Chapter Thirteen
The Church of St George was packed to the gunnels. After all, it wasn’t every day a duke got married to a lady’s companion and former scullery maid at the most debauched club in London. Though no one but Frederick had recognised her, Rose had insisted his family be told the full truth before they got married.
Jake had been worried they might not accept her.
To his surprise, Grandmother had taken it all in stride. Indeed, she had taken quite a bit of pride in her matchmaking efforts and said she always knew Jake would come to his senses and marry the gel.
Bless the old dear.
Jake couldn’t have been more proud to walk down the aisle towards the waiting vicar with his bride on his arm. Lucy trailed behind them, ready to hold Rose’s posy when it was time to say their vows. The pews rising up on either side of them were festooned with flowers, roses of course at this late season, and crowded with well-wishers, as well as others who simply came to gawk. The galleries above were also teaming with people. In the very back row he’d spotted a couple of the girls from Vitium et Virtus. Rose’s friends. He’d laid on a carriage for them, but he wasn’t sure they would come. He was delighted that they had. Rose had so few people to call her own.
‘I told you we should have had a quiet wedding at home,’ Rose whispered as they approached the altar with its magnificent Venetian window letting the light flow over the awe-inspiring altar piece showing the Last Supper. Her hand trembled beneath his. While any of his friends would have been more than happy to escort her down the aisle, he’d been terrified she might turn tail and run at the last moment and he knew she wouldn’t with him at her side.
He smiled at her encouragingly. ‘I wanted everyone to see what a lucky man I am.’
She blushed.
The urge to kiss her welled up inside him. He glanced around. There was one person he didn’t see. He’d tried everything in his power to get her to come, but she wouldn’t promise. Didn’t want to intrude. She had also wept copiously.
Then, as they approached the altar, he saw her sitting on the left side of the Church directly opposite from Grandmama and hemmed in between Fred and Georgiana. Today she was smiling mistily. Georgiana apparently had her in hand and shook her head at him.
She was probably right. Better to wait until after the wedding.
Oliver, serving as best man, stood waiting for them. Fred left Georgiana to join them at the steps to the altar, his task to give Rose away in place of a father.
The service went by in a blur. All he could do was watch the woman who had agreed to become his Duchess in wonder and awe. Her courage nigh unmanned him, for he had been daunted by the idea of becoming a duke and he had at least known something about it.
The vicar joined their hands and the feel of her skin through the lacy glove was icy cold. Perhaps she was not feeling quite so brave after all. He slipped the ring over her finger as they had practised and they repeated their vows.
He’d made the vicar promise not to drag it out. He didn’t want Rose suffering unduly, for the scrutiny of the crowds was like a hail of arrows. Yet he didn’t want anyone thinking there was something havey-cavey about their marriage, either. And finally the vicar stopped droning on and they were married. They were ushered towards the vestry to sign the register.
He caught Georgiana’s eye and nodded. She helped the woman beside her to her feet.
Once they were safely away from prying eyes, Jake took that woman by the arm and led her to Rose.
The woman, a neatly dressed lady with a tidy grey bun and the attire of a gentlewoman, hung back, tears forming in her eyes.
‘Rose, I want you to meet someone,’ Jacob said firmly.
His bride gave him a startled look. Perhaps he had spoken a little too firmly, but he needed her attention. ‘Rose, this lady is your long-lost mother.’
For a moment, he thought she might faint, her face went so pale, and her chest rose and fell so rapidly. He reached out to hold her by the elbow. ‘Rose, it is all right. Sit down for a moment.’
‘Mother?’ she said, looking at the modestly gowned woman. ‘You are my mother?’
The woman nodded. ‘I am.’
Rose sought his gaze. ‘You found her?’
‘I did. Rose, your mother did come to the orphanage to find you. She has the other half of your token. They told her you had died. Some sort of error in record keeping. Your mother was heartbroken when they gave her the news.’
Still the woman held back. ‘I should never have left you in that place.’
Rose lifted her chin. ‘Why did you?’
‘Your father died at sea. I had another child on the way and I had no way to feed either one. I had to work to support myself. I was a dressmaker before I married, but no one would hire me with a child. The people at the Foundling Hospital promised to care for you until I returned. Five years later, you were gone. Died, they said.’
Rose frowned. ‘I was there when I was eight. Did you not ask for me? Rose Nightingale?’
‘My married name is Fairclough. Your name was given as Fairclough.’
Understanding dawned on Rose’s face. ‘A girl around my age named Fairclough died of pleurisy.’
Jacob stemmed the fury rising in his veins all over again. ‘Someone made a bad mistake. Muddled the records. It was only my man’s digging around that discovered it. Rose, I am sorry.’
Rose stared at the small woman standing so hesitantly beside him, then opened her arms. ‘Mother,’ she said softly.
The two women clung together, weeping.
He felt awkward. He patted her back. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t find her before. It took time to get to the bottom of it.’ Perhaps she wouldn’t have wanted to marry him if she had known she had family who cared.
He stifled the thought, but Rose, as if she sensed his concern, raised her head and drew him into the circle with her mother. ‘Oh, Jake, you could not have given me a better gift on my wedding day. Surely, you could not.’
And as quick as that, all was right with his world.
‘Now then,’ Grandmama said, moving in like a tiger ready to defend her young. ‘You and your mother will have many weeks to spend together once you return from your honeymoon. Right now there is a congregation waiting to greet the Duke and his Duchess.’
Her mother stepped back. ‘Indeed, Rose. Indeed. You go on. I will be here when you return.’
‘You promise?’ Rose visibly choked back tears.
‘She will,’ Jacob said. ‘You can be sure of it.’ Fred and Oliver would make sure of it, he could see it on their faces.
Mrs Fairclough bobbed a curtsy and smiled. ‘No need, Your Grace. Never again will I be parted from my little girl.’
Rose dried her eyes on a handkerchief provided by Georgiana, and together they ran the gauntlet of the waiting congregation.
* * *
Sated and lax and lying in her husband’s arms later that evening Rose pressed a kiss to her husband’s raspy cheek. They had arrived without incident at Dover. Tomorrow they would take the paquet to Calais and from there travel to Paris.
‘Thank you,’ she whispered.
He rolled on his side and drew her closer to his naked body. She sighed at how well they fit together.
‘All I want is your happiness,’ he said.
A gentle thrill wandered its way along her spine. ‘And I yours.’
A vision of the gin-raddled women of St Giles appeared before her eyes. She yawned. ‘Jake, what would you have done if she had been absolutely awful?’
‘Exactly what I did. No matter what, she is your mother. I despaired of finding her, to be honest. Then my man of business suggested asking the Hospital to open their records and we saw that two girl children were admitted on the same day, Rose Nightingale and Rosalyn Fairclough. After looking at both records, we interviewed one of the older wardens. She admitted the clerk at the time had been a drunkard and had messed up several entries, but that she thought they had caught all of his errors.
‘But the more we looked into it, the clearer it became there might have been one mistake they had not seen. The Nightingale child was brown-eyed, for example.’
A heavy weight lifted from her heart and finally, finally she dared to believe. ‘All this time I thought they didn’t want me.’
‘When I found her yesterday, she was so shocked, I honestly wasn’t sure she believed me. I have never seen a woman so confused. She didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry.’
Rose felt like laughing and crying, too. She kissed her husband’s shoulder and hoped he would know how much he had eased her pain. She forced lightness into her voice, for after all, this was her honeymoon. ‘It will be interesting getting to know my family when we return.’
‘The other half of your family,’ he corrected, kissing the tip of her nose. ‘You are part of my family now, too.’
She snuggled closer to his warmth and strength. ‘I really am the luckiest woman alive.’
‘And I the happiest man because of you, my love.’
‘I do love you, Jake.’
‘I know. I love you more, though.’
She laughed.
They kissed and... Well, anyone could guess what happened next...
* * * * *
If you missed the first book in
THE SOCIETY OF WICKED GENTLEMEN
quartet, check out
by Christine Merrill
And look out for the next two titles
in the quartet, coming soon!
Keep reading for an excerpt from by Harper St. George.
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