She took a moment to consider and decided that he was right. “Very well. I’ll remain here until it’s over.” The look in his eyes as he thanked her was so familiar it caused a hot blush to color her cheeks.
“Let us be off,” Hutchins called.
Carlton held her gaze for one second longer before he turned and strode to the door with Marcus, following the runners out into the street where carriages awaited.
Crossing to the window, Regina watched until the doors closed and the drivers whipped the horses into motion. She then returned to the seat she’d been occupying earlier and prepared to wait. Whatever happened now, it was out of her hands.
“Your allegations are outrageous!” Hedgewick stood with both hands clenched by his sides. His posture was stiff, his eyes blazing so fiercely it looked like they might start spewing fiery sparks. “How dare you come into my home and accuse me of such contemptible actions? I find it downright offensive, you know.” He’d barely spared Carlton a glance, most likely because he’d stayed at the back of the group when they’d filed into Hedgewick’s study. The earl had been briefly distracted by Seabrook’s presence, but his entire focus was now on Mr. Hutchins and the runners.
“We wouldn’t have come here like this if we didn’t have proof,” Mr. Hutchins told him in a tone so calm he almost sounded as if he were trying to placate an unhappy child.
“Proof? What proof?” Hedgewick glared at the magistrate. “Windham was my friend. I mourned him, damn you, yet here you are, making up stories and wasting your time when the man you ought to be focusing on is that bloody scoundrel from St. Giles. Have you made any progress there? Has a date been set for his trial?”
“No,” Mr. Hutchins remarked.
“Good God,” Hedgewick blustered. “You are incompetent, aren’t you? He’s the criminal, not me. I am an upstanding citizen. An earl, for Christ’s sake.” His face had gone from rose pink to beet red in a matter of seconds. “Why are you here anyway? Who concocted this ludicrous tale about me?” His fist slammed into the top of his desk, rattling everything on it. “I demand to know this instant!”
There was an almost angry moment of silence, like right before an opponent strikes a mighty blow. And then Carlton took a step forward, pinning Hedgewick with every bit of disdain he had for him. “It isn’t a ludicrous tale, you puffed up piece of shit. It’s the truth.”
“What the hell are you doing here?” Hedgewick demanded. His angry voice helped hide the unease that showed in his eyes, though not enough for Carlton to miss it. “Why isn’t he behind bars?”
Mr. Hutchins remained seemingly unaffected by Hedgewick’s hard tone. “Because it would seem that he doesn’t belong there.”
“The devil, you say?” A vein began throbbing on Hedgewick’s forehead. “You’ve no idea who he is, do you?” Marcus asked his father with an edge of curiosity.
“Of course I do. He’s the bloody bastard who kidnapped my daughter, a renowned criminal who—”
“He’s Valentine Sterling,” Mr. Hutchins said. “The last Duke of Windham’s son.”
Hedgewick’s eyes widened for a brief second until he regained his composure. “That’s impossible. He’s obviously lying to you.”
“And yet, I have the scar to prove my identity,” Carlton said, “not to mention my father’s signet ring.”
“But tha…that’s ridiculous,” Hedgewick stammered. “It simply cannot be.”
“And yet it is,” Carlton said.
Hedgewick stared back him. A vein began throbbing next to Hedgewick’s eye. “I want you out of my house.”
“That isn’t going to happen,” Marcus said. “We know you killed Windham and his maid.”
Hedgewick bared his teeth in rabid fury while pinning his son with a venomous glare. “Why you treacherous little louse. Have you no sense of where your loyalties lie?”
“Well, they’re not with a cold blooded murderer, I’ll tell you that much.”
Moving with surprising swiftness for a man with a permanent limp, Hedgewick lunged at Seabrook. The viscount, caught off guard, stumbled back before losing his balance completely and falling to the floor. His father landed on top of him, his hands going around his son’s neck in a stranglehold that made Seabrook’s eyes start to bulge as he struggled to get himself free.
Without even thinking, Carlton landed a blow against Hedgewick’s jaw, causing him to loosen his grip long enough for Carlton to shove him away from Seabrook.
“Damn the lot of you,” Hedgewick sputtered while Carlton helped Seabrook rise. “You’re all a waste of good air, while I am a bloody earl!”
“Not for much longer,” Hutchins remarked. With a nod, he ordered a pair of runners to take hold of Hedgewick.
Grabbing him by his arms, they hoisted him to his feet.
Carlton stared at him. Oddly, after all these years of anticipating his enemy’s eventual downfall, he did not enjoy destroying the man as much as he’d thought he would. After all, Hedgewick was Regina’s father and she would suffer as a result. But that didn’t mean he’d show mercy. For his own father’s sake, doing so wasn’t an option.
“Why did you do it?” When Hedgewick didn’t answer, Carlton pressed, “Because my father was having an affair with your wife? Is that what—”
“I was supposed to marry Edwina,” Hedgewick spat with explosive force. “Your mother should have been my wife! I courted her first. Hell, we even began planning our wedding. But then your father decided to steal her away, and since he was the heir to a duke, her parents encouraged her to break off her engagement with me and accept his offer instead.” His eyes blazed with deep and violent anger. “She later told me the affection she’d thought she had for me was nothing compared to her feelings for Windham. And then, when she died, the bastard went after Louise! He sneaked around with her behind my back for almost five years until I found out about it by chance.”
Hedgewick scoffed. “Friend indeed.” His chin tilted up and he met Carlton’s gaze with loathing. “Your father was selfish. I suppose his rank made him feel entitled, for he never gave any indication that what he did was wrong. But he ruined my life, damn him. Hell, I don’t even know if Marcus is mine or not, though I’m certain of Regina since she was born two years after his death.”
A sick feeling crept along Carlton’s spine before it was cast aside by immense relief. He’d thank God for that himself. The alternative was too awful to think of, considering his own relationship with her.
With an inward shake, Carlton forced himself to finish what he’d started. “So you killed my father because you hated what he had done to you?”
“He had to be stopped,” Hedgewick said. A crazed look appeared in his eyes. “I was so incensed that I went there without a plan.” He laughed. “All I knew was that I had to purge him from my life and using a pistol seemed like an excellent way to do so. I suppose the maid must have heard the shot because she was suddenly there and…”
Carlton closed his eyes. The memory of Sarah’s scream and the choking sound that had followed had haunted him for years. “You strangled her. An innocent woman.”
“I had no choice at that point.”
Silence descended over the room as every man present absorbed the horror of what had been done. “How could you live with yourself after what you did? When you thought you’d killed an innocent child?” Christ have mercy, if it had been him, he’d have taken a shot to his own head after that piece of news had surfaced.
“It was extremely difficult to live with.”
Carlton stared at him while a fresh wave of anger rose up inside him. Blood rushed through his veins until it became a roar in his ears. His heart beat painfully against his constricting ribcage, and it took every bit of restraint he possessed not to close the distance between them so he could punch the bastard in the throat.
Instead, Carlton pinched the bridge of his nose and drew in a ragged breath. When he looked at Hedgewick again, the disgust and rage that he felt must have shown on
his face, for the earl shrank back against the runners, visibly shaken. “It seems to me that you managed well enough. You went on with your life as if nothing had happened. Until it was time for your daughter to marry.” Surprise flickered in Hedgewick’s eyes. “Here was your chance to take something that belonged to my father and make it yours. It’s why you insisted Regina must marry Stokes, is it not?”
“I don’t know what you’re getting at,” Hedgewick muttered.
Carlton smirked. “Don’t you?” When Hedgewick said nothing, Carlton said, “Your darling daughter has confided a great deal in me. In fact, you should know that she and I are very well acquainted with each other.”
Someone behind him cleared his throat, most likely Marcus, causing Carlton to pause. A month ago, he’d have used Regina to hurt Hedgewick in every conceivable way. Now, he just wanted to go and find her so they could move on with their lives together. And yet, he felt compelled to add one last thing. “She’s mine now, Hedgewick, so I suppose you’ll get at least one of the things you wanted – a family connection to the Windham title.”
22
It was strange, arriving home with the knowledge that Hedgewick was gone and would never return. Regina removed her bonnet and gloves with a numbness that seemed to detach her from the world. The servants moved quietly, not uttering a word unless it was necessary. Marcus had explained everything to her in detail on the carriage ride home from the Bow Street Magistrate’s Court. She understood what had transpired and had been given a greater understanding of her father’s motivations. Still, nothing could excuse what he’d done. It pained her to think of the hurt and upheaval he’d caused Carlton as a young boy.
It also made her wish that Carlton had come to collect her together with Marcus, but apparently he’d gone back to The Black Swan intent on explaining things to his men. She dared not even wonder how such a discussion might go, for she knew that losing their respect and having them turn against him would be his biggest regret.
“Drink?” Marcus lifted a decanter as he posed the question.
Somehow, they’d arrived in the parlor, though she hadn’t registered the small walk they’d taken from the foyer in order to get there. She nodded and went to sit on the sofa. “I feel as if my heart has been grabbed by an iron fist.”
Marcus placed a glass before her. “Coming to terms with what Papa did is trying. And it’s not over yet, I’m afraid.” He lowered himself to the adjacent chair. “We must prepare ourselves for slander. Our reputations have been blackened by this, Regina. I fear there will be no way back to Society.”
She set her glass to her lips on that thought and took a long sip. The rich and spicy flavor of the brandy nipped at her tongue and her throat. Heat followed, accompanied by a lethargic relief. “We’ll get through it.”
“Of course we will,” Marcus said as if that went without saying. “We have each other and…I believe we did the right thing – that you did the right thing – no matter how hard it might be to accept it.”
She appreciated that. It made her decision to save Carlton instead of her father an easier one to bear. Biting her lip, she considered her brother before hesitantly asking, “Do you think you might be Windham’s son?”
“I don’t know and it doesn’t really matter, does it? Whether I’m Windham’s son or not makes no difference. You are my family, Regina. You always will be.”
They chose to remain in the parlor for supper and were just finishing up when a knock at the parlor door brought the butler into the room. “My lord, my lady, there is a Valentine Sterling here to see you.”
Regina almost toppled her tray in her haste to stand. “Please show him in,” she gasped with the same giddy voice she’d used as a child whenever she’d shown excitement.
The butler gave a short bow and retreated to the foyer. Marcus smiled and helped Regina set their trays on a side table so they were out of the way. “One thing is for certain,” he told her. “Your radiant smile will leave no doubt in Sterling’s mind about how happy you are to see him.”
And then the man in question arrived. Unlike earlier, he now wore the burgundy velvet jacket on which she’d reattached a button. Beneath, was the black and gold brocade fabric of his waistcoat. His trousers were grey, his boots gleaming black, and the cravat at his neck tied to perfection. Regina stared in wonder at his bare upper lip before raising her gaze to his eyes. A yearning fire burned there, so intense that she caught her breath. Without even thinking, she walked straight into his arms and kissed him, heedless of her brother’s presence and of what was proper.
Carlton froze for a second but then he grinned against her lips and kissed her back. “I could get quite used to this sort of welcome from you,” he murmured as he pulled back. Gently, he eased her away before she found the words to respond, and stepped past her.
Startled by the swiftness with which she’d been removed from his arms, she spun around and found the man that she loved addressing Marcus with polite respect. “I would like to speak with you in private if you can spare the time.”
Regina frowned. “Is that really necessary?”
“Yes,” both men told her without hesitation.
Huffing out a breath, Regina waited for them to depart before dropping onto the sofa. She then poured herself another measure of brandy. “Annoying men,” she muttered, and knocked the drink back.
It took about half an hour for Carlton to return to the parlor. When he did, he was alone. Regina rose from the spot she’d been occupying on the sofa and faced him. A dark lock had fallen over his left eyebrow, affording him with a slightly roguish look that instantly caused a flutter in the pit of her belly.
The edge of his mouth lifted to form a crooked smile full of promise and mischief. Without removing his gaze from her, he closed the parlor door until it clicked into place, and leaned his shoulder against it.
Regina stared back at him. Her tummy did a little flip, prompting her to speak so she could distract herself from her nerves. “How did your visit to The Black Swan go?”
“Not as badly as I’d feared.” His words were soft but precise. “Seems MacNeil was right and I was wrong about how the people there would respond to me being the son of a duke.”
Happiness on his behalf bubbled up inside her. “That’s wonderful news.”
A flicker of appreciation brightened his eyes. “Mr. Hutchins, the magistrate, is going to request an audience with the king. He will explain the intricacies of what has happened, after which the king will decide if I ought to be reinstated as duke.” He pushed himself away from the door and straightened his posture. “My situation is unique. On one hand, I’m the rightful heir to the Windham title, but on the other, there’s already another duke in place. And to be honest, I’m actually quite content to let him keep the title. After all, I’ve accumulated enough funds over the years to allow for a comfortable life and…” He shrugged. “I’m really not sure I want the burden of a dukedom.”
“Whatever happens, it won’t make any difference to me,” Regina told him softly.
His eyes brightened, gleaming with hints of gold. “Do you mean that?”
“Of course.” She took a step forward, the pull he exerted on her too strong for her to resist. “I knew I wanted to share my life with you before I realized your true identity. When I thought being with you would require living at The Black Swan forever. So I don’t care if you’re a duke, Valentine Sterling, or Carlton Guthrie, though I would like to know which name you’d prefer me to use.”
“I’ve been Carlton so long that Valentine almost sounds foreign.”
She nodded. “Good.” Her lips twitched with the beginning of a smile. “I prefer Carlton too. It’s what I’ve gotten used to.”
He inhaled deeply, his nostrils flaring as he stared down at her. To think she could have lost him because of her father’s determination to be rid of him caused her throat to squeeze so painfully she could barely speak. And yet, she forced out the necessary words even as tears began sting
ing her eyes.
“I love you. And I’ll never stop loving you, no matter what.”
His hand settled firmly against her cheek and she felt the rough scrape of his calloused thumb stroking her skin. “I love you too, Regina. You’ve filled my world with light. My heart, once dead, now beats again.” The emotion in his voice caused her heart to flutter. “Like a fairy wielding a magical wand you’ve sprinkled pieces of joy on my life and I…I don’t want to live without you. To be honest, I cannot imagine taking another step without you by my side, Regina. So please…” He blinked and a single tear spilled from the corner of his eye and trickled down over his cheek. “I’ve spoken to your brother and he has allowed me to ask for your hand.”
Regina’s legs wobbled a little in response to his declaration. She wanted to grab him by his lapels and pull him closer – she wanted to wind her arms around his neck and drag his mouth to hers for a kiss. It took more restraint than she thought she possessed just to stand there and wait for him to continue. Indeed, she was seconds away from tapping her foot with impatience.
When she could not stand the suspense any longer, she opened her mouth to tell him that she accepted so they could skip past the question.
Only he cut her off by saying, “I’m nothing but a scoundrel without you. Please, do me the honor of being my wife, and I will spend every waking moment ensuring that you are happy and safe. Marry me, Regina, and I promise that I’ll never stop trying to be the best man I can be.”
She wanted to fling herself at him, she was so overjoyed, so it took some effort to allow the necessary time required to form an answer. And when she spoke, she was rather surprised that it wasn’t with a quick and simple yes.
Instead she said, “On one condition.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Name it.”
Heat flooded her cheeks. She bit her lip and was close to losing her nerve, but the fierce intensity in his eyes urged her on. “I miss the way you used to speak, so maybe you can revert to that manner?” She cleared her throat and dropped her gaze for a second. “When we’re alone?”
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