by LeFey, Liana
“Miss Lowther, my offer stands,” said Ravenwood, raising his chin. “Should I prevail tomorrow, I would still ask you to be my wife.”
More murmurs. Her father’s eyes bulged, his face turning almost purple as he signaled frantically for her to accept.
Consternation filled her. That Ravenwood would still wish to marry her was completely unexpected. She had to be certain he was removed as a suitor once and for all. “Good sir, your offer is kind, but to exchange vows with you before God when my heart belongs to another would be a sin to endanger my immortal soul.”
“You misunderstand the situation, I think,” replied Ravenwood with surprising calm. He gestured toward Percy. “The insult I have been dealt by this man can only be expunged by his death or mine. Thus, the outcome of my challenge must surely determine your direction. Should I prevail, I would not dishonor you by withdrawing my offer, an offer made in good faith and indeed, genuine affection.”
A wave of nausea swept over her as the crowd stirred, and she had to close her eyes for a moment to regain equilibrium. She didn’t believe his claim of “genuine affection” for a moment.
The man shifted nervously. “In time, I believe you would come to return my affection. Rest assured that as my wife you will suffer no ill treatment over this incident.” He fixed her father with a cold, lifeless stare. “Indeed, the blame for this confrontation rests solely upon the one responsible for you, the one who forced you to deceit.” His gaze then swung to settle upon Percy.
Oh, God. If he kills Percy… Her trembling knees threatened to give way, but she compelled them to hold. “Should Lord Tavistoke,”—she forced the word out—“die tomorrow, my heart will remain unaltered. If I cannot marry him, then I must wed the church or no one. I mean no insult to you in saying it, for I believe you to be an honorable man,” she lied. “A man who deserves the heart of the one he would call his wife. I ask you to consider how I could ever feel anything but utmost enmity for the one who killed my beloved. I would sooner die than enter into such an unholy union.”
Two splotches of color appeared high in Ravenwood’s pale cheeks, and she knew then her words had effectively ended all argument in favor of the misbegotten match. She looked to her father and marked with satisfaction his arrival at the same conclusion.
No matter the outcome, she could not be forced to marry Ravenwood now.
…
Percy watched Sir Geoffrey’s eyes blaze with anger as he turned on his daughter. “Wretched spawn,” he hissed. “I would disown you this instant were it not for the promise I made your mother.”
Stepping forward, Percy put himself between them. “Should you choose to do so, in but a month my name and countenance will still become hers, for she has done no wrong to deserve such harsh treatment.”
“If you survive,” her father growled from between clenched teeth.
“You would be wise to pray I do,” Percy replied softly. “You would be wiser still to allow us to marry with your blessing before this day’s end.” He leaned close and lowered his voice to a barely audible murmur. “The offer I bade your lady wife relay to you stands: one hundred thousand pounds. Let Eden become my marchioness this day, and your debt to Ravenwood will be repaid, allowing you to remain a free man. I have with me a marriage license bearing the archbishop’s signature and seal. We both know what will happen if you don’t sign it.”
Sir Geoffrey’s color bled from brick red to ashen gray.
“Papa?”
The man declined to look at his daughter who, despite his cold words, still appeared worried for him. “In the interest of preserving my family’s honor, I must grant it—you may marry her with my blessing. God help you, for she is both stubborn and rebellious.”
“What is this?” said Ravenwood, indignant. “You cannot now change your allegiance!”
Turning to him, Sir Geoffrey spoke with grim resignation. “Sir, you may consider yourself relieved of obligation to my daughter. All that was given in good faith shall be returned to you in full. Please believe I was unaware of my daughter’s duplicity. Had I known she was already engaged, I would never have accepted your offer on her behalf—a father’s right,” he added quickly, glancing about at those circling them. “I sought only to secure her future and her happiness.”
Ravenwood’s eyes narrowed. “And what compensation would you offer me for my life, which is now in jeopardy as a result of your deceit? Your daughter said she raised strong objection to the match and only accepted me as an alternative to disownment.”
The blood rushed back into Sir Geoffrey’s face. He’d been caught in his lies. “The objections she voiced were none of these presented here today. At the time they seemed but a feeble attempt to indulge her infatuation with a man of decidedly questionable reputation.”
Percy watched as a pitiless smile formed on Ravenwood’s lips. Leaning close to Sir Geoffrey, the man murmured, “So be it. If I were you, I would take Tavistoke’s advice and pray he survives.” Turning on his heel, he stalked away, the crowd falling back like wheat before a scythe.
After he’d passed, Montgomery stepped forward. “I see you’ve managed to once again bring life to a decidedly dull party. Might I offer my services as your second tomorrow morning?”
“I would have no one else,” Percy told him, relieved. “It’s to be swords. Tothill Fields at dawn.”
“I’ll be ready.”
Clasping arms, they parted. Percy watched as his best friend gathered his wife and left, melting back into the crowd. Another face caught his eye, that of Lord Wells. The man turned away with a contemptuous sneer.
Privately, Percy rejoiced at the thought of having both Ravenwood and Wells together. It simplified things.
“I hope you’re pleased with yourselves,” muttered Sir Geoffrey, whipping out a kerchief and mopping his brow, which had again gone pasty. “I’m not certain I shall survive this humiliation.”
“Then I suggest we find a priest and conduct the ceremony at once,” Percy drawled, having no pity for the man’s self-made plight. Turning to Eden, whose face was almost as pale as her father’s, he murmured, “No matter the outcome of this, you will be safe.”
“And what of my brother?” she asked, her azure eyes awash with unshed tears.
His heart ached at the tremor in her voice. Cupping her cheek, he dropped a tender kiss on her brow and whispered at her ear, “I’ve a plan, but if it fails and the worst happens, you must adopt him. My solicitor will assist you—I’ll send for him and have him draw up the necessary documents tonight. Under the circumstances, I’m sure your father won’t object. Your brother will never inherit from my estate, of course, but he’ll have my name and a living when he comes of age.”
“Thank you,” she whispered back, tears seeping from beneath her lids as she closed her eyes.
“As for your father,”—he looked to the distraught gentleman—“I won’t grant a penny more than what I have already promised. If I meet my demise tomorrow, my advice to your father is to pay his debts, take his wife, and depart England with all haste.”
“Eden?” It was Lady Catherine, come late at last to see what the commotion was about. “What is this I hear—?”
“Not now, Catherine,” said Sir Geoffrey, grasping her arm. “I’ll explain on the way home.”
“On the way to St James’s, you mean,” Percy corrected, earning himself a black look from Sir Geoffrey. “I will suffer no further delay.” Offering Eden his arm, he walked past his soon-to-be in-laws.
Lady Catherine leveled an angry, confused glare at him as he swept by, but kept her mouth shut until they were inside Percy’s carriage—he’d insisted they travel together—at which point Sir Geoffrey informed his wife of their new circumstances.
Percy sat, unmoved, as in the wake of her husband’s explanation the woman vented her outrage over his mismanagement of the situation.
“Woman, be silent!” Sir Geoffrey thundered, apparently beginning to recover from his shock. “This entire
debacle is due largely to your meddling. Tavistoke tried to ask me for Eden’s hand at the outset, but you interfered the way you always do. I’ll have no more of it.”
“You cannot lay the blame for this entirely on me,” squawked Lady Catherine. “I would not have had to act if you had not squandered away every—”
“Don’t tell me what—”
“Stop it, both of you,” snapped Eden, cutting off their respective tirades. “What is done is done. I am getting married. Now. Tomorrow I may be widowed, but tonight is my wedding night, and I will not spend it like this.”
Percy wrapped an arm about her shoulders and pulled her close, not giving a damn what they thought. It wasn’t long before the carriage pulled up in front of St James’s. Though it was just after ten o’ clock, the rectory windows were still lit. Going to the door, he pounded on it until it opened. “It is imperative we are married at once,” he told the man peering through the crack at him. “I’ve procured a special license, and I am accompanied by the bride’s parents.”
When it looked like the annoyed man was about to shut the door in his face, Percy stuck his booted foot in and forced the man back. Entering, he stepped into the light and drew himself up. “I am Lord Percival Falloure, Marquess of Tavistoke. Tell your master I require his services at once and am prepared to make a handsome donation in return for inconveniencing him at such an hour.”
Confronted with an insistent gentleman of such rank, the servant nodded and scurried off.
Twenty minutes later, Percy slipped his signet ring onto Eden’s trembling hand. Loose though it was, it meant they were now married, and that was all that mattered. “I’ll replace it with a proper ring later,” he promised as he bent to kiss his wife. Though he faced the prospect of death tomorrow, he knew only the fierce joy of attaining his heart’s desire.
Once the license was signed and all was declared in order, the wedding party departed the church for the bride’s former residence.
Lady Catherine spoke into the darkness as the carriage pulled away. “Eden, I know you won’t speak to me, but I would have you hear me. I did what I thought best for us all. Yes, we needed the money, but I honestly thought Ravenwood could make you happy. He seemed so genial, so genuinely interested in—”
“Catherine, don’t,” interrupted Sir Geoffrey. “You’ll only make matters worse.”
“No, Geoffrey,” said Lady Catherine. “I cannot part ways like this. Eden, I know it is unlikely I shall receive it, but I must still ask your forgiveness. I deeply regret my part in how events have unfolded.”
In the darkness, Percy felt Eden’s hand slip into his palm. He gave it a gentle squeeze, hoping to impart some small comfort.
“You have it,” she said, much to his surprise. “Bitterness is an unpleasant stone, and I have no wish to harbor it in my heart.”
“I’m glad for it,” said Lady Catherine, sounding as if on the verge of tears. “I hope we can one day again look upon each other as friends.”
“I cannot now speak as to whether or not we will ever be friends,” said Eden. “I should like things to be as they once were; however, if I am tomorrow forever parted from my husband, do not hold to hope.”
“Entirely understandable,” agreed Lady Catherine, her voice clogged. “Thank you, my dear.” Silence reigned for a long moment before the woman spoke again. “Lord Tavistoke, in addition to informing me of your claim on Eden, you spoke of something…else the last time you called. Tell me, might not what you hinted at be used to sway Ravenwood to leave off seeking vengeance?”
Wary of Eden’s presence beside him, Percy answered with caution. “That is my intent, provided I have an opportunity to converse with him prior to our crossing blades.” He was not yet ready to tell his bride how close she’d come to enduring Hell on earth. He might not ever tell her. “But that is a matter for later discussion. Of greater import is that you understand why Ravenwood sought to marry Eden in the first place.”
He could almost feel curiosity thicken the air in the carriage. “Lord Wells put him up to it.” His wife stiffened, and he gave her hand another light squeeze. “At the start of the Season he tried to persuade me to seduce Eden with the aim of then jilting her—his revenge, I suppose, for her having rejected him. I confess that I, thinking only to reestablish my unsavory reputation and gain a bit of peace, at first pursued her with this in mind.”
The startled exclamations of dismay that followed were only to be expected. Even so, he felt his face grow hot with chagrin. “I’m not proud of my original motive for seeking out your daughter’s company, but as you can see, my plan underwent significant alteration. I did not expect to fall in love with her. Wells clearly also did not expect it. He looked rather peeved with me tonight when he answered Ravenwood’s request to second him tomorrow morning.”
Chapter Seventeen
He loves me.
He’d said it. Not that she held his heart, not that he prized her regard above all others or any other such similitude. He’d said he was in love with her. Tears seeped out from beneath Eden’s eyelids in spite of her effort to hold them back. No matter what happened tomorrow, she would know it, and she would hold that knowledge forever.
Despite her tears, a smile threatened to break across her face as Percy continued to converse with her father as though nothing momentous had just occurred. It struck her then that he didn’t even realize what he’d said. Nevertheless, it had altered everything.
By the time the carriage stopped in front of her house, she’d managed to regain a modicum of composure.
“Pack only what you require for tonight and tomorrow,” Percy said as they disembarked. “The rest can be sent for later.”
For a moment, she just stared at him in confusion.
“You don’t expect to stay here tonight, do you?” He smiled. It was a devilish, naughty smile that sent a bolt of desire spearing through her.
Heat flared in her face and tingled in the tips of her ears. She was married now, and her home was with her husband. “I won’t be a moment,” she at last replied, startled to hear her voice come out a low, throaty husk. Turning, she followed her parents into the house. Had she been less concerned with preserving her dignity, she would have taken the stairs two at a time.
Percy would tomorrow morning face off in a duel to defend her honor, but tonight was hers. He was hers.
The next quarter of an hour was spent in frantic activity as she and several maids rushed to and fro. Clothing and various other items were gathered and thrown into two small cases. The footman then hauled them down to the waiting carriage.
“I’ll send for my solicitor upon arriving home,” she heard Percy saying as she descended the stairs. “Everything will be drawn up tonight and I’ll sign before I leave.” On spying her, he held out his hand and drew her down the last two steps to stand at his side. “I’ve told them about the plan to adopt Thomas should it become necessary. They’ve agreed.”
“I hope it won’t come to that,” said her papa. In the light, his face now appeared drawn and haggard.
“As do we all,” agreed Percy.
On impulse, Eden stepped forward and embraced her father as she had not done in many years. “Farewell, Papa.” Before she could release him and pull away, his arms came up around her.
“Only for a while, I pray,” he replied, his voice suspiciously thick. He drew back and looked into her face. “Can you find it in your heart to forgive me, as well? I know I’m at fault for—”
“It is behind us,” she interrupted, pressing a kiss against his whiskered cheek. The sweet scent of his pipe tobacco clung to him. She inhaled deeply, knowing it was for the last time. As a married lady, she would never again hug her father like this. Childhood memories flooded back, happy ones from when Mama had still been with them, when he’d been her handsome, dashing Papa, the man she’d so idolized.
It was time to move on. A new life awaited her, as it did her father. Releasing him, she looked to her stepmother. “Good-
bye, Catherine. I truly hope the future sees us being friends again.”
“As do I.” A tear spilled over to run down Catherine’s face. “More than you can imagine. You really are the daughter of my heart, you know. I won’t say good-bye. I will instead pray for better—that tomorrow I shall be able to again say hello in joy.”
Though Eden’s heart still burned—this woman was essentially the reason her husband had to risk his life tomorrow—she stepped forward and embraced her. As she held her stepmother’s trembling shoulders, the hard shell forming around her heart unexpectedly softened. Forgiveness had been given, but not truly felt until now.
As soon as Eden released her, Percy held out his arm. Without looking back, Lady Tavistoke took it and stepped with her husband out into the night.
The carriage ride home was not wasted in conversation. The instant the door shut out the world, their arms were around each other. Eden drowned in sensation as her husband’s lips sought out hers in a searing kiss, a kiss that by its tender passion reaffirmed his earlier words.
I did not expect to fall in love with her…
The heart within her soared on the wings of that memory.
“Eden, my Eden,” he rasped at her ear, his lips trailing fire down her neck and across her collarbone. “I’ve waited so long for you. Now that you’re mine, I’m never letting go.” His arms tightened around her.
“You’ve waited approximately ten days,” she teased, kissing him again and thrilling to the feel of firm muscle beneath the silk of his coat sleeve.
“Practically a lifetime to a starving man, but that’s not what I meant,” he growled against her mouth. He drew back and framed her face between his warm, dry palms. “I don’t know what made me act like such a fool for so long, but I do know that part of my life is over. You may consider me well and truly reformed, madam.”