Melting a Duke's Winter Heart Bonus Scene

It was a warm day next spring when Marianne finally walked out of Edgar Lockridge's house. Sarah had wondered for some time why she stayed, and had ended up deciding that the idea of scandal was not as easily accepted for her mother as it was for her.

Then that day, when Sarah was out in the back gardens of her new home, directing the gardener to plant bulbs along the north ridge, she caught sight of a slim figure standing at the end of the lane with a single valise and a walking cloak.

"Mama?" she asked, breathless. "Mama, are you alright?"

Her mother's hair, with that singular greying streak, was in a loose braid over one shoulder. She looked younger; freer. Almost like a milkmaid or a woman of the Scottish forests who had her life still ahead of her.

She walked toward Sarah with confidence.

"Sarah. Do you have a place for me to stay? I'm sorry, but I did it. I finally did it. I saw you walk away from everything and survive, and I had to at least try—"

She hadn't even finished what she was saying when Sarah enveloped her in a hug. Her mother felt frail under her touch, but strong. Resolved.

"What did Father say?"

"I tried to speak with him about it last night; tried to make some sort of opportunity for him to change instead of always holding my silence, but this happened."

She stepped back and showed a deepening bruise on the side of her neck. "So I waited until he went to the House of Lords today and I left him a note."

Sarah winced at the sight of the wound. "It will be a hard day for him," she said wryly. "Parliament finally came to their senses about his miserable, greedy bill and the whole thing will be officially overturned today. Edgar Lockridge is not going to be a very well-respected name from here on out."

"I wish I felt bad for him," Marianne said a little sadly. "I wish I felt anything, but I don't."

***

Lucille came over the next day and sat with Sarah and their mother for tea.

She still hadn't spoken to Reginald, but Sarah knew better than to press the topic with her. It was one thing Lucille didn't want to speak about anymore, and besides, there was plenty to keep them occupied with Marianne's surprise appearance.

She'd changed into one of Sarah's dresses for the morning, and Augustus had promised to get her to a proper tailor at the first possibility. It was a dark dress—a deep blue and edged with silver that set off the streak in her hair.

She looked younger than she ever had, and as Sarah gazed at her, she thought for the first time that she could see the beautiful girl that must have captured counties.

The strain of Edgar's overbearing nature had evaporated from her face.

"How are you settling in, Mama?" Lucille asked, stirring sugar into her tea. "I know that Sarah and Augustus are quite capable of putting you up, but if you'd rather come stay with me and Reginald..."

She trailed off, and Sarah thought she could guess what her sister was thinking.

Of course Lucille would open her home, but with things still not settled between her and her husband, the addition of Marianne Lockridge could add more strain than good.

"We are settled here," Sarah intervened quickly, laying a hand on her sister's arm. "I think it best that she stays with us at present."

She offered up a slice of cake to her mother, who took it gingerly between her fingers and inhaled gently. "It smells heavenly," she said in a soft voice.

"Now that it is warmer outside, you should go on walks with me to the lake," Sarah said with a smile.

"Your complexion might suffer after so many years indoors, but if you take a parasol, I think we can avoid having you come away from the experience looking like a weathered sea captain."

Lucille put her hand on her mother's. "Are you really alright, Mama? Are you free of him?"

"I don't know why I waited so long," she answered. "I think it was at first to protect you girls, but when Sarah did what she did, it cleared the way—there was nothing more to fear in the way of scandal."

Sarah laughed wryly. "That much I did bring to the table."

"But when you were gone, I stayed on. The damage had been done, but habits are sometimes stronger than principles, and I had grown into a habit of just sitting and accepting the life that had been handed to me. I didn't know how to build a habit of hope."

She drew a deep breath. "Then, a week ago, your father fired my lady's maid. It wasn't shocking—as you well know, staff in that house hardly last the year if they're lucky.

"I had lost many servants to your father's binges of anger in the past. But there was something about this time. I wanted to implore him to let her stay, and so I went downstairs to your father's study and asked him. Do you know what he said?"

"You don't have to remember it now if it is too painful, Mama," Sarah ventured, hating the way her mother shrank from the truth of the story even as she told it.

"No, I want you to know." Marianne looked stricken. "Because in truth, I'm devastated that it took as long as it did for me to get free of him, and I want you to see that the bonds are cut with certainty now.

"Anyway, I told him that the maid was special to me and I didn't want her to leave. He told me that it didn't matter—that the entire thing was handled and done with and nothing I could do would change it.

"Something snapped in me, and I called him out about everything he'd done to you: how he signed Lucille up for a loveless marriage and then sent Sarah into the street with nothing but the clothes on her back."

She shook her head when her daughters attempted to console her, "I'm quite alright. Anyway, he then said, 'Do you know why I sent away your maid, Marianne? Because I saw you growing too fond of her, and any sort of love is weakness. It's the same reason it's good that those worthless girls are out of your life too.'"

"Oh, Mama, that's awful," Lucille breathed.

"Well, I just stared at him and I knew in my heart that it was over. There was no salvaging what he had done, and if someone can salvage the soul of Edgar Lockridge, it won't be me. I rescind my duty in that regard."

"You were brave to leave, Mama," Sarah said. She smiled and put a hand to her mother's face. "Sitting here, you look almost happy. You look... beautiful; free."

Marianne shrugged uncomfortably under the tenderness of her daughter's touch.

"I don't know about beautiful," she said quickly. "I wasted the best years of my life on that miserable excuse of a man. I have little left to offer now that I'm finally free of him."

Lucille gave a sad little smile. "These past years with Father, have you been happy?" she asked.

"You know I have not been."

"Then they weren't the best years of your life," she said. "We can only assume that the years ahead are much better, and full of all the life and beauty that you've missed."

The girls talked for a little more, comfortable in each other's presence, not dwelling on the bruises of the past but trying, tentatively, to build something worthy in the future.

When Lucille made a move as though to leave, Sarah stood quickly, nervously, and stopped her.

"I know you have to get back to Lord Crowan," she said, "but I have to ask you to stay just a bit longer. Augustus will be returning soon."

"And?" Lucille wasn't being unkind, Sarah knew—it was just a little out of the ordinary for her to wait to see Augustus on visits.

Sarah was beginning to manufacture a reason, but before she had to do so, her husband appeared in the doorway, riding crop in hand.

"Ladies." He gave a deep bow and swept his hat off his head. "I heard you would be in here."

He gave a special smile in Marianne's direction, a smile that touched Sarah's heart more than anybody's.

He'd been so tender with her mother in the days she'd been there, and he'd promised that she would always have a home at the Whitehall mansion as long as she wanted one.

"I'm glad you're here," Lucille said with one of her little laughs. "Sarah will not let me leave until I see you."

"Oh?" Confusion wrinkled Augustus' brow.

"That's not it exactly." Sarah stood and ran her fingers down the front of her dress. She was sweating with nervousness, and the palms of her hands were wet. "It's just that I had something important I wanted to tell you all at once."

Marianne's face lightened with understanding at once, but both Lucille and Augustus were confused. Sarah rushed on before they figured it out for themselves.

"It is good to have my mother here," she said, "but she isn't the only new guest coming to the Hall. I fully expect another in about six months."

And she laid a hand on her stomach. It was not yet full enough to be noticed through the shift-like shape of her gown, but she knew she would be showing more soon.

Augustus' eyes filled with wonderment and he came to her side, reaching out to touch her arm as though she were a piece of fragile art.

"A child?" he said breathlessly.

"A child," she answered.

Then all was a blur. Lucille was there asking questions, wanting to know how long she had known and how she felt and if she'd found a midwife; Marianne was wrapping her in a tender hug and telling her that she would always be there to help out along the way, and Augustus - dear, bear-like Augustus - was weeping like a child.

When everything had finally settled down and Lucille had gone home, Marianne slipped away and let the two lovers share the news in the privacy of their parlour.

Augustus leaned down and put his head against Sarah's stomach, holding her gently.

She laughed. "I don't think you'll be able to feel any kicking quite yet."

"I just want to be as near as possible to the beauty that we created," he said. "I can't wait to meet our child."

"There's something I've been thinking about," Sarah said. She was most nervous about this question—unsure if it would be a blessing or a curse to her husband. "Something I wish to ask you about."

"Go on."

"If it's a girl," she said softly, running her fingers through her husband's wild hair, "I have a name picked out."

He cocked his head to the side in a silent question. She smiled as gently as she could manage. "Would you be willing to call her Leticia? Lettie for short?"

Tears filled his eyes, running over in an abundance down his weathered cheeks. He nodded, wordlessly, and then pulled Sarah down beside him on the settee. She laid her head against his shoulder and felt the true safety she'd only ever found in him.

After a moment's quiet, Augustus spoke.

"I would love to name her Lettie," he said. "Sarah, you are one of the most remarkable people I have ever met, thinking of my past even at this moment and finding a way to weave it into our future in a beautiful way."

He kissed her on the head, and she closed her eyes in happiness.

The Next Book is Available on Our Website and on Amazon!
Read The Next Book!
Click on the Image or Scan the QR Code