Victorian Phantoms

Ives Chapter 8

"Ives, come down to luncheon," Erik pleaded.

After the confrontation with Nick the day before, Ives tucked herself away in her bedroom. She had not eaten her dinner or breakfast. All she had touched was the pot of tea that cook had included on the tray.

Erik, Christine and the children sat down to luncheon only to find that Ives still had not joined them. He climbed the stairs to find Ives in the sitting room she shared with Ella. She was curled on the window seat, the cushion hugged against her chest. He sat down besides Ives and wiped at the tearstains on her cheeks with his thumb.

"I'm not hungry, Papa."

"You have barely eaten in the last twenty-four hours, Ives. I would like you to come downstairs," Erik said softly.

"How can I eat when I can think of nothing but the way Rotherwick has betrayed me?" Ives could not call him Nick. That was far too familiar for the man who had hurt her so deeply. She wanted to forget about the past few months and anything related to Nick. "Grandmama knew that he was a fortune hunter. Did you know also?"

Erik nodded. "I suspected that he was only interested in your dowry. However your mother convinced me that you and Rotherwick loved each other."

"But you thought he was a fortune hunter! And yet you gave him permission to marry me!" Ives replied before she burst into tears yet again. "I am never going to come back to London! I never want to see another man! I have no intention of marrying…ever!"

Erik pulled Ives against his chest. He could feel her tears soaking through the fabric of his shirt. Her passionate outburst reminded Erik of the little girl she had once been who had told him on more than one occasion that she hated Aaron Greene and would have nothing more to do with him because he had pulled her hair. He pulled her tighter into his embrace and ran a hand through her pale brown hair.

"Mama and I will not force you to do anything you do not want. Now, please, come down for luncheon."

Ives sniffed and accepted the handkerchief Erik handed her.


Ives sat with Suzette and Hannah in the drawing room. The three girls had just seen the last of Ives' uninvited guests off. Erik had wasted no time sending in an announcement to the papers informing Society that Ives and Rotherwick had decided not to marry. Many women Ives could not remember ever meeting were suddenly pounding on the door, desperate to know what had happened to ruin such a beautiful couple.

The gentlemen who frequented the clubs were as shocked as the fashionable ladies. No one had considered the possibility that Ives and Nick would not marry. With the sudden, unexpected outcome the gentlemen decided that the wager would be forfeited.

With the room now close to empty, the girls shared a pot of chocolate and a sponge cake, determined to assist Ives in drowning her sorrows. Ives' eyes were full of tears – as they had been all afternoon – even as she assured her friends that she was pleased Nick was no longer in her life.

"A fortune hunter! I cannot believe it!" Suzette gasped.

"It is true," Ives said with a decisive nod. "Papa says his father left a mountain of debts. He has not payed his tailor in months and he has gone out and purchased himself a curricle and two horses. Apparently his estate in Devon is all but crumbling."

"You will do better without him," Hannah assured her.

Ives forced a smile. "Of course I will be. What woman in her right mind would want a nuisance husband taking up space? I certainly do not want a man to marry me for my fortune alone." She did not need her friends to know that she had decided never to marry…or to return to London.

"I thought you told me he said he loved you."

Ives laughed, even as tears began to spill from her emerald eyes. "I have heard that that is common behaviour for a fortune hunter. They profess their undying love, all the while secretly loving your money."

Suzette and Hannah looked at each other. They had never seen the calm Ives like this. She was typically in control of her emotions. It was always Ives they turned to for advice, wanting her calm mind in times of panic. She was doing her best to hide her tears but she was unable to disguise her true feelings.

"He is a beast!"

"You are better off without him!"


Nick sat in the dank cell in debtors' prison, staring up at the black ceiling. His teeth chattered as the cold air enveloped him. The straw that covered the floor was putrid and if he listened carefully, he could hear the scurry of rats.

It had been a week since he had been incarcerated for his father's gaming debts. Every night he imagined Lady Ives – his Lady Ives – tucking herself into another man's bed and.…It was his fault she was probably another man's betrothed and had forgotten all about him. If he had just been honest with her things may have been different.

He recalled every word she said to him during their final meeting. Her words still rang in his head. You may rot in debtors' prison for all I care! He was a fool. He had messed up. Perhaps if she had not heard from her grandmother but from himself that he needed money things might have been different. Well, she got her wish; he was rotting in debtors' prison. He sighed in defeat and covered his face in his hands.

"Oi!" The jailor snapped Nick out of his pity. "You got a visitor."

Nick surged to his feet, hoping it would be Ives.

"You look bloody awful, Nick," Sin muttered when he saw his friend. Nick's dark eyes were dull and bloodshot, his hands were filthy and he was in desperate need of a shave.

He sighed and settled himself on his cot. "Did you visit to comment on my lack of ton bronze or did you come here for a reason, Sin?"

"Let me pay your debts for you, Nick." He held up a silencing hand when Nick would have protested. "Just a loan; you can pay me back when your estates begin to bring in some income."

"No. I will not leech off my friends."

"But you will leech off your bride?"

The colour drained from Nick's face. "Not that it makes any difference, but the money from Ives' dowry would have been mine. I was not marrying her just for her money, Sin."

Sin raised an intrigued eyebrow. "Why were you marrying her if not for her money?"

"I love her. The thought of her is all that is keeping me from finding a way to end my misery. Thanks to my stupidity and my desire to keep the truth from her, I have lost her."

"I think you would have been rather surprised at Lady Ives' reaction had you told her the truth; she is not an impulsive woman." Sin watched Nick's shoulders slump. "You really do love her, don't you?"

Nick gave a great sigh and rubbed his hand over his face. "With all my heart!"


Ives frowned when the butler informed her that Mr Sinclair Ashford was waiting for her in the drawing room. She had only conversed with Nick's friend once or twice. She could not begin to imagine why he was calling on her. No doubt he was here to call her a fool for calling off their engagement.

She nervously pushed open the door and smiled. The grim way Sin returned her smile caused her to sink into the closest chair.

"You know why I am here," Sin said, wasting no time with pleasantries.

She gave a cautious nod. "It has something to do with Nick, does it not?"

"I suppose you know he is in debtors' prison because he could not pay his father's debts?" Ives nodded. "I am here to beg you, Lady Ives, to help him."

Ives drew herself to her feet and paced the room. "And just what do you suggest I do, Mr Ashford? Pay his debts for him?" She gave a brittle laugh. "That would be giving him precisely what he wanted, would it not?" She could not believe Sin's audacity! To come to her home and ask her to pay the debts of the man who had ripped out her heart!

"He loves you. He always has."

"No! He loves my money."

Sin shook his head. "Do you really believe that? Has he done anything to indicate that he is only interested in your dowry? I visited him in prison yesterday; he looks awful. I offered to help him, to get him out of gaol, but he refused."

Ives rubbed her forehead. "If he refused your offer of help, what makes you think he would accept mine?"

Sin shrugged. "You love him." It wasn't a question. "He loves you. Can you stand by and watch him die? He will die if he remains in prison. Can you watch everything he has worked so hard for in the last few months disappear all because of a debt that was not his own?"

Ives' eyes filled with tears at the thought of Nick rotting in prison. She could not even begin to imagine what he must be going through. She fell into the chair and sobbed.

Sin smiled bleakly as he let himself out of the house.


Ives fidgeted with the folds of her skirt for a moment before she summoned the courage to knock on the door of Erik's study. "Papa, it is Ives."

"Come," his voice said from the other side of the door.

She paused as she took a breath and quickly ran through the speech she had planned. She pushed the door open before she could change her mind.

"Good afternoon, Papa," she greeted him as she entered the room and settled into the chair opposite his desk that her mother usually occupied. She smiled at her father, seeing his face without his mask for one of the few times; he typically only took it off in his bedchamber where he would not be seen by staff. Ives could not blame her father for taking it off. The day was hot and still.

"What can I do for you, Ives?" Erik knew his daughter almost as well as he knew Christine. He knew she was up to something. She was giving him her sweetest smile that often signalled she wanted something. Ives thought that he did not know that whenever she wanted something, she would give him a look as if butter would not melt in her mouth.

Ives smiled beautifully at her father as she reached across the desk to take his hand. "Papa may I have my next quarter's pin money now?"

She did not think that the money she hoped her father would give her would be enough to pay off Nick's father's debts. However, she hoped that it would be calm most of the most pressing debtors.

Erik frowned, the right side of his face twisting even further. "Why?"

Ives sucked in her breath. She had not expected her father to ask for an explanation so bluntly. "Lady Standish is hosting a ball in a fortnight's time. Madame Duvall recently acquired the most beautiful pale blue silk that I simply must have! I thought I might have her make a gown out of the silk. Oh, please, Papa!"

"I am sure you have enough gowns, Ivy."

"Oh, Papa!" Ives cried as she jumped from her seat to wrap her arms her father's neck. Her eyes filled with tears. "If you saw this silk you would understand why I need it, Papa. Please?"

Erik sighed. He could never refuse Ives anything. "Very well then.

Ives smiled and placed a kiss on the right side of Erik's face. "Thank you, Papa!"


Ives and her maid sat in the carriage in front of yet another club. At ten o'clock, Ives and May crept out of the house with the intention of settling Nick's father's debts. It was now close to four o'clock. Ives lost track of the number of clubs and gaming hells she had been to in order to pay Nick's debts. After six hours, she was certain that she now had Nick's most pressing debts paid off. She had even had her footman call into Tattersall's and his tailor.

"We really should go home, Lady Ives," the footman said. "It is getting late."

"No!" she snapped. "No," she continued more softly. "Lord Rotherwick has been mouldering in that cell for over a week for something that was not his fault. He should not be there! He will not be there for another night! You are to instruct the driver to go to debtors' prison on Fleet Street."

The footman nodded and very shortly the carriage was trundling towards Fleet Street. She stared out the window at the sombre buildings. She shivered when she imagined the horror Nick must have endured the past week.

"We are here, Lady Ives," the footman said as he threw open the door. "What will you have me do?"

As much as she wanted to go in and see Nick released, she knew that there was no way she would be able to do so. She sighed in defeat.

"Listen to me carefully, James. I want you to go and speak to the governor. Tell him that Lord Rotherwick's debts are paid and Lady Ives Heaton demands that he be released immediately. However, I do not want Nick knowing I bought up his vowels. Do you understand? He cannot know!"

The footman paused and then nodded. "What do I do if the governor refuses?"

"You are to do everything you can to see that Nick is released tonight. If he refuses, then you are to come back and collect me. I will go in there myself if I must."


Nick stormed into Sin's house in a fury. He had been released from prison early the previous evening. He had gone home, bathed, shaved and had wasted little time falling into a deep sleep. He woke in the early hours of the morning feeling refreshed. It was then that he realised that someone had seen to his release. His good mood quickly faded.

"Please, Lord Rotherwick." The butler tried to stop Nick as he climbed the stairs to the first floor of Sin's townhouse. "Mr Ashford is still asleep."

"I do not care! Get out of my way!" He shoved the butler away from him and flung open the door to Sin's room.

"Bloody hell, Nick! What is going on?" Sin asked as he struggled to sit up in his bed. "Nick, you're free!"

Nick rolled his eyes and nodded. Any idiot could see that he was no longer in prison. "Yes, I'm free. Thank you very much, Sinclair. I told you I did not want your help. Why the hell did you go behind my back after I told you I did not need you?"

Sin rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and sighed. "What makes you think I had anything to do with your release?"

Nick sank down onto the edge of the bed. He covered his face in his hands. "You didn't buy up my father's vowels?" he mumbled from behind his hands.

"I swear it."

"Then who?" He thought for only a moment and swore. "Ives." He surged to his feet and swore again and again.

"I'm sure that she was just trying to help," Sin shouted as he his friend stormed from the room and down the stairs. The front door slammed behind him, sending the windows rattling.


"I want to see Lady Ives now!" Nick shouted to the butler as he entered Heaton House. He did not waste time with pleasantries.

"Please, my lord." The butler tried to calm Nick down. He held his hands out to Nick in a calming manner.

"Don't 'my lord' me! Where is Lady Ives?"

"What is going on here?" Lord Renton demanded as he emerged from the music room, Lady Renton and Tilly standing behind him. Tilly's singing lesson had been progressing nicely when Erik heard the commotion in the foyer.

"I want to see Lady Ives. Now. Where the hell is she?"

Tilly gasped at Nick's language and then began to giggle. She tried to cover her giggle with her hand.

"Christine, take Tilly up to the nursery," Erik instructed without looking away from the unwelcome visitor. When Christine and Tilly were gone, Erik tried to speak to Nick calmly. "What do you want with Ives?"

"I want to speak with her. We did not part on good terms."

Erik raised his brow at the irony. Ives was right; how could he have allowed the man permission to marry her when he had doubts as to his honour? The man had brought Ives nothing but heartache. There was no way Erik would allow him to hurt Ives any further. He was about to refuse Nick permission to call on Ives when she stepped out of the library.

"It is alright, Papa; I will talk to Lord Rotherwick. We will be in the drawing room. I will leave the door open," she assured her father when his eyes narrowed with disapproval.

Seeing his daughter's obstinate look, Erik surrendered.

Ives headed to the drawing room with Nick only a step behind. She turned to face him with a bright smile, her arms outstretched to him. When she saw his expression, her arms dropped to her side. The apology she was about to utter died, unsaid.

"Why did you do it?" he demanded sharply. His face was dark with rage. His hands clenched at his sides as if he was controlling the urge to strike out at Ives.

"Do what?" Ives asked; she could not understand why he was so angry. She thought he would be overjoyed to be free of debtors' prison. She had spoken to the footman who had gone into the gaol and had learnt from his what an unsavoury place it was.

"You bought my father's debts!" Nick threw himself into the wing chair only to climb to his feet again and pace the room.

Ives frowned and watched his quick movement across the room. "I do not understand. Why are you so mad at me?"

"You bought up the debts and now not only am I in still debt, but I am in debt to you." He collapsed into the chair, too drained to move.

"Oh, Nick." Ives moaned and crossed to where he sat. She knelt on the floor in front of him and cupped his face in her hands. "Nicholas, I did not do it so you would be indebted to me. I did it for you. You have tried so hard to repair your family's estates with what little funds you had. You have told me all about your plans for your estates. They are marvellous; you need to be given the opportunity to implement them.

"Nick, I love you. I love you and I cannot bear to see you suffer for something that is not your fault. I did not do it so that you would be indebted to me; I did it because I love you." She paused and looked up at him through her lashes. "Do you still love me? After everything you have been through? After everything I have said and done?"

He cupped her face. "I have not stopped loving you." He placed a kiss on her forehead. "I should have told you I needed money. I could not tell you the truth; if you found out, you would think that I was seducing you only for your money."

Unable to help herself, Ives turned her face and placed a kiss on his palm. "That is precisely what I thought. That is what everyone thought. My entire life, I have had fortune hunters after my dowry. Papa was worried you would be like all the other men."

Nick pulled her to him and placed a kiss on her lips. "If I could, Ives, I would go back and do it all again. I would tell you everything and beg for your heart and your hand. What do I care for a fortune? I have a woman who loves me and who I love in return."

Ives pulled away and looked at Nick in surprise. "Do you still wish to marry me? I cannot imagine my life without you."

"Ives, I love you. I want you by my side as we work to improve the estates. I want you to be my wife…"

She nodded as she blinked back tears. Nick grinned, climbed to his feet, taking Ives with him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her. Ives sighed into his mouth and entwined her arms around his neck.

Erik fumed from his position in the doorway as he watched his daughter being duped – for a second time – by a fortune hunter. He was about to storm into the room and rip her away from Nick when Christine tightly wrapped her hand around Erik's elbow.

"Did I not tell you that he loves her?" She gave his arm a squeeze. "If I am correct, he has just asked her to marry him. Again." Christine reached up to grasp his chin and turned his face to hers. She stood on her toes and placed a kiss on his lips. "Come, my darling, we'll leave them for a while." Erik began to resist but Christine would have none of it. "Even an engaged couple is entitled to some liberties, Erik."

Reluctantly, he stepped away from the drawing room, shooting the embracing couple a look over his shoulder. As Christine pulled him up the stairs, Erik's eyes filled with tears as he realised that one of his favourite children was soon to be leaving home. No longer would he be able to play the piano with Ives at his leisure or discuss history with her. His little girl would be living in her own household, far away from his tiny Cornwall estate.

Sensing her husband's unhappiness, Christine stopped on the landing and hugged him tightly. "They love each other and that is all we could have asked for. They will be happy," she promised him with a tender kiss.

"I'm going to miss her," Erik confessed softly.

Unable to find the words to console her husband, Christine kissed him again and dragged him up to the nursery. Nothing would distract Erik better than a singing lesson with Tilly.


"Are you sure you want me to put that wager in the book at White's?" Sin asked Nick incredulously. He glanced at Ives, surprised to see her nodding her head vigorously.

He had just returned from a ride through the park when a footman from Heaton House had been waiting for him with a message. Sin remounted his horse and headed for Mayfair. There, as he expected, he found Nick and Ives engaged for a second time. However, he was not expecting Nick's request.

Nick had his arm draped carelessly but possessively over Ives' shoulders while Ives stroked the fine fabric of Nick's waistcoat. For a moment, Sin envied his friend. All he wanted was a woman he would be able to call his wife who loved him. He gave the couple a look and forced a smile.

"You said that Lord Renton would kill you if he found out about the first wager. What makes you think he would take this one any better?"

Nick shook his head. "As soon as it is known that I am no longer in prison, there will be a wager in that blasted book; it is the way of Society, Sin. What is wrong with making a little profit, hmm? Lord Renton wants his name in the book as well – under his valet's name naturally. I believe he wants to invest the money. There is no need to worry about my future father-in-law."

"You are both certain about this?"

"Of course we are, Mr Ashford," Ives said softly. She turned her head to wordlessly question Nick, and at his nod she pressed a quick kiss to his lips before continuing. "You of course will be putting your name down in the book also."

"I'll get my man to add the wager that you and Lady Ives will be announcing your engagement by the end of the week."

"We are doing the right thing, aren't we, Ives?" Nick asked when Sin had departed. "I would prefer to keep you out of any future wagers."

Ives smiled at her fiancé as she ran her fingertips over his cheeks. "What is wrong with wanting our friends and family to share in our good fortune?"


Epilogue

September 1843 – Honiton, Devon

"And how is my money?" Ives asked with a smile when Nick entered the sitting room. He had spent the entire day riding over the estate checking the cattle and seeing to his tenants' comfort in preparation for the coming winter months.

Nick fixed his wife with a tortured look. "I do wish you would not call the cattle 'your money', Ives."

"I am sorry, Nick; I was only teasing you." She watched him pull off his coat and loosen his neckcloth before holding out her hand to him.

Accepting her silent invitation, Nick sat down beside her on the settee and pulled her against his side. One arm went around her shoulders while the other rested on her stomach.

"I was thinking, if we have a son we should call him Albert."

"And if we have a daughter?" she prompted with a smile.

"Victoria?"

Ives laughed. "Really, Nick. I do not understand your preoccupation with naming our child after the Queen and her husband!"

It was Nick's turn to laugh. "My preoccupation? Love, I am not the one who called my horse and dog after deceased queens."

"Technically Maud was the Empress," Ives retorted loftily, but spoiled the effect by laughing.

"Shush," Nick commanded as he silenced any further arguments from Ives' lips. "You know I despise history."

Ives smiled against his lips and buried her fingers in his hair. Her fingers further loosened his neckcloth and touched the skin at his throat.

"Perhaps we should go to bed?"

"In the middle of the afternoon?" Ives asked. After a year and a half of marriage, she was still so very easily shocked. She avoided looking at him, knowing her face would be bright pink.

There was the sound of several people arguing in the foyer, which effectively drowned out Nick's response. No doubt it was maid and the footman misbehaving again. He would have to convince Ives to dismiss one – or both – of them. How could they be expected to do their jobs properly when they were busy stealing kisses in cupboards?

The door opened and Sin appeared in the doorway.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Nick demanded of his friend, annoyed that his plan to spend the afternoon with his wife would have to be put on hold. He sighed unhappily and pushed away from Ives.

The shouting continued; this time a feminine voice could be clearly distinguished above the noise. "Blast it, Sinclair!"

"Suzette?" Ives was on her feet, rushing into the foyer as quickly as she could where the butler was trying to calm Suzette down. She dismissed the butler with a flick of her hand. When the servant was gone, she turned to Sin and fixed him with a glare. "What have you done to her?"

"I asked her to marry me and she refused. I need a place to stay for a few days," Sin said to Nick, "Until Suzette changes her mind and agrees to be my wife."

Ives looked between Sin and Suzette. Her eyes widened in shock. Sin and Suzette could not…She clung to Nick's arm, her nails digging into his flesh. "You kidnapped her, did you not?"

"Yes, he did!" Suzette shouted. "He kidnapped me while I was out shopping and forced me into his carriage."

"How else was I to convince her to marry me?" Sin defended his actions. "I have heard that compromising a lady is a very effective way of getting her to marry you."

Ives tilted her head as she considered his logic. It had indeed worked well enough for her parents. They were just fortunate that they loved each other. But what about Sin and Suzette? She was not sure that forcing them to do the proper thing would be the best thing for them. She recalled the few times she had seen them together. They had wanted to kill each other! She was certain that only one would leave the ceremony alive.

"You travelled all the way from London unchaperoned?" Nick asked and then promptly started laughing. Ives and Suzette turned to glare at him. "I'm sorry, Miss Felton, but Sin is right. You are compromised and will have no option but to marry him. Ives and I have seen that you arrived here in Devon without the respectability of a chaperone. I'm afraid all you can do is accept your fate. Ives will see that separate rooms are prepared for you shortly."

Nick pulled a shocked Ives back into the sitting room, leaving Sin and Suzette alone in the foyer. He wrapped his arms around her but found that Ives was more interested in the going-ons out in the foyer than his kisses.

"It is very quiet out there," Ives murmured as she pulled away yet again from Nick's lips. "Do you suppose they have killed each other?" She shuddered as she imagined the mess the staff would have to clean up.

Nick laughed but silently doubted it. "I wonder who emerged victor." He decided to back Suzette.

Ives paled and pushed out of her husband's arms. She ran to the door and flung it open. She clamped her hand over her mouth to silence a gasp. Sin and Suzette were kissing each other, completely unaware of the gaping staff. She slowly shut the door and returned to Nick's side.

"Whose body must we dispose of?"

She blushed bright red. "Neither. I think they have settled their differences; I am sure that tomorrow morning they will be announcing their engagement. Do you suppose that their hostility was just a show? That after all this time they truly loved each other?"

Grinning, Nick placed a kiss on Ives' mouth. "If you had but asked me, sweet, I could have told you that last year. Now, mind your own business and give me a kiss."