He leaned back against his pillows. By god, she’d been a marvel, seeing that everything went as much to his advantage as possible. He didn’t know much about medicine but he knew he’d had a very bad break in his arm and she’d eased his way with astonishing expertise. Sebastian grinned. The doctor’s face had been a mixture of dislike and avarice that had even amused the marquess.
By the time his father and Marianne had both visited he began to worry. Where was his love?
He finally asked the maid who brought him a dinner tray and was told Miss Caroline was sitting in the garden. No one had felt like disturbing her. Did my lord want to send her a message?
Sebastian definitely wanted to see her but he’d send no message. Dismissing the maid, he pushed his dinner aside and rose to his feet. Ordering the nurse to help him, he ignored her protests that he should not be getting out of bed. Still shaky from the laudanum, he didn’t want to waste his strength with getting fully dressed. His valet was probably eating dinner with the servants so at his request the nurse slung his dressing gown over his shoulders. He was bare-chested since they’d cut off his shirt but the dressing gown would have to do.
He grimaced at the thought of putting on his boots with one hand and settled for a pair of slippers lying by the bed. Refusing any more help, he proceeded to go as fast as he could shuffle to Caro. Not that he was very fast, in fact he was much more unsteady than he liked.
Still, he would get to Caro.
He almost fell once after he’d reached the terrace and headed toward his love. Cursing under his breath, he thought furiously and silently as he fought for balance and finally grabbed the back of a lawn chair. Pray all the gods that be he not stumble and make things worse. He must have been making more noise than he thought, as he saw her gorgeous eyes lift and spot him.
In a flash she was by his side, leading him to the bench where she’d been sitting. Her face was flushed with anger as she railed at him and pushed him down on the bench.
“You idiotic man. Are you trying to compound your injuries? What possessed you to be so foolish?”
Sebastian relaxed as he saw the true concern on the face of his love. He managed a small grin and moved closer to her.
“You, my love. I had to talk to you. Why have you not been to see me, Caro? Do you no longer care about my dreadful suffering?”
She stared at him, her eyes raking over him as if to find any spot she might have missed while she assessed his condition. She tapped his arm lightly and then stepped back.
“My lord, do not attempt to seduce me with false words. The worst of your suffering is over. I have done what I can for you. You are not obligated to me in any way. I would leave today if I could but I’ll not make your servants’ lot worse by asking them to take me back so near to Christmas. I will stay as planned but I will keep to my room.”
Sebastian stared at her. “Caro, damned if I understand a word you’re saying. You have my father willing to get the moon for you. You have me delighted to see if I could add the stars and a comet or two. What more can you want? What is the problem in accepting my love? You must know it is sincere.”
He moved to put his arm around her but she flinched away.
“You will be a marquess someday. You cannot marry a girl who doesn’t even know where her father is buried. Your wonderful proposal made me stop and think. I’m deeply ashamed I didn’t tell you all this sooner but I’ve long refused to think about my parents at all. It simply hurt too much. But you know a suicide’s fate. Presumably my father was thrown into some anonymous grave in potter’s field. Perhaps he was even buried at a crossroads with a stake in his heart. Society abhors one of their own who commits suicide. I will not let you face such scorn. It would tarnish the position you will assume some day. Perhaps it would even affect the marquess, who has been nothing but kind to me.”
The pain in her beautiful eyes tore at his heart. He moved again to embrace her, longing to convince her by his touch and his kiss that nothing would change his love for her.
She turned away.
“I’ll not let you suffer the contempt of your peers. You don’t know what such scorn can do to you. I’ll not allow that to happen to you.”
She moved away, more quickly than he could yet move, and almost ran back to the house.
He sat on the bench until he felt stronger and then made his way slowly back to his bedroom. Damn, it was cold out there. He’d rest a little and warm up, much as he hated lack of activity, and then ask his father to come see him.
Would his father help him secure Caro? True, he’d been struck by her beauty and her resemblance to her mother. But did that mean he’d actually help? He could have recovered from the momentary shock of seeing the daughter so like Althea. Perhaps even now he was thinking of how to keep his only son from what he might term a disastrous marriage.
Groaning, he lay back on his pillows.
Time to find out if he had to fight his father as well as Caro.
No matter, this was one battle he did not intend to lose.
Caro would be his.
He’d rest a little and then set out to find his father if he’d not yet appeared.
* * * * *
Sebastian was physically weakened more than he liked. He napped and then sent for something sweet. To hell with toast unless it had some jam with it. He knew he needed to be as strong as he could be to go find his father and he’d realized long ago sugary treats always made him feel better.
He called Bates and asked for help in donning a fresh shirt and trousers, as well as his best dressing robe. He settled for dancing slippers instead of his boots. He didn’t want to waste strength by struggling into boots, even with Bates’ help. He let Bates slit his shirt to get it over his arm but refused to sacrifice his robe. Leaving it slung over his shoulder and injured arm, he made his way to the library.
His father sprang to his feet when he spotted him in the doorway and helped him to a comfortable chair, one of a pair drawn up in front of the fireplace.
“Sebastian. Should be up like this yet? How is your arm?”
The true concern in his father’s eyes warmed Sebastian.
“I had to see you, sir. I need your help, if you would give it to me.”
The marquess eyed him shrewdly as he settled in the other chair.
“Why do I suspect this has to do with the beautiful girl you brought home with you? What’s the problem, Sebastian? I thought the way she managed that stupid doctor was masterly. She will make a wonderful countess.”
Sebastian sighed and passed his hand over his eyes.
“Caro is denying she loves me. Or rather, she loves me too much to marry me. In any case, she refuses to wed me. I will marry no other, sir, and I hope you will help me secure her.”
His father stared at him. “If I’ve ever seen anybody in love it’s you two. You know I had other plans for you but I’ll not ruin your life the way fate did mine. I understand why you love her, you know.”
Sebastian gusted out a heartfelt sigh of relief.
“Thank you, sir. I’ll not marry if I can’t have her and I’m wondering if you might know how to help. She’s obsessed with her father being a blot on our illustrious name. She doesn’t know where he’s buried and assumes he’s in some unholy, unnamed grave. For some reason she thinks that adds to his disgrace. She won’t allow me to face the shame she thinks marrying her will bring. Is there any way we can investigate and hope to find something that would put her mind at rest? I don’t begin to know how to go about such a thing. Or can you help me assure Caro her blasted father doesn’t matter, as long as I have her as my wife?”
The marquess was silent for so long Sebastian began to worry.
Was he asking too much of his sire? Probably he was. This proud aristocrat had already welcomed his rival’s daughter into his household. But for the disgraced earl, his Althea might well have married his father.
When he came to the ridiculous thought Caro might be his sister he turned off his
whirling brain and waited.
And sent up a small prayer.
The marquess steepled his hands together and sighed.
“I never meant to divulge this to a soul but I see I must. The earl is buried in a corner of the same graveyard as Althea, Sebastian. You can take your Caro to her father’s grave, if that helps.”
Sebastian was so stunned he merely stared for a long minute.
“I don’t understand, sir. How can that be? Suicides are not allowed in consecrated graveyards.”
“This one is. I thought it was the only thing I could do for Althea. A group of his friends and I saw to it. It wasn’t easy to do and I regret I never had a chance to tell Althea. She’d died a few weeks before. I like to think she knows what I did and is content.”
He sighed. “Sometimes being a marquess is a good thing. As you will someday learn. You have much power to use in a positive way, if you choose.”
Sebastian looked at his father with new respect. The man had known the same kind of love he himself now knew. And he’d succeeded in the Herculean task of taking a body and burying it where he willed. But who knew with what bribery and cost to his pride. All for a woman who he knew would never be able to express her appreciation.
Sebastian hoped the knowledge had given more him than satisfaction through the years. Perhaps a kind of peace for his lost love.
Gratified and thankful, he did not at first know what to say.
Finally he went to his father and kneeled beside his chair.
“You are a better man than I. If someone took Caro from me I could never be so generous. I salute and thank you, sir.”
His father swallowed and then patted his son’s head.
“Do you want to go tell your Caro?”
Sebastian now had enough proof of his father’s big heart to smile and make his request.
“Will you go with me? I know it is dinnertime and you must appear at the table. When you can, send word to me and I’ll join you. I would like you at my side. I ate earlier. I needed fortification.”
His father nodded and Sebastian made his careful way back to his room. The effects of so much laudanum were dissipating, and he thanked the powers that be as his brain returned to normal functioning, even though his arm hurt like hell. He was amazed and humbled at his father’s support. He thought of the agony his father must have felt when he lost Althea. Everything he’d revealed showed a love that had never diminished. He’d always known his father’s treatment of his wife was meticulously correct. He’d never thought to question why he’d never noticed any passion between the two. He did not doubt his father had remained faithful to his mother in every physical aspect. But now the sadness he sometimes saw in his mother’s eyes made sense.
This was a side of his father he found hard to believe. An optimism he’d not expected flooded his being. His father had given him the information he needed to make Caro realize his sincerity.
His love didn’t have a chance. He’d have her no matter what obstacles she threw in his path. He’d not spend the rest of his life secretly mourning the only love he’d ever want.
His father had had no choice. Sebastian did not mean to let that happen to him. The very thought of losing Caro was painful beyond belief.
He waited in his room for his father. He would breach Caro’s formidable pride but with reinforcements. First of all, he would look his best. Ringing for Bates, he bathed and changed. Fawn-colored trousers that hugged his thighs, snowy linen with a little lace at the cuffs. He even let Bates put on newly polished Hessians, much to his man’s delight. In spite of Bates’ wincing he’d had him cut one sleeve of the beautiful shirt so the splints could be accommodated. He left off his coat, not wanting to spoil another garment and knowing Caro would not care. He threw it over his shoulders.
He preferred both of them naked, in any case. And soon.
He wanted her to acknowledge every kiss, every caress they had shared. He wanted her to welcome his body into hers with the full knowledge they would share their passion every night for the rest of their lives. By god, he’d fuck her all night once he had the chance.
He waited for his father. His father, whom he’d learned to treasure instead of to dread. Perhaps his current trials with Caro would all seem worthwhile someday, if only for the fact that he now knew he was loved by a man who’d always seemed distant and unfeeling.
A priceless insight indeed. A gift from Caro. Better than any Christmas gift he’d ever received.
He could not help but smile as he settled down to plan his approach to win his reluctant love.
* * * * *
The marquess appeared a little before Sebastian had expected him. He looked as haughty as ever, still Sebastian could see a subtle difference in his eyes that assured him of his father’s support. With a brief nod, he started down the corridor—not to Caro’s room, as Sebastian expected, but in the opposite direction.
“She’s in the conservatory,” the marquess stated. Sebastian grinned. Of course his father would know exactly where he was going.
When they reached the garden the two handsome men marched side by side. Caro saw them coming and paled, looking around is if to find an escape and then tensing when she realized she couldn’t avoid them.
Sebastian grabbed her hand and held it tightly so she could not turn him away.
“My father has something to tell you, my love. I think you will find it quite interesting.”
The marquess took Caro’s hands from Sebastian and smiled.
“This lady is mine for a while, Sebastian. I have a story to tell her that I hope will persuade her how much I would like to have her in our family. Looking at Althea for the rest of my days would bring me a peace you must allow me, my dear. May I sit beside you for a while?”
Caro’s face, a study as resentment for Sebastian, faded into the true respect she had for his father. She honored him for taking Sebastian’s cause to heart, when he could so easily have despised her. He was a fair man, unusually so.
“I will be honored, my lord.”
The marquess cleared his throat, patted her hands, and began.
“I have already told you I loved your mother. What I have not told you is that when your father committed suicide I banded with other of his friends. Your father was a most appealing man, even though he could never control his desire for gambling. I am told it’s sometimes like an illness, beyond desire for anything else, no matter how much a man might try to conquer the vice.
“My friends and I managed to secure your father’s body and bury him respectably. He is in the same graveyard as your mother. The inscription we put on his stone was simply, ‘Beloved of Althea’. I will take you any time you want to his grave. I’m only sorry I didn’t think to wonder what happened to you. I’d never seen you and my thoughts were all on Althea. I was most negligent there.”
Caro turned even whiter. She let her hands rest in those of the marquess. She turned to Sebastian, seeing him smiling at her with a love she was beginning to think was true.
“Sebastian?”
He moved closer and turned her lightly into his one good arm.
“Yes, my love?”
“Is this real? Not that I doubt your father. Heaven forbid I cast aspersions on such a wonderful gentleman. Yes, it must be real. I don’t care what others think if I know he’s respectfully buried. Oh Sebastian. I can live with my head held high, knowing the ultimate disgrace is not attached to his name.”
Tears were rolling down her beautiful cheeks as she melted against him. He cuddled her, lowering his head to hers, kissing her hair and looking at his father.
“I can never thank you enough, sir. Not only for the present but for your past actions. I am honored to be your son.”
The marquess cleared his throat.
“Then give me lots of grandchildren. And at least one little girl in the image of Althea.”
He wheeled and strode away, his head only slightly bowed.
Caro suddenly broke from Sebast
ian and rushed ahead and stopped in front of the marquess. His brows were raised in his most aristocratic manner as he looked at her without smiling.
Caro smiled gloriously, as if he’d given her an affectionate glance.
“My lord, for you I will perform miracles. Perhaps even twin girls who will be the image of their grandmother. Yes, that is exactly what I will do. And I always strive to keep my word, my lord.”
The marquess kissed her cheek, patted her hand and seemed unable to speak, although he finally smiled.
Caro directed a roguish glance at Sebastian.
Striding to her, he caught her in his arm again. Looking at his father, he grinned.
“That is exactly what we will both attempt to do. She needs my cooperation and I’m only too happy to oblige.”
He sent Caro a hot glance that brought a smile and a blush to her face.
“I have a special license in my pocket and would like to be married on Christmas day in our own chapel. Is that acceptable to you, my lord? Your approval would mean the world to me. You are a father to be deeply respected.”
“The servants will be in alt to have your wedding to celebrate on this wonderful day. I imagine even more mistletoe boughs will suddenly appear.”
Before the marquess could say more, Caro spoke again. “Will you give me away, my lord?”
Then she caught her breath. “Oh no, you’ll be needed as Sebastian’s best man.”
The marquess looked at this girl, the image of his always-beloved Althea, and smiled a genuine smile.
“I think I can move quickly enough across the aisle to manage both. Not many have such an opportunity. The ton will be vastly amused. We’ll have to invite a few of them, you know. I’ll send out special messengers.”
With a joyous look Caro turned to Sebastian.
“And my two aunts, if it pleases you gentlemen. They are dears and I’m their only relative.”
At the marquess’s nod she continued, “You are so good to me, sir. This will be a Christmas to remember and celebrate for years to come. I’ll never stop telling our future children about the two wonderful men who changed my life.”
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