by Robyn Carr
“Can you guess why I’ve sent for you, Chadwick?”
“No, my lord.”
“l’ll ask your forgiveness first. I greatly regret that I did not open your own home to you in your time of need.”
“You’re a long time in considering this, my lord. My wife is dead now four years. Are you ready to bless our union?”
“You’re bitter,” the earl started.
“Bitter?” Chad laughed cruelly. “Bitter is a pretty word for what I feel.”
“Are you not prepared to make amends? Say so now, for I will not beg you.”
“What are your terms, my lord?”
“You are my heir. I’m growing old. Shall the house and lands fall to the current cuckold of the king’s favorite mistress or will you step forward and receive?”
“I don’t need—”
“No, you don’t, son. But there are many who would play the game for it and snatch up this holding. It is not meager.” Then he added shrewdly, “Shayburn has many friends at court now.”
“Is he a threat? Might he find a way to—”
“I honestly don’t know. I haven’t been able to make many appearances for some time now. In truth, I think you’re seen more about the court than I.”
“It is the family seat you wish to protect?”
“It’s rightfully yours, regardless of our differences.”
“And in turn, my son’s,” Chad taunted.
“You will not make this easy,” the earl sighed.
“What have you done to make my life easy, Father? You’ll forgive me if I’m skeptical?”
Taking a breath, the earl bolstered himself for an unpleasant scene, one he had hoped he wouldn’t have to play. “I’ve asked some of your friends your status. It would seem that you’ve attained some substantial wealth and that you are not yet married. They don’t seem to know you were ever married. Do you hide the boy?”
“Indeed not. He resides in my home and under my protection.”
“And he is your heir? Your legitimate heir?”
“I thought that was quite clear to you,” Chad fairly snarled.
“It is clear to me, but there are some who would speculate.”
“My lord, I married the mother of my son and the marriage and the birth were in like recorded.”
“I’m aware of that,” he said slowly. “I have the record.” Chad stiffened visibly, his glare full of venom. “A small abbey in Browne, was it not?” the earl asked.
“What is your intention, my lord?” Chad ground out through clenched teeth.
“I have no wish to cause you or my grandson injury, Chadwick. All I want is to have you come home and settle here, marry respectably, and see about the business of this estate and Bryant. I can no longer manage and I want my personal affairs in order before I die.”
“Or perhaps I should marry some blooded dame, fill your rooms with blooded brats, and the only proof of my son’s legitimacy will meet with some unfortunate accident.”
“Not by my hand, I give you my word.”
“And who is to be the bride?”
“If I left that to you, would you bring me one with a name?”
Chad smiled at his father, that lazy, self-confident smile that could make any opponent feel inferior when locking eyes with him. It told of a secret, even if there were none. “We shall, both of us, have a hard time seeing this done, since there is no bride.”
The earl held up his chin. He was much shorter than his son and therefore never met him for a confrontation unless they were both seated. It made him feel a great deal better, if not more equal. “Don’t hold your hopes on the possibility that I can’t find one, Chadwick. I’ll look long and hard.”
“No fat widows or skinny spinsters, Father, if you truly want my kinship.”
“There are women of desirability to be found with good names and fair looks, Chadwick. Think what you will of me, I couldn’t alter that now. I would no more accept a common bride well known to every peasant in the countryside now, than I would when in anger I denied you and your bride your rightful home. I will accept the boy, however, as a means to have you home, my only heir.”
“Kevin is my chosen heir, whether or not I can ever prove it,” Chad said threateningly.
“So be it. I cannot accept this alienation between us and so I accept your chosen heir. I have humbled myself that much, son. Can you not meet me halfway?”
“If you truly accept this as you say, then turn the record over to me now and have the matter done. Show me that you trust me now, my lord.”
The earl chuckled softly. “That is something I would dearly love to do. But would you flee from England with this one paper that you care about? Would you leave me and all of this to fall into a stranger’s lap? Nay, I’ll not take any chance. I’ve given my life to this. First you’ll meet the bargain.”
“And that is the last word?”
“This or nothing,” the earl said resolutely.
Chad knew the battle was fought more on principle than importance. A war of prides, not issues. Chad had been denied what it was his right to possess and he believed that had Anne been received with compassion and love into his father’s home she would not have died, afraid and alone. He could keep Kevin out of England, establish him in a number of ways, but without the record his father held there would always be doubt. That was not a great problem for a noble whose birth was witnessed and whose parents were well known, but Chad had had few confidants during his marriage to Anne. There was left only one Sutherland and John Bollering. It was not enough. And this was rightfully Kevin’s. He would not let it slip away easily.
He finally met his father’s determined stare and said very slowly, “You can force me home and force me to marry, but you will have little success in deciding what I feel. Never forget that, my lord.”
That was one year ago, almost exactly. He had returned to Jamaica, tied together some loose ends, seen that his land and home were in good, competent hands, and then returned to England. He settled his son with Mistress Connolly and her husband in a fashionable though modest house in London in a section apart from his own home there. Kevin was kept carefully quiet about his true parentage; Chad believed it wisest to anticipate his father’s actions to be the cruelest. He had never thought the earl would go this far, and therefore special care was taken to secure the boy’s safety.
Beyond a few words of greeting, Chad had not spoken to his father for a year. Now he prepared himself mentally as well as he could to meet the earl and suffer through another conversation about the marriage he had committed himself to. Donning jacket, periwig and courage, he strode the distance to his lordship’s rooms.
Servants bustled around the huge home, passing him with smiling faces and giggles as he walked through the galleries. A great deal of polishing and shining was going on all about him and he turned full circle more than once to view this wild preparation for his wedding. Voices could be heard within rooms as he passed and he knew that many of their guests had arrived for the festivities.
The earl was up and dressed, a project rarely accomplished in his days of ill health. “There you are,” he greeted Chad. “The house is full of guests and my sorry health has eased somewhat. Tell me, are you anxious to meet the young woman?”
“Should I be?” he returned with a raised eyebrow.
“Indeed you should! You can’t possibly find fault with her looks. She is lovely. Lovely!” Then the earl sat heavily and his exuberance quieted somewhat. “She’s young, Chadwick. She has accepted this graciously.”
“I’m certain she has,” he laughed. “What woman would not accept an earldom graciously?”
“I pray you treat her kindly,” the earl sighed.
“My intention was never otherwise.”
“Dare I hope you’ve reconciled yourself to this marriage?”
“I’ll see the bargain met.”
The earl was skeptical, but he could read nothing in Chad’s expression. “Gwendolen has alrea
dy made her presence felt, Chad. Treat that matter with care also.”
Chad smiled at his father, the memory stirring some humor in his mind. He and Gwen went a long way back, back to a time before Chad first left Hawthorne House. He had spent many a pleasurable afternoon bending that fair maid against the dew. The fact of the matter was that he had learned loving on her well-endowed frame. His most recent encounter with her was just the year before, partially to ease his masculine need, and partially to pique his father.
Gwen was now married to a neighboring baron, a slim monkey of a man who allowed her the same freedom with her affections that she had enjoyed previous to her carefully arranged marriage. As the thought came to mind, Chad smiled more broadly than ever. Gwen had always thought herself to be in love with Chad, but his long absences discouraged her and finally, at the insistence of her family, she wed her father’s next choice for her. Her marriage mattered little to her the last time he was with her; it wouldn’t likely matter now. No need to confide in his father that he felt nothing above tolerance for this brazen creature.
“Do you give me lessons in manners, Father?”
“While your bride’s family is in this house you’ll not disgrace me and that innocent! This would be a poor time to see me angry!”
“Then it is until I make the payment double, as I expected. Now it is not enough that I wed the woman of your choice, but I must act in a manner that suits you as well.”
The earl’s face reddened somewhat. “Will you make this more difficult than it need be?”
“No, Father, but you will make this more difficult than it need be. You have held your advantage well and I cede you this victory. If you insist on baiting me into anger by demands over and above the stipulations in our agreement it is not too late for me to leave. I still have another place to go.”
“Then you will wed the maid without quarrel?”
Chad nodded. The earl relaxed somewhat, though he never for a moment believed his son would give up this easily. Still, he could find no cause to create more strife between them now. “There are some things I would have you know of your bride. I believe her uncle actually sought the match ahead of me, though he won’t admit to that. He dangled a lovely dowry, would you agree?” Chad said nothing; not even the slightest change in his expression registered. The earl cleared his throat and went on, annoyed with his son’s lack of enthusiasm. “You’ll have the deed on your wedding day. She is young and innocent. She is a virgin, so examined by my physicians, and comes to you willingly. I will trust you to your word that you will not abuse her.”
“Have you ever known me to be abusive to women, Father?”
“Only in the reverse does your reputation lie. I’ve known you to be far too generous and quick to fall in love where women are concerned.”
Chad’s face darkened and his jaw twitched, though that was the only outward sign of his anger. When he spoke it was most smoothly. “Only once have I been in love, Father, and that was with my wife. She died in a fever at night only hours after birthing my son. She lay on a mat of straw with only one servant to tend her and little money to see to them. I didn’t think you needed reminding.”
“I knew the maid Anne!” the earl cried angrily. “She was not a stranger to me! She was fine and sweet and it pains me to know how she suffered! I say this to you, son, one time only. The young woman I bring to you now, though gently born and of some substantial wealth, is as young and fair as your dear Anne. To treat her unkindly would be just as wrong regardless of her station.”
“Have no fear, Father,” he said easily. “All will be well.”
The earl let out his breath slowly, his color returning. “Give this a chance, Chadwick. If not for me, for yourself.”
“Father, you’ve done your part in setting the stage and writing the words for this play. I think when it comes to my marriage you would only create more trouble for my bride by interfering. Next I shall have to prop you on the bed and let you consummate my marriage for me.”
“Don’t be vulgar! It is my sole intention to—”
“My lord!” Chad shouted, cutting his father off. “Have you any idea how vulgar it is to have your life prearranged and your words read from a manuscript? You already hold my firstborn’s birthright from me. Pray let me spill my own seed for the start of a new!”
“I want nothing more,” the earl said earnestly.
“Then let me breathe,” Chad pleaded, emphasizing each word singularly.
The earl looked away from his son. It was another attempt at conversation that had fallen down the slide, the antagonism between them seeming never to ease. “There are many guests about the house you should take the time to see. Some are old friends and some new acquaintances. I shall rest so I might be fit for the ball tonight. Seek me out for any matter that needs my attention.”
“Very well,” Chad said on rising. “Do not wait upon me.”
The earl gave his son a nod. Chad saw that the old man’s eyes were strained, deep lines of age seeming more prominent to him now than ever before. He looked at a certain sadness with remorse of his own. Both wanted to speak, smooth over harsh words, close old wounds. Neither did.
Chad took long strides away from his father’s room. He thought his anger well in check until he realized with some surprise that he had walked unheeded for a great distance, ending up in the earl’s gardens with no remembrance of how he’d come.
He pondered his bride, but he could feel no warmth, no curiosity, nothing he could even compare to desire. He saw dread. His heart would always ache for Anne. There were times the longing was nearly overpowering, lessening only long enough for the pain and anger to seep through.
A female voice summoned him and he turned to see Gwendolen walking toward him. The earl was right to have so little respect for this woman. Gwen was nothing more than a very nicely garbed whore. But even with the knowledge that his father despised this woman, as she walked toward him now he had a vision of his future bride, and she resembled Gwen.
“You’ve been a long time away, my lord,” she greeted him, her eyes alive with mischief.
“Don’t call me that. I have no lordship here.”
“Of course you do, darling. And soon you will have a great deal more than that,” she simpered.
Chad smiled and eyed the woman coolly. There was no question that she was one of the most beautiful in England. She could rival many with her blond hair and lively green eyes. She was full figured and well turned to a man’s desires, her voluptuous body being pleasing to ride. She was desired by many and could not be considered niggardly with her affections. She neared thirty years now and her age did not show; rather, maturity did her justice. Looking very closely he could detect a harshness to the eyes that bespoke many trials, most of which revolved around her love affairs.
“You’ve always found my inheritance my most desirable characteristic,” he laughed.
“You know that’s not entirely true,” she murmured, sidling closer. “And even if it were, what would you have a woman admire about you?”
“Certainly not that!”
“Well, then. Show me if there’s something more...”
“For the love of Christ, Gwen! Have you no shame? Is Lord Graystone watching your play from some distant window?”
She threw him a rather shocked look and muttered, “You had not heard?”
“What?”
“Lord Graystone met with his end, a miserable affair. I dread that you must hear about it at all, but best I suppose that you learn it first from me. He lost his life in a duel of the swords.”
Chad frowned blackly. He had no taste for a woman who allowed her mischief to cost a life. His feeling for her dropped one notch lower, his level of tolerance being strained even now. “Who, then, challenged your husband? Who was the victor?”
“An unworthy chap, poor fellow. And he did not issue the challenge, of course. ‘Twas my lord Graystone. He believed the man had abused me sorely, finding us in a...rather p
recarious position. He was an actor in the Duke’s Theater.”
“An actor,” he guffawed. “Good God, Gwen, I thought you only lay with lords and princes!”
Her face reddened slightly. She raised her chin a notch at the suggestion. “I did not say I was in bed with the fellow, my lord. Just the same, my husband did not wish to see my reputation damaged.”
“I daresay that is already too far gone to be saved by a sword. Where is your hero now?”
“Transported. It was not meet that he should murder a baron.”
“Murder? I thought you said it was a duel.”
“I’m sorry to say the courts did not see it in that light. I grieve at the man’s poor judgment, truly.”
“No doubt he’s grieving at that himself,” Chad muttered. “You don’t wear black. Have you already remarried?”
“Oh, of course not, darling. I simply put aside the black for this morning. I couldn’t meet you in that drab, you having been so long away and all. I hope you don’t think too unkindly of me...meaning no disrespect to my departed husband...”
“Stop it, Gwen. Was it in your mind to take him in his victory?”
“An actor? Of course not!”
“What was his name?”
“Why on earth would that interest you?”
“I’m curious. Who was the poor skunk you set up to rid you of your pestilent husband?”
“You make unkind inferences where there are none, Chad, and you do me injury. Do I assume you no longer have any affection for me?”
“You’ve come for my wedding, Gwen. Take care with your advances. Mayhaps my bride will see you clawed.”
“That helpless little twit?” she laughed. “I doubt she could injure me in any way.”
“You’ve seen her?”
“I breakfasted with her this morn. Frightfully homely little creature, don’t you think?”
“I’ve not met her.”
“You haven’t? You would choose a bride you’ve never met?”
“‘Twas my father’s choice. So, what does she look like?”
Gwen laughed. “Like a frightened rabbit! Truly, I couldn’t believe it was she. She’s a stringy little thing, far too thin, much like a newborn calf. She’s no face whatever, her lips tight and pinched and a look of total bewilderment...mayhaps slightly daft.”