Always Mine

by Cheryl Holt

  “The news doesn’t surprise me. I was staying at Sebastian’s home of Hero’s Haven, and Shawcross was there too. He was awful to me. He bossed me and ordered me about, but I never listened to him on any topic. He was even more horrid to Sarah.”

  “He was horrid to Rebecca too. I’m not sure what occurred between them, but it was the reason we had to leave. I assumed they were friends, but we had to depart because of him.”

  To Noah’s ears, the story was incredibly similar to Sarah’s story with Sebastian, and he asked, “Was Miss Rebecca sweet on Mr. Shawcross?”

  “How would I know that?”

  “Did you ever notice them sneaking off or whispering in the corner when no one was looking?”

  “Maybe.”

  “My grandfather often warned me about young ladies and scoundrels. From how pompous Mr. Shawcross could be, he’s probably a cad. A female like Miss Rebecca is never just friends with a man like him. They always wind up in trouble.”

  “What sort of trouble?”

  “It’s the kind that requires adults to marry quickly so they’re not sinners.”

  “Oh. I’d like it if Mr. Shawcross married Rebecca. In most ways, he was remarkable. It was just there at the end that I had my doubts about him.”

  “We should return to the manor,” Noah said. “I need to tell Sebastian that you met Mr. Shawcross. He’s been worried about him, and Sarah should hear about his relationship with Miss Rebecca. She’ll be able to learn if he hurt her, and if so, she’ll find him and punch him in the nose.”

  “I’d like to see that.”

  Noah threw a last rock into the water, then they went back to the house.

  * * * *

  “Everything will be fine. It will be fine forever.”

  “I didn’t remember you. I remembered Nathan, but not you.”

  Sarah grinned at Rebecca and said, “I didn’t remember you either.”

  “Our cousin, Beatrice Carter? She’s the woman I lived with. For several years, I pestered her about you, but she constantly declared that I didn’t have a sister. I was certain you were real, but she insisted you weren’t. She claimed I imagined you.”

  “I always felt you rummaging around in my mind.”

  “I felt you too. I thought you were my guardian angel.”

  “You’re joking! I thought the same about you! Do you recall what happened to us?” Sarah asked. “Do you recall the day we were separated? Do you ever dream about it?”

  “Yes, I frequently dream about it. You and I are sitting nose to nose and holding hands. The people with us are shouting and weeping. Then a wicked witch swoops in and carries you away.”

  Sarah’s jaw dropped. “That’s my dream exactly! I bet I’ve had it a thousand times.”

  They were in an upstairs bedchamber that had been opened for Rebecca. When she’d fainted in the driveway, Nathan and Sebastian had chased Sarah outside, and when they’d realized who Rebecca was, they nearly fainted themselves.

  Nathan had picked her up and rushed to the manor, with Sarah bellowing instructions to the servants. Rebecca had roused without too much of a delay, but it had taken an eternity to calm her down, to get the room situated, to shoo everyone out.

  Finally, it was just the two of them: Sissy and Bec-Bec, reunited once and for all. Rebecca was stretched out on the bed, propped against the pillows, and Sarah was seated in a chair next to her, their fingers tightly linked.

  “Did that event with the witch actually occur?” Rebecca asked.

  “Yes. The witch was our Aunt Edwina. She’s Father’s sister-in-law, and when he and Mother died, Edwina came to shut down our house and deal with the three of us.”

  Rebecca frowned. “We were split up?”

  “Yes. Edwina dragged Nathan to Selby, but our grandfather wouldn’t let her bring us too. We were the family’s dirty little secret.”

  “I went with Cousin Beatrice. Where did you go?”

  “The day Mrs. Carter arrived to fetch us? I was sick, so she refused to keep me with you. Aunt Edwina sent me to an orphanage.”

  At the terrible news, Rebecca started to cry, and Sarah leaned in and swiped her tears away.

  “Please don’t fret over it,” Sarah said. “My comment sounded much worse than it was. The facility was a private home for the natural children of the wealthy and notorious, and the owners liked me so much that they adopted me. I grew up poor, but cherished.”

  “When I was small, Cousin Beatrice repeatedly stated that Father and Mother gave me away because I was too expensive to raise and they didn’t want me.”

  Sarah sighed with dismay. “Mother and Father were killed in an accident. Were you aware of that?”

  “Yes. Beatrice was truthful about that at least.”

  “They loved us very much. The villain in this sad saga was our grandfather, Godwin. Aunt Edwina wasn’t the kindest person either. She made some bad choices on the spur of the moment with regard to us.”

  “Do you remember our mother?” Rebecca asked.

  “I have glimpses of her in my sleep, but I’m not sure if they’re accurate.”

  “Was she a trollop?”

  Sarah gasped. “Gad, no! Who told you that? Beatrice again?”

  “Yes. She described Mother as a doxy who deliberately seduced Father. Supposedly, she believed she’d get rich if she wound up with child. Beatrice insisted she was stupid and greedy.”

  “It appears that Aunt Edwina isn’t the only witch in this story,” Sarah said. “Mrs. Carter is quite horrid too.”

  “She was very cruel to me.”

  “I’m so sorry to hear it. I’ve been jealous of you because you were given shelter by our Carter relatives, while I was cast aside by them. I assumed you had the better ending.”

  “It was awful there,” Rebecca admitted, “and she spewed such dreadful nonsense about the Blake family—and especially about Nathan.”

  “Nathan is a remarkable man—which you’ll discover as you become acquainted with him. As to our parents, I don’t recollect much about them, but Nathan does. I’ll have him tell you about them.”

  “So Mother wasn’t a slattern?”

  “No! She was a nanny. Nathan’s mother died after he was born, so Father was a widower with a young baby. He hired Mother to work for him, and their affair commenced. They were very happy, so you have to ignore Beatrice Carter’s false narrative.”

  “I’m so glad I stopped at Selby. I wasn’t going to. We were headed to London.”

  “The boy with you? Alex?” Sarah hadn’t had two seconds to speak to him and, carefully, she asked, “He’s not your son, is he?”

  “No. Beatrice has a son who’s thirty. Our cousin, Clayton? He had a fling when he was a student at university, and Alex was the result. After his mother passed away, a vicar visited Carter Crossing and practically dropped him on our stoop. Beatrice couldn’t abide him, so he’s been my responsibility.”

  “I guess immorality runs in our Carter blood.” Sarah smirked. “Why were you on your way to London?”

  “Clayton is a gambler, and he wagered away their property.”

  “There are more and more tales of woe like that. Men can be so reckless.”

  “Beatrice is about to be evicted, so there was no place for Alex and me anymore. She’s lost everything, so she wasn’t about to continue supporting us.”

  “In light of how she treated you, I’m thrilled you were forced to leave. If she hadn’t kicked you out, you’d never have staggered in here.”

  The door opened behind her, and she glanced over to see Nathan peek in. She waved him over. He came to the bed and rested a hip on the mattress.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked Rebecca. “Any better?”

  Rebecca studied his features, and she said, “I dream about Father occasionally, and he looks just like you.”

  “I have an old portrait of him that was painted when he was about my age. I’ll show it to you
tomorrow.”

  Sarah said to him, “Our Carter cousin, Beatrice? The woman who whisked Rebecca off to the coast that day? What a shrew she turned out to be! You won’t believe how she lied to Rebecca over the years.”

  “What were her lies?” Nathan asked.

  “She claimed Mother and Father dumped Rebecca on Beatrice because they were sick of her. She grew up thinking they gave her away!”

  “Oh, my goodness,” Nathan murmured.

  “I recalled that I had a brother,” Rebecca said, “but I constantly nagged her about Sarah, and Beatrice told me she didn’t exist, that I imagined her.”

  “I didn’t recall that I had sisters either,” Nathan said. “Our grandfather and aunt convinced me I was an only child, and I gradually forgot you. It flooded in over the prior summer though, and I’ve been searching for you ever since.”

  Sarah was still holding Rebecca’s hand, and Nathan reached out and clasped the other one.

  “When I was six,” Nathan said, “Father had a very stern talk with me about the two of you and how you would have a very hard life. If anything ever happened, I had to protect you for him. Back then, I didn’t comprehend why he was telling me that, but I’ve decided he must have been afraid of Grandfather and how he might behave toward you. I had a difficult childhood because I recollected there was a task I should carry out for Father, but I couldn’t remember what it was. It left me angry and frustrated.”

  “His burden from Father was us, Bec-Bec,” Sarah said. “He was supposed to take care of us.”

  “Now I’ll have the chance,” he said.

  “Why do you call me Bec-Bec?” Rebecca asked Sarah.

  “I couldn’t pronounce Rebecca when I was little.”

  Nathan added, “And Sarah was Sissy to both of us.”

  “I’m so relieved that I came here,” Rebecca said.

  “We were about to head to Carter Crossing to meet you,” Nathan said. “We’d planned to introduce ourselves and invite you to Selby. Didn’t you get my letter?”

  “What letter?”

  “I wrote you a few weeks ago, and my clerk delivered it to Mrs. Carter. She didn’t share it with you?”

  “No. She never mentioned it.”

  Nathan bristled. “She and I probably need to have a long chat about that, and I predict she won’t enjoy it very much.”

  “She has plenty of her own problems,” Sarah said. “Her son gambled away their property, and they’re being evicted.”

  “Good.” Nathan snorted. “I love it when horrid people suffer horrid consequences.”

  Sarah smiled at her brother and sister. “We’re together—the three children of Viscount Matthew Blake.”

  “About time,” Nathan muttered.

  “Is Grandfather Godwin rolling in his grave?” Sarah asked.

  Nathan chuckled. “I’m sure of it.”

  “Is Father finally resting easy in his?”

  “I’m sure of that too.”

  * * * *

  Raven marched up to the front doors of Carter Crossing. He tried the knob, but it was locked, and no footman peeked out. The servants couldn’t have missed his entourage. He’d come with a dozen men and several empty wagons.

  Beatrice wouldn’t have made any preparations to depart, and he was happy to let her have a bit of furniture and the personal belongings that were special to her. He’d paid for lodging for her for a week at a coaching inn in Frinton. Or if she’d rather, he’d convey her to London, so she could move in with Clayton.

  Fleetingly, he wondered if Clayton had slunk to the country to stand by his mother in her hour of need. This very same scenario had been inflicted on Raven’s mother when he was ten. He’d recognized the unfairness of the episode and how wrong it was to have powerful fiends swoop in and steal what was theirs.

  He’d yearned to stop it, but he’d been a child, so he hadn’t known how to battle such dominant forces. Clayton was an adult though, so he could have clashed with Raven over what was occurring, but he hadn’t bothered. He was losing everything, but he was such a lazy fool that he wasn’t willing to fight for what was his.

  Raven had spread word at Clayton’s clubs about his bankruptcy, but he was late with his dues everywhere, so no one was surprised. He was months behind on his rent, and his landlord was about to throw him out. He was out of options and wouldn’t be able to borrow from the moneylenders.

  They’d incurred too much of a loss when Raven had bought up his debt, so Raven figured he’d hear from Clayton after he visited his bank and learned his account had been closed. The drunken dunce would likely ride to Oakley then. They’d hash it out to the bitter end, and Raven couldn’t wait for him to show up.

  He had an interesting conclusion arranged for Clayton, with punishment being the ultimate goal.

  With Beatrice having shared the shocking news that Lydia’s son was alive and well, his fury was raging at an even hotter temperature. How could such a lie have reached him in far-off Africa? Why had it been disseminated and by whom? Though the mistake wouldn’t have been Clayton’s fault, Raven blamed him anyway, and his penalty would be even grimmer than Raven had originally envisioned.

  He knocked loudly, but there was no answer, so he raised his boot and kicked the door as hard as he could. The wood splintered, and he glanced over his shoulder at his men and said, “Let’s go in, shall we?”

  He entered the foyer, and he was humored to find Beatrice positioned at the foot of the stairs, a footman on either side. They looked ill, as if they wished they were anywhere else on the globe.

  She was holding an old musket, and it was so heavy and unwieldy that she could barely lift it.

  “Stay right where you are, Shawcross,” she warned. “This is my home, and it’s been my home for twenty years. You can’t have it.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.”

  “I’ll shoot! I mean it!”

  He had no idea if the gun was loaded or not, but before she could swing the barrel in his direction, he stomped over, grabbed it, and yanked it away.

  He gave it to one of his men, even as he realized he was slightly impressed. Clayton hadn’t felt the need to protect what was his, but she had made an attempt. It was a futile and paltry attempt, but at least she’d tried.

  Two of his men circled around Raven and seized her, quickly binding her wrists so she couldn’t attack.

  “You dog! You cur!” she spat. “I’ll kill you for this! I will!”

  “Not from where you’ll be.”

  “We’ll see about that!”

  Another man, the sheriff’s man, stepped forward, and he said, “Beatrice Carter? I arrest you in the name of the Crown.”

  “On what charge?” she huffed.

  “Embezzlement, theft, and double-dealing at the business previously known as Carter Imports.”

  She blanched with astonishment. “That company was my son’s! The money was ours. There can be no embezzlement from our own accounts!”

  “Yes, but it was client funds,” he said. “Your fingers were very busy, pilfering from them.”

  “You’re mad! I only took what was mine! I took what I deserved to have!”

  “The law will sort it out,” the man told her, “but I’m predicting—since you stole from your customers—you won’t have much of a defense.”

  Raven grinned at her. “You should have covered your tracks better, Beatrice. Didn’t your husband, Charles, teach you how to do it? When he tricked my father, he had fake books and fake numbers to display. Where are yours?”

  Suddenly, she was a bit green around the gills. Then she puffed herself up and announced, “This brute—Raven Shawcross—is duping you. I’ve never stolen a penny in my life!”

  “Must we continue to listen to her?” one of Raven’s men asked.

  Raven shook his head. “No, we don’t have to listen.”

  The sheriff’s man addressed her. “If you’ll come with me please?”


  He clasped her arm to escort her out, and she planted her feet and tried not to oblige him, but he pulled her away against her will.

  “I’m innocent!” she shrieked. “I’m completely innocent!”

  “Tell it to the judge, ma’am,” someone muttered.

  As she passed Raven, he said to her, “Jail is a very lonely place. I’d send my father to explain what it will be like, but he didn’t fare very well when he was incarcerated. I wonder how you’ll manage.”

  She was yanked out of the house, and Raven was frozen in his spot as she squawked, fussed, and protested. Finally, she was in the jailor’s carriage and whisked away. It grew very quiet, as if the building was holding its breath.

  His first, very juvenile impulse was to have his men bring in sledgehammers and start smashing down the walls, but he refrained from giving that order.

  Instead, he turned to a footman and said, “Assemble the servants for me. I have to figure out where we go from here.”

  * * * *

  “Where were you last night?”

  “I went to a brothel. Why? Did you miss me?”

  Millicent glared at Lucas, and her temper flared. How dare he flit off to a brothel! How dare he voice such a despicable word in her presence!

  “You left me at the theater by myself,” she complained. “I had to find my own way home.”

  “Are you upset? Why would you be? It appears you made it safe and sound, and I didn’t sign on to be your nanny.”

  “It was scary!”

  He chuckled. “I constantly forget that you’re a country mouse. Yes, I suppose it was horrid of me to abandon you like that, but you have to learn how to take care of yourself. If you can’t, this city will eat you alive.”

  They were in his bachelor apartment, which was a small suite of rooms in the theater district. It was a neighborhood of actors, musicians, and other artistic types who didn’t have the most stellar morals. He had exactly two servants: a valet and a footman.

  She’d suggested he hire a maid to tend her, and he’d gaped as if she were a lunatic, so she’d been forced to struggle with her clothes and hair by herself. It was embarrassing to realize how unprepared she was for real life.