Owen decided it was his responsibility to confess all that had happened since Evan had vanished.
“Brother, for these two years we have all believed you were dead. In your absence, I asked for Lady Phoebe’s hand in marriage so that I might care for her in your place. We are engaged to be wed next month.”
The Duchess cut him off. “But now everything will go back as it was before.” She turned to Owen with a wicked smile and chose her words carefully. “Owen has always told us he proposed to her simply to care for her in your absence. He vowed there was no betrayal or disloyalty to you. He waited until only a few months ago to ask for her hand, after she had grieved. Now he can rejoice that you are home and he is released from his duties. Now he can marry for love.”
Chapter 24
Phoebe came to the glass house to tend to her garden as always, expecting Owen to meet her there. He knew the hours she came there; it had been how they had found the means to meet in secret over the last two years.
She wasn’t surprised to hear the door open while her back was turned toward it. She smiled and laid down her tools, filled with anticipation. She was desperate to hear all about the ball and to know that the Duchess’s scheming was finally over. He had done as she had wished, and she had promised to let them be.
“Owen! Tell me all about —”
She turned and the words fell from her mouth. She stumbled back so quickly in shock that a pot fell to the floor and shattered, sending dirt billowing across the floor and the flowers within to shed their petals upon the ground.
There was only one explanation—Evan’s spirit had been drawn to this memorial on earth. She gasped and shut her eyes in terror at the specter before her.
She felt hands laid upon her. There were not the cold hands of death. They were warm, strong, and comforting.
“Lady Phoebe, open your eyes. You are not dreaming and I am not a spirit. It is I, Evan. I’ve returned.”
Her chin trembled and she shook her head, refusing to open her eyes as tears squeezed out beneath her lids and flooded down her cheeks. “Release me! Evan is dead! You are a ghost or a scoundrel in disguise!”
“Listen to my voice. Listen, Phoebe. Do you not recognize the sound of your fiancé?”
Slowly, her breathing calmed, and although she was still shaking, Phoebe was able to open her eyes and focus on the figure before her.
Indeed, it was Evan. Handsome, tall, dark hair, kind eyes. Just as she remembered him but for a new scar. He was not pale as a ghost but had soft, pink skin, alive and warm.
He was dressed in similar clothes to those he always used to wear; cream breeches and a black tailcoat. Yet he wore them differently somehow; they were buttoned looser, maybe? Or perhaps it was the way his skin was far more tan than it had been the last time she’d seen him.
“Evan?” her voice came out tiny and scared. “I don’t understand. You were lost at sea.”
He nodded. He kept his eyes fixed on hers with an expression of gentle reassurance, patience, and understanding.
“It’s unexpected, I know,” he said. “But you don’t need to be afraid. I am real. I did not die that day.”
“But you’ve been gone for two years!”
“I was injured in the shipwreck. I lost all memory of my past and who I was. It is only in recent months those memories have been restored to me. I came at once to put at ease the minds of those who knew me and to look upon those faces I loved once again.”
Phoebe shook her head. “I cannot believe it. Too much time has passed. We have all grieved. It took too long to accept you were gone for us. It is not possible you are back. It is too much for any human to comprehend.”
He approached her kindly and took her hand. “I beg your forgiveness for the grief I have caused. I can only imagine how it must confuse you and hurt you again to see me now.”
“I mourned for you,” she stared at his face in shock. Even as she ran her gaze over his familiar features and heard the sound of the voice that had spoken a thousand promises to her before, she could not accept that this was him.
“When I realized I had left behind so many and understood that they would have grieved for me, the guilt I felt was indescribable. Believe me when I say I came as soon as I recalled who I was.”
Phoebe stepped toward him with reverence. She reached up and laid her palm against his cheek. His skin was soft and warm.
She threw her arms around his neck and wept upon his shoulder.
Evan is alive! My childhood friend lives.
A great joy swept over her. She squeezed him tightly then drew back tearfully.
“We have been blessed with a miracle. I weep for joy to see you again. Evan, where have you been?”
“In the Philippines.”
“The Philippines?”
“I washed ashore after the wreck. I have been recovering there since.”
“It is good to see you.”
“I know it is bittersweet.”
Phoebe bowed her head. “You’ve heard about Owen and me?”
“The situation is somewhat strange right now, but all will be well. I promise.”
He looked around the glasshouse and his expression took on a veil of sentiment. “Look at what you’ve done here, Phoebe. It’s beautiful.”
“I promised I would keep this garden to remind me of you, and so I did.”
“You thought of me all this time?”
“Of course.”
“Even after becoming engaged to Owen?”
Phoebe swallowed, trying to find the right words. “You will always have a place in my heart, Evan. You have been my friend since childhood. You were in my life as long as I could remember.”
“Until I wasn’t.”
“Yes. Until you weren’t.” She walked slowly around the glass house, touching the flowers in turn, trailing her fingers through the leaves. “Now you are back. How are we all to adjust to such a monumental revelation?”
“In the same way as you responded to my disappearance in the first instance. With time.”
* * *
When Owen arrived at the grove as planned, Phoebe ran into his arms and cried.
“May the Lord forgive me, Owen. Your brother has returned to us and I’m feeling only sorrow. Of course I am overjoyed that he is alive and well, but what does it mean for us?”
Owen took her by the shoulders and rested his forehead against hers. Immediately she felt calmer even though nothing had changed. He was so strong and resilient; she knew he would always protect her. He had fought for her for so long.
To be close to him, to feel the warmth of his breath on his face and to press her body close to his caused arousal and longing to surge within her once more. Every fiber of her being—both spiritual and physical—longed for intimacy.
“My mother has already started scheming to divide us. The tale we spun of duty and familiarity alone now puts us in a difficult position where we must confess we have a love our own or you must return to Evan.”
“I won’t return to him!”
Owen smiled and stroked back her hair softly. It sent shivers down her spine, wishing he would do far more to comfort her and prove once more that she was his. She longed to bed him, to defy all proper conduct and make him hers in the most carnal way. The blood in her veins grew warmer when she was with him, sending a delicious heat coursing through her. A frenzy.
“I remember when you used to deny me over and over,” he said. “Now you will deny Evan?”
“Things are different now. I have made a vow to you.”
“You made a vow to him first.”
Phoebe stepped back, her heart hurting. “Are you saying I should marry him?”
“Of course not.” He pulled her close to him once more and wrapped his arms around her. “I’m predicting what others will say.”
“We shall stand strong against them.”
“My love, you have never been more lovely to me than in this moment.”
“Because I am once
again forbidden?”
“Because you love me as I have always loved you. Entirely. Defiantly.”
“I have always loved you entirely but duty has always taken precedence over my heart. Now defiance shall reign. You are mine.”
Owen nodded. “How do we proceed?”
She stroked his face slowly, looking into his eyes as she thought, knowing she would find the answers in his steady, constant gaze. “For now we wait. Evan has only just returned and we do not know what will be. Perhaps his love for me has waned. It has been a long time.”
“It would be the best we could hope for, for Evan to willingly withdraw his proposal.”
“He cares for us both.” Phoebe drew in a deep breath and squeezed Owen’s hand. “Perhaps he will not be our sentence, but our delivery.”
* * *
Owen stood at the doorway of the library and stared at Evan. His heart was so full and so torn at the same time. When he looked at Evan, wonderful memories sprang to his recollection of fraternity and friendship yet he also knew he was looking at his competitor for Phoebe’s hand.
He approached him and sat at his side. Evan looked up at him and smiled, turning the page of his newspaper to show Owen what he was reading. It was one of many papers that formed a pile on the table at his side.
“I’m educating myself on all that his occurred in this country since my absence. I have bought every newspaper I can find.”
“Has much changed?”
Evan shrugged. “People don’t change. Politics continue, as do all things. Mother and Father are still against each other. The socialites are still finding nonsense to be scandalized about.” He raised his eyes to Owen. “The greatest change I find is between yourself and Phoebe.”
“I’m sorry if what I’ve done has hurt you.”
He raised his hand. “I know you’ve loved her for a long time. I know she loved you even when she agreed to take my hand.”
“It does not anger you?”
“I was gone, Owen. You were both loyal to me.”
Owen sat beside him, crossing one leg over the other and leaning forward. “I have much to confess to you.”
“I’m listening.”
“You are correct to say Phoebe and I loved one another before your disappearance. It was in grieving for you that we first gave into our devotion to one another. Everyone believes my proposal is an act of duty and that the decision was made only a few months ago, but the truth is I have loved her all my life and we found comfort in each other’s arms quickly.”
Evan nodded slowly. “It does not surprise me.”
“It does not?”
“I was no fool, Owen. I know you always loved her.” He leaned forward. “If I had died, it would have been my wish for you to be together.”
“Mother does not feel the same way.”
“No?”
“She has been working tirelessly to tear us apart. She believes Lord Wycliff was responsible for the wreckage.”
“Lord Wycliffe? How could it be his fault?”
Owen lifted his hands. “The timing of the voyage was unfortunate to meet the storm as it did. She blames Lord Wycliff for stalling the departure.”
“I would have chosen to stay had he not mentioned it. The meeting was too great an opportunity to miss. It was a mutual decision. The Earl is not to blame.” He patted Owen’s arms comfortingly. “I will tell her as much.”
“She spread a rumor that Phoebe was an adulterer. She has destroyed her good name in your absence.”
Evan closed his eyes in frustration. “I remember her games all too well, unfortunately.”
“She has been nothing but cruel to Phoebe. Before you arrived, I’d made the decision to never return here…but then you came.”
“It seems my return is not as celebrated as I’d imagined.”
“Say no such thing, Evan!” Owen leaned forward and squeezed his shoulder. “I am glad you’re home. I’ve been overwhelmed with joy.”
“But now it creates complications for you and Phoebe?”
Owen fell quiet for a moment, leaning back in his chair with his hands folded beneath his chin in contemplation. He turned to Evan. “I am sorry, my brother, but I love her. I have always loved her. And I cannot release her to you now. It would be a betrayal against all that is holy.”
“How far have your marriage preparations progressed?”
“All three of the banns have been read with no objection. We have been permitted our license to marry.”
“It is all but done then.”
“It is all but done.”
“But not quite.” Evan put down his paper and tapped his foot on the floor in thought. “Mother is avidly against your marriage to Phoebe?”
“Adamantly. Further so due to an argument we had the night of your return. I spoke directly to her and spared no thought for her feelings. She will never forgive me for what was said. Her mind is set on vengeance now.”
“Then you must forget Phoebe?”
“I’m sorry?”
Evan turned to him seriously. “Forget her. Mother will not allow it and Phoebe’s vow was to me first. I am the better suitor for her.”
“She will try to prevent you from marrying her also. She hates the Earl.”
“She will fail. I will wed Phoebe. I’ve been gone for two years. Is it just that I should return to find my whole life has been stolen from me by my own brother?”
Owen felt a hot flush rising up his cheeks. He could not believe Evan would be so cruel as to insist his prior vow was upheld even now, after all that had happened.
“Phoebe has grieved for you and let you go in her heart. She loves me fully. We are meant to be.”
“Nothing is written in the stars. I have returned and I plan to continue as things were.”
“You will crush her heart.”
“It will heal.”
“You will crush mine.”
“You stole her from me, Owen. She was never yours to begin with. I will announce it to our parents this evening and approach the Earl. By the end of the evening, our plans will be on schedule once more.”
Chapter 25
When the Earl knocked on Phoebe’s door and enters, she guessed why he had come.
“Evan has asked for my hand once more.”
“He wants to continue with the marriage that was planned.”
Phoebe blinked back tears. “I have made vows to someone else.”
“Those vows were made in the absence of Lord Huxley. He is absent no more.”
“He has been gone for two years.”
She was sitting on the edge of her bed, her face already stained with tears. She had been crying for hours out of fear, shock, guilt, and a multitude of other emotions she could not even identify.
The Earl sat beside her and patted her knee kindly. “You loved him once.”
“I only ever loved him as a brother.”
“You accepted his proposal.”
“What else was I to do?” Phoebe sobbed. “I have no autonomy in this life. I do as I am told. I always have done so. But I shan’t acquiesce this time. I love Owen too dearly.”
“The Duke has already agreed to Evan’s request and told Owen to stand down. The Duchess has expressed her wishes that neither son marry you but she would support Evan’s claim to your hand over Owen’s. You would do Evan a great dishonor to turn him away now after he’s returned from the grave. It is an act of God. You would be defying the plan of the Almighty himself.”
“You believe it is God who does this to me? Who plays such cruel games with my heart? Who makes a token of me to be gifted to whomever those above me should decide?” She wept bitterly. “I have always done all you have asked of me, Father, but this time you ask too much.”
“You accepted Evan’s proposal. That was not only a promise to him but a vow before God.”
“When did you become so religious, Father?”
“When I saw a gentleman return from the dead. Phoebe, Evan returned for you. F
rom death and across oceans.”
“I won’t marry him.”
“Please. I need you to do this for me.”
“Why? To unite our families? We would unite just as well if I were to marry Owen.”
“There are many obstacles between you and Owen now. The Duchess has been to the vicar and he has agreed to retract the marriage license until such a time as this matter is resolved.”
An Immoral Dilemma For The Scandalous Lady (Steamy Historical Romance) Page 22
