The Duke's Prize

Chapter 17

“The baby...” Cordelia whispered before her eyes fluttered shut and she fainted.

“Baby?!” Edward sputtered and groaned. “Mrs. Potter, are you well?”

“Yes, Your Grace.” Mrs. Potter came forward and sat near Cordelia’s body.

“Send for the surgeon immediately.” Edward tried to prop himself up, but the pain from the wound in his side was unbearable. He reached over and examined Cordelia’s prostate figure next to his own. He let out a large breath of relief when he realized that the blood that was pooling around their bodies and staining her gown was coming from him only, and that Cordelia was not injured.

“Daisy has already gone for help. I sent her once I discovered Mr. Potter in the foyer.” Mrs. Potter leaned forward, taking her apron off and holding it over Edward’s wound. He flinched as she pressed it tightly, but he soon took it from her hand and held it on his own.

“Is she uninjured? I could not bear it...” Edward tried to sit up once again, but the pain was too much for him to do so.

“She will be well.” Mrs. Potter reached for a pillow that was sitting on a chair, and used it to prop up Cordelia’s head. “She has had a shock, is all.”

It did not take long for the constable and also the doctor to appear and Cordelia was soon taken to a bed for rest, while the surgeon worked on Edward’s wound.

Cordelia arose many hours later, in a panic, gasping and sitting up straight. She was surprised to find herself once again in the same room that she had slept in months before when she had gone to find her father. Mrs. Potter was sitting next to her, and she shushed Cordelia, taking Cordelia’s delicate hand in her own strong, rough one.

“You must rest,” Mrs. Potter cooed. “You have had a great shock.”

“The baby,” Cordelia whimpered. “And Edward?”

“The baby is fine, just as you are.” Mrs. Potter’s voice was soothing. “And the Duke is resting. The surgeon says he will mend with rest and good care. Daisy is sitting with him as we speak.”

“And Mr. Potter?” Cordelia’s voice was calmer now that she was assured that her baby and her husband were safe from harm.

“Oh, he’ll live.” Mrs. Potter chuckled. “He has a hard head, that one. I think his pride was the only thing that was truly wounded. It was simply a blow, and he has recovered. Although he has a nasty mark that will take some time to fade away. You might not believe it, but my brother is a vain man, and his ego is quite bruised.”

At these words, Cordelia could not help but to laugh. She wiped the few tears that had gathered at the corners of her eyes and sat up. Mrs. Potter helped her, and then insisted that Cordelia have something to eat before going to see Edward.

“It will not do to have you faint once again. You need to gather your strength. And not just for yourself, my lady, but also for your husband and your child.”’

Cordelia was surprised to find that she had an appetite. She drank the tea and ate the stew that Mrs. Potter brought into her room on tray, and then set about arranging her hair and washing her face so that she did not frighten her husband. Cordelia steeled herself for the condition in which she might find her husband, and wondered what exactly she would say to her husband.

He was still slumbering when she entered his chambers. Cordelia begged off Mrs. Potter and Daisy, choosing to sit near her husband, holding her hand in his as he slept.

“My Winter Rose.” Edwards low grumbling made Cordelia’s heart flutter.

“Edward.” Cordelia inched closer to him, afraid to disturb him. “How are you feeling?”

“There is pain but your presence is a balm. I will live.”

At those words, Cordelia sighed and moved closer to him.

“Kiss me.” Edward commanded and Cordelia complied, placing her lips softly against his own. “So this is not a dream. You have returned to me.”

“Yes, Edward.” Cordelia smiled and placed her hand at her belly. There was not much to show yet, but a warmness stirred inside of her when she was so close to Edward.

“The baby?”

“All is well.” Cordelia beamed. “I know it is a surprise...”

“It is a blessing. I do not deserve such happiness, but I am not too proud to say that I am humbled by your willingness to forgive and love me.”

“What you did hurt me.” Cordelia could not lie, and her voice took on a sombre tone. “When I awoke alone, and you did not return... Brookington Hall is a mausoleum of your mother’s suffering, and I feared that her fate would be my own. And when the Contessa came and spun her web of lies...”

“It was not hard to believe that I am a villain.”

“You made it very easy to believe the worst of yourself, Edward. But I had never thought it. Even though Jamie seemed unsure of your character, I saw your true nature, your true kindnesses. You treated me as a gentleman would, and you did love your brother. It was plain to me that you were a victim of abuse and lies. But at the falsehoods of one person I allowed myself to be prejudiced towards you.”

Edward smiled. “We would both not be here if I had not held prejudice in my own heart against you. I thought you haughty, cold and calculating and was willing to wager on your own person.”

Cordelia shook her head. “My father is the one who proposed the wager. If anyone else had accepted, my fate could have been quite grave. I thank God that it was you, Edward.”

“And so we were merely players, working with the hands we were dealt.”

Cordelia laughed. “Yes, and I think we have won the game, Edward.”

“You cannot know how relieved I am to see you so well, Cordelia. I had feared the worst. Where have you been these months?”

“Green Boughs.”

“Green Boughs? I thought it had been long sold to settle your father’s debts?”

“That it had, to an old acquaintance, Captain Andrew Wedmore.”

“Captain Wedmore.” Edward stopped to think. “An old family friend?”

“Oh no, I introduced him a few years ago to his wife Priscilla.”

“And she is a friend, so of course she would take you in.”

“Unfortunately, Andrew is widowed. But he resides at Green Boughs with his sister and his children.”

“And this Andrew,” Edward’s voice became deeper. “He took you in and provided you with shelter. You became great friends with him?”

“Andrew is a gentleman.” Cordelia began slowly. “He was kind and I truly could not have asked for a better friend. He took me in during a time of need and afforded me every comfort. I am grateful to him.”

Edward drew Cordelia closer to him, bringing her to his side so that her face was close to his own. “The only thing I want in this world is your happiness, Cordelia. Whatever you want, whoever will make you happy, I shall grant you anything you desire. I could not live in a world where you felt sorrow.”

Tears began to form in her eyes as she pressed her lips to his. “I am grateful to Andrew. But I love you, Edward.”

As soon as Edward had healed sufficiently, the young couple went off to Brookington Hall. They spent many hours in each other’s quiet company, learning to love each other in the most passionate and tender ways. They had both resolved to turn the estate into a place of happiness and lightness, a place where their most dear wish could come true, that their child could enter a world of love and not sorrow.

John Addison removed himself to the Continent, and his true location was known to few but his closest and most true friends. Daniel Hightower, in order to stave off scandal and appease his mother married a young lady from a respectable family and the trio (Daniel, his mother and the young bride) left on an extended honeymoon on the Greek Isles in order to weather the storm of infamy.

As for the Contessa, she was never formally punished for her misdeeds. There would be no trial, or Newgate or hanging. Violet had never fully recovered from the blow that she received from Mrs. Potter. When she came to, Violet had lost her senses and was quite mad, unable to form words, and violent towards herself and her own appearance. And so the famed Contessa spent the rest of her days rotting away in an asylum, ravaging her once good looks and rocking back and forth in hysterical laughter at a joke that no one could hear but her. She had gambled the most and lost everything.