Moth Among Butterflies

CHAPTER XVII

"I knew it!" Miss Emma Carlisle declared in front of the party- Cavendish, Esther, Lady Emilia, and Philip (as the stable hand's audience was required by the duke). "I have been telling you yesterday, Esther dear, that an offer will soon be heard by your ears. Oh but this is very soon indeed!"

"Indeed!" the duke's mother echoed. "Whenever did this happen?"

"Last night, Mama." he admitted with the brightest of smiles like that of a child.

"I congratulate you, dearest sister!" Miss Carlisle exclaimed. "Oh but last night you say. I wonder how it happened." She inquired with squinted eyes and a teasing smile which the Lady Emilia copied in the same spirits and curiousity as the younger lady.

"Pray tell us, Seth, what events unfolded last night." his mother inquired.

Cavendish chuckled at the remembrance of the past night especially that where the lips were involved. However much the curious ladies wanted him to divulge some very churlish events, he did not wish to satisfy them. Those memories are his and Esther's alone.

"I called upon you three to anounce our happy engagement. There is no need for details." he concluded.

"My dear Seth is such a bore." his mother teased. "Then what are we all here for then if you are not willing to particularize on that matter?" she inquired.

"We are all here, for I have news for Philip." Everyone's attention was immediately casted upon the silent stable boy who, in turn, looked at them with a bewildered visage.

"Y-your Grace?" Philip stammered.

"I have told Esther of my plan last night, and she completely acquiesced." The duke started while Esther nodded in agreement. "Although everything seems fine now, there is Lord Carlisle whom we have to worry about. He could do nothing about Esther now, for she is in my care. (He looked at his beloved.) That man will never be able to lay his hands on her again. (His gaze fell on Emma next.) But, forgive my frank words Miss Emma Carlisle, he will never agree to your wishes upon marriage. (Now he looked at Philip.) And so I have decided to make Philip a gentleman."

Everyone, Esther excluded, casted confused stares at the duke, but only one- the Lady Emilia -was able to speak her thoughts. "How, my dear?"

The duke smiled in cognizance, the very same one he always made when business was afoot. "Philip is a skilled man. I remember him being the creator of Esther's pen, and the idea came to me one morning. I wanted to help this man who was the reason why Esther was able to write down her thoughts. I will send you to Oxford, man, to study. You will get whatever degree matches your ablities, and I will be your benefactor. What say you, Philip?"

"Your grace!" the stable hand began. "I-I cannot thank you enough! I will do my best! I shall for Emma." Philip exclaimed in deep gratitude.

"Oh, Your Grace!" Miss Carlisle exclaimed in the same spirits as her lover. "I do not know what to say! How can we ever repay you?"

"It is I who is repaying you. You both have taken care of Esther with love, and I am very thankful for that. And Miss Carlisle-"

"Emma, Your Grace." she corrected. "You are already a brother to me the moment you have told me your deep regard for my dear sister."

"Emma it is. You will be living with me and Esther here at Bellsover. We will tell your father that I need you for wedding preparations and to accompany my fiancé. I will not let any damage come upon you as well."

"Your Grace this is too much indeed! I thank you! Thank you!" Emma exclaimed, her eyes forming droplets of fresh tears that fell down her cheek while her lover stroked her back in consolation.

"Emma," Lady Emilia interjected. "You are family now- you and Philip."

Sure enough all went well. Cavendish, Esther, and Emma visited the Earl of Carlisle the week that followed. Upon informing the cruel man of the engagement between the duke and his daughter, he showed no emotion at all. No surprise nor sorrow nor anger. Nothing. He simply acquiesced with everything. The twins only wished, hoped, that their father may be at least a little fazed by these arrangements. They hoped that, even a little, they would feel that he cared. But he did not.

A promise is indeed a promise. It was no sooner after Cavendish's and Esther's wedding that Philip had gone to Oxford to study architecture under the duke's sponsorship while Emma stayed at Bellsover, caring for the Lady Emilia who would occassionally desire picnics.

It was not shocking that as the months went by, the ever so silent Esther spoke a word...then a phrase ...then a sentence...then a paragraph which only put the duke in frantic happiness! For Esther was his beloved wife. The unique and chipper woman who saw through his title, who was once wounded but was slowly healing, who captured his whole being- heart, body, and soul.