Leopold nodded. “The duke had our parents murdered the week you were taken from school. Tobias and Rosemary were with them, but were taken away as hostages. I alone was free, but kept on a tight leash. He promised you were all safe to make me compliant.”
“He told me much the same.” Oliver opened his eyes. “Rose?”
Leopold shook his head. “We don’t know where she is.”
A long silence ensued, broken by the rasp of Oliver’s breath. “She would not have been taken without a fight. She didn’t want the future that was in store for her.”
Tobias swallowed the rest of his drink quickly, remembering his sister’s last moments. “She fought all right. I just don’t know if she could have gotten away. He was a big man. We should have questioned Wilcox before we let him go.”
“Not sure if we could have believed him,” Leopold warned. “He fooled us all before. I’m not willing to be tricked again. Oliver, what else do you remember?”
“The duke came to see me one last time after I moved to Skepington. When he spoke Rosemary’s name, there was an edge to it, as if he were angry. Maybe she did get away. She never wanted to marry our cousin.”
Tobias shuddered. “I have a hard time imagining Mercy married to him.”
Leopold smiled tightly. “Enough of that. Let us focus on Rosemary for now.”
“His Grace wanted to prepare her to become the next duchess of Romsey.” Oliver pinched the bridge of his nose. “I believe he planned to restore whatever defects he saw in the bloodline, his son’s poor health, but Mama objected. With our parents dead, the duke became Rose’s legal guardian and he could have forced the match.”
“But since our cousin married Mercy, we can assume Rosemary escaped the duke’s control somehow.” Leopold stood. “We’ll find her. I’ll run advertisements in ever paper if I have to. She needs to hear that we are looking for her and that it is safe to come home.”
Tobias pressed his hand to his head, remembering that terrible day in vivid detail. “Why slaughter our parents on the road instead of here?”
Oliver wiped his hands over his face. “He would not spill Randall blood on Romsey soil. He wouldn’t risk their deaths being connected to this place. Someone else might have looked a little too closely at his dealings.”
Leopold grunted. “Have you remembered where the carriage overturned at all Tobias?”
“No.” He caught Oliver’s yawn and helped him to his feet. “That’s enough for one night. We’ll deal with the servants. Time to get you into a bed.”
“Yes. Plenty of time tomorrow for serious conversation. It will be pleasant to have someone sane to converse with.”
Tobias smiled tightly, wondering again how Oliver’s incarceration had affected him. He shuddered. Ten years without liberty. Tobias had thought his life had been harsh. Imagine never seeing, touching or even making love to a woman in a decade. It was enough to drive any man to the brink.
Thirty
Beth Turner hurried into Blythe’s bedchamber, her arms full. “Your breakfast, my lady.”
“Thank you, Beth.” Blythe lifted her gaze from her study of Romsey’s sunlit gardens and smiled at the interruption. Beth’s child waited, holding the door. “Good morning, Mr. Turner.”
He nodded. “My lady.”
“It’s not much.” Beth rushed to set the tray down. “The kitchens are deserted this morning. Half the servants are gone. George has been a great help.”
Blythe drew her wrapper tighter around her shoulders. “Thank you, George. I feared as much last night when I saw the housekeeper and cook among the dissenters. Did you prepare all this alone?”
Beth nodded. “I enjoy cooking. Her Grace and her son are eating together now, but since you hadn’t rung, I thought I should bring something up.”
“That was very thoughtful. Thank you.”
“My pleasure.” Beth turned away and opened her travel case. When she held Tobias’ shirt up to the light, Blythe winced. She hadn’t thought to open it last night and separate Tobias’ clothes from the contents. A ball of panic formed in Blythe’s stomach, but Beth merely handed the items to her son without comment and sent him outside to wait.
When she finished unpacking, she opened the wardrobe. “What should you like to wear today, my lady?”
“I’m not sure, but not a dark colored gown. I think something brighter will suit my mood better today.”
A quick grin crossed Beth’s face. “I think you’ll look pretty in green. The color will highlight the color of your eyes. It’s a beautiful dress.”
“It’s one of my favorites, too.”
Beth didn’t say another word while she changed, but she did spend an inordinate amount of time dressing her hair. “There. Perfect,” Beth said at last.
“Thank you.” Blythe stared at the mirror. She may feel optimistic, but she wasn’t altogether sure what to do with herself now. She wanted to find Tobias and talk to him. But she should visit with her sister and talk over the problem of filling the vacancies that now exist in the ranks of servants at Romsey. And there was Oliver Randall to enquire after, too. She wasn’t sure where to start first.
Beth bobbed another perfect curtsey. “If there is nothing else, I should return below stairs to the kitchens. Someone needs to decide what is possible for the later meals.”
Blythe frowned. “You shouldn’t have to work in the kitchens, Beth. When I employed you it was my intention to give you a more comfortable life. Slaving away in the kitchen for the Randall’s was not part of our agreement.”
“Never worry about that now. We must all eat something. I’m sure things will return to normal very soon. I don’t mind helping out where I can.” She hurried for the door and set her hand to the knob. After a moment, she looked over her shoulder. “Your presence is required in the morning room, my lady.”
Blythe frowned. “By whom.”
“I’m sorry, my lady. I couldn’t say.” Beth darted from the room before Blythe could call her back to question her.
Intrigued by the vague summons, Blythe made her way downstairs, listening to Leopold Randall bark orders in a rapid stream to Mr. Murphy and others. There was much to be done and no one paid her any attention as they hurried to do his bidding. She peered into the library as she passed, noting Oliver sitting with his head bent over a book.
The morning room door was ajar and she stepped inside the sunlit room. Tobias waited, standing across the room, and looking so very handsome and neatly pressed. She longed to fling herself into his arms. Instead, she forced her pulse to slow. They had made no plans, aside from discussing how a man might court a lady. She’d wrestled with the conversation all night and couldn’t figure out if she was hoping for more than he intended. He hadn’t snuck into her room last night and when morning came she’d feared she’d read too much into his words. But here he stood, dressed handsomely in the morning room.
“Good morning, sir.”
He bowed deeply. “My lady. Thank you for coming.”
Tobias looked decidedly uncomfortable.
“You were expecting me?”
“I hoped you would come very much? Would you mind locking the door? I don’t wish for any interruptions.”
“Beth said I was wanted in the morning room. She didn’t say by whom.”
“You’re always wanted. I’ve told you that before.”
She locked the door, amused by his demeanor. He sounded decidedly uncertain. The first time she could remember him being so. “I remember.”
When she returned, he grinned. “Alone at last, my lady.”
“Alone again, sir,” she whispered.
He took the key from her fingers and set it aside. “Keys are dangerous. I have a confession to make. Do you remember how you lost all your servants?”
She nodded. “Yes, I still cannot believe they are gone.”
“They are not gone. They are not far from here actually.”
Blythe gasped. “Where are they?”
“It
seems I neglected to retrieve my key from your housekeeper when you came to Harrowdale. She took it with her and when the staff of Walden Hall heard Lord Venables plans to lease the house, forcing you out, they decided to seek employment elsewhere.”
“You poached my servants for Harrowdale?”
Tobias raked his hands through his hair. “As if I had any say in the matter. No, your staff poached Harrowdale for you. It seems your housekeeper believed we would marry one day and has taken it upon herself to prepare the house for your arrival.”
Blythe shook her head. “I said no such thing.”
“Neither did I. But I do not entirely dislike her plans.”
He removed a bunch of flowers from behind his back and held them out. “For you, my lady.”
Her hand shook as she accepted them, and Tobias dropped to one knee. He caught her free hand in his and pressed a kiss it. “My Angel. If I was a poet I should write a sonnet singing your praises. If I were a rich man, I would shower you in jewels to prove you would never be without. If I were a true gentleman I would have asked your brother for your hand. But he is not here and I cannot wait another day to tell you how I feel. I love you. I never want to pretend otherwise again. Marry me, B.”
Blythe had lifted the bouquet to her nose to hide how his words affected her. She had never expected to find love a second time, but she loved her wild pirate so completely that she could not say yes immediately because she was so overcome with joy.
When she remained silent, he got to his feet and moved the bouquet aside.
Tears spilled down her cheeks and she started to laugh. But her laughter was merry, and her elation and tears bubbled over.
“Is that a yes? Did I do everything the way you wished?”
She sniffed and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “Yes. Yes. I’ll marry you, my wild pirate.”
“There’s my girl.” Tobias scooped her up into his arms and spun them about the room until she was giddy. When he stopped, he held her face between his hands. “There is my precious angel. The woman who conquered her pirate.”
Blythe dropped her bouquet and twined her arms about his neck. She clung to him, drinking in his scent, his strength, and the surety that he was the only man she could ever love.
He drew back suddenly. “Finch has unfortunately set up the nursery. I fear she’s trying to rush things in that direction.”
A hot flush of embarrassment swept over her skin and she dipped her head to hide her disappointment. “She was smitten with Adam, but I understand that you would prefer not to have any children of your own.”
Tobias lifted her face to his. “What I’d prefer is not to have children whose mother isn’t married to their father.” He brushed his lips against hers softly. “I don’t want you to feel pressured. I know I can never replace what you lost, but I vow never to make you regret your decision to marry me. I’m not titled or rich by any stretch of the imagination. But I truly care about you and long to see you happy.”
Blythe bit her lips as she nodded and then buried her face in his chest. “I thought my life was over when I lost my family. I never thought I could be this happy again.”
He kissed the top of her head and held her tightly against him. “What changed your mind?”
“You.” Blythe looked up at Tobias and cupped his face between her hands. “You’re the reason my heart started beating again.”
Although more tears fell down her cheeks, Tobias kissed her passionately. When he drew back, there were tears in his eyes. “My life had come full circle; I never gave much thought to the future before I met you. I came to cause mischief, to steal away a prize beyond measure, but in doing so I found what mattered most. I found you.”
He spun Blythe around again and when they stopped he hugged her tightly to him as if he might never let her go.
The door rattled, a key turned in the lock, and heavy footsteps drew them apart. “What the devil do you think you’re doing, young man?”
Blythe bit her lip as Tobias glanced down at her, annoyance clear in his expression. Leopold! Oh, dear. Announcing their intentions to their family clearly hadn’t featured heavily in his preparations.
Never mind. She knew just what to do. Blythe winked at Tobias and then stepped out of his arms. “Sir, do you know how to knock? You cannot just come barging into any room at the abbey as if you own the place.”
Tobias placed a comforting hand at her waist. “The door was locked, old man. Do give us a moment’s privacy.”
“Oh, Dear God.” Leopold’s face grew ashen. “If he’s imposed upon you in any way, Lady Venables, he’ll be punished this time, I absolutely promise.”
Blythe set her hand over Tobias’ and grinned. “Why would you punish a man who has just proposed? Seems you should be congratulating him on having the good sense to ask me to marry him. I said yes if you were interested in my answer.”
“You want to marry him?” Leopold shook his head. “Mercy is not going to believe this.”
“Why wouldn’t I?” Mercy asked as she swept in. Her gaze swept them and she struggled to hide a smile. “Is there a problem?”
“There may be a death in the family,” Leopold muttered. “The shock may kill me.”
“Oh I doubt that.” Mercy came forward and hugged Blythe. When she drew back, her smile was blinding. She looked over her shoulder to Leopold. “After all the trouble I went through to throw them together—adjoining bedchambers, feigning illness just to leave them alone, not to mention my suggestions that Tobias needed a proper wife. ” Mercy embraced Blythe again. “I consider my first attempt at matchmaking an unqualified success.”
She grinned at Tobias and gave him a long hug, too. “Oh, don’t look at me like that. I merely made it possible for you to prove your character. What woman couldn’t love a man who would climb through a window, twenty feet from the ground, just for the pleasure of speaking with her? You brought my sister back to life. Thank you, Tobias.”
Mercy stepped away, wiping tears from her eyes and caught Leopold’s hand in hers. “We need to plan a double wedding now, my love. Come along. They don’t need our interference anymore.”
When the door closed again, Tobias dragged her against his side. “My angel. My true prize.” He lifted her free hand, turned it over and pressed a long kiss to her palm.
She settled against his chest, listening to the fast beat of his heart and then slowly began unbuttoning his waistcoat. “Together forever. Are you prepared for that?”
His lips skimmed her throat; his hands cupped her bottom and pulled her against him. The hard length of his erection pressed against her belly.
Blythe shoved his coat and waistcoat off his shoulders. It had been too long since last night.
He chuckled and drew his shirt over his head. “Oh, yes. I’m enough of a gentleman to do what’s right for us both. All day and all night. Whenever you have need of me.”
Blythe liked his willingness to please her very much. She tugged him toward the lounge and pushed him down. She straddled him, sliding her hands over his bare shoulders and back, feeling the scars of his past and loving him more for his vulnerability. She met his gaze. “I need you now.”
“As do I.” Tobias shifted them until she lay beneath him and hitched her legs around his waist. “But beloved, don’t you think we should relock that door before you have your wicked way with me? I have a reputation to think of, don’t you know.”
He twirled the key in his fingers, smiling his wicked, devious smile.
She took the key from him and then threw it across the room. “Never mind that now. Come here and make me love you a little more.”
His grin was like the rising sun. “You only had to ask nicely, B.”
About the Author
Heather Boyd is the author of erotic romance with an historical bent. A fan of regency England settings, she writes m/f and m/m stories that push the boundaries of propriety and even break the laws of that time. Brimming with new ideas, she frequently wishes she co
uld type as fast as she can conjure up new storylines. She lives with her testosterone-fuelled family north of Sydney, Australia.
Heather loves to hear from readers.
You can visit her on the web at www.heather-boyd.com
or send her an email at [email protected]
BOOKLIST
NOVELS
The Wild Randalls Series
Engaging the Enemy
Forsaking the Prize
The Distinguished Rogues Series
Chills
Broken
Charity
SHORTER WORKS
One Wicked Night
In the Widow’s Bed
Wicked Mourning
The Almack’s Alternative
Love Me Tender
Love Me True
The Hunt Club Chronicles
(Gay Regency Romance)
Almost an Equal
Barely a Master
Hardly a Stranger
Forsaking the Prize Page 26