Whirlwind Wedding

Chapter 26

Austin knelt next to the cot, his gaze riveted on Elizabeth's face. Damn it, she was so frighteningly still. So pale.

William had left nearly an hour ago to get the doctor and the magistrate. How the hell long before he returned? His gaze flicked to the opposite side of the room where Claudine dozed Josette wrapped in her arms. They were exhausted but fine. If only he could say the same about Elizabeth…

He touched her cheek with a trembling hand. She was so soft. Like silk. And so beautiful. And brave. There was no doubt that she'd saved Josette's life.

God he loved her. Totally. He was helpless to stop it, and he no longer wanted to. He wanted to love her. To tell her. Show her. Every day for the rest of their lives.

"Nothing else matters," he whispered cupping her face against his palm. "What happened between us before… it isn't important anymore. I don't care why you married me, if you wanted to be a duchess. I don't care about having children. I only care about you. If you want, we'll adopt children… as many as you like. Dozens of children…" His voice broke and he swallowed hard, his gaze roaming her face.

"You're so beautiful," he said around the lump in his throat. "God I love you. Since the first moment I saw you, tumbling out of the bushes. You're in my heart, my soul. You are my soul." His heart beat in hard heavy beats, and his chest ached. "Please open your eyes." Lowering his head he touched his forehead to hers. "Don't leave me, Elizabeth. Please, darling. Please. I can't even think of being here without you. Don't leave me."

Elizabeth heard his voice from very far away, as if she were in a cave. Don't leave me…

Austin. His name drifted through her mind. She struggled to open her eyes, but someone had attached heavy sandbags to her lids. Weakness washed over her, in stunning contrast to the fire burning in her shoulder.

But she had to tell him. About her regrets. Had to let him know how much she loved him and that she had said those things to protect him. How the thought of leaving him shattered her heart into a thousand pieces. He had to know, but dear God, she didn't have the strength to tell him. Her pain-racked body sought oblivion, to feel no more.

Focusing her strength, she forced her heavy eyelids open. Austin's ravaged face loomed above her and sadness washed through her at the bleak expression in his eyes. Their gazes locked and he drew a sharp breath.

"Elizabeth. You're awake." Taking her hand he pressed his lips to her palm. "Thank God."

She tried to push the words past her dry lips, but dizziness invaded her, and his face wavered before her eyes, ebbing and receding like waves upon the shore. Her eyelids drifted shut but she fought to keep them open, trained on his face, fearing that once she closed her eyes, she'd never see him again.

Summoning her strength, she pushed the word she most wanted to say past her lips. "Austin."

It was barely audible, but he heard her and gently squeezed her hand. "I'm right here, darling. Everything is going to be all right. Save your strength." His whispered words settled on her like a warm, velvety quilt.

So many things to tell you. But she was so tired. So sore. A spasm of pain rolled through her followed by a sickening wave of dizziness. She fought to remain conscious and focused on her thoughts, but blackness edged around the fringes of her vision. Relentless pain seeped through her aching body. Her eyes grew impossibly heavy and she realized she wasn't going to be able to tell him everything. But there was one thing he had to know.

Gazing at him, she tried to smile, but didn't know if she succeeded.

"Love you," she whispered.

Her eyes drifted shut. She heard him calling her name, over and over, pleading, but she couldn't fight the weakness, the pain, any longer.

She floated away toward a place where pain did not exist.

Austin sat on the steps leading to the cottage, his insides hollow, his heart filled with a crushing pain.

Lowering his head into his hands, he tried not to think the worst, but it was impossible. Desolation slammed into him. "Please, God" he whispered "don't tell me I've killed her by bringing her here."

The doctor had been with her for nearly an hour, and each passing minute tightened the vise of misery strangling him.

The magistrate had arrived with several men who'd removed Gaspard's body. Austin, William, and Claudine had answered the magistrate's questions. With Claudine acting as interpreter, Austin had explained that Gaspard had sent him threatening letters, and that he'd hired a Bow Street Runner to find him. He allowed the magistrate to assume that the Runner had directed him to Gaspard's location. After the magistrate left, William had traveled back to the town to purchase food and supplies.

And still Elizabeth hadn't woken up.

Damn it, if that doctor didn't come out soon, he was simply going to barge in and grab him by the neck and force him to say that Elizabeth would recover.

The cottage door opened and he jumped to his feet. The doctor and Claudine emerged.

"How is she?" Austin demanded, his gaze flicking from one to the other. He knew they saw the stark fear he couldn't hide.

"Resting comfortably," the doctor said in heavily accented English.

Austin locked his knees to keep from falling down. "She's not going to… die?"

"On the contrary, I expect your wife to make a full recovery, although she is weak and experiencing a great deal of pain right now. I changed her bandage and administered a dosage of laudanum."

A full recovery. She was going to live. He braced his hand against the cottage to keep himself upright. "Did she wake up?"

"Yes. She asked for you, and I assured her you were right outside. I recommend she not be moved for at least a week, but once she's feeling up to it, she may travel back to England." The doctor removed his pince-nez and polished it on his sleeve. "Remarkable young woman. Very robust in nature."

Austin nearly laughed out loud, something he hadn't thought he'd ever do again. "Yes, indeed rny wife is very robust." Thank God.

"You may see her now," the doctor said and Austin didn't hesitate for an instant.

He entered the cottage and crossed the room, on decidedly wobbly legs. Elizabeth lay on the narrow bed in the corner, blankets neatly tucked around her.

He knelt next to her, his eyes anxiously scanning her face. Although she was pale, her skin no longer appeared waxy. Her chest rose and fell with slow, steady breaths. Reaching out, he brushed an auburn curl from her brow. A combination of relief and love suffused him, hitting him so hard his breath stalled.

Elizabeth, his wonderful, unpredictable Elizabeth, was going to be all right. She'd said she loved him, and even if that were nothing more than delusional mutterings, he believed that it meant there was hope for them. He would make her love him. Somehow. By some miracle, they'd been given this second chance and by God he was going to do everything in his power to convince her to put the past behind them and stay with him. He loved her too damn much and wasn't about to contemplate life without her. She was his, and he would spend the rest of his life trying to prove that to her.

Lowering his head he rested his forehead against the blanket and whispered the only two words he could manage. "Love you."

Later that night, Austin sat at the scarred wooden table, warming his hands around a chipped mug of tea. A low fire burned in the grate, casting the small cottage with a shadowy glow.

Elizabeth had not awakened, but her breathing was regular and she showed no signs of developing fever. Josette lay asleep on a pallet in the corner, William and Claudine kneeling beside her, talking in hushed tones.

Sipping his tea, Austin assessed Claudine. She was a very pretty woman, petite, with shiny sable hair and wide hazel eyes. An air of quiet competence surrounded her. He'd noticed that her hands bore calluses and she moved about the cottage with the ease of a woman accustomed to domestic duties. Certainly not a highborn lady or one of wealth.

He watched his brother lightly brush his fingers over the bruise marring Claudine's cheek, his lips thinning to a tight white line. Claudine captured William's hand and pressed a fervent kiss against his palm. There was no mistaking the love shining in their eyes.

William helped Claudine settle herself next to Josette, and once she was comfortable, he joined Austin at the table.

Austin looked at his brother, noting his marked limp and the changes in his appearance. His face was thinner and deep lines bracketed his mouth and creased his forehead. He saw no sign of the mischievous boy he'd known in this serious man and his heart ached for the hardships William had clearly suffered. There were so many things to say, to ask, he didn't know where to begin. Clearing his throat he finally said, "Josette looks just like you."

"Yes, she does."

"How old is she?"

"Two." William looked directly into his eyes. "Your wife saved her life. It is a debt I can never repay."

"Your wife helped save Elizabeth's life. That is a debt I can never repay." Reaching across the table, he grasped William's forearms and was gratified when William returned the gesture. "I cannot believe I'm sitting here with you, talking to you. That you're alive. My God, Mother, Robert, and Caroline will-"

"How are they?"

"Fine. They're going to be shocked… and ecstatic when they see you." He drew a deep breath. "I heard Gaspard talking to Elizabeth and I spoke to him myself, so I know most of what happened but why did you let us believe all this time you were dead?"

"I had no choice. I couldn't risk Gaspard's finding Claudine and Josette. If I'd contacted you, told you I was alive, I would have exposed myself and them. And it might have placed you and the family in danger as well."

"There were soldiers in your regiment who witnessed you going down in battle."

"I did. My horse was shot and we went down together, but unlike so many others, I was not crushed by my mount. There was mass confusion following the battle at Waterloo, thousands of dead and wounded soldiers everywhere. I managed to escape, slipping my timepiece under the body of a dead soldier I knew no one would ever be able to identify."

He squeezed Austin's arms, then sat back. "I returned to Claudine and Josette. I knew Gaspard would be searching for them to take revenge for my double-cross… if he had survived. We had to go into hiding until I knew if Gaspard was still alive. I soon discovered he was."

"How did you meet Claudine?"

"She'd saved my life two years earlier. I'd taken a bayonette in the leg. The next thing I remember was waking up and looking into the kindest, gentlest eyes I'd ever seen. She said she'd found me in the woods, about two miles from the battle site. I suppose I must have dragged myself there, although I don't recall doing so. She nursed me back to health."

"Why would she help a British soldier?"

"She told me she'd just lost her younger brother to the war. Even though I was British, she didn't want to inflict the pain of losing a loved one on someone else and she didn't want my death on her conscience. She decided to do what she could to help me recover, then send me on my way."

He clasped his hands in front of him on the table. "We never intended to fall in love, but we did. After two weeks, I was healed enough to rejoin my regiment, but I couldn't leave her. She refused to marry me, fearing the danger I'd be placed in by having a French wife, but I was stubborn. We traveled to a village several hours away and were secretly married.

"After that, I settled her in another village, under a different name. I wanted her away from Gaspard, whose vicious hatred of the British had turned to madness after Mien's death. The need to keep her safe became even more crucial once I learned she was with child."

His gaze drifted briefly to where his wife and daughter slept peacefully. "Gaspard found the church where we'd been married and he came after me. He was going to kill me, then find Claudine and kill her. I managed to convince him I was sympathetic to the French-after all, I had a French wife-how loyal to the English could I be? To prove my loyalty, I promised to provide him and his men with weapons."

"Which is what you were doing that night on the docks," Austin said. "Only the weapons were useless."

"Yes, except for the top several in each crate in case he tested them, which he did." He dragged his hands down his face. "When I saw you there, I panicked. I couldn't explain things to you, and I couldn't let Gaspard see you. Both of our lives were at stake."

"I want you to know how much I regret that night, William. Branding you a traitor, disavowing you as my brother-"

"You had no way of knowing, Austin."

"I should have trusted in you, known that you would never commit treason."

"You believed what I wanted you to believe. I could have confessed what was going on when we spoke, but I couldn't risk that someone might overhear, or question you. I would have said anything-anything-to protect Claudine and Josette, even if it meant pretending to my own brother that I was a traitor."

Austin looked over at Elizabeth. Yes, he could understand that depth of love.

"I'm sorry that I've had to allow you, Mother, Robert, and Caroline to mourn me this past year," William said in a quiet voice, "but until I took care of Gaspard I couldn't risk returning to the family. By killing him, you've set me free."

A shudder passed through Austin. "That bastard almost killed my wife. I would kill him again if I could."

"She is very brave, your wife. Have you been married long?"

"No. But she's changed my life." He looked at William and understanding flowed between them. "You understand."

"Perfectly. Claudine changed mine."

Silence fell for several seconds, then Austin said "The first night I met Elizabeth, she told me you were alive. I didn't believe her."

William frowned. "How could she possibly have known I was alive?"

Austin gazed at the cot by the fire, at the woman who held his heart and soul in her hands. He would not dishonor her and what she'd done for him and his family by hiding the gift of her visions… for that's exactly what they were. A gift. Returning his attention to William, he explained just how extraordinary his wife really was.

When he finished, William simply stared at him. "That's incredible."

Once again his gaze drifted to Elizabeth. "Yes, William. That's exactly what she is. Incredible."

And the moment she awoke, he would begin convincing her she was just that. And that she belonged with him.

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