by Lydia Dare
Elspeth forced away her tears. She wouldn’t be doing anything else with Ben, and she needed answers to a lifetime of questions. “Please, Will. We’ve come this far.”
“And my brother will never forgive me,” he mumbled.
Major Desmond Forster rubbed his brow, looking at the file in front of him. Poor Captain Redding. He was a good soldier and a better man. Matthew Redding had served under Desmond’s command all throughout the Peninsular Wars; returned the previous year, after Waterloo; and sold his commission. Within weeks he had married his childhood sweetheart, and last night the lass had gone into labor. Neither the girl nor the babe survived the event.
Redding was nearly out of his mind and rejected all the assistance the Society had offered. It broke Desmond’s heart. But he couldn’t help someone who refused to let him. He closed the file and rose from his desk. He started to descend the steps from his office, but stopped midway down the stairs.
His foot nearly slid out from under him as his knees gave way. Rose? It couldn’t be. He blinked in astonishment. At the foot of the steps, a young, red-haired lass stood quietly, fidgeting with her hands. Dear God, she was the spitting image of Rosewyth Campbell. The same compassionate green eyes, alabaster skin, fiery hair.
Just as he made up his mind to turn around and go back to his office, the girl’s eyes flashed up the staircase. She smiled tentatively, and his feet dragged him the rest of the way down the stairs. “Miss, are you lost?”
She shook her head. “I’ve come with Lord William, he asked me ta wait here.”
The girl’s Scottish lilt nearly knocked Desmond to the ground. She not only looked like Rose, but she sounded like her, too. Why would Will bring a girl here? He knew the rules. Desmond scratched his head. “The thing is, lass, ladies aren’t allowed here. Would you like to wait for Lord William in my office?”
She bit her lower lip. “I suppose that would be all right. Can ye get word ta his lordship?”
The lass wasn’t Will’s usual sort of conquest. Desmond found himself smiling at her. “Of course. My office is at the top of the stairs, first door on the right. What’s your name, lass, so I can tell Will?”
“Elspeth. Lady Elspeth Westfield.”
Desmond’s mouth fell open. He’d known the Westfields for more than three decades. There wasn’t a Scot in the mix. But he had sent Benjamin to Edinburgh to find Rose.
An uneasy feeling washed over him. He knew instantly that this girl was Rose’s daughter. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind. Rose had obviously gone on with her life while he’d mourned her loss every day.
“Top of the stairs, first door on the right,” he repeated numbly. Then he stepped into the drawing room and caught sight of Will in the far corner.
Why the devil had the scoundrel brought Rose’s daughter here? Desmond stalked across the room, ready to tear into the lad, but as he approached, Will seemed to sigh with relief. “Major, I was just looking for you.”
Desmond frowned at the overgrown pup. “Would you care to tell me why you’ve brought a woman here, William?”
“You’ve seen her?” Will frowned. “She’s Ben’s wife.”
“I figured she belonged to one of you. That doesn’t explain why she’s here, William.”
Will gestured to a seat in the corner and collapsed into one himself. “She’s here to see you, Major. Ben told her he thought you could help her find her father.”
Her father? The last person he’d want to find was Rose’s husband. “How the devil would I know where to find the man?”
“He’s a Lycan. One of us. She bears the mark. Ben thought you could help her figure out who he is.”
The air whooshed out of Desmond, and his mouth went dry. The odds that Rose knew another Lycan were minuscule. He did the math in his head. The girl looked to be about twenty. He stumbled into the seat Will had indicated earlier.
It wasn’t every day a man learned he had a grown daughter.
“She doesn’t know who he is?” Desmond managed to ask. Why had Rose kept the girl in the dark? Why had she kept him in the dark?
Will shook his head. “Scoundrel apparently abandoned her mother before she was born.”
He hadn’t known Rose was with child. He never would have left if she’d told him. He would have made Rose come with him. Damn Fiona Macleod and her vision to hell. “What does she want with him?”
“Ben says she wanted to kill him, but I can’t imagine that. She’s really the sweetest girl. Compassionate. She actually loves Ben, for God’s sake, if you can believe it—though that’s a whole other matter.”
Desmond’s mind was awhirl. His daughter sat in his office, and he didn’t have a clue what to say or do with her. But he had to see her again, to look at her with his eyes. His daughter.
He was rocked to his core.
Elspeth fidgeted in her seat. What was taking Will so long? He said the major was always here. Then the door opened and the gentleman she had met earlier walked into the office, a look of confusion marring his brow. “My dear, William says you are here to see me. I am Major Forster.”
“Oh.” She rose from her seat. “Major, it’s so nice ta meet ye. My hus—Benjamin speaks so fondly of ye. Did Will tell ye why I’ve come?”
“I told him, Elspeth,” Will replied from the door. “He thinks he can help.”
She smiled at the older gentleman. He raked a hand through his dark hair, sprinkled with bits of grey. His brown eyes seemed so distant, not filled with the warmth she had noted earlier. “Oh, that’s such a relief. I’m sorry ta barge in here without any notice.”
The major locked eyes with hers. “It’s no trouble, Lady Elspeth.”
Will glanced at Forster. “You’ll see her home tonight?”
The old officer agreed with a curt nod. Elspeth had no intention of returning, but neither of these men needed to know that. Once she had a name and a direction, she’d be off.
Will bent and kissed her forehead, just as he would a sister. “Good luck. I’ll see you later, Elspeth.” She avoided meeting his eyes as she nodded. If he looked too closely, he would see her planned subterfuge written all over her face, as she was a terrible liar.
The major motioned toward a chair and encouraged her to sit again. “May I get you some tea?” he asked politely.
Elspeth shook her head. “I really just want information about my father. Then I’ll take my leave. I willna trouble ye for long.”
“You’re no trouble at all, my dear,” he said, his gaze lingering at her hair. A flash of pain crossed his face.
“Are ye all right, Major?” She scooted forward in her chair, ready to jump up and help him if he needed it.
“I think my eyes are fooling me, Lady Elspeth. Because you look just like her. The memories are painful.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m no’ sure what ye speak of. Do I remind ye of someone ye once knew?”
He simply nodded and sat back in his chair, his fingers steepled in front of him. He breathed out the words with a long sigh. “I knew your mother, lass, and you look so much like her that it nearly takes my breath away.” Then he smiled softly at her.
She pressed a hand to her chest. So close to solving the mystery of her parentage. “Oh? What was her name?” she asked, still skeptical about all the developments.
“When I knew her it was Rosewyth Campbell. Her friends called her Rosie. To me, she was Rose.” His eyes narrowed. “How is she?”
“Dead,” Elspeth said softly. She watched his face for a reaction, but he gave none. Aside from the look of sheer misery he’d worn since he walked in the door.
“How did she die?” he asked as he crossed to the sideboard and poured himself a drink. His hand visibly shook as he raised the glass to his mouth.
“She took a fever. Nearly the whole town was sick. I became very ill. Mother nursed me back ta health, then she died.” There was no need to go into too much detail until she found her sire. “So do ye think ye can help me find my father?” she asked.
He nodded. “Aye, lass, I believe I can.”
Relief washed over Elspeth. “How did ye ken her?” she asked. Thousands of questions ran through her mind, and she couldn’t pick which to ask first.
“I went to her to be healed.”
“Ye look hearty and hale. What was yer ailment?”
“I had lost a part of myself. And needed to find it again. Your mother helped me.” She could tell, even as he spoke, that he had memories running through his mind. Fond ones, if she had to judge.
“I feel like we’re speakin’ in riddles here. So pardon me for speakin’ bluntly. But what do ye ken of my father?”
His eyes narrowed as though he concentrated hard to find the right thing to say. Then the words tumbled from his mouth like water from a spout. “I went to Scotland to find your mother, because I knew of her powers. The Còig is an ancient entity, and I’d been raised on the stories of their legend when I was a boy in Glasgow. I knew their healer was the only one who could help me find myself.”
Elspeth swallowed anxiously as she listened to him. The Còig was an ancient entity, and she’d left her sister witches for a man who didn’t love her.
The major leaned forward. “Would it surprise you if I told you I’m a Lycan?” he asked, one eyebrow arched.
Not particularly, since they were sitting in Canis House. Elspeth shook her head. “Would it surprise ye if I told ye that I’m half Lycan?” she asked as she removed her glove to show him the mark of the beast on her wrist.
“No.” His dark eyes captured hers. “It wouldn’t surprise me at all.” The major smiled a gentle smile.
“Was she able ta help ye?” Elspeth asked.
“Oh, she did more than help me. She made me fall in love with her. Then she broke my heart and made me leave her in Scotland to return to my troops.”
Elspeth’s heart jumped in her chest. Did he mean he was the one? She jumped to her feet. “Ye!” she gasped.
He leapt up as quickly as she did and was around the desk in a flash. “I believe so.” He pointed to the pewter wolves that held her hair back. “The combs you wear, they were hers?”
“Aye, they were.” Elspeth nodded as her eyes met his again. She wasn’t quite sure what to say. She had imagined that she would get a name and directions to her father and would have time to figure out what to say. But here she was, staring right at him.
“I gave them to her,” he said quietly. “I wanted her to remember me when I was gone.”
“She wore them every day.”
“That brings me some comfort.” He smiled softly. “As does knowing about you.”
He made it sound as though she were a new discovery. Surely her mother had told him, hadn’t she? And he’d chosen to ignore all the letters and the spells she’d used to call to him. And now he would pretend to be happy about having a daughter?
“Why did ye never come for us?” She couldn’t keep the bitterness out of her voice.
“I tried.” She opened her mouth to protest, but he held up a hand. “I came back through Scotland a few years later and went straight to the Campbell cottage. Your grandfather wouldn’t even let me in. But I’m of stubborn stock and planted myself on his porch. It didn’t matter. I could have waited a lifetime, since Rose didn’t live there anymore.”
Elspeth frowned. Her mother had lived in the cottage every day of her life.
He continued quietly, “Then Fiona Macleod came out of the woods. She told me I was making a fool of myself. That your mother had gone on with her life, married a nice man from the other side of town, and had a daughter. That seeing her wouldn’t do me a bit of good.” He shrugged.
Why would Cait’s mother do such a thing? Why would she keep her mother from happiness? But she knew the answer, or thought she did. After all, Cait had tried to keep Ben from Elspeth. “She hated ye,” Elspeth said, shaking her head.
“Aye, she didn’t like that a beast had tried to steal her healer away.” The major rubbed his brow, as though the memories caused him pain. “I was so stunned by her words, I didn’t even have the presence of mind to tell her that Rose’s new marriage wasn’t valid, since she was still my wife.”
“Yer wife?” she gasped, stepping backward. “My mother was never married ta anyone. I was born out of wedlock.” She still bore the scars of that.
The major leaned forward and touched her cheek. “Oh, no, my dear. I loved her too much to ruin her. We were married in Ormiston. When we came back the next day, Rose didn’t want to tell her coven or your grandfather just yet. I needed to prove myself to them, your mother said. To be worthy.”
“So the courtship would come after the marriage?”
“That’s what it felt like. Only Bonnie Ferguson ever warmed up to me. And your grandfather wouldn’t accept me, no matter what. When I asked for her hand, which was already mine”—he bit the last out in a growl—“he said no. Then I was called back to my regiment. I told Rose to pack her things. That she’d be coming with me.”
None of that made sense, and Elspeth shook her head. “And she refused?”
“Aye, it was all foretold. A beast would come for Rose and try to take her from the coven, but she would resist him. Fiona’s prophesy was correct. In the end, your mother loved the Còig more than she loved me.”
Elspeth didn’t believe that for a moment, and she stepped away from the major. “She never stopped lovin’ ye. My grandfather said ye killed her. Ye broke her heart and it just took her fifteen years ta die of it. When she got sick, she didn’t have the strength ta fight the fever. She even summoned ye, and ye didn’t come.”
“Summoned me?” The major frowned. “My dear, I never received word from Rose. Not one letter. If she had told me about you, I’d have never let her stay in Edinburgh, no matter what Fiona Macleod saw.”
Elspeth’s mind was awhirl. Nothing seemed to make sense. Then the room began to spin, right before her world went black.
Forty-two
BEN STALKED THROUGH THE HOUSE, BARKING AT ALL THE servants, which made the maids skitter into corners and the footmen wince as he walked by. It wasn’t like him to act so boorish. Even Polack, the unflappable butler, simply raised his nose and regarded him with surprise.
“Elspeth!” he called again. Where the devil was she? He’d been looking for her for hours. The sun was falling in the sky, and he couldn’t find her anywhere. He’d entered every room in the house at least three times.
Finally Ben retreated into the study and sat down behind his desk. There he found a folded note on the center of the desk and picked it up. The feminine scrawl immediately caught his attention.
He unfolded the foolscap and couldn’t hold back a gasp as he read the contents.
My Dearest Ben,
I have left specific instructions with the cook as to your diet in the days leading up to the moonful. Please do not be as difficult for her as you have been for me. Also, there are some potions with labels in the top drawer of your desk. The largest should be used as a last resort, if you do not feel the beast within you on the night when the moon is at its best.
You deserve a wife who loves you, as I deserve to have a husband who loves me. I am aware that you do not, and cannot be that man. So I think it is best for us to sever our ties at this point. For what it is worth, I do love you.
Always,
Ellie
Ben’s heart lurched in his chest. She’d left him? Just like that? He could hardly believe it. Ellie was patient and compassionate. She wouldn’t destroy him like this.
What was it that Will had said earlier? When you’ve lost her, don’t come running to me. Will knew she meant to leave and hadn’t told him?
Fury replaced his emptiness, and he strode from the room with the intent to kill his brother. “William!” he bellowed through the house. “William!”
Polack approached him cautiously in the main hallway. “My lord, your brother is not here at the moment.”
“Where the devil is he?” Ben barked.
/> “I’m sure I don’t know, sir.”
“What about my wife? Do you know where she is?”
Polack looked at his shoes. “I have inquired about her ladyship’s whereabouts, as you seemed intent on locating her. Clarke says she left this afternoon on horseback.”
Horseback? She could be anywhere. “And he just let her go?” he asked, mortified. He would sack the groomsman this instant.
As he started toward the back exit, Polack cleared his throat, stopping him. “She was with Lord William, sir. I’m certain Clarke would have had no reason to deny her a mount.”
A red haze filled Ben’s vision, and anger bubbled in his veins. He’d find the blackguard if it was the last thing he did.
After a half dozen bawdy houses, Will’s usual haunts, Ben finally found his brother at a hell, sitting at a hazard table, seemingly foxed. The last several hours he’d spent chasing after Will hadn’t dimmed Ben’s anger in the least. He stalked up behind his brother and yanked him out of his seat.
Will fell to the floor with a thud. “Ben?”
If anyone noticed the interaction, they hid it well. The other fellows spread out at the hazard table, absorbing Will’s vacated spot.
“I am going to kill you,” Ben hissed. “Where is she?” His brother’s eyes narrowed, as though he was trying to focus on Ben. Then Will shook his head and scrambled back to his feet. “Elspeth?”
Who else would he be asking about? “Where did you take her? And how dare you tell her I don’t love her! What did you do, Will? Sweet-talk her with your damned irresistible charm? Did you console her? Did you touch my wife?”
A number of men who had been ignoring them suddenly became interested and shifted their attention from the tables to watch the Westfield brothers’ interaction. Will simply gaped at him. “Have you lost your mind?”
“Where is she?” Ben pushed Will with both hands, sending him crashing against a hazard table. Money and markers tumbled to the floor while players protested the interruption of their game.
“Hey,” one of the burly footmen called loudly. “You two, out of here.”
Will dusted himself off and glared at Ben. “I was winning, you lout.”