“I would enjoy seeing you again, Miss Lark.”
“Great. Irene, I want to thank you for supporting me during this whole thing. You were the only one who believed in me and who tried to be helpful.”
“Professor Landreth was very special,” Irene said softly. “In spite of that unfortunate relationship with the syn-sex stripper. There will never be anyone else quite like him here at the Department of Focus Studies.”
“He was one of a kind,” Amaryllis agreed. “It’s people such as Professor Landreth who truly embody the best virtues of the founders.”
“Well said, Miss Lark. Well said. Good-bye. I’ll look forward to having coff-tea with you when you return.”
“Good-bye, Irene.”
After she hung up the phone, Amaryllis sat gazing at the instrument for a long time. Not every question had been answered with Sheffield’s arrest, she thought. One small one remained. She wondered if she would ever learn the answer to it.
Chapter
18
“What do you mean, how did Madison Sheffield discover that Landreth had put together a file that could embarrass him and hurt his election chances?” Lucas took his eyes off the highway long enough to give Amaryllis a wry glance. “If you’re looking for the person who leaked the information to him, you’ve got a long list of candidates. I’d say that there are as many possibilities as there are people in the Department of Focus Studies.”
Although she had been thinking the same thing, it jolted Amaryllis to hear her fears put into words. “I don’t want to believe that someone in the department, someone Professor Landreth trusted, did such a thing.”
Lucas lifted one shoulder in a negligent shrug. “Hell, it could have been a janitor or a guard or one of the lab techs who stumbled onto some of Landreth’s notes. Who knows?”
“It must have been someone who felt strongly about supporting Sheffield’s candidacy. Whoever did it must have thought that he or she was doing the right thing by warning Sheffield about the existence of the file.”
“Amaryllis, I know that this will come as a great shock to you, but not everyone is motivated by a driving need to do the right thing. Lots of people are motivated by other stuff.”
“Such as?”
“Money.”
She stared at him. “You think someone sold that information to Sheffield?”
“Why not? Someone tried to blackmail him with it later. The world is full of people who do things for cold, hard cash. Come on, you’re not that innocent.”
“Someone leaked the information about the file to Sheffield. Sheffield opted for a direct method of dealing with the threat. He murdered poor Professor Landreth, not realizing until too late that the professor had taken the precaution of giving the file to Vivien of the Veils.”
“Yeah,” Lucas said softly. “Simple. Most things are at the core.”
Just like her feelings about Lower Bellevue, Amaryllis thought. She hated the place. Pure and simple.
She lapsed into silence and gazed at the cultivated farmland slipping past the car window. By any measure, it was a beautiful sight. The carpets of verdant green fields stretched into the distance, prosperous, rich, and full of new promise. The founders would have been proud. The knowledge did nothing to lessen Amaryllis’s dislike of Lower Bellevue and the surrounding environs.
“You okay?” Lucas asked after a while.
Amaryllis crossed her arms beneath her breasts. “Yes.”
Lucas slanted her another sidelong glance. “You sure?”
“Yes.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
Lucas’s hands tightened on the steering bar. “Don’t lie to me. Please, don’t do that.”
“Lucas, for heavens’ sake.” Stunned by the harshness of his voice, Amaryllis turned abruptly in her seat. “I never meant—”
“Look, we’ve established that I’m not real good at second-guessing other people. Just give me the truth, that’s all I ask. If you’ve changed your mind about marrying me, tell me now. Get it over with.”
“But I wasn’t even thinking about our marriage,” she said gently. “I was thinking about how much I detest Lower Bellevue.”
He looked disconcerted by her response. “The town?”
“I love my family, but I hate the place where I grew up. Do you think that’s so strange, under the circumstances?”
“No.” Lucas’s hand relaxed slightly. “No, I guess not. Your uncle said you had it rough here when you were a kid.”
“My family tried, but they couldn’t always protect me from the other kids. Or from the Baileys. Funny how you can’t shake old memories of your childhood. You’d think that once you’re an adult, you could just close the door on the past. But it doesn’t work like that, does it?”
“No. It doesn’t. Sometimes you just have to learn to be stronger than your own past.” Lucas took one hand off the bar and reached across the seat to wrap Amaryllis’s fingers in his.
She was amazed at the depth of the comfort she took from the simple gesture. After a moment she raised his hand to her mouth and brushed her lips across his bold knuckles.
“I’ve been thinking,” Lucas said after a moment.
“About what?”
“About the fact that your uncle will be the tough one. If I can convince Oscar that it’s all right for you to marry me, I have a hunch that the rest of the family will go along with his judgment. Am I right?”
She glanced at him in surprise. “Well, yes, I suppose so. But I think you’re worrying about this far too much, Lucas. My family will come around once they get used to the idea of a nonagency marriage. And Uncle Oscar is really just a big softy at heart.”
Lucas gave her his humorless smile. “Your uncle is going to try to rip my head off my shoulders.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Amaryllis, I may not be the most intuitive man who ever lived, but I think I’ve got a pretty good fix on your uncle. He’s going to try to rip my head off my shoulders.”
* * *
Oscar tried to rip Lucas’s head off his shoulders.
Lucas gave him credit for waiting until they were closeted together in Oscar’s study.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Trent?” Oscar stalked back and forth in front of his desk, hands clasped behind his back, chin outthrust. “We’re still recovering from the news that Amaryllis was nearly murdered a couple of nights ago by a city-state senator, no less, and now you land on my doorstep and tell me you’re planning to run off with her in a nonagency marriage.”
“We’re not exactly going to run off.” Lucas stayed seated in the chair near the window. His instincts told him that he looked less threatening in that position. “You’ll all be invited to the wedding.”
“There isn’t going to be a wedding.” Oscar’s bushy brows bristled. “At least, not to you. Not if I can help it.” He paused, clearly struck by a horrifying thought. “By the five hells, she’d better not be pregnant. If you got her pregnant thinking that would force the issue, I swear I’ll beat you to death with my own hands right here and now.”
“Amaryllis is not pregnant. Sir, I think there are some things you should take into consideration before you make any hasty decisions.”
“Such as?”
Lucas met his eyes. “Amaryllis is more important to me than anything or anyone else on the planet. If she’ll have me, and she’s said that she will, I’m going to marry her. I will do so, regardless of her family’s opinions on the matter. But both of us would prefer to have your blessing.”
“My blessing?” Oscar’s voice rose to a roar. “For a nonagency marriage?”
“I know you would have preferred a proper agency-matched arrangement.”
“You’re damned right. And it’s what she’s going to have. Do you hear me, Trent?”
Lucas winced. “I hear you. Hell, the whole house probably hears you.”
Oscar curled one thick hand into a fist and slam
med it down on the desk. “I will not stand for this, Trent. I will not allow Amaryllis to risk her happiness on a nonagency marriage, and that’s final.”
Lucas felt his determination to remain calm, polite, and nonthreatening start to slip away. He got to his feet. “Sir, I respect your desire to protect your niece.”
“Good. Because that’s exactly what I’m going to do, damn you.”
“I think you should remember that Amaryllis is an adult, however. In the end, this is not your decision. It’s hers.”
Oscar took his massive fist off the desk and launched a solid punch at Lucas.
Lucas ducked. The blow struck the lamp beside the chair. It crashed to the floor. With a growl of rage, Oscar charged.
The wall that divided the kitchen from the study shuddered. Amaryllis, seated at the table with Hannah and her great-aunt, Sophy, jumped. “My God, what are they doing in there?”
Hannah, interrupted in the middle of an earnest lecture on the pitfalls of nonagency marriages, frowned in concern. “It sounds as if something fell.”
Amaryllis shot to her feet. “They’re fighting. Good heavens, Lucas was right. Uncle Oscar is trying to rip his head off his shoulders.”
“Beating each other’s brains out, no doubt.” Sophy helped herself to a cherry-grape from the bowl in the center of the table. “Typical approach of the male of the species to any problem involving interpersonal relationships. They find it so much simpler to just pound away on each other than to actually sit down and discuss the situation.”
Amaryllis whirled toward the door. “We’ve got to stop them.”
Hannah pushed back her chair. “Perhaps we’d better call Cousin Charles.”
“Sit down,” Sophy ordered sharply. “Both of you.”
Amaryllis and Hannah exchanged uneasy glances and then looked at the older woman. Sophy regarded them with unruffled aplomb.
“I said sit.”
Amaryllis and Hannah sat.
Sophy’s eyes gleamed with satisfaction. She was eighty-two years old, and she rarely exerted her authority as the unofficial matriarch of the family, but when she chose to do so, people generally responded briskly.
“Now, then,” Sophy said smoothly. “Let’s leave the gentlemen to their discussion. We were having our own little chat, as I recall. Hannah, I believe you were saying something about the wisdom of waiting until the right man came along.”
“Lucas is the right man for me,” Amaryllis said. “I know you don’t understand how I can be so certain, but I am certain.” Another thud from the vicinity of the study made her flinch. “We can’t just sit here and pretend nothing is happening in there.”
“Don’t see why not,” Sophy said. “Trust me, young lady, I’ve been around a lot longer than you have and I’ve learned a few things about men.” She paused. “I also know something about situations such as this one.”
“What are you talking about?” Amaryllis demanded.
Hannah looked at Sophy in surprise. “Yes, what do you mean by that?”
“I refer to my own colorful past.” Sophy smiled beatifically and reached for the bottle of cooking brandy that she had been using earlier to flavor the stew. “Amaryllis isn’t the first female in this family to make a nonagency marriage, you know.”
Amaryllis stared. She had to swallow twice before she could form words in a proper sequence. “Aunt Sophy, are you telling us that you ran off with Great-uncle Harold?”
“Indeed,” Sophy murmured. “Caused quite a stir in the family, I don’t mind telling you. Thought my father would murder Harold before it was all over. But they eventually came to terms.”
“Uncle Harold?” Hannah’s eyes widened. “I don’t believe it.”
“It’s the truth. Word of honor.” Sophy poured a measure of cooking brandy into a glass and took a healthy swallow. Her eyes snapped with mischief. “It was all hushed up, of course. Everyone pretended that Harold and I had been properly matched by a big agency in the city. But that was nothing more than a social lie. Harold and I never went to any agency. We went to bed. As often as we could.”
Amaryllis gazed at her, astonished. “That’s amazing.”
“Not nearly as amazing as the fact that you’re planning to do the same thing I did, my dear. Congratulations.” Sophy toasted her with the brandy glass. “Nice to see that there’s a bit of the rebel in you after all. I must say, I’d begun to worry that you were doomed to turn into a prissy little straitlaced prude.”
Amaryllis winced.
Hannah was outraged. “Aunt Sophy, how can you say such a thing?”
“Because it’s true.” Sophy aimed an accusing finger at Amaryllis. “You’ve spent your whole life trying to make up for what your mother did. About time you went out and caused a little excitement for yourself. No guts, no glory.”
Hannah’s mouth tightened with anger. “Sophy, we are talking about Amaryllis’s marriage here. It’s one thing to cause some excitement. It’s quite another to risk making a mistake she’ll have to live with for the rest of her life.”
A crash from the adjoining room made all three women glance toward the wall. The pots on the stove trembled.
“I’m not so sure that she’s making a mistake.” Sophy sounded thoughtful. “Mr. Trent appears to be the sort of man who’s willing to fight for what he wants. If Oscar has an ounce of sense, he’ll negotiate a truce.”
Hannah made a disgusted sound. “How can there be any truce between them? Oscar will never accept a nonagency marriage for Amaryllis.”
The thuds and crashes from the study ceased abruptly. A great silence descended.
When the study door opened a long time later, Amaryllis dropped the knife she had been using to chop vegetables. It clattered on the drain board. She hastily wiped her hands on her apron and rushed out into the hall.
Hannah and Sophy followed.
Lucas emerged first from the study. He had a cut lip, his shirt was torn, and his hair was mussed, but he looked amazingly pleased with himself. He grinned wryly at Amaryllis.
“After extensive discussion of the situation, your uncle and I have reached an agreement that is suitable to both parties,” Lucas said.
“What agreement?” Amaryllis asked, suspicious.
Oscar strolled out of the study. He looked as battered as Lucas. He cradled one hand gingerly in the other and gave Amaryllis a satisfied smile.
“Long engagement,” Oscar said succinctly.
Amaryllis glanced from her uncle to Lucas. “How long?”
“A year,” Oscar said forcefully.
“Six months,” Lucas said quietly. “At the outside.”
Oscar glowered at him. Then he sighed. “What the hell. She’s smart. She’ll come to her senses in six months.”
“In the meantime, we will follow an old family tradition,” Sophy said imperiously.
Oscar scowled. “What old family tradition?”
“As far as everyone outside the family is concerned, this is an agency match.” Sophy eyed each of the people standing in front of her in turn. “All of our friends, neighbors, business associates, and enemies will be told the same thing. Amaryllis and Lucas were brought together by a proper marriage agency in the city. Is that clear?”
“Quite clear,” Hannah said.
Oscar grimaced. “I hear you, Sophy. Don’t worry, I sure don’t plan to discuss it.”
“This is family business,” Amaryllis murmured. She looked at Sophy. “I take it the old family tradition Lucas and I will be following is the one you and Great-uncle Harold established?”
“It is,” Sophy said grandly. “We will look everyone right in the eye and we will lie through our teeth.” She switched her attention to Lucas. “Well, Lucas? Do you have a problem with that?”
Lucas grinned. “It works for me. Lying through my teeth is something I do real well.”
That evening after dinner Lucas left the large crowd cleaning up in the kitchen and went outside onto the wide veranda. Sophy reclined in a
lounger at the far end. The porch light turned her hair into a silver cloud around her strong face. She was keeping an eye on the host of youngsters who were playing beneath the porch lights in the large yard.
The children were the sons and daughters of the adults who were gathered in the kitchen. There seemed to be an endless number of them. It struck Lucas that the youngsters, as well as the cluster of youths and adults inside the big house, were all related in one way or another to Amaryllis. After the wedding, they would all be connected to him.
After so many years of being on his own, he was going to have a family. A very large family.
He paused for a moment, wrapped his hands around the veranda railing and allowed himself to absorb the prospect of being related to so many people. He would have obligations, responsibilities, and duties. There would be christenings, birthday parties, engagement parties, weddings, and funerals to attend. Given his position as the owner of a large corporation, he would no doubt be expected to find jobs for some of the members of the younger generation.
The children ran, shrieking and laughing, through the warm night. The twin moons combined with the lights from the big house gave them all the illumination they needed to pursue their games. In a few years, Lucas thought, the kids that he and Amaryllis would have together would be playing out here in the night with their cousins. It was all part of an endless web that reached into the future even as it stretched back into the past.
A family of his own.
Lucas released the railing and continued on to the far end of the veranda. He sat down in the chair next to Sophy and stretched out his legs.
Sophy smiled with satisfaction. Her request for him to join her had been civil enough, but Lucas was not fooled. He had recognized an order when he had heard one.
They sat quietly, side by side, for a while, watching the children.
“So you’re the one she’s chosen,” Sophy said after a time. “Took her long enough. But, then, it’s not easy for an off-the-scale prism.”
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