, didn’t you?”

Noah looked over to the other Duke, “We did, surprisingly. We met at White’s the week I was in London and we…we spoke and came to an understanding. I dare not say we’ve become friends, but I will stick to allies, for the time being.”

“And that was the only reason why I sent for Lady Emmeline to come out of hiding,” the Duchess of Newberry explained. “With everything in the open, and the two of you working together, I knew the Dowager Duchess would not be able to sway Noah with her lies anymore. With separate agendas, I couldn’t foresee how the future would play out, until that time when my mother-in-law sheds her earthly mantle. Together, the two Dukes are a formidable force, and I leave everything in their charge.”

“Your note made me wonder if you had lost your mind,” George replied. “Telling me that Emmeline had returned almost made me call the men from Bedlam for you but I had to come and see.”

Emmeline trained her focus on Noah and bit her lip when she saw the pain that still lingered in her love’s smoky eyes. Deep lines that hadn’t been there before, now were grafted into Noah’s face, and Emmeline traced her fingertips over the furrow in his forehead. With her eyes she tried to tell him how sorry she was for being the cause of so much hurt, pain, aggravation and grief.

Their eyes met and emotions–so heavy and loaded that mere words wouldn’t suffice–were exchanged. Emmeline’s hand was grasped and the open palm pressed to Noah’s lips. His eyes closed for a moment as he kissed the soft skin there.

His eyes then flittered open, and the reprieve and gratefulness in his gaze told Emmeline of his joy. She smiled and curled her fingers in his. Though her eyes were on Noah, Emmeline, through her peripheral vision, spotted her brother starting to look uneasy and she frowned, “George? Are you well? Why are you squirming?”

The Duke of Leverton’s eyes glanced over his sister, skipped over to Noah, and then to the Duchess, sighed and swallowed tightly, “I…I have to admit something. I have debated how to do it but I cannot think of a better time. When I got the note that you were alive, I thought it was a hoax but I–”

Now all ears were trained on the Duke of Leverton who was now hunched over with his elbows on his knees while his hands formed a fist before his mouth. The silence in the room seemed to thrum before Leverton took a leather-bound book out of his coat.

“Emmeline, take a look and read what you see,” Leverton said while handing the book over. “The page is marked.”

Noah removed his hand to allow her to take the book and opened it to the marker. Feeling intrigued, Noah leaned forward to look when Emmeline’s gasp was laced with delight.

“Oh, George!” Emmeline cried in happiness, “My goodness–this is wonderful.”

“Care to enlighten the ignorant, my love?” Noah asked wryly while gently bumping her shoulder.

She turned a brilliant smile to him, another expression that Noah made sure to carve into his memory, “This is my granduncle’s journal…on this page he recalls what happened on the hunting field–the day your grandfather died.”

Noah’s felt his eyes widen a little, as he reached for the book, “Really?”

Emmeline beamed and after swatting Noah’s hand away read, “The hunting party with me, Jacob, the Duke of Newberry, Earl Barton and Viscount Dalton ended in a tragedy. We had just spotted a massive deer and Jacob, my dear friend, was about to level his musket when he dropped it and lurched forward to me, striking me in my arm. As I was the closest to him I reached out to him but he twisted suddenly and my reach was misplaced and he fell off his horse.”

Noah’s eyes darted to Leverton, who was still hunched over with his fists pressed to his mouth, while his eyes were closed, his left foot tapping quietly on the floor.

“I launched off my mount and grabbed him–his face was turning blue and his hand was grabbing at his chest. I thought something had struck him so I ripped his jacket and shirt off, to see his chest palpitating hard. He then gasped, his eyes rolled to the back and he started to shudder. I recalled some medical training and placed my hands on the middle of his chest pressing hard to massage his heart, but though he was gasping, he soon went still under my hands. I did not–could not–move from my friend, colleague, and sometimes competitor, until his body went still and my heart felt frozen in my chest. He died there, under my hand and I have marked that tragic day in my mind for the rest of my life.” Emmeline narrated, “There is more but I think this stands for itself. Where did you find this, George?”

The Duke of the Leverton finally pulled his hands away from his mouth and said, “I was searching through father’s records and I found my granduncle’s journal. I spent two nights reading through it and this is why I have to apologize to you, Newberry, and to you, Duchess. My rancor against you wasn’t warranted and if I had not digested my grandfather’s biased words for so long, I wouldn’t have been so prejudiced. My sincere apologies.”

The Duchess smiled, “It is accepted, Duke, and I extend ours as well.”

“Seconded, Leverton,” Noah managed.

Leverton then turned towards Noah and his mother, and through his eyes were still enigmatic, his words were kindly, “Newberry, I have misjudged you. In the past three months of our mutual grief, I have found you to be a clever man, stalwart in your position for finding vengeance for my sister and… overall, very deserving of my sister’s hand. I know we’ve moved past a few things but I hope this apology will cancel all of the rest.”

Noah controlled his surprise and though delight was running through him, he managed to control his astonishment by arching his eyebrows. “Well, thank you, Leverton, that was very… magnanimous of you.”

“Oh, for the love of–” Emmeline huffed and snapped her head between her brother and her intended, “Will you ever stop calling each other by your titles? You are going to be brothers-in-law soon, so would it kill you to say your Christian names?”

A look was shared between the two Duke’s and their answer was simultaneous. “Probably.”

Standing up, Emmeline grabbed Noah’s hand and George’s and clasped them together, “Be serious, just try it–or me.”

Stepping back, Emmeline and the Duchess of Newberry watched the two shake hands, “Be worthy of my sister…Newb—Fitz–, ah, Noah.”

Noah’s lips twitched, “I swear on my life–George.”

Emmeline share an exasperated look with the Duchess of Newberry, the lady she would be calling her mother-in-law in a few months, and shook her head with a wry smile.

“That’s a start. Well, I believe a wedding is in order, isn’t it?” The Duchess smiled beatifically, “Welcome to the family, Emmeline.”