A Lord Rotheby's Holiday Bundle (73 page)

Neil shook his head with force. “You
can’t kidnap her. Not with Chatham already accusing the Kensingtons
of having done just that. There has to be another way. Besides,
Barrow would be furious. Trust me, you don’t want to anger him if
you can avoid it. Keep thinking.”

“
But I have to do
something
. She’s with
child.” Bloody hell. Why had he mentioned that? But if he couldn’t
tell his family, who could he tell? “I have to protect her, to save
her somehow. Damn it, everything keeps getting in the
way.”

Several minutes passed with no one
speaking. Alex stewed in his anguish, trying to find a way to
change the marquess’s mind. He hadn’t intended to fall in love with
Grace, but somehow it had happened despite his best intentions. One
day he was fine, the next he was head over ears. He needed to know
that he could be with her.

Finally, Gil cleared his throat.
“There is something I ought to tell you which may be of
assistance.” The three younger men faced him, Neil and Alex in
confusion, Peter in understanding. “Hmm. How should I begin?” A
coughing fit struck him, so they all waited for the earl to
recompose himself.

Gil looked straight at Alex. His skin
had returned to the greyish pallor after their journey from Bath to
London. “I’m dying.” Alex tried to interrupt but stopped upon the
emergence of a staying hand from Rotheby. “You already realized
that, and don’t pretend otherwise. I’ve been suffering from
consumption for more than a year now. The doctors can’t do anything
to slow the disease. I don’t have much longer. The business I
needed to handle—it had to do with my estates.” Again, Alex started
to butt in, and again, Gil raised his hand him. “Most of the
estates are entailed and will pass to my grandson. But not all of
them.”

Alex questioned his friend with his
eyes but stayed silent.

“
That’s part of the reason
I asked you to visit me. Roundstone Park is not entailed. I
purchased it after inheriting the earldom from my father. In my
will, it was grouped with all of the rest of my holdings and would
fall to Quinton. Until today.

“
I changed my will this
afternoon. When I die, Roundstone will be yours.” Gil coughed again
after his long speech, and Neil passed him a cup of tea. He took a
few sips and waited for the spasm to pass. “Talk to Chatham again.
Tell him you will soon inherit property. Maybe you can change his
mind.”

“
I am not so certain it
will.” Neil’s sober countenance gave Alex pause. “Chatham doesn’t
care about his daughter. Her welfare is not his primary concern.
Frankly, if you offered to double Barrow’s offer I’m at a loss as
to why he didn’t jump at your offer. Money seems to be his biggest
problem, from what I’ve seen of him at White’s. And Barrow is
certainly not the type of man anyone of taste would want an
association with. Surely Grace’s father—well, I do hope he’s not in
line with Barrow. That would not bode well for him, I
daresay.”

“
But I did propose to
double the offer. I would give him more, even, if he would allow me
to marry her and then leave us alone.”

Peter had remained silent for most of
the conversation, until now. “Then Chatham has some other motive
for wanting the alliance with Barrow.” Neil, Alex, and Rotheby
turned to him. “I believe the rest of this conversation can wait.
Mama will expect us for tea, and then we shall prepare for
tonight’s ball. Neil, Mama requested that I remind you she expects
your joyful attendance as well.” Neil stifled a groan. Peter sent a
gentle smile in the direction of their ailing friend. “I believe
she’ll excuse Lord Rotheby, under the circumstances.”

As Peter stood to leave, the others
followed suit. Neil and the earl left first, with Neil making a
jovial remark about feigning consumption, so Mama would leave him
alone and not force him to dance all evening. Peter took hold of
Alex’s arm, holding him back.

“
Alex, are you certain you
don’t love Lady Grace?” He smiled in companionship. “Your reaction
to her father’s denial makes me curious.”

“
I don’t know anymore.” Did
he? Could he love Grace? He knew he wanted what was best for her,
what she deserved. And he wanted to protect her. But was that
enough for love? He just wasn’t certain.

However, he had a nagging suspicion he
was deluding himself.

Peter took his time before he
continued. “Tomorrow, you should visit Chatham again. Try to
convince him to change his mind, based on the property you will
inherit from Lord Rotheby. Perhaps if he sees that you can be a
more worthwhile gentleman for him to be aligned with, he will.
Allow me to join you. I know you wish to handle all of this on your
own, but sometimes, it’s best to let our family assist
us.”

“
Peter—“

“
Don’t ‘Peter’ me. Just
allow me to accompany you. I ask no more. I won’t interfere, unless
you request my interference.”

Alex frowned before nodding in assent.
The Hardwickes stayed together. They always had, and he hoped they
always would. If Peter or Neil or Richard were in the same
position, he would insist on the same thing. And every single one
of them would involve themselves if either of their sisters needed
assistance. This didn’t make him any less a man.

“
After tea, I have another
piece of business I must see to, but I’ll be ready to join everyone
for the ball.” Alex needed to see Priscilla and Harry. He had to
talk to her, sooner rather than later.

Peter narrowed his eyes at him. “Very
well. But don’t be late, or I’ll be forced to take action against
you. You will not upset Mama, Alex.”

“
I’ll be ready on time. No
need to worry about that.”

Side-by-side, they joined the rest of
the family for tea. He tried not to think of anything but the
coming ball.

But in his mind, a woman with hair of
midnight and a pair of ice-blue eyes danced with him. If only he
could really dance with her again.

~ * ~

It wasn’t yet dark when he arrived at
Priscilla’s house. Vivian ushered him in to the cozy downstairs
parlor, where Pris was seated on a sofa beneath a quilt. Harry was
nowhere to be found.

“
Is he already in bed,
then?” Alex moved to give her a brief kiss on the cheek. “I had
hoped I’d be able to see him, if only for a moment.”

“
It’s better this way. He
would be so excited over seeing you, he wouldn’t be able to sleep.
I didn’t know to expect you. How are you?” She slid over to make
more room for him and patted the seat next to her.

“
Not good.” Good God, how
could he hash through all of this again?

“
Tell me. Let it all out.”
She slipped one hand behind his neck and kneaded away his tensions.
Priscilla always knew just the right thing to do.

Once he started, the whole story
flooded out of him. He lost track of the time as he told her of the
woman he loved but couldn’t have—at least not yet.

“
So what will you do? If
her father won’t grant his permission, how will you take care of
her?”

“
I haven’t determined that
yet. This would all be so much easier if she would agree, at the
very least. But taking her out of the country against her will and
forcing her to marry me doesn’t seem like the brightest idea. She
wouldn’t take that well.” He raked through his hair and stared at
nothing. “And even if I
do
marry her, what of you and Harry? I don’t imagine
she would be terribly keen on the idea of setting up a house for
you nearby in the country.”

“
Your lady doesn’t know of
us, then?” Priscilla stiffened, but continued to massage the
soreness from his neck. “There’s no need to move us to the country.
We can stay here. I believe we could even find someone else to care
for us. You needn’t worry.”

“
But I do worry. You know I
care deeply for you, both of you. Harry—he looks to me as a
father.” Alex shook off her hand and walked to the window. “I can’t
leave you behind, and I can’t allow you to fend for
yourselves.”

“
You owe us nothing.
Nothing.” Tears filled her eyes. “You’ve done more for us than
anyone ever ought to have done, and what’s that gotten you in
return? We’ll be fine. Like you said, your new wife wouldn’t take
kindly to having us around, I’m certain. We could only cause
problems for you in the country. There would be talk. You know
there would be talk.”

He punched the wall next to the
window. “Who cares about the deuced talk?”

“
Lady Grace will care,
that’s who. You should, as well, or you aren’t the man I thought
you to be.” Priscilla picked her sewing up from the table next to
her. She studiously worked at a stitch and ignored him.

“
Devil take it,” he
muttered under his breath.

“
I heard that.” She peeked
at him over her notions. “Don’t forget I’m a mother. We hear
everything.”

“
I apologize. But what
would you have me do, Pris? It seems I can’t win. I can neither
take you with me, nor leave you behind. So now what?”

“
So now you go make this
happen. Find a way to marry her. And let me worry about myself and
Harry for once.”

“
But—”

“
But nothing. There’s no
more to discuss here.” A determination like he had never before
heard from her rang through in her tone.

Alex took a breath. He didn’t know how
he should approach this next bit—or even whether he should at all.
“There is one other thing—one more piece to this puzzle.” Christ,
they hadn’t talked about him in years. He hated to bring back the
hurt and pain this would cause, but she needed to know.

“
Go on.”

He turned toward her to speak, but
hesitated.

“
I can handle it. Whatever
it is, I can handle it. I’m not as fragile as you’ve always assumed
me to be. I won’t break.”

If she had not broken through all she
had been through, it must be the truth. He burst forth with it
before he could stop himself again. She needed the truth as much as
he needed to tell her. “It was Barrow.” Immediately, he wished he
could take those three words back.

Tears filled her eyes and ran,
unimpeded, in rivulets down her cheeks. “And what will you do about
it?” came so softly, he had to strain to hear her words.

“
I want to rip the
bastard’s head off with my bare hands. I don’t know what to do,
Pris. But first you, and now Grace. The bastard should rot for
this. He should pay.” The pain in his fist from punching the wall
suddenly struck him, and he rubbed his knuckles with his other
hand. “I’m sorry for using such language in front of
you.”

Priscilla stood gingerly with the aid
of the cane next to her and limped to his side. With her free hand,
she touched his cheek and then placed a single, chaste kiss in the
same place. “You cannot undo what he’s done. And you cannot bear
the weight of all of his wrongs. Let it be. He’ll get his
due.”

“
How can I let it be?
Chatham will force Grace to marry the lout.”

“
Not if you have anything
to say about it. There’s always hope, Alex.”

“
Always?” He looked in her
eyes, steadfast and unwavering, for comfort.

“
Always.”

Chapter
Eighteen

A knock sounded at the door to Alex’s
chamber while Thomas worked to secure his neck cloth. He had donned
all the proper evening finery, fussy though it may be. A top hat
would finish the look. Or at least it would after Thomas finished
his infernal fussing over the damned cravat.

“
Come in,” he called and
looked up to discover his mother. “Mama. You look lovely this
evening.”

She wore a bold blue gown that
accentuated the richness of her eyes. Her auburn hair, the color of
which she had passed on to each of her children in varying degrees,
had only just begun to show spots of grey about the temples.
Henrietta Hardwicke, in Alex’s unduly biased opinion, was the
epitome of grace, elegance, and love.

She somehow brightened even more at
his compliment, then moved from the doorway to a seat on a nearby
chaise. “Thomas, please finish with my son’s cravat and leave us. I
promise you shall have more than enough time to fuss over his
appearance when I’m done with him.”

Alex walked to kiss his mother on the
cheek as his valet bustled from the room.

She patted a spot on the chaise next
to her. “Sit down, Alex. I want to speak with you.” Though he
couldn’t imagine the purpose of her visit, he complied—he wouldn’t
dream of defying her to her face. “I was very disappointed in you
when you left for Somerton at the beginning of the Season, you
know—”

“
Mama—”

She lifted a brow to stop him from
interrupting. “Hold on a moment, dear heart. I said I was
disappointed in you.” Taking his hand in one of her own, she looked
at their interlocked fingers as she patted the back of his with her
free hand. “You see, I had great plans for all of my children. Your
father and I both did.”