Regency Angel
Chapter 21
The vicar hated Miranda and her
high-handed way with a passion. He decided to throw a spoke in her plans if he
could.
With the delivery of her latest
note, outlining a scheme he could only see ending in disaster (honestly -- did she
think a couple of barmaids could keep David and Forde entertained long enough
to make the earl miss the wedding the next day? Hah!), he knew his chance to
see her doomed to failure had arrived.
When her initial plan to become
a member of David's family was not a success, their superior had been less than
thrilled with the way his top agent was performing. From what Edmund heard in
Hell, before he had been sent to assist Miranda, was that her work was
slipping. That she was on her last chance during this mission. That the
demoness hath no fury like Hell scorned.
This was her moment to redeem
herself, but like his own plans, hers had gone awry. If she failed now, he was
certain something very bad would happen to her. Personally, he was looking
forward to being called on the carpet by their boss. He did not have the name
in Hell that Miranda did and was sure to suffer only in a minor way compared to
her. It was the main reason that after landing on his back on David's lawn, he
had not pursued Fanny further. That, and his back still ached. It was a lesson
he would not soon forget -- do not underestimate the opposition.
He burned the note outlining
Miranda's latest plan, waited until a reasonable hour and headed off to the
village tavern for a drink. He had one opportunity left and he was going to use
it in someone's favor that evening. That someone was not going to be
Miranda.
If there was one thing the local
farmers agreed on, it was that men who preferred other men to women should be
hunted down and stricken from the face of the earth. Instead of allowing Rod to
dispute Miss Eaton's statement, they took it on blind faith and tried to attack
him. And Miss Singletary, who was still attached to his arm. David and Fanny,
too, by association. Never mind that Rod was a member of the landed gentry and
his nephew was an earl, and their own landlord. They descended anyway.
Rod knocked out his first
assailant and turned in time to see Miss Singletary hit the second man with a
chair. He had no idea what Fanny and David were doing, but he heard his own
companion advise them to make a run for it. Then he was too busy defending
himself once more, even as he inched toward the back door.
Miss Singletary's words to Fanny
and David had been wise ones -- they needed to get out of there at once. But
not before he took down another farmer with his fists and Miss Singletary kneed
someone in a spot where most men did not like to be injured. The entire pack of
farmers groaned as one and paused as the man fell. Even Rod was not unaffected.
"Sodomite!" a farmer shouted at
Rod.
"No!" Miss Singletary protested.
"You have it all wrong!"
"Bet this one is a man, too!"
someone growled, pointing at her.
"We don't take to backgammon
players in these parts," someone else called.
"Indorsers! Madge culls, the
both of you!"
"Let's see what you and Miss
Molly are capable of," a big, burly man said to Miss Singletary as he blocked
the back door, trapping them in the taproom.
"A lot more than you think we
are," she said sweetly just before she kicked him in the shin. He doubled over,
in an effort to protect another part of his body, and she gouged her thumbs
into his eyes. He screamed and staggered forward. Rod used that chance to push
him into the crowd, bowling over six other men in the process. Grabbing Miss
Singletary's hand, Rod made a run for the stables
"We can hide in the hayloft," he
said. She, for once, did not stop to argue, but followed as quickly as she
could.
In the midst of the fight, Angel
had noticed several things at once. One, Mr. Forde was an excellent pugilist.
With seemingly little effort, he knocked out all comers. Two, she saw David
pull Fanny behind him to the upper floor of the tavern. Obviously he knew there
were stairs out back leading to the stables, and planned to sprint his beloved
out of this mess that way. To make things much easier on the couple, she threw
a bit of her energy in their direction, rendering them invisible to everyone.
Once they were gone from view right before her eyes, she knew they would be all
right.
Powers drained his tankard
before the table he was sitting at was knocked over. Was he the only one who
noticed the flash of energy and disappearance of David and Fanny? Who was the
angel in the crowd? One of the farmers? It could not be Forde. The vicar had
already dismissed him from the list. Miss Singletary? It had to be...
He did not assist Forde and Miss
Singletary in their flight -- although he had to admit the way the angel took
down her foes was exemplary -- but neither did he immediately join the crowd of
men who now howled for their blood.
Unfortunately, he had forgotten
that as a man of the cloth, he was supposed to be against sodomites, and he was
forced to join the group now scouting the grounds for Forde.
"Check the hayloft, vicar," one
of the men ordered once they entered the stables. As the farmer in question was
holding a pitchfork and poking the underneath of the second story with it, the
vicar scrambled quickly up the ladder.
Rod was holding his breath as
the farmers searched the stables. He could hear orders being given and Powers
was one of the pack! What the devil was he doing among the other men? This did
not bode well.
After all, he knew it was
against the law to be what Fanny had declared him. It did not matter that he was
not, of course. Fanny had to open her mouth and that was all it took to set off
the crowd. He doubted they would listen to reason any time soon.
"The vicar?" Miss Singletary
whispered in his ear. "What is he doing here?"
Rod put a finger to his lips and
shrugged.
"This cannot be good!"
Rod glared at her and signaled
for her to be quiet once more. She wasn't taking the hint.
"But..."
There was nothing else for it --
he had to shut her up the best way he knew how. He covered her lips with his,
and kissed her. Hard. He reasoned that he had to make her stay quiet, for fear
of discovery, but the reality was, he liked kissing her. As often as he could.
And if they stayed up in the hayloft for any length of time, he had a very good
reason for asking her cousin's husband for her hand, so he could make the
kissing a permanent part of his life.
So engrossed was he in kissing
his angel, he barely noticed the vicar at the top of the ladder. And hardly
heard the man tell those below that the loft was empty. In Miss Singletary's
arms -- Angel's arms -- time stood still.
"They must have run off," was
the only thing he understood as the other man came down the ladder and shooed
everyone outside the stables. He took that as his cue to keep kissing Angel.
After all, if the mob had moved on, there would be no one to disturb him and
stop him from stealing a few more. Once this first one had ended.
Angel floated on a cloud. It was
big and pink and fluffy, and smelled like hay, but she did not care one whit.
She did not even protest Mr. Forde's way of keeping her quiet. It was just too
lovely.
She vaguely heard something
about the vicar, but her mind was filled with the sensation of Mr. Forde's lips
on hers.
"How could I have ever thought
you plain?" he asked softly as they finally broke apart.
"Because I am?"
"No. You are sweet and stubborn
and kind and infuriatingly intelligent. You are, on occasion, even in the
right. But you will never be plain."
"Why, Roderick!" she said in a
teasing tone, finding amusement in his constant backhanded compliments. "That
is the nicest thing you have ever said to me!" Stubborn and all.
"It is not!" he protested. "I
should think ‘I love you' is the nicest."
"It would be," she agreed, "if
you had ever said it." She thought her heart would burst at the mention of
those words, her mission and who she really was all but forgotten. But she
still needed to hear them spoken on their own. To her.
"I just did!"
"No, you said they would be the
nicest. I agree. So say them, if you please, and then you may kiss me again."
Happiness made her bold.
"You would let me, would you?"
Angel glowed under the look in
his eyes.
"If I say it to you, what will I
hear in return?"
"Before or after the kiss?" she
asked in a sultry voice.
"I love it when you flirt, Miss
Singletary."
"Angel..." The word was a mere
whisper, the one that followed more like a plea. "Rod..."
"I love you, my Angel."
"I love you, as well, Rod." She
leaned forward and brought her lips to his.
"How long have we been here?"
Rod murmured later. The two of them, flushed with excitement from many
exchanged kisses, lay in the hay listening to the sounds of a tavern closing
down for the night.
"An hour or two?" she guessed.
"We need to go home now."
Angel sadly nodded. "What if we
are missed?"
"I will not be unaccounted for
unless I miss the wedding, minx. But you..."
"I wonder where Fanny and Lord
Willingham are?"
"Most likely home, snug in their
beds. Where you should be." He stretched and sat up slowly, bits of hay
clinging to his back. She giggled and picked pieces of it from his coat.
"I shudder to think how I must
look," she said.
He turned to her with a grin.
"You look incredibly well-kissed." Her cheeks were in bloom and her lips were
rosy red from his diligent attentions to them.
"By the best man for the task,"
she agreed, taking his outstretched hand and pulling herself upright. In
unspoken agreement, they climbed out of the loft, down the ladder and moved
quietly out the back door to the stables. There was no one in sight.
They spent the walk home talking
and pulling hay off each other.
"I feel like a milkmaid who has
been tumbled in the barn by a field hand," she said at one point.
"You look like a tart. Whatever
possessed you and Fanny to come down to the tavern dressed like this?"
"We had to gain your attention
and get you away from those barmaids."
"You certainly gained my
attention. I am going to have to wring Miss Fanny's neck, however, the next
chance I get."
Angel laughed. "You will have to
wait until after the wedding, and by then she will be a countess. Do you think
your nephew will allow you to hurt his bride?"
"You have a point."
"You did say that I am correct
on occasion..."
They teased and flirted with
each other the rest of the walk to the manor, and ended up at the side door
Angel had used several times before. It was still unlocked.
"I shall slip in here. You go in
the front door so that the night footman sees you have returned," she
suggested.
"Ordering me about already," he
said with a sigh. "And once more you are correct. Angel?" he queried, brushing
her cheek with a finger.
"Yes, Rod?"
"We have to talk tomorrow. After
the wedding breakfast, perhaps. There is so much I need to say, and a few
questions I need to ask."
"Rod?"
"Yes, Angel?"
"I..."
They heard a rustling in the
bushes past the manicured lawn of the garden.
"It will keep," she said and
gave him a quick kiss. "Goodnight."
He watched as she went indoors,
and made his way around the house to the front entrance, whistling and wearing
a contented smile.
Just as Angel was pulling her
nightgown over her head, a giggling Fanny came into her room unannounced. She
peeked out the neck to see the girl still in her doxy dress.
"Are you just now getting home?"
she asked with wide eyes. "Where have you been?" Fanny giggled again, a sound
that was getting on Angel's nerves.
"At the tavern. In a room! It
was as if we were invisible the way everyone overlooked us! But we did not
overlook each other..."
Angel wiggled into the rest of
her gown and stared out in astonishment.
"We started the honeymoon a night early," Fanny confessed before collapsing onto the bed in another fit of laughter.
"You what?" Oh, dear.
That was not quite what Angel had in mind when she had sent them off alone. "What
exactly did you do, if you do not mind me asking?" In other words, how far
along had the preemptive honeymoon gotten?
"He kissed me ... I have
been kissed a time or two, you know," Fanny added defensively. "Despite never
having had a proper debut."
"Is that as far as it went?"
Angel felt both relief and disbelief, which much have shown on her face, if
Fanny's reply was an indication.
"Do not appear so shocked,
Angela!" she exclaimed. "I know what I did and did not do this evening. I went
away to school, so I know things!"
Angel shook her head. "And how
much of that was accurate?"
Fanny pouted. "I do not really
know. We got only so far before David said we must wait. I do not wish to
wait!" She rolled off the bed and headed for the door.
"I think a bit of maidenly
modesty is called for my dear. After all, you want to look your best in the
morning, not as if you spent all night with the bridegroom."
That gave Fanny pause. "You are
correct. I believe I will go to bed. Tomorrow is my big day, after all."
"Yes, it is. And after that, you
and David need never be parted again. You might get interrupted quite a bit,
especially once you have children, but you are a resourceful person. You will
find a way." Goodness, how her own education in such things had grown since she
became a heavenly spirit...
Fanny floated off to her room,
her head, no doubt, in the clouds. Angel sighed and finished getting ready for
bed. Her work here was almost done.
The next morning, the wedding
preparations and actual ceremony passed quickly, and without a hitch, for Rod.
He made certain David was dressed on time, he got him to the church safely, and
there were no last-minute attempts to sabotage the marriage from either the
vicar or Miranda.
He stood up with David during
the ceremony and Sarah, in tears the entire service, attended a radiant Fanny.
Rod had been surprised at that, and wondered why Miss Singletary was not a
bridesmaid. Instead, she was sitting sedately by Miranda's side.
They needed to talk and he
planned to corner her somewhere private after the breakfast. After all, her
charge was now married and she was a free lady. He would ask Sarah to invite
her to stay on as a friend, not even as a potential companion. Sarah would help
keep her here, he was certain.
He watched as the happy couple
exchanged their vows, as he and Sarah handed over rings, and the well-behaved
vicar pronounced them married.
Rod made a mental note to add
Edmund to his list of private chats, especially after the evening before. Why
was he turning the tables on everything? The interview could be conducted now,
actually, as everyone else headed back to the manor for the celebration.
"Powers, a word if you do not
mind," he said as he lingered at the front of the church, allowing the rest of
the wedding party to depart.
"Certainly." He beckoned for Rod
to follow him, and they adjourned to the man's office. "I suppose I already
know what this is about. Last night?"
"Yes. What happened?"
"Hmmm..." Powers poured out two
glasses of wine, sipped his first to show Rod that there was no tampering with
it, and then handed him a glass. Rod accepted it, but barely took a taste
before giving the vicar an imploring glance.
"Ah, yes, last night. It seems
to me that what happened was that the new Lady Willingham called you a sodomite
in front of an angry mob, which attacked, and you had to run for your life." He
chuckled.
"I meant after that!" Rod
demanded.
"Oh, yes. Well, since I will
most likely be recalled soon enough, I might as well tell you a few facts. Certain...
forces have been in play for awhile now, one side determined to see David and
Fanny wed today, others to keep them apart."
"I never noticed," Rod dryly
replied. "Tell me something I did not know."
"Yes, well, these forces have
limited resources at their disposal -- so as not to alarm the masses, I assume --
and we are allowed three chances to use them. My last one was used to prevent
the mob from finding you and Miss Singletary."
"Why?"
"Do not think it was because of
love for yourself and your sweet little angel. No, I was merely trying to
thwart Miranda's plans. She stands to catch plenty of... hell for failing to
separate the happy couple." He laughed at his own play on words.
"I never thought it was because
of myself and Miss Singletary. So we were pawns in your little game of revenge,
is that it? You will leave Miss Singletary alone now?"
"Oh, yes -- but don't be
surprised if Miranda plays her trump card where that lady is concerned," the
vicar warned. "I am telling you this now, in case I am recalled soon."
Rod did not understand why the
bishop would recall the vicar, unless too many tales of his indiscretions had
reached his superior, but he did not care, as long as Powers did not have any
influence over the newlyweds or Miss Singletary.
"Miranda? How so?"
"As I said, we have limited
resources. Once those are gone ... pffft! But until then, Miranda has one more
chance to ruin your life. And she is just demoness enough to try. Not that your
life will not be ruined anyway, of course. Miss Singletary's tenure in this
world is just as short as ours."
"What?"
The vicar shook his head. He
would tell the man no more. "Figure it out yourself. I have a wedding breakfast
to attend." He tossed back his wine and left the room. Rod, still puzzled,
hurried after him.
Rod had a lot to think about as
he hunted down the elusive Miss Singletary. He had seen her earlier, seated
with the Eatons at the breakfast, but now he could not find her. And he so
desperately wanted to ask what the vicar had meant by her not being long for
this world. Among other things he wanted to ask.
She was not in the house, it
seemed, or out on the lawn with the few remaining guests. He hoped she had not
run off, to..."
"Mr. Forde! Mr. Forde!" The
Miller lads were crying, and they threw themselves en masse at his legs,
startling some of the people still seated at tables nearby.
Rod did not require an
explanation from the boys as to what had happened and he herded them quickly
toward the back of the garden, where they could speak in private. The boys'
mother had died and he intended to do all he could to make the ordeal less
difficult for them.
"Who is at your house right
now?" he asked once they were settled in a gazebo.
"Nanny was already there when it
happened," Crispin said quietly, tears drying on his cheeks. "She sent us to
fetch you. Said you would be the one to handle the arrangements."
"Arrangements?" Rod was
startled.
"Mama left a paper saying you
are to be executioner of her estate," Jonathan told him.
"I think you mean executor, but
I had no idea..."
"She said if anyone could decide
what is best for us, it would be you, and not our uncle," Cortland piped up.
"How do you three know all
this?" Rod wondered.
They blushed.
"Eavesdropping, lads, is not a
very manly thing to do. And speaking of manly ... I want all three of you to dry
your eyes. You can cry later, I promise." He handed around his handkerchief.
"Right now, we have to show people who is in charge. Including your uncle."
He left the boys in the gazebo a
moment while he went to the kitchen door and asked that a footman tell the
dowager that he had been called away and would return later. Then he rounded up
his new brood of little chicks and walked them back to the cottage.
Angel was in her room, waiting
for the inevitable. After all, her mission was complete, and had even been
successful. Now all she had to expect was for something to happen to poor Miss
Singletary's body and she would be home in her proper place.
But, oh, she would miss everyone
so keenly! The Miller boys, Nanny, Lady Willingham, even Fanny. And she hoped,
especially after the night before, that Mr. Forde would miss her, as well. She
hated that she might be leaving him with a heart as broken as her own.
Still, a mission was a mission.
If she happened to wish for more this time, say, a husband and family, and a
chance to finish out a full mortal life, who could blame her?
There was a knock at the door
and she wanted to ignore it, but she thought better of it. It could not be Rod,
as even he would not be so bold as to come to her room. Perhaps it was Lady
Willingham. Angel knew she wanted her to stay on. If only she could.
Upon opening the door, however,
she discovered Miranda, grinning madly.
"This is just too rich not to
share! Come see!" Without waiting for a reply, Miranda propelled Angel to the
window. "Mr. Forde and his imps!"
Angel blanched as she saw the
tear-streaked faces, the clinging little bodies and Rod's frown. She had no
doubt as to what had happened, nor was she surprised when Rod herded the boys
off. He was so kind and caring, he must be taking the lads home to deal with
their loss.
Miranda was laughing. "I love to
see people in sorrow, and those on a mission to be thwarted!"
"But I have accomplished my
task."
"I suppose. I still, however,
have the power to throw something at David and Fanny on their special day. A
gift, if you will. Maybe they will have a carriage accident on their wedding
trip ... or later, Fanny could die in childbirth. These things happen," she said
with mock sadness. "A pity, but that is life."
Angel refrained from asking if
Miranda would dare, because she knew the answer. "What will it take to prevent
all this?"
"I want you to come home with
me. Now. I will send a letter to Eaton saying something is wrong with his son,
and he will have to leave immediately. With both of us. Poor, dear Miss
Singletary will be needed to help nurse the child. Even Lady Willingham will
not be able to argue with that. And since Mr. Forde is gone..." She snapped her
fingers. "That will be the end of your little romance. Lady Willingham will
feel so terribly bad that she cannot invite you back to become her companion,
and you will be stuck with me."
"And if I do not, something bad
could still happen to David and Fanny..." Angel said softly, mulling the options
over in her mind.
"Exactly."
"Then I agree." After all, the
newlyweds were her priority, as much as she wished to remain here with the
countess and her brother.
"Done!" Miranda snapped her
fingers once more. "I give it five minutes before an express arrives for
Eaton." She sat down to wait, a wicked smile on her face.
Angel, however, stared out the
window, thinking that since she had rescued Fanny and David once more, her last
spark of power might as well benefit someone else, someone who needed it now
more than they did. If there was a carriage accident or death, now, at least it
would not be on Angel's head.
She willed that Rod gain his
heart's desire, sending her love along with her energy, knowing that somewhere
along the way to the Eaton house she would be no more. Maybe Miranda hoped as
much, too, because she did not say anything about the power they both no doubt
felt leaving Angel.
"Be happy," she whispered against the pane before dissolving into tears.
Angel sat at the pianoforte in
the Eaton drawing room, playing a few bars of a melancholy tune while listening
to Miranda complain about dinner.
"I wish you would be less
morose, Angela!" she snapped just as Angel began the same tune over for the
fifth time.
"You must excuse her, Angela,"
Mr. Eaton said placidly. He looked over the top of his book to gaze fondly at
his wife. "You know how she gets when she is increasing."
Angel smirked at Miranda as Mr.
Eaton returned to his reading. "Yes, sir, I do recall how it is." What she did
not understand was why; a month after she should have gone, she and Miranda
were both still earthbound.
Miranda had been correct in that
Lady Willingham had not hesitated to send her off to nurse an ill child. But
she fully expected Angel to write when the danger had passed.
"I will send my carriage for
you," the countess had whispered as she bid the Eatons goodbye. "Better yet, I
shall send Rod to collect you."
Angel had blushed and did not
correct that dear lady, but her heart was heavy as she boarded the carriage.
There would be no need for him to fetch her.
Yet here she was, a month later,
still alive. Amazingly, so was Miranda. An increasing Miranda. Perhaps Miranda
would die in childbirth? It was a perfectly natural thing to happen, as she was
once told.
Miranda saw Angel's smirk and
made a face in reply. They did not speak of when they would shuffle off this
mortal coil, as Hamlet so aptly put it, but they both would often eye each
other in speculation.
The Eaton butler chose that
moment to interrupt what was fast becoming a frequent family tableau, and
handed Mr. Eaton a card.
He looked at it, raised his
eyebrows and excused himself.
"Who in the world would call at
this time of the evening?" Miranda demanded.
"I have no idea."
"Of course you do not!" Miranda
barked. "You do not even have the decency to die and go back to that hell hole
you call home."
"I am not the one who crawled
out from under a rock," Angel innocently replied. "And speaking of hell holes..."
The two bickered back and forth, Angel seemingly having lost some of her
unworldly meekness (not to mention piety) until the butler returned.
"The master asks that you join
him in the study, Miss Singletary."
Angel and Miranda exchanged
surprised glances.
"I do not understand," Angel
said. "What is this all about?" Neither Miranda nor the butler knew. Angel rose
and reluctantly followed the servant from the room.
She was announced in the study
and went in to find Mr. Eaton with ... Roderick!
"There you are," Mr. Eaton said
kindly before she could speak. "Sit down, Angela. I have something very serious
I wish to discuss with you."
Angel barely acknowledged him.
She was too busy staring at Rod.
"Now, Angela. Is it true Mr.
Forde compromised you last month when we were all at Lord Willingham's manor
house?"
"I ... He..." Angel looked at Rod,
who gave her an almost imperceptible nod. "Yes."
"That is what Mr. Forde claims,
as well. Why did you not say something sooner?"
"Because she is a gentle soul
who felt it was her duty to nurse an ailing child," Rod said. "I am certain she
was just about to get around to making accusations as soon as she recalled the
incident."
Angel could only nod.
"Fortunately, my own conscience
could not let the situation go any longer. After all, we did spend the evening
in a hayloft." He gave Angel a wicked grin.
Mr. Eaton cleared his throat.
"Yes, well ... as you are aware, I am rather well-versed in compromising
positions, and because of the consequences, feel it is my duty to insist the two
of you be married at once."
"But..." Angel began to protest.
"I could not agree with you
more, Eaton, which is why I took the liberty of bringing a special license with
me this evening."
"Can this not wait until
morning?" Angel asked.
"No. We must travel to London
immediately afterwards. I left the boys with Nanny, and..."
Angel took a step forward.
"Boys? Nanny? Then we must be married! Now!" Rod had the boys! And they would
likely be driving Nanny around the twist right about now. She would worry about
heaven later.
"I thought you might agree with
me," Rod said smugly, coming over to take both her hands in his. "Darling."
"The alternative is much too
horrid even to contemplate," she said with a grin, knowing Mr. Eaton would take
that a much different way than Rod would.
"Speaking of horrid ... Eaton!" he
called in a loud voice. "Where is your lovely wife this evening? We must have
her be a witness to this very happy ending!"
Mr. Eaton's face lit up at the
prospect. "By Jove, I believe she is perfect for the job. Plum!" He called for
the butler, who seemed to have remained right outside the door, if the alacrity
of his appearance was any indication.
"Sir?"
"Please ask Lady Miranda to join
us." The butler immediately complied.
"Let me get my clergyman," Rod
said and excused himself. He came back moments later with Mr. Powers in tow.
"But..."
"A fitting end to all this. Do
you not think, Miss Singletary?" the vicar whispered to her as they waited for
Miranda. "And may I congratulate you on winning? Not only did you see our
couple wed, but now this. I shall most likely be gone soon, but you might be
interested in learning that Miranda is to be punished for her failure."
"Not yourself?"
"My torture will be in the next
world, Miss Singletary. Miranda's is to stay here and live out a long life with
Mr. Eaton, bearing him a houseful of children."
So that was why Miranda was
already increasing again. It seemed hell had a sense of humor. Making her stay
on earth for a lifetime would be a definite punishment for the demoness. Just
as it would be a reward for Angel. She hoped.
"What is all this about?"
Miranda demanded as she strode into the room. "I am tired and I wish to go to..."
The presence of Mr. Forde and the vicar brought her up short.
"Excellent!" Mr. Eaton
exclaimed. "Mr. Forde is here to wed your cousin, my dear, and he brought
David's cousin to perform the ceremony. Is that not a splendid thing?"
"Oh, splendid," she muttered.
Her husband ignored her words
and took her hand to lead her over to the fireplace. "You stay here and be
Angela's witness. I shall stand up with Forde. Mr. Powers? Will you do the
honors?"
It was a strange scene Angel
would remember forever. Miranda was so angry she looked as if she could spit
out fire and brimstone. Mr. Powers' expression alternated between smug smiles
and resigned sighs, and Mr. Eaton wore the pleased air of someone who knew he
was doing the right thing.
As for Rod, Angel found herself
basking in the warmth of his loving gaze.
As soon as the vows were exchanged,
and Rod had given her a beautiful ring and a tender kiss, Angel had the extreme
pleasure of watching Miranda pitch a fit. Unfortunately, there was no smoke
this time; else Mr. Eaton might have felt his wife was ripe for Bedlam. As it
was, he was forced to apologize to everyone as he led his ranting wife from the
room. Mr. Powers went with them, saying he was concerned for Lady Miranda's
soul. After all, she was sounding rather demonic to him.
Once they were alone, Rod kissed
Angel more soundly before asking if there was anything in her possession,
including clothing, she needed to bring.
"If not, you may -- and will! --
replace your wardrobe in London."
"My mother's pearls!" Angel
suddenly remembered. "Wait in the front hall! I shall be right back!" They were
Miss Singletary's pearls, of course, but Angel felt an obligation to save the
lady's only valuable possession from Lady Miranda.
Once she reached the room,
however, she had the presence of mind to pack underclothes and gowns for a few
days, until she could replace them with something better. The pearl case was
added to the threadbare portmanteau and then she was ready.
Turning to leave, she found her
angelic supervisor standing in front of the door.
"I wondered when you might
appear," she said tartly. "Am I to stay on, then? What is my new mission?"
"Always business with you,
Angel," he said with a chuckle. "This, actually, is more in the line of a
vacation. You have been allowed to stay here for a lifetime, Mrs. Forde." He
smiled. "I hope you have a happy life."
"But I have so many questions!"
she protested. "Will I keep my memory? How did I get to stay? Will I get my
partner when I do return?"
"You may keep your memory,
although the others have no power here anymore. Nor do you, but I do not believe
that will hamper you in any way. Rather resourceful, are you not? You are
staying because we are required to give Mr. Forde his heart's desire. That is
you. As for a partner, that is all taken care of. The matter only awaits your
return to us."
She would have asked more
questions, but her supervisor was fading fast. "Be happy, as you say," he said
before he disappeared.
With a smile, Angel realized
just what a gift she had been given. Without looking back, she picked up her
bag and flew down to her husband.
"You did not have to tell Mr.
Eaton that I had been compromised," Angel said once she had been settled in
Rod's carriage and they were headed for London.
"I apologize, but it was the
easiest way of getting you out of that house. You must admit, you were
compromised."
"I suppose I was. Thank you for
retrieving me. But did it have to take an entire month?"
"I beg your pardon, once again,
Angela, but I knew where you were, and where to collect you when I was ready."
"Collect? When you were ready?"
She raised one eyebrow at his words, but she could not stay stern with him for
long.
"I had a number of tasks to
accomplish before I came, and I think you will understand when I refresh your
memory concerning the Miller lads."
"Oh, yes! The Millers! What
happened? How did you end up with them?"
"Their mother left them in my
care. Their uncle was not overly happy with her wishes, for all that he wanted
only Crispin. However, the will has been upheld and I have all three boys. I
could not allow them to be separated."
"Do you think they will not mind
me being added to the household?" she asked.
He laughed. "They wanted to come
with me! They cannot wait!"
She sighed with relief. "What do
they call you?"
"Uncle Rod. They are already
calling you Aunt Angel. I tried to correct them, but they insist you are an
angel and Nanny agrees, so who am I to argue with the majority of my family?
Sarah is very happy for us, as are Fanny and David, and they wish us all to
come visit them this next summer."
"And you truly want me in your
family?" She was so shy and unsure, despite his appearance and their wedding.
"Angela... Without you, there is
no family." He gathered her in his arms in the dark and held her close. "I love
you."
"I love you, too," she
whispered.
"I am looking forward to growing
old with you," he whispered back.
"You do not know how much I am looking forward to doing the same thing," she said right before their lips connected, sealing their future with a kiss.
"She lived a good, long life,"
the first gentleman said, looking down sadly on the peaceful countenance of a
most beloved Aunt Angel.
"And she got to hold
great-grandchildren. As did Uncle Rod," the second said, holding a lifeless
hand.
"I am not surprised she lasted
but three months after he left us. They were eternally devoted to each other,"
this from the third older gentleman in the room.
The three, considered venerable
members of the family themselves, kissed the cold cheek in turn.
"She always said she intended to
live the rest of her life to the fullest," Crispin said, recalling when Angel
had first been married to Uncle Rod and was still learning how to manage a
husband and three small, energetic boys.
"I always wondered if it was
because of her poor relation status before she married?"
Cortland actually laughed at
Jonathan. "Did you never listen to her bedtime stories about angels given a
chance to live a full life? This was her second chance."
Crispin nodded. "And look at
what she brought about. She and Uncle Rod raised us and five more of their own,
and kept us all bound together by births, marriages, deaths and celebrations of
all sorts. She will be dearly missed."
Angel watched as her three
darling boys -- no matter how old they got they were always boys to her and Rod
-- were called away by their wives. They would mourn, yes, but she had always
taught them that the parting was only temporary, that they would all be
reunited some day, in spirit if not in flesh. The smiles on their aces faces as
they left her bedchamber and lifeless body told her they had taken her words to
heart.
Crispin was the last to leave,
and her spirit floated over and touched his cheek in a familiar gesture.
"Be happy," she whispered.
He paused, touched his cheek and
smiled even wider. "We shall," he whispered back.
"I think it's time to strike
that deal," Angel said, floating into her superior's office. She had made only
one stop before this, to find the spirit of Mrs. Miller and tell her how
wonderful her boys were, and would continue to be. That dear lady had, of
course, been watching from above, and also complimented Angel on her help in
raising them. It had been quite a meeting of their mutual admiration society.
"Nice to see you again, too,"
the man in charge of her division said with only a hint of sarcasm. A low
rumble of thunder filtered into the room. Sarcasm was not much appreciated in
their line of work. "I have a new assignment for you."
"I just got back from one," she
reminded him.
"And now you are going out once
more."
"Where is this partner you
promised last time," she complained.
"All in good time. We have
missed you," he said kindly. "Was it a good life?" he asked, although he
already knew the answer.
"You know it was. Now, back to
that new assignment..."
"Eager to get back into the
field?"
"I truly know now what it is
like to be mortal, and for that I will always be grateful. About that partner..."
"Yes, well..." He hesitated.
"You promised!"
"Calm down, Angel! You are going
to get your precious partner! I just need to explain something first."
"What?"
"Did you not wonder why you so
easily stayed on earth, with no protest from us?"
"It occurred to me once or
twice," she admitted. "But then, Rod had his wish. I thought perhaps I had been
included in that."
"You were," Rod said, coming
into the room. He went right into her arms. "Missed you," he murmured, and she
agreed it was the same with her.
"Angel, meet your new partner."
"What?" She pulled away from Rod
a ways to look at him intently before smiling. "Someone has some sense after
all!"
"It took some fancy talking on
my part, back when you gave me that wish." He indicated their superior. "He
said he had to be certain I did not consider you a charity case."
"Charity case?" Angel snorted.
"We had to be certain, Angel. It
is not every day someone wants to take one of our best agents out of commission
for a lifetime. Besides, I wanted a better look at your partner. I had to make
sure he was devoted to you and up to the tasks ahead. Some of these upcoming
assignments are going to place you two apart, but in the same vicinity. Some
will not."
"It sounds as if we are to be
maid and groom or some such thing," she said with a cheeky grin aimed at Rod.
"Perhaps. Or you may be my lord
and lady, but the sort who dislike each other intensely."
Rod laughed. "That couple would
certainly not stay angry long."
"Which might even be the reason
you are there," their superior agreed.
Angel sighed with contentment,
burrowing deeper into Rod's arms. "I have missed you, Rod, but it was only a
few months, which, you will discover, is no time at all. Are you ready for us
to be together again on the mortal plane?"
"Lead on, darling!"
The End
© 2006 Copyright held by the
author.