The Heir lf-1

by Johanna Lindsay

  It had been one of the hardest things Sabrina had ever had to do, to come back downstairs and have to shake her head at Duncan. This had been his own last hope and now it was gone.

  He had apparently expected no other outcome, however, because his expression didn't change, not that it could have gotten much more dejected at that point. He did gather her in his arms, though, to thank her for trying. And it was like heaven and hell for those few moments, savoring the feel of him, yet knowing it would probably be the last time she would ever be that close to him.

  Duncan and Raphael rode along with their coach, escorting them back to Oxbow, which her aunts had decided would be the best course of action, despite the lateness of the hour. Sabrina hadn't even known that Raphael had been there with Duncan until she was already in the coach and they were on the way, and she could vaguely hear his voice outside complaining of a wicked headache.

  The return trip seemed to go much quicker, and Sabrina was in bed before dawn after all, though it was close, less than an hour away. She had managed to keep from crying until then, but as soon as her head touched her pillow, all the emotions of the last week converged on her again—and the knowledge that Duncan would probably be married before she woke.

  It wasn't any more painful to rise in the afternoon and know that Duncan's marriage had become a fact that morning. That surprised Sabrina. She had anticipated being devastated again. But after thinking about it, she realized there was no difference for her either way. Loving him, she hurt for him, but it wasn't as if she might have been able to have him for herself if there were no Ophelia.

  Her own worse pain had occurred earlier in the week when his grandfather had warned her what Duncan's real feelings for her were. Until then, she had still harbored a small hope that if he didn't have to marry Ophelia, he might marry her instead. But it wouldn't have happened, at least not for the right reason, which Archibald had pointed out to her. She would never be more than a friend to him—but some friend she was, to have missed his wedding.

  It annoyed her now, that she'd missed it. Archibald had told her that Duncan would be needing his friends today more than ever. And she couldn't help recalling how sad he'd looked last night, just before

  he hugged her.

  She hoped her aunts had at least gone to the wedding. They'd all been invited. But considering the hour they'd gotten to bed, they'd probably overslept, too. It was too bad Duncan couldn't have done the same. She was sure he would have liked to. But no doubt someone had woken him. It was his wedding day, after all.

  Coming downstairs a bit later, she found at least one of her aunts up and about, and on her way up to fetch her, or so Alice indicated when she said, "So you are up then? I wasn't sure."

  "Yes, did you go to the wedding?"

  "Good heavens, no, we needed some sleep. But I don't doubt we'll hear all about it for the next month or two. Right now you have a visitor in the parlor."

  Sabrina wasn't sure why she guessed it was Ophelia, possibly because she had been her last visitor. On her wedding day, though? Yes, she would want to gloat—no, actually, she was forgetting what she had learned last night, that Ophelia had changed her mind about wanting to marry Duncan. She was still incredulous over that. How could any woman not want a man who possessed all the qualities one could possibly hope for in a husband? But Ophelia had her own personal set of priorities, and Duncan just didn't fit in to them.

  She would be there to complain then and bemoan the fate she'd been dealt, a fate Sabrina would have given anything to have for herself. Sabrina wouldn't tolerate it, not this time. She wouldn't pretend a friendship anymore, either, that had never been there to begin with, especially when she knew now how Ophelia had lied to her, manipulated her, and even set about to deliberately ruin her. Actually, she decided she would simply show Ophelia to the door.

  Determined to do just that, she was quite deflated to find Mavis waiting on her in the parlor instead. She even blushed slightly over the mean thoughts she'd just had about Ophelia. That Mavis was looking a little embarrassed as well gave her pause, though.

  But it was easy enough to guess why the other girl would be uncomfortable. Mavis probably wanted to explain why she had refused to help Duncan, was probably suffering a guilty conscience for it now. She wasn't really a bad sort, after all, just unwilling to give up her one chance for revenge against someone she felt was so deserving of it and wouldn't get it any other way. Not that any of it mattered now, when it was too late.

  "I came to apologize," Mavis began. "There's no need."

  "Yes, there is. I knew I wouldn't do as I said last night. I should have indicated as much to you, or at the very least offered you some doubt, so you wouldn't have left thinking the worst of me."

  "What are you talking about?"

  Mavis sighed. "I just wanted to savor, for a few hours at least, having the power to destroy Ophelia's happiness in my hands. And I just wanted her to know it, for a short time. She really does need to learn that the horrid things she does will come back to haunt her, and this was one instance to prove it to her."

  "For a short time?"

  "Yes, I intended to stop by Summers Glade today on the way back to London, to let Duncan know that he doesn't have to marry her, at least not to save her reputation on my account. For me to spread the tale of the compromising situation I came upon would make me no different from her. It's something she would do, hurting someone else just to get what she wants, and the day I start behaving like her is the day I hope someone locks me up and throws away the key."

  Sabrina grinned. She would have laughed aloud in her relief, but managed to restrain that impulse. She didn't want Mavis to know just how happy she was for Duncan.

  "Then you've already told Duncan?"

  "Well, no," Mavis said. "I was hoping you would come with me. I rather suspect he will be annoyed with me for letting him think, even for another day, that he still had to marry that witch."

  It was like having the ground open up and swallow her. Sabrina found the shock was just as bad, especially after her momentary relief.

  "You didn't know the wedding had been scheduled for this morning, did you?" Sabrina asked in a dull, lifeless voice.

  The immediate loss of color to Mavis's face was answer enough, but she said, "How could it be so soon? It takes three weeks just to post the banns!"

  "Unless a special license is obtained, and Lord Neville apparently had one in hand long ago. Due to his advanced age, he didn't want any time wasted, once Duncan made his choice of bride. Understandable that he'd like to see a great-grandchild or two before he passes on. But in this case, the rush was to circumvent a scandal as well. After all, they didn’t know that you wouldn't say anything about what you witnessed."

  "Good God, if I'd known there was a time constraint ... I confess I even considered keeping silent for at least a week, but felt that would be too long to let Duncan go on thinking he had to marry Ophelia. But I didn't think a few hours would matter overly much, when he would probably be sleeping through most of them. Oh, God, I'm never going to be able to forgive myself for this."

  Ordinarily Sabrina would have tried to ease the other girl's misery, a natural impulse for her, but for once she couldn't manage to even try. It wasn't Ophelia's life that was ruined, whether she thought so or not, due to Mavis not fessing up to her intentions immediately, it was Duncan who would have to live with the results.

  "Perhaps it isn't too late," Mavis added, grasping at straws. "They are married. That's too late no matter how you look at it."

  "Yes, but there is still another way to get out of a new marriage, well, as long as they haven't gone straightaway to bed to consummate it, and why would they when they don't even like each other? They could get an annulment, which is certainly more acceptable than a divorce."

  Sabrina couldn't manage to see that as an option. "Based on what grounds?"

  Mavis waved an impatient hand. "How should I know? But I'm sure something can be suggested. Perhaps h
er parents haven't let anyone know how they feel about the renewed engagement. If so, then they can claim they are against it and she married without their permission."

  "When they were so set on the marriage themselves?" Sabrina reminded her.

  "Sabrina, you aren't helping with this skepticism," Mavis complained. "We need to at least let them know this is an option, and before any consummating gets done that would remove it as an option."

  We? Sabrina wondered how she had gotten volunteered to participate in this nonsense. Mavis was forgetting that Ophelia had let all and sundry know how much her parents were for the marriage, so much so that they refused to listen to her own heart. Nor did she want to be the one to have to tell Duncan that he was stuck with Ophelia now simply because neither of them had thought to tell Mavis when the wedding was to be, when they both could have mentioned it to her last night.

  Chapter Forty-eight

  The wedding party was still going on, though some of the guests were already departing. This was why Sabrina and Mavis arrived unnoticed, entering Summers Glade just as a small group was leaving, and Mr. Jacobs busy elsewhere rather than attending the door.

  They weren't completely unnoticed, though. Raphael Locke, looking very handsome today in his formal wedding attire, was leaning against the open doorway to the drawing room, where most of the remaining guests were gathered, and happened to be facing the hall, having just said good-bye to the departing guests. Drink in hand, eyes a bit red—whether from lack of sleep or one too many drinks was debatable—he probably wouldn't have been standing very steadily, which was why he was using the doorframe for some support.

  "I know some women like to arrive late to an event, to make an appearance, as it were, but this is taking late arriving to extremes, ain't it?"

  Raphael's remark, loud as it was so it would reach them across the hall, caused both women to blush. Neither Mavis in her traveling clothes, nor Sabrina in her simple day frock and walking coat, was dressed for a wedding, which was already causing some small embarrassment to them. They had opted for haste rather than dressing appropriately, and had come here straightaway after deciding they should, so drawing further attention to them was not what they were hoping for.

  Sabrina briskly closed the space between her and the young duke-to-be so she wouldn't have to shout back at him. "If you don't mind, we are not here for the celebration, if it can be called that, but to try and offer a solution that might work to cancel the unwanted occurrence. I think it's a waste of time myself, but Mavis is desperate to make amends now, so here we are, and we do not need attention drawn our way, thank you very much."

  She had whispered, but in a thoroughly scolding tone, which had him grinning at her and saying, "Oh, I just love riddles. How many guesses do I get in figuring out what you mean by that?"

  Sabrina tsked at him, deciding he was indeed quite foxed. "They are still here, aren't they? They haven't

  gone off yet on a wedding trip?"

  "If you mean the bride and groom, they are indeed still here, moping about. Ophelia was last known to be in her room pouting, and I believe Duncan has entrenched himself near to the brandy supply. If he gets married today, he's bound and determined not to remember it."

  Sabrina was sure it was Raphael who wasn't going to remember today, and frowning at him, demanded, "What do you mean, if he gets married?"

  "Why, that the wedding hasn't occurred yet, of course," he replied nonchalantly.

  Sabrina felt her earlier rush of relief again soaring through her, but she curbed it this time. She wasn't going to leave herself open to the disappointment that was bound to follow if she was misunderstanding again what she was hearing.

  "They really haven't married yet?"

  He smiled at her. "No, they really haven't."

  She smiled back at him, letting the relief flow unchecked now, and what a heady feeling it was. Yet it was the very last thing she expected to find here, and it didn't take long for her confusion to take over.

  "Why not?" she asked him. "I thought they were all in agreement that any postponement would be detrimental to Ophelia's reputation."

  "Assuredly it would be, under the circumstances, but this isn't a real postponement. From what I gather, and I wasn't there to witness it, mind you, but Duncan mentioned that Neville was quite annoyed when told this morning that Mavis wasn't going to cooperate in keeping things hush-hush. So it didn't surprise me, really, when he conveniently had a relapse just as the wedding ceremony was commencing this morning. Was rather well done, if I do say so myself. Had to be carried up to bed and the doctor fetched."

  Sabrina frowned. "Convenient? Are you quite sure he hasn't taken a turn for the worse?"

  Raphael chuckled. "Well, considering that Duncan let it slip that his grandfathers had gotten into an argument about which one of them should have the honor of doing the collapsing, yes, I'm quite sure."

  "Oh," Sabrina replied, finding it a bit hard to believe that the esteemed Lord Neville would even agree to such trickery, let alone perform it.

  Seeing her doubting expression, Raphael added, "It's just a delaying tactic, and one that won't last very long. But apparently Neville seems to think that if he can talk to Mavis himself, he can make her see reason. And if not, then he plans to call in a few debts to use against her father to make him make her see reason. He immediately sent someone to Manchester to fetch her, now that her whereabouts were finally known. Good of you to bring her here yourself."

  Fortunately, Mavis was still standing by the entrance and didn't hear any of that. "I didn't bring her, she pretty much dragged me here with her. She was devastated thinking she was too late to fix this mess, and was going to suggest an annulment might be arranged."

  "Too late? I was under the distinct impression last night that she was determined to have her revenge against Ophelia. What changed her mind?"

  "She was only determined that Ophelia should think so for a little longer."

  "Not very kind of her, considering Duncan was getting slapped with that revenge as well."

  "I agree, but I do understand, knowing a bit more now about why she despises Ophelia so much. And she did intend all along to come here today to make her assurances. But no one had bothered to tell her that the wedding was to take place this morning. She was basing her time schedule on the posting of the banns, so thought she had ample time to put a stop to the wedding."

  Raphael shook his head in amazement. "My my, assumptions do have a way of kicking you in the ar—ah, teeth occasionally, don't they?"

  Sabrina cleared her throat but still couldn't help grinning at him as she replied, "Indeed, I've been losing a few teeth myself lately."

  That caused Raphael to burst out laughing. Unfortunately, the sound was highly inappropriate with the deathbed-vigil atmosphere that the house was currently in. After all, the guests were waiting to hear how serious Neville's collapse was, so laughter, under the circumstances, would indeed draw immediate attention.

  Raphael, half foxed as he was, didn't notice, but Sabrina blushed to her roots when every eye in the drawing room fixed on her in stern disapproval. She quickly stepped to the side of the doorway, out of the path of those eyes.

  She felt like kicking Raphael for making her forget herself like that, enough to answer him with her old habit of trying to get a laugh out of him. But then she started. It had been so long since she had felt like making anyone laugh. That the impulse had resurfaced was actually a relief. It indicated that the horrid misery she had been wallowing in really was on its way out the door finally . . .

  Chapter Forty-nine

  The laughter in the hall drew Duncan with only a mild curiosity. Ordinarily he wouldn't have bothered finding out the cause of it, but he was hoping for a distraction, even a small one. Anything would be preferable at the moment than sitting around waiting for his wedding to begin, or at least pretending he was waiting, when he already knew it wasn't going to begin, at least not today.

  Neville had no intention o
f "recovering" until he had his chance to talk to Mavis Newbolt himself. He had maintained from the beginning that that was all it would take, but if not, then he fully intended to coerce her father into using parental authority to assure her silence instead. But the girl had to be available for either course of action to work, which she hadn't been until now.

  Duncan wasn't depending on either occurrence happening when, from all accounts, Mavis's father was reputed to be an uncooperative individual, and Mavis was adamant in her own stance. Neville was too dependent on the power of his position to work wonders.

  Duncan was more realistic in knowing that Mavis only had to tell one person, just one, for a rumor to start. And she only had to claim she'd already done just that, whether she had or not, for Neville's plan to go by the wayside.

  But any delay was welcome, even one caused by a pretense, which he hadn't exactly agreed to—not that he'd been asked his opinion in the matter. His grandfathers, once again, were making decisions for him. One of these days he was going to have to set aside his desire to not hurt Archie's feelings and tell him plainly to stop meddling in his life.

  The trouble was, Archie still saw him as a lad, when he wasn't. And loving Archie as he did, his impulse was to protect his feelings, not hurt them. But he didn't have that impulse where Neville was concerned. And it made him distinctly uncomfortable every time Neville "helped" him, feeling the way he did about the old man. And this wasn't the first time that Neville had done something that caused Duncan to be grateful to him.

  Neville hadn't argued even once when Duncan broke the first engagement, while Archie had done his share of complaining about that. And Neville had told Duncan quite frankly, after this current mess began, that if he chose to not marry Ophelia, he would support that decision and do his best to see the girl wasn't ruined because of it. That Neville couldn't guarantee she wouldn't be ruined was the only reason Duncan hadn't been able to accept that option, much as he would have liked to.