Esther had always thought that love, whenever it may come, had to be the most unbelievable, unexplainable emotion. One that would make her feel as if she were the centre of the world, as if she were the only most important human being ever and that, irrespective of how short-lived it may be, for clearly nothing can last forever, had to stay with her for a hundred lifetimes.
Although every time these thoughts polluted her mind, she shook herself back to sense, telling herself that life was no fairy tale and love, as heavenly it may sound, was only a pathetic excuse to keep the world going, regenerating and multiplying.
But, God she was wrong. Love was never an excuse.
Love was never a thing of fiction, it was in fact every last ounce, the most real thing ever.
And now that she could feel it, on her lips, beneath her skin, in her bones, she didn't know if she could ever stop smiling. Not even in a thousand years, no.
"Will you not stop smiling, it is rather annoying." Nathaniel ground out letting all his irritation speak through his words.
"Huh? Apologies. I didn't realise you were watching." She really had not. Even though he had been sitting right across her as their carriage rolled them back to London, she was more than oblivious of her surroundings.
She extended her neck ahead and pushed the curtains aside to see how far they had come, not that she was very familiar with the route, but she assumed she would recognize if they were back in London.
"Why of course, why would you." Nate rolled his eyes in disgust. He only had her good interest on heart when he talked her into seeing the better side of the Duke but he had not, in a hundred years, expected to see his sister smitten with a man so much. Neither had he imagined, he would live to see such a day.
He liked to believe his sister rather intellectual. "I can't believe the man thought of giving you the ring in a chain, he sure has ideas." He added eyeing the diamond-studded clover hanging off her neck Esther couldn't seem to keep her hands off of.
She only blushed in response. Esther Sherborne! Only blushed in response! Who would have ever thought?
"Real diamonds, are they not?" Nate said as he left his seat and shifted to Esther's next to her. His hands reached to examine the leaves, "I can only imagine the cost."
Esther swatted his hand away. "Do not touch, you shall pollute the lustre." she gave him an eye and he sat back into his previous seat however the thought he introduced did not leave her so easily.
Clearly, the diamonds on the ring were the most expensive and there were a dozen of them on it. No common man could afford such a luxury for a mere engagement ring.
The thoughts that began from the value of the ring soon developed into speculating the identity of the man, for one thing, Esther did not know him apart from his name and the fact that he, undoubtedly, was a rather close friend of the Duke of Dales. Certainly, he wouldn't be too poor a man if he was so close to the Duke but she still hoped he was not too rich. Juliette wouldn't like that.
Her face grew hot at the thought of facing Juliette. She wouldn't exactly welcome the thought of Esther breaking her age-old vow of not ever marrying a wealthy and powerful man.
"Nate," she began when a helpful thought crossed her mind, "you know Edward well, do you not?"
"Just shoot your question already." He replied in a rather smug tone.
Esther did not want to fuel his pride but her curiosity had the best of her. "Do you think this would be too expensive for him, or is it no big deal?", she asked with her eyes on the ring hanging on her neck.
"You are surely joking!" Nate barked a laugh.
Esther couldn't make sense of what was so hilarious. Either Edward was too rich to mind tens of such rings or he was so poor that he had to buy it after putting all his wealth and life on a mortgage. Either way, she didn't want to know.
"You want me to tell you how r-"
"NO." Esther raised a finger to make him shut up. "Thank you, but I shall rather hear it from him."
"But I can tell you-"
"But you shall not."
Nate smirked enjoying her displeasure but decided to not step in between their romance.
The rest of the ride was another episode of Esther smiling foolishly while her fingers tugged on the ring and it was overwhelming, to say the least. Which was why Nate couldn't help but jump off the carriage the moment it halted afront the Sherborne house.
Esther on the other hand couldn't delay it enough.
Life was bliss until she was far from London, but once familiar landmarks began to appear, the fear of the inevitable began crawling up her throat. Facing Lady Sherborne.
Esther had done many remarkable mishaps in her life, skipped lessons, bunked parties, dumped men, but none of them and neither all of them together could stand equal to what she had pulled in the past week.
She skipped town, dodged her men and God help her, she got engaged.
Wait.
This perhaps was not all that bad. Perhaps, not at all.
"Are you not getting off?" Nate's annoyed call broke her train of thoughts and she realised he had been standing there with the door open and his hand out for her all this time.
"Well, of course!" She mumbled and put her hand into his but instead of stepping out, she pulled him in with a jolt.
"Why, woman. Are you insane?" He cried in shock.
"Is she here?" Esther asked in a whisper paying no heed to his complaining.
"Is who here?"
"Mother, of course." She answered in the most unladylike manner, "is she here, at the door?"
Nate looked over his shoulder and then looked back at her with blank eyes. Esther's brows rose in question and impatience.
"Yes." Nate replied, "right here."
"You are not joking, yes?" Her tone was almost threatening.
"Boy, why would I?" Nate pulled his hand out of her grasp in exasperation and said loud enough for even their neighbours to hear, "Mother is right here, waiting for you, her run-away daughter. Where else do you suppose she would be?"
Esther cursed her own sensibility inwardly for putting her trust in her brother, surely he meant no good, nothing else could be expected out of him.
"Well done digging my grave, brother." She said in the most ungrateful tone, her eyes the very picture of sarcasm.
"Come now, don't keep her waiting," Nate said, giving her his hand yet again. The mischief in his voice urged her to pull it, and out of his shoulders this time, however, she was not in a position to cause more mischief.
"Of, course," she replied with a humourless smile as she stepped out of the carriage onto the familiar land of London.
Lady Sherborne was the very picture of anger and betrayal when Esther's eyes first landed on her face and it was only fair. Not only had her only daughter run away in the middle of the night only to return to town after a week, but her one son, who, one must add, she took great pride in, aided her escape. That after he had been away for the entire season no less.
She wanted to welcome him with open arms but the parent in her compelled her to keep a firm exterior and punish the kids for their misbehaviour. Fortunately for her, Esther had brought with herself just the excuse for skipping the parenting.
The moment Esther only very briefly flashed the ring resting on her chest to her, Lady Sherborne had to forget all that was making her upset. Her eyes gleamed with joy as if the sun itself had abandoned the sky and taken its place in them. The maids and the footmen, who must have had the privilege of witnessing her fuming with anger the past few days stood there with their mouths agape, clearly failing to believe their eyes.
Esther herself was quite astonished. she had expected happiness, and joy too, but what she saw was ultimate euphoria. Lady Sherborne was elated at the news so much that she put her arms around Esther and pulled her into a hug that was warm and intoxicating. And before she broke out of the hug, her face was already wet with tears and Esther's with kisses.
The sight of it all also hurt Esther to a certain extent, as she realised she was keeping her mother from such great happiness by not getting married already.
Lord Sherborne as well demonstrated some moisture in his eyes when he was told of the news that night and grazed her head with his fatherly hand. He had never been the kind to be too expressive of emotions hence that was beyond enough.
Everything was beautiful and surreal.
The next two days passed in the marriage rush which began from a dramatic afternoon of talking the Radcliffes down for accepting Florence Lewis as their new Lady Radcliffe, not that they had much say in it anymore. Leonardo was already Lord Radcliffe and his word was the command.
Soon letters were sent out to the entirety of London about the revocation of the Radcliffe-Valentine marriage accompanied by the invitation for the Radcliffe-Lewis marriage and of course, the most alarming and awaited wedding of the delightful Miss Sherborne which was scheduled to happen the day after Leo-Florence's nuptials.
All planned and loaded carriages in London, ready to leave town at the close of the season for another six months only to return the next season, were unloaded and delayed by a week soon as the news was sent out.
Ladies stuffed the Sherborne and Radcliffe drawing rooms for the next two days in congratulations and greetings, Esther however had no time to attend them. A new bunch of flowers and letters were delivered to her room every few hours, not to mention the flowers and letters that had piled up in her room during the days she was eloping, she however was hardly in there.
She had one brief look at the evergrowing pile the first night back in London and already felt exhausted and decided to just unbox the gifts Nate had brought her from his trip. There were dresses, books by her favourite author- Lord Wordwitch, jewellery, hats and scarves, colours too, although she had long ago given up on the art of colouring, of course not before she had excelled in it, and there was a letter, on the bottom of it all.
"There is a message in there, it shall make you happy I think. Read it when you have time." Nate had mentioned while he got them all delivered to her room.
Esther flipped the envelope around in her hand but her room was too dark to read and the thought of getting up and lighting the candle tired her even further and soon she was fast asleep.
Madame DeRosé, the modiste, did not fail to taunt Esther when she visited the boutique for her wedding dress the next morning with Florence. "Tell me, had I not told you to have a wedding gown saved for last-minute plans?" she had said with a heightened tone, "A modiste knows a bride when she sees one."
Esther only blushed in response.
This had become her thing lately, she only blushed in response to most conversations. Fortunately, Madame DeRosé had been much farsighted than her and had saved her the best dress of the season. She only had to instruct some fine fittings and it was ready to wear down the aisle. It was a beautiful white gown with silk and patterned netting that bore embroidery near the neckline and all over the partially see-through sleeves.
Florence's wedding gown was a fine silk dress with pearled lacing and a long train at the back that dragged after her when she walked. The smile on her face never left her eyes while she was in it, Esther couldn't help but notice.
There was an uproar, although very subtle about a nobility of such high rank as Lord Radcliffe himself, marrying the daughter of a housemaid, however, much couldn't be said or done about it. After all, they were the Radcliffes and Florence was the soon-to-be, in fact, almost-already Lady Radcliffe. one wouldn't want her turning her back to them.
Esther did not know much about the Valentines and how they took the turn of events but from what she knew of Rebecca, she was certain she couldn't have taken it lightly. It was a relief nothing too noisy had been heard from her side till yet. Perhaps, the Valentines left town, like the rumours seemed to say.
The second afternoon, Sherborne drawing-room was flooded with gifts and presents from the Richcombs, the Duke's sister and Lord and Lady Richcombs themselves came to congratulate her on the occasion. The Duke, however, was nowhere to be seen. She hadn't seen much of Edward either in both days but she did, without a miss, receive his flowers. Big, beautiful and the most eye-catchy bunch of all. They were lined next to her bed in her room, each with a little card that read- Edward.
The little Henry Richcomb, Eleanor's son, had brought with him a wooden chest full of clover rings, he said he was told she loved them. Esther couldn't not rejoice with such a heartfelt gift.
It turned out that Edward was closer to the Duke and his family than she had assumed. He was in fact just like a brother to his grace and his sister.
"I was afraid you would not want to see my little brother's face after knowing the truth, I am elated to know you chose otherwise." Eleanor had said that afternoon in her ears when she packed her in a hug. "He will be a great husband, I can assure you.", she had added with a glisten of a tear in her eyes.
It was all perfect. All wonderful and beyond reality. Everything was done and dusted and there was only one last thing left to put in place, the real truth.
When Esther saw Edward at the Radcliffe reception, she knew it was time.