The Scandalous Adventures of the Sister of the Bride (31 page)

“Some might say that love in common is enough.”

She shrugged. “Silly, romantic nonsense.”

“I’ve always thought there is much to be said for silly, romantic nonsense.”

“Then you’re every bit the fool he is.”

“Perhaps.” He chuckled. “Delilah.” He took her hand and gazed into her eyes. “If I
am to salvage what’s left of my family’s heritage, I have no choice but to marry for
financial considerations. But if a woman ever looked at me the way your American looks
at you, I would abandon Charborough Castle and everything that goes along with it
and spend the rest of my days thanking God for that rare and unique gift that so few
of us find.”

“You mean love?” She scoffed. “I’ve tried love. It doesn’t always turn out the way
one expects it to.”

“Even so, Delilah, isn’t it worth—”

“No, Victor. As much as I appreciate your help, this is the right thing to do.”

“You’re so very certain, Delilah.” He studied her curiously. “There’s no doubt in
your mind? In your heart? No tiny part of you even now screaming that if there was
so much of an iota of a chance that it is a chance worth taking?”

“No,” she lied. “You see, a few minutes ago Sam called me a coward and he was right.
I am terrified that I will give my heart away and it will be crushed.” She shook her
head. “I couldn’t bear that.”

“And you’re not willing to take the risk.”

She smiled. “I wish I was.”

Still, she and Sam were both wrong. She wasn’t a coward. Sending him away was the
bravest thing she had ever done. And the hardest. And she needn’t worry ever again
about anyone breaking her heart.

It was already too late.

Two days before the wedding . . .

“. . . and yes, I think it’s an excellent idea and we should proceed.” Gray sat across
the table in the restaurant of Sam’s hotel. “I’m glad moving to London has turned
out to be so beneficial.”

“I have managed to get a great deal accomplished.” Sam nodded. “Aside from narrowing
down properties that will work for a production site and meeting with several potential
investors, Jim nearly has the motorwagon back in pristine condition. Oh, and did I
tell you that Beryl has expressed interest in investing?”

“No, that must have slipped your mind,” Gray said wryly. “I can’t imagine why.”

Sam shrugged. “She mentioned it at dinner the night before I left.”

“I’m not surprised. She’s very astute about investments. She did quite well financially
when she was between husbands.”

“You wouldn’t have any objections?”

“Not at all. I like the idea of risking Beryl’s money.” Gray chuckled. “I would certainly
never admit this to her and I would deny it to her face but I’ve always rather admired
her. Even, on occasion, liked her.”

“I’ll take your secret to the grave.”

“I knew you would.” Gray studied his friend closely. “Speaking of the grave, I must
say, you look—”

“I know how I look,” Sam said sharply.

“Oh well, as long as you know.” Gray paused for a long moment as if he had nothing
of importance to say. Sam braced himself. “Delilah looks dreadful as well.”

“Does she?” His brow rose. “Then I gather all is not going well with the perfect Lord
Charborough?”

“Actually, the moment Delilah discovered you had left, she lost all interest in him.
Which makes sense as he certainly isn’t perfect.”

“He looks perfect.”

“Precisely why he was so suited to play the part of the perfect match. As it happens
. . .” Gray grinned. “He’s not only a distant cousin but an impoverished one at that.”

Sam stared at his friend. “He was part of Delilah’s plan, wasn’t he?”

Gray’s brow furrowed. “You know about her plan?”

“Not the details.” He shook his head. “But it was fairly easy to figure out. She wanted
to prove to me she was exactly the type of woman I had sworn to avoid. But I had no
idea Charborough was nothing more than a prop.”

“And did she prove that?”

“No. But she did make me realize my pursuit of her was doomed to failure.”

“I see.” Gray adopted a casual tone. “Well, she certainly is miserable in her triumph.”

“Good.”

Gray stared. “You don’t mean that.”

“Oh, but I do. I’m tired of being gallant, Gray. I gave Delilah what she wanted. She
won, if you will. Although it did seem pointless to continue to argue a position I
couldn’t win. But I see no reason to be gracious about it. She got what she wanted,
now she has to live with it. I’m out of her life, exactly as she wished. Good Lord,
she’d been trying to get rid of me from the moment I stepped foot on the grounds of
Millworth.” He blew a long breath. “Admittedly, I would feel worse than I do now if
I knew she wasn’t feeling anything at all.”

“Well, now that you know she is just as unhappy as you are, perhaps you should try
again.”

“Absolutely not.”

“You’re giving up?”

“Let’s just say that I’m admitting defeat.” He shook his head. “A smart man knows
when he has lost. The woman refuses to admit her own feelings. She refuses as well
to step so much as an inch off the road she has chosen. That’s too much risk for her.
She’s afraid and there doesn’t seem to be anything I can do to alleviate her fears.”

“I’ve never seen you give up on anything.”

“I prefer to think of it as admitting defeat.” He chuckled. “But regardless of what
you call it, it is a new experience.” He sobered and leaned toward his friend. “I
appreciate your concern but I’m fine.”

“She’s not.”

“Frankly, that’s not my problem and not my choice.” His tone hardened. “I have the
motorwagon to concern myself with and who knows what might be around the next corner.
Besides”—he shrugged—“we had nothing in common.”

Gray stared. “I’ve never seen you take this hard a stand, outside of matters of business
that is.”

“You were the one who told me to think of her as an investment. Eventually one realizes
an investment doesn’t have the potential you originally thought it did and you move
on. I am moving on. But enough of that.” Sam studied the other man. “How is your lovely
bride?”

“Terrifying but it’s almost over. You will be at Millworth for the wedding?”

“I wouldn’t miss it.” Sam smiled wryly. “You, old friend, are a beacon of hope in
the wilderness.”

“Good Lord, I hope not.” Gray shuddered.

“Well, well, if it isn’t the unholy alliance,” a nearly forgotten female voice said.
A voice Sam never thought he’d hear again and never especially wanted to.

He and Gray exchanged startled glances and rose to their feet.

“Mr. Elliott, Sam.” Lenore Stanley cast him a brilliant smile and extended her hand.
“Imagine running into you here of all places.”

Sam hesitated then took her hand. “Lenore, what a surprise.”

“I am nothing if not surprising.” She turned to Gray. “And Mr. Elliott. I’m not surprised
to see you here.”

“I do live here, Miss Stanley,” Gray said politely. He had never trusted Lenore and
she had never liked him.

“Yes, of course.” Her gaze turned to Sam. “Are you going to ask me to join you?”

The last person he expected to see, the last person he wanted to see right now, or
ever, was Lenore. Regardless, she was here. “Please do.”

Lenore took a seat at the table.

“Well, I must be getting back,” Gray said. “I shall see you the day after tomorrow,
then.”

Sam nodded. “I’ll be there.”

Gray leaned close to Sam and lowered his voice for his friend’s ears alone. “Just
make certain moving on does not mean moving backward.”

Sam smiled. “I have no intention of moving backward.”

Gray nodded then turned his attention to Lenore. “Good day, Miss Stanley.”

“Mr. Elliott.” She smiled pleasantly. “Sam,” she said as soon as he had taken his
seat. “It’s so very good to see you again.”

“Is it?” He studied her coolly. The tall, statuesque blonde, as always in the latest
Paris fashion, was as lovely as ever. “What are you doing here?”

Disappointment showed in her green eyes. “You’re not glad to see me?”

“Not especially. What are you doing here?”

“Here as in London or here as in your hotel?”

“Both.”

“Well, Mother thought London might be the perfect setting to, oh, relaunch her disappointment
of a daughter on the seas of society.” She pulled off her gloves and set them on the
table. “And it wasn’t at all difficult to discover where you were staying.”

His eyes narrowed. “I thought you would be engaged or married by now.”

“Goodness, Sam.” She huffed. “I realized almost immediately he was an appalling error
in judgment.”

Sam raised a brow. “Not as wealthy as you thought?”

“Among other things.” Her tone softened. “Haven’t you ever made a dreadful mistake
that you regret with all your heart?”

“Once,” he said in a hard tone.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that. I made a mistake. It’s not as if I haven’t apologized.”
She gazed at him in a pleading manner that almost hid the calculation in her eyes.
“Can’t you see your way clear to forgive me?”

There was a time when he couldn’t so much as consider forgiving Lenore. Now, he really
didn’t care one way or the other. “All right.” He shrugged. “You’re forgiven.”

“Wonderful.” She beamed at him. “Mother will be so delighted and your mother as well.
You know, it was your mother who told my mother that you were in London. I suspect
she was every bit as eager as my mother to see us back together where we belong.”

“Lenore.” He drew his brows together. “We are not back together.”

“We will be,” she said confidently. “Now that I have apologized and you have forgiven
me. Come now, Sam, even you have to admit we are perfect for each other. Our families,
our backgrounds, what we want in life, there couldn’t be a better-suited couple than
the two of us. Why, everyone says so.”

“Which doesn’t make it right.”

“It will be.” She paused. “May I be honest with you?”

“Why start now?”

“Come now, Sam.” She huffed. “That wasn’t at all nice.”

“My apologies. I do hate not being nice,” he said dryly. As much as it really didn’t
matter what she had to say he was curious. “Go on.”

“It wasn’t until you broke off our engagement that I realized how very much I cared
for you. You may not believe me, and given all that’s passed between us, I don’t really
blame you.”

There was something about her confession that struck him as too perfect. Too well
rehearsed.

She heaved an overly dramatic sigh. “I think about you all the time. Indeed, I can’t
seem to think of anyone but you. Why, I even dream about you.”

“That’s very flattering.”

“It’s not meant to be flattering.” She pouted. “It’s simply the truth. And it seems
to me, when one finds someone they can’t get out of their mind and their heart, someone
they can’t imagine living their life without, well, one shouldn’t give up simply because
the party in question is not inclined to be, oh, cooperative.”

He stared at her for a long moment.

“It seems to me as well, when that happens, one would be a fool not to fight for what
one knows, in one’s heart, is truly right. For both parties,” she added.

“I never thought I’d say this, Lenore, but you’re absolutely right.” He nodded slowly.
“One would be a fool.”

“I knew you would understand.” She beamed, a gleam of triumph in her eyes.

“Lenore.” He took her hand and met her gaze directly. “I want to thank you.”

“Oh, Sam, you needn’t thank me.” She fluttered her lashes. “I’m just grateful you
agree with me.”

“I do.” He nodded. “I agree completely. And I do want to thank you for helping me
see things clearly.” He shook his head. “You’re absolutely right. I have been a fool.”

Her lovely brow furrowed in concern. “I don’t understand.”

“Nor do I expect you to.” He got to his feet and smiled down at her. “I wish you all
the best, Lenore.”

Her eyes widened. “You’re not leaving, are you? Now?”

“I have business matters to take care of and then . . .” He grinned. “I have a wedding
to attend.”

“But you’ll be back?”

“I’m afraid not.”

She stared in disbelief. “But Sam, what about us?”

“My dear Lenore,” he said in as kind a manner as he could manage. “There is no us,
you made certain of that. And for that, you have my eternal gratitude.”

“But Sam—”

“Enjoy your stay in London and give my best to your mother.” He nodded and strolled
away. He knew if he looked back she would be staring after him in shock and a fair
amount of anger.

As much as he hadn’t been pleased at her unexpected appearance, he was grateful to
her for pointing out what he should have known. He would indeed be a fool not to fight
for the one woman he couldn’t get out of his mind. Or his heart.

Odd that today he could see Lenore so clearly when he hadn’t been able to do so in
the past. Then of course he’d been blinded by love or what he thought was love. Looking
back, he realized he had been more angry at Lenore’s betrayal than hurt. Certainly,
he had thought his heart had broken but now he suspected it had merely cracked. And
while it had seemed like forever at the time, upon reflection, it had healed quickly.

With Delilah, it would never heal.

Gray was right. Whether you called it admitting defeat or giving up, it wasn’t what
Sam did. Wasn’t who he was. He’d lost sight of that for a moment. But this was a battle
he couldn’t abandon. This was for Delilah. This was for the rest of their lives.

He grinned.

And all he really needed was a plan.

The day before the wedding . . .

“They’re not right.” Camille stared at the roses Teddy, her sisters, and her mother
were arranging in large baskets together with orchids, ferns, and other greenery.
The baskets would go in the chapel. Large urns filled with the same flowers would
decorate the ballroom along with swags of ivy and more blossoms. “You should have
called me at once. The color is entirely wrong!”

The others traded wary glances. This was not the bride’s first outburst of the day.

“Well?” Camille leveled an accusing glance at the others. “Just look at them.”

“They look beautiful, dear,” Mother said in a soothing tone. It didn’t help.

“They look
wrong!
” Camille’s voice rose. “Teddy, look at these. This isn’t what we ordered.” She waved
in a frantic manner at the innocent roses. “They’re entirely too, too peach! They’re
supposed to be a delicate, pale shade of peach to match Beryl and Delilah’s dresses.”

“They’re exactly what we ordered, Camille,” Teddy said calmly. “We thought the more
intense color coupled with the white orchids would be the perfect accent for the dresses,
remember?”

Suspicion narrowed Camille’s eyes. “Did we?”

“Goodness, Camille.” Beryl huffed. “She’s not making that up simply to calm you down.
Although I certainly would,” she added under her breath.

“Yes.” Teddy smiled. “We did.”

With every hour closer to the wedding, Teddy grew more and more serene. She handled
every difficulty from misunderstandings about the dinner menu to additional unexpected
houseguests—all of which did seem fairly minor to Delilah—in a smooth, efficient fashion.
Her demeanor was unruffled, her outlook optimistic, and her gentle but firm attitude
was most impressive. Especially as she was the only one who seemed able to calm Camille,
who grew more and more irrational with every passing hour.

Teddy took Camille’s hands and gazed into her eyes. “The flowers are perfect. Everything
will be perfect.” She smiled. “Now then, do you recall what we talked about?”