Yet now she accepted her own part in her situation. Now she realized that Cilla had only done what she felt was right by following her heart—in essence, nearly the same thing as Genny—and she could not fault her for it. She was happy to see Cilla. She had missed her sister.
Samuel and Cilla were greeting everyone, shaking hands, kissing cheeks. Cilla hugged their mother, then faced Genny.
“Hello, Genny.”
Genny recognized the wariness—and the hope—in the face so like her own. Her sister. Blood of her blood, heart of her heart. She threw her arms around Cilla, pulled her close as tears stung her eyes. “Welcome home.”
Chapter 16
After the celebration of the newlyweds’ return home had finally died down, the ladies retired upstairs, and John managed to get Samuel alone for a private conversation. They met outside in the gardens, though in a different section from where he had sat with Genny. Even with the distance, though, John could not escape the scent of roses.
To his dying day, he would always associate roses with Genny.
“John, why the hasty meeting?” Samuel joined him in the grotto he had selected. “I’ve barely been able to change out of my traveling clothes. Is there news of Raventhorpe?”
“There is, but that is not why I wanted to talk to you.” John paced, searching for the words to explain.
“What news?” Samuel asked.
“He sent a man to kidnap Annabelle, but she escaped him. Again, that is not why I asked you here.”
Samuel frowned. “How did she escape?”
John stopped his pacing and glared at his friend. “I taught her some tricks to defend herself. She got away from him.”
Samuel propped his hands on his hips. “And where were you?”
John winced. “I was not there.”
“Why in hell not?”
“I was working in the stables. She sneaked off with Sir Harry without telling me. But that—”
“—is not why you asked me here. You said that already. But if Raventhorpe is back, I need to know.”
“I have not heard anything to indicate he is back in England,” John said. “Annabelle is fine, and we know the name of the man who tried to take her.”
“Why haven’t you sent the law after him?”
“Because he has gone to ground somewhere. We cannot find him.” John folded his arms. “I am trying to tell you something important, Samuel.”
“Well, have you tried—”
“I am the Duke of Evermayne.”
“—the local taverns and . . . what do you mean, you’re a duke?” Samuel frowned. “That’s what you said, right?”
“Yes.” John took a deep breath. Samuel was as honest a man as the day was long. He was not certain how his friend would handle the facts he was about to unveil. “My name is John St. Giles. Since my uncle the Duke recently died, I am his heir.”
“By God, are you serious?”
“Very.”
“Is that what you’ve been hiding?”
John shook his head. “I only recently found out myself.”
“Ah. I take it there is more, then?”
John let out a long breath. “Yes, there is more.”
“All right.” Samuel folded his arms in an identical stance. “Tell me.”
“Seven years ago, someone murdered my wife and made it look like I did it.”
Samuel’s eyes widened. “And that’s why you left England?”
“Yes, my uncle insisted.” John rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “I was just a stripling, barely twenty-three. I was drugged and unconscious in the gardens when my wife was murdered.”
“Surely you told someone.”
“I did not have time. As soon as the news hit, my uncle had me on the first ship out of England. Besides, I had no proof of my innocence.”
“Do you know who did it?”
The simple question immediately relieved the tension that gripped him. Despite their friendship, John had been concerned that Samuel might have doubts. “Can’t you guess?”
“Who . . . Raventhorpe?”
“The same. My wife was having an affair with him.”
“He murdered her and made it look like you were the one who did it? The depraved bastard.” Samuel rubbed his chin. “Of course you realize that your uncle forcing you to flee has made you look even more guilty.”
“Easy to realize now, but at that time I was young and gullible. My uncle ruled the family, and no one ever disobeyed him.”
Samuel rocked back on his heels. “I suppose you rule the family now, since you are the new duke.”
“I suppose I do. I only found out about all of this a couple of days ago, so I have not yet had a chance to absorb it.”
“What next?”
“I have not told anyone else,” John said. “Well, except for Genny.”
Samuel raised his brows. “Genny, is it?”
He would not betray Genny’s secret. Samuel did not need to know how far their relationship had progressed. “Yes, we have spent some time in each other’s company, but no, nothing can come of it. My life is in shambles right now.”
“Understood.”
John glanced away from the compassion in his friend’s eyes. There were times he wished Samuel were not quite so observant. “Tomorrow, the Baileys are throwing a picnic in honor of your homecoming, and I do not want to disrupt the festivities with this news. I intend to tell Genny’s parents and the Baileys after the picnic is over.”
“You know if there is anything you need, you have only to say the word.”
“I know.” John clasped Samuel on the shoulder. “I have a hornet’s nest waiting for me, Samuel, and I would rather no one else got stung. But I appreciate the sentiment.”
“I’m pretty good with hornets,” Samuel said with a grin. “Amazing what some kerosene and a match will do.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
“You do that.” The humor faded from Samuel’s face. “You came back to get me, John, when everyone else assumed I was dead. I will never forget that. If you need any assistance from me for anything at all, you have only to say the word.”
John swallowed past the lump that had formed in his throat. “Thank you.”
“Come along now.” Samuel swatted John in the chest with the back of his hand. “We should go back inside, rejoin the others.”
John fell into step as his friend started down the path. “I think you just want to get back to your wife. How are those leg shackles fitting you?”
“Like a glove.”
“You sound awfully happy about your captivity.”
Samuel flashed him a grin. “Jealous, are you?”
John laughed, but a pang of regret pieced his heart. Ah, Samuel, if you only knew.
Genny hesitated outside Cilla’s bedchamber. She had seen Samuel go outside with John and knew her mother had met Dolly in the drawing room to discuss costumes and props needed for the play. She was supposed to join them, as was Cilla, once her sister changed out of her traveling clothes.
She blew out a quick breath and knocked before her courage deserted her. The door opened a moment later to reveal Lucy, Cilla’s maid.
“I need to speak to my sister,” Genny said.
Lucy nodded. “One moment.” She closed the door, then opened it again a few minutes later. “Please come in.”
Genny entered the room. As Lucy closed the door behind her, Cilla came out from behind the screen, clad in her bloomers, chemise, and corset. “Genny, what is it? Has something happened?”
“No.” Genny bit her lip and twisted her fingers together. “Might I speak to you alone? Please?”
“Certainly.” Cilla nodded at Lucy, who nodded back and quietly left the room. “Forgive me for entertaining in my undergarments, but you caught me in the middle of changing out of my traveling dress.” She wrinkled her nose. “After so many hours on the train, I could not wait to get that thing off.”
Genny chuckled. “I understa
nd.”
“So tell me, what’s wrong?” Cilla came to her and took her by the hands. Her sister topped her in height only by an inch or two, but otherwise they looked enough alike that people sometimes mistook them for twins.
“Why does anything have to be wrong?” Genny shrugged.
“Because you were a beast to me before the wedding, and now suddenly you are hugging me and asking to speak privately.” Cilla arched her brows. “Something has happened, despite what you say.”
Genny pulled her hands from Cilla’s. “I came to welcome you home.”
“You did that downstairs.”
“And to apologize for my treatment of you since you have returned. I was angry, and I blamed you.”
“Come, let us sit while we talk.” Cilla indicated two chairs by the window of the spacious room. “Why did you blame me? What did I do?”
“You left.”
Cilla sighed and nodded as the two of them sat down. “When I ran off with Edward. You were so young—”
“Fourteen.”
“Only fourteen. You could not understand. I was in love with Edward. Charmed by him. Completely bedazzled—enough that I stood up to Papa and ran off with Edward anyway.”
“And left all of us behind.”
“Well, Papa disowned me.” Cilla gave her a crooked smile. “He was trying to make me come to my senses. He never expected me to call his bluff.”
Genny laughed. “Has it escaped his notice that we are his daughters? Certainly we must have inherited something from him.”
“I do not know which is worse, his bullheadedness or Mama’s sweet, calm stubbornness. How they stayed married all these years without fighting like cats and dogs is a miracle.”
“No, it is not,” Genny said. “Mama always wins.”
“Only because Papa lets her. At any rate, I left to marry Edward and go live with him in America, and in all the drama around my elopement, I did not take the time to explain to you. To say good-bye.”
“I was angry at you for a long time,” Genny said. “I kept waiting for you to come home, but you never did.”
Cilla leaned forward and grasped her sister’s hand. “I am sorry if I hurt you, Genny. I would have written, but I did not think Papa would let you read my letters. Then after Edward died and left me in such dire straits . . . well, I vowed to come back to England only when I could support myself. To show Papa that I had not ruined my life.”
“I understand that now. Truly, I do, Cilla. And I am sorry for being such a horrible wretch to you when you did finally come home.”
“I understand—”
“No, you do not. I did not even comprehend it myself until I saw you again just today.” She lowered her gaze, pulled her hand out of Cilla’s. “Things have happened to me since you left England, Cilla. Things I longed to talk to you about. I needed my sister, but you were not here, and that made me even angrier. And then when I made the wrong decisions, I blamed you as well. Because maybe you could have stopped me.”
Cilla gave a disbelieving laugh. “As if anyone could stop you once you have set your mind to something. You are definitely the admiral’s daughter.”
“But you would have tried. You would have talked to me, maybe made me see things differently.”
“Heavens, sweetie, what happened?” She lowered her voice. “Was it a man?”
Genny rolled her eyes. “When is it not a man that makes a woman act like a fool?”
“Oh, dear. Tell me.”
“A year ago. Bradley Overton. He was a naval officer and wanted to marry me. Papa was ecstatic.”
Cilla frowned. “What happened?”
“I overheard him talking to his cronies, bragging about landing the admiral’s daughter.”
“Oh, Genny, no! What did Papa do?”
“He did not know. I broke it off myself.”
“Oh, I am so sorry. The man was a fool.”
“No more than I was. It had nothing to do with you, but I blamed you anyway. It was easier.” She bit her lip. “I was just so ashamed.”
Cilla leaned forward. “Genny, did you . . . were you intimate with him?”
Genny nodded.
“You . . . and then you jilted him?”
“He lied to me, Cilla. Swore he loved me when it was Papa’s connections that he loved. I would not have a man like that, no matter what happened between us.”
“I understand. But sweetie, how was it the scandal did not get all over London?”
“I advised him that if he told anyone, I would make sure Papa stopped his naval career in its tracks.”
“Huh. Clever.”
“It worked.”
“Apparently so.” Cilla sat back in her chair and regarded her sister. “But now you have a problem.”
“I know.” Genny buried her face in her hands, then looked up again, hoping for some wisdom from her older sister. “I thought I had found a solution, but everything is complicated now.”
“You might as well tell me all of it.”
Genny hesitated. “I expected you to rail at me for what happened with Bradley.”
“Oh, I think you have been punishing yourself enough for both of us. And as long as you learned your lesson—”
Guilty, Genny glanced away.
Cilla caught the expression. “Oh, no. Tell me you did not—”
“I have fallen in love with someone else,” Genny said. “I proposed marriage to him.”
“You proposed marriage to him? What did he say?”
“I assumed he accepted because he . . . we . . . that is . . .” She gave Cilla a look that pleaded for understanding. “I thought it would be all right. That we would be together forever.”
“Oh, no. When was this?”
“Just last night.”
“What!” Cilla sat straight up in her chair. “This man is here? And this happened right under the nose of our parents?”
Miserable, Genny nodded.
“Who?” Cilla demanded. “That Sir Harry fellow?”
Genny shook her head. “John.”
“John Ready?” Cilla leaped to her feet. “John Ready seduced my sister and will not marry her?”
“Cilla, wait, calm down.” Genny rose, tried to take her sister’s hands, but Cilla jerked away from her to stalk the room.
“I cannot believe this. That my husband’s best friend would act so dishonorably . . . Well, Samuel will need to hear of this. He will make things right.”
“No, please do not interfere.” Genny held out her hands. “John spoke to me today. He has very real reasons for not marrying me.”
“Ha! Every man does, sweetie. They rarely do it of their own volition.”
“No, he truly does have valid reasons.”
“Oh?” Cilla folded her arms. “Is he dying of a dreadful illness? A contagious illness?”
“Ah . . . no. But—”
“Is he already married?”
“Not anymore.” When Cilla raised her brows, Genny added, “She died.”
“Is he wanted by the law?”
“Yes.”
“Is he . . . what did you say?”
“I said yes.” Emotion clogged her throat. “Cilla, he has been running away all these years because they think he killed his wife.”
Cilla stared at her with mouth agape for a full minute before she shook her head. “Impossible. I know John. He would never do such a thing.”
“I agree. He says it was Raventhorpe, but it was made to look like John did it.”
“Raventhorpe? Well, that makes more sense.” Cilla gave a decisive nod. “I know John, probably better than you do. And what I know of that man tells me that he is most likely trying to protect you or some such nonsense.”
Genny blinked. “Yes. That is exactly what he said. If he cannot prove his innocence, he might well be hanged for murder. Even if he is a duke.”
“Which just tells you . . .” Cilla paused. “A duke?”
Genny tilted her head. “I did not mention that
?”
“No. Heavens, this sounds like some lurid novel.”
“I know.” Genny sank down into her chair. “Try living it.”
“So John is a duke. Which one?”
“Evermayne.”
“Really? I always knew that fellow was far too well-read to be a mere coachman.”
“He must come forward to claim the title in order to save His Grace’s young daughters from being married off to lechers by the presumptive heir. When he does that, the law will come looking for him.”
“True.” Cilla came back to her chair, then sat down, tapping her chin with her fingers. “But he is a duke. So they may take their time before accusing him of anything.”
“I suppose.”
“This is going to be a difficult time for him. I have no doubt there are people who believe he truly did kill his wife.” She met Genny’s gaze. “Seems to me he is going to need someone on his side.”
Genny scoffed. “He does not want me anywhere near him. Clearly I am not fit to be a duchess. Not with my history.”
“Nonsense! You get that out of your head right now.” Anger tightened her sister’s features. “He is trying to be noble, silly. He thinks he is going to die, and he is trying to keep you out of it.”
“He said something along those lines, but—”
“You told me that you love him?”
Genny nodded.
“Then why are you letting him face this thing alone? Why are you not at his side?”
“He told me to leave.”
“And you obeyed?” Cilla shook her head. “Sweetie, I thought you had more gumption than that.”
Genny stiffened. “The man basically threw me out of his room. I will not go where I am not wanted.” When Cilla continued to stare at her, silent, Genny frowned, thinking back. “Unless . . . do you think he was trying to push me away? Make me hate him?”
“What do you think?”
The truth staggered her. “Yes. That is exactly what he did. Because he knew that the only way I would leave him is if I hated him.”
“Typical male logic.” Cilla rose and pulled her sister up out of her chair. “I have had the experience of a bad marriage, and I would not wish it on my worst enemy. I have also had the experience of falling in love and marrying a man who loves me right back. And that, little sister, is worth fighting for.”
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