by Starla Kaye
He was drained by the tension within his family, tired of being blamed for what had happened. “She has not been cast off! Neither Ashlynn nor Catherine.” He drew in a heavy breath, studied his angry sons. “Payton House has been Catherine’s home for the most part. That will change next year when she is brought to London for The Season and her presentation. As for Ashylnn—”
“You turned your back on her when she needed her family the most.” Daniel tossed down the roll and shoved back his chair. “I have had enough. She is unhappy here in England, no doubt is heartbroken at believing she has been abandoned. I am unhappy here, too. I will go fetch her and we will both return to where we are welcome.”
“No, you will not!” Edmond countered. “It is my place to right the wrong I have done to Ashylnn. And I will deal with her soon.”
He pulled out a chair and sat down, feeling a heavy weight on his shoulders. “First, I must locate Abigail, make sure she is safe.” He rubbed a hand over his balding head, muttering, “Why have I been blessed with two daughters determined to make trouble for us all?”
“Did you say ‘blessed with’? Not burdened with? I was beginning to believe that you—” Braden began.
Edmond sat up straighter, narrowed his eyes at both of his sons, halting his eldest from speaking. “I have never considered any of you a burden. Nor will I ever feel that way.” He calmed a bit. “None of you have had an easy life being part of this family. This I well understand. But I want the two of you to know that I have always loved each of you with all my heart.”
He watched his sons as they listened to him, as they quietly accepted his admission. Now he wished he’d long ago made his true feelings clear to them. As Daniel’s expression lost its strain, he looked directly at him. “Ashlynn has always been my most difficult child, the one daughter I have struggled to understand. Yet she is dearest to my heart, even though I try not to show favorites. She is the most like my precious Bethene, your mother.”
He felt a small pain in his chest at the thought of her. They all knew he had loved each of his two wives: Agatha, Braden’s mother, and Ruth, Catherine’s mother. But they also knew the one real love of his life had been Bethene Yardley, the stubborn woman who had refused to marry him and yet had given him three children. He warily waited for his sons’ reaction.
Slowly Daniel smiled, the tension eased in his expression. “True enough. Not only does she look the most like her mother, but Ashlynn has much of her personality.”
“So,” Braden interrupted, looking calmer now as well, “we focus first on finding Abigail.”
Daniel frowned and looked thoughtful. “This behavior is so unlike her. I have never known her to cause a moment’s trouble, a moment’s worry. She almost goes to the extreme to keep from doing so. I can’t imagine where she might have gone off to…unless she decided to go see her twin.”
“I think there is far more to Abigail than she has let us see.” Braden pushed away from the table to stand. “I have thought so for a while now.”
Edmond nodded, having wondered about her as well. Always so polite, so determined to be proper at all times. She did everything expected of a Duke’s daughter. But she also blended into the background far too well for his ease. Yes, he believed his until-now meekly perfect daughter had finally started coming out of her cocoon, much like a butterfly. He only hoped he had the patience and strength to deal with whatever possible upset to their lives she caused.
He stood as well. “I have a feeling you are right, Daniel. I think she may have decided it was time to join her sister. They may not agree on many things, but the two of them have always been loyal to one another when it mattered.”
He looked at Braden. “We need to determine which of your coachmen took her wherever she was headed. Or find out if any of your servants overheard her plans.”
***
Blaine didn’t look forward to visiting with whoever his guests were, but he attempted to put on a pleasant expression before he walked in to greet them. He froze two steps inside the drawing room. His breath stopping, though his heart raced. He gaped in surprise at the petite blond in a blue day gown standing by the window looking outside, her back to him. Ashylnn.
“No, Your Grace,” the woman said, turning, when he’d evidently spoken the name out loud. “I’m Abigail.”
Yes, now he could see the difference. Disappointment tore through him, so much so that his knees went weak and he hurried to the nearest chair to sit down. He looked up apologetically. “Sorry. My mistake.”
But in that moment he knew that he couldn’t go on as he had. He hadn’t been able to get his precious, contrary Ashlynn out of his thoughts or his dreams no matter how hard he’d tried. No amount of telling himself he’d been doing the right thing by not trying to contact her or go see her made the idea a good one. He needed to see her…even if only for one final time. The way things had ended between them that night now over a month ago had left too much unsaid between them.
“Have we come at a bad time?” another woman asked from where she sat hardly a dozen feet from him. Yet he hadn’t noticed her. His focus had been solely on the woman he’d believed to be the woman who owned his heart.
He again had a moment’s surprise as he recognized the stunning young redhead. “Lady Catherine?” He tried to regain a modicum of dignity. “I thought you were at Payton House. With Lady Ashlynn.”
She pursed her lips in displeasure. “I was until Abigail sent word for me to meet her in Winchester.” She narrowed her eyes. “So that we could come see you together.”
He’d been so lost in his shock about thinking Ashlynn had come to him that he’d overlooked that it appeared they had come to see him alone. “Does your father know where you two are? Braden? Daniel?” He shook his head. “Never mind. Of course they do not. None of them would have allowed either of you to travel alone, which I believe you have done. And, no, do not tell me for sure about that.”
He sighed. Poor Edmond. He thought he only had one daughter with a mind of her own, strong-willed enough to go against him. He and his sons would no doubt frantically try to locate the young women as soon as they realized they were missing. And he made a firm decision, looked from one to the other. “You—neither of you—will be leaving here until one of the men in your family comes to get you.”
“You cannot keep me here!” Abigail immediately protested, sounding so like her twin.
At the same time Catherine snapped, “I am perfectly capable of—”
“Enough!” He stood, making them both cower a bit. “Believe me; you will do as I say. You have come here to my home and are now under my protection. If you press me on this, I will have no problem taking you over my knee for a sound bottom warming. Which I am sure your father will do as soon as he sees you again.”
They gaped at him, wide-eyed, cheeks pink in discomfort. But, thank heavens, neither pushed him on the matter. Still, he would keep his eye on both of them…and see to it that Sterling had the entire staff watching them as well in case they tried to sneak away. Which he wouldn’t put past them, either of them.
“Sterling!” he called out through the open doors, certain his butler wouldn’t be too far away. Almost immediately the distinguished silver-haired gentleman appeared in the doorway. “Have word sent at once to the Duke of Claymore at the Marquess of Thorndale’s residence in London that both Lady Abigail and Lady Catherine are here at Wellingsworth Manor.”
“But Father isn’t at Braden’s house,” Abigail protested warily. “He’s been gone almost three weeks, somewhere north. Somewhere in Essex, I believe.” Then she looked like she wished she’d never spoken. Yet she added on a sigh. “My brothers have been away for a week as well.”
Sterling looked at him in question.
“Send word to Braden’s house anyway. I would imagine that at some point in the near future one or all of them will return and will be quite worried about this pair of mischief makers.” Until that time it appeared he would have to worry about t
hem. These new complications put a wrinkle into his idea about going to see Ashlynn and try to make peace with her.
Sterling hurried away, mumbling about willful young women, and he couldn’t have agreed more. If he ever had children, he prayed they would be sons.
Abigail cleared her throat to snag his attention. When he glanced her way, he found that Catherine had stepped by her side. Both of them wore frowns and it was clear they had something to say to him, obviously to do with why they had come here. He felt a little uneasy.
“About Ashlynn,” she said. “Do you intend to allow her to wither away in Devonshire? Are you truly so heartless a cad as to cast her aside, just as Father has done?”
It took him a second to get past this unfamiliar blunt side of her. He’d only known her to be meek before, or quietly disapproving of her twin. He sat down once more; a bit offended that he was being condemned as a “heartless cad.”
Catherine put her hands on her hips and sent him a dark look. “You led us all to believe you loved her. Led her to believe that. Yet you have made no attempts to contact her. You have—”
He leaned forward and his face hardened.
She slammed her mouth shut.
“Wrong! I sent her messages after…well, after the incident. For a full week. But Edmond intercepted them, burned them, according to Braden.” He sat back, once more feeling the irritation he’d experienced at learning about that. “By the time I heard what he’d done, I had decided that it was probably best to stay away.”
Both of the women snorted, much in the manner Ashlynn did. It pinched his heart and made him miss her all the more.
“Had decided, you said. Have you changed your mind, Your Grace?” Catherine sounded hopeful, her demeanor softer now.
Abigail, too, had calmed and watched him with interest.
He decided to be honest with them. “As it happens just this morning, before your arrival, I had finally decided that I am weary of being here. Tired of trying to stop thinking about the only woman who has ever truly owned my heart.”
Catherine beamed, clapping her hands in delight. “So you do still love her! I just knew it.”
“But does she love me? Even like me enough to give me a chance to earn her love?” He looked down at his shoes. “I admit that I have my doubts.”
Now Abigail stepped back into the conversation. “Although my twin and I have our differences, I know her heart.” Her eyes mirrored the depth of her feelings. “Ashlynn may not have known it until recently, but she has always needed and wanted someone to stand up to her. Gerald would never have made her happy, nor she him.”
He nodded, waited for her to continue, sensing there was more he needed to hear.
She settled onto one of the red velvet settees near the window. And Catherine sat beside her. After a second Abigail continued, “My sometimes contrary sister needs someone to love her for who she is…not who others think she should be. She is a woman who will never quite be able to follow all of society’s rules. She is a woman who loves her complicated family and her sometimes hard-hearted father, even as cruel as he has been to her lately.”
He had to set things straight here in defense of his long-time friend. “Edmond loves her, although you may have trouble seeing that right now. As might Ashlynn.” Noting their uncertain expressions, he added, “Your father believes he has let her down. He doesn’t know how to deal with that. He told me as much the last time I saw him.”
The sisters studied him, looking thoughtful. Then Catherine gave a slight nod. “I suspected that. Whenever he is worried about one of us, he takes himself off somewhere to think the matter over. Eventually he figures out what to do and returns to work the problem through. Hopefully he will soon come up with how to reach out to my sister again.”
Abigail put a hand to her heart, her eyes misting over. “I have felt Ashlynn’s pain, as only a twin can. I feel her suffering, as she feels mine at times.” She raised her chin. “I cannot bear it any longer. This all needs to be settled between her and Father. And matters need to be settled between you and her as well. One way or the other. I do not believe that either of you can truly go on until it is.”
Chapter Nine
Nothing seemed to go right from the moment Ashlynn made her decision to go see Blaine. It had taken a whole day to convince her father’s steward to allow her and Regina to use one of the carriages for their trip to Oxfordshire. Then a rare heavy June rain fell almost solidly for two days, postponing their trip even longer. As if all of that weren’t disheartening enough, Regina developed a cold that kept her in bed for yet another three days. And she would not leave her valued servant/friend behind.
But the sun was shining brightly on this seventh morning after her decision to leave Payton House. She’d risen with the first glimmer announcing dawn. Her heart had raced the entire time Regina helped her dress and did her hair. It continued racing as she waited for the final preparations to be made. She was most anxious to get these long miles behind them and arrive at Wellingsworth House. She had no idea what her reception by the duke would be like. He could very well have one of his servants send her away without even speaking to her. Perhaps by now he might have moved on from their failed relationship and might even be courting another woman by now.
A thought which made her fingers curl and her shoulders tighten. He had said he loved her. He had said he could be patient with her and properly court her, earn her desire to agree to marry him.
She heaved a sigh. All of that had been said before he’d spanked her…before her father had shown up and everything had gone crazy. Ending with her being sent here to the ends of nowhere. Well, at least far away from her family, from their friends, and from Blaine.
Irritated all over again with this aggravating situation, she resumed her walk around the bedroom. With its beautifully carved furniture and luxurious bedcovers and draperies, it was far from a jailer’s cell. Yet it had begun feeling such to her after all this time. She was anxious to get going, but their trunks—and, yes, Regina had persuaded her to take more than a valise of clothing—had to be loaded into the Claymore coach. The steward had insisted that if he were letting his master’s daughter leave and travel such a distance, the larger coach was required. She didn’t care if she had to ride her beloved Arabian all the way instead of going by coach. She didn’t care if she arrived in only the clothes she had on. All that mattered was she go see the duke who haunted her every waking moment.
As she passed by the floor-to-ceiling window looking toward the stable courtyard, she felt a twinge of uneasiness. Ever since she’d climbed out of bed earlier something inside her kept telling her to get on the road as soon as possible. If they didn’t… She didn’t even want to consider what other things might happen to delay the trip.
Deciding she had waited long enough, she strode out of the bedroom and headed for the long, marble staircase. We must leave. Now. She would not put up with further delays.
She had only gone down a few steps when Regina raced toward the bottom of the stairs. She was out of breath, looked frantic.
The instant the maid spotted her, she announced in dismay, “M’lady! Riders come. Three, I’m told.” She leaned against the railing to catch her breath.
Riders? Now? “I cannot imagine that they have anything to do with me. No doubt they are looking for Father.” She pursed her lips in frustration. “Let the steward deal with them. We are leaving as soon as—”
“No!” Regina cried out in something like panic. “‘Tis the Duke of Claymore and your brothers who are coming.”
She wanted to cry; she really did. All this time her family had not even sent a word by messenger. She had been sent away and forgotten. Until now, apparently. When she was packed and ready to leave. The childish urge to stomp her foot in annoyance swept through her, but she forced it back.
“Shall I have our trunks unloaded?” Regina stood at the bottom of the long staircase, glancing toward the grand entrance hall and back to Ashlynn.
> Her father would not allow her to leave, she knew it. But she couldn’t stay either. What was she to do? Confused, torn, she continued on down the stairs, lost in thought.
“Lady Ashlynn?” Regina tried to get her attention.
She recognized the worry in her maid’s tone, knew she probably feared for her job as well, especially if Ashlynn’s father found out that she had intended to go off with her. Of course, she would not let him fire her. None of this was the poor woman’s fault. “Calm down. Let me think.”
She heard the front doors open and was certain the steward had greeted her father and brothers. An instant later she recognized their voices. Her stomach roiled and her knees grew weak. Somehow she managed to continue walking down the stairs.
Until her father stepped into the large grand hall and their gazes met. “Ashlynn,” he said in a tone she didn’t understand. Not angry, not chastising yet filled with emotion.
Then Braden and Daniel moved next to him, both looking road weary and grim. “Where the devil did you think you were going?” Braden asked in disgust.
Her heart pounded and her legs seemed to weaken even more. “To Oxfordshire. To Wellingsworth House,” she stated defiantly.
His scowl deepened, as did Daniel’s. Yet her father appeared surprised, almost pleased. Then he walked closer without saying a word, which made her wary.
Regina sped away, clearly not wanting to get involved in a family matter. Ashlynn wished she could have sped away as well…but this was her family.
“We told the coachmen to unload your trunks. You won’t be leaving here.” Braden followed their father, but he didn’t appear as grim now.
Daniel stepped forward, following the other men. Something like sympathy was in his expression, or was it pity?
Her vision blurred as she fought back tears. All of her and Regina’s plans were for naught. The delays had finally been too much. Her heart wrenched and she quietly sobbed, reached up to dash away the tears that had slipped out.