Never Too Late

by Christina Courtenay

  Never Too Late

  A regency novella

  Christina Courtenay

  Book 4 – Regency Romance Collection

  Collection:

  Marry in Haste

  Once Bitten Twice Shy

  Desperate Remedies

  Never Too Late

  Marry for Love

  Where heroes are like chocolate - irresistible!

  www.choc-lit.com

  Copyright © 2014 Christina Courtenay

  Published 2014 by Choc Lit Limited

  Penrose House, Crawley Drive, Camberley, Surrey GU15 2AB, UK

  www.choc-lit.com

  The right of Christina Courtenay to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

  All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying. In the UK such licences are issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1P 9HE

  EPUB: ISBN-978-1-78189-225-1

  Contents

  Acknowledgement

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  About the Author

  Introducing Choc Lit

  More Choc Lit from Christina

  Preview – Trade Winds

  Acknowledgement

  Huge thanks to the lovely Choc Lit Tasting Panel members: Robyn, Sammi, Megan, Janyce, Rosie and Hrund. I’m so pleased you enjoyed this!

  Prologue

  It was close to midnight when Maude put her ear to the keyhole of her bedroom door and all seemed to be quiet. It was time to go at last.

  She had been lying on top of her bed, fully dressed, for hours. Her small valise was packed and ready, hidden at the back of her wardrobe, and she had the only fortune she was ever likely to possess in her reticule – her late mother’s diamond necklace. Maude had no idea how much it was worth, but the stones were fairly large and beautifully cut. It ought to provide a roof over their heads she reckoned, at least until they had figured out how Luke was going to support them.

  Luke Hexham. The mere thought of him was enough to make her heart leap with joy. Tall and handsome, with wavy brown hair and eyes as green as a summer meadow, he was everything she wanted in a man. The wonder of it was that he loved her and he’d promised they were going to make a life for themselves, one way or another. Maude didn’t care that they had to resort to an elopement because her stubborn father was set on a match between her and Luke’s cousin Edward instead. The only thing that mattered was that they would be together.

  She loved him more than life itself.

  Moving silently across the room, illuminated only by the moonlight streaming in through the window, Maude fetched her valise and travelling cloak, and put on her bonnet. Her fingers shook with excitement and nerves, but she managed to tie the bow under her chin eventually. When she was ready, she went to the door and turned the handle as slowly as she could, just in case it squeaked.

  The door wouldn’t open.

  She tried again, putting more force into it this time, but the door remained stubbornly closed. Maude felt tendrils of apprehension crawling through her. Why wouldn’t it budge? Was it jammed shut in some way?

  Oh, dear God, why tonight of all nights? She wanted to howl.

  She pushed against the wood with her shoulder, giving it an almighty shove at the same time as turning the handle, and hoped that the resulting thump wasn’t too audible. She needn’t have worried.

  ‘There’s no point, Miss. Best just to go back to bed,’ she heard a voice say from outside. Her father’s valet, Ryder. ‘You won’t be goin’ nowhere tonight.’

  Maude gasped, then swallowed a cry of anguish. They’d been found out. Someone must have warned her father of the proposed elopement and he’d locked her in, putting Ryder outside her door as an extra precaution. But how could that be? No one knew except for herself and Luke.

  She stilled, the blood inside her turning ice cold. Who could have told Sir Richard Bellamy about his daughter’s impending flight? Surely not Luke himself? No, that was impossible. He loved her and would never betray her. But who else was there? A sob tore out of her and she put a hand in front of her mouth to stop others from escaping. The last thing she wanted was to give Ryder the satisfaction of hearing her cry. He would no doubt relish telling her father about that.

  Gritting her teeth against the pain of having her plans thwarted, she flung the cloak off onto the nearest chair and started to pace the room. The more she walked, the more she became convinced that the culprit had to be Ryder. It made sense. She trusted Luke implicitly and if he’d wanted to cry off, he would have just said so. He had always been direct, never resorting to subterfuge. No, Ryder must have spied upon them. It was more than likely, he was forever creeping about the place. Horrid man. Maude shivered.

  Either way, what did it matter who had done the deed? The fact was that she was trapped here in her room, while Luke was no doubt becoming frustrated at having to walk the horses in the lane. He’d said he would wait for as long as it took, but if she didn’t show up before morning, he would know she wasn’t coming. And then what?

  ‘Oh, Luke,’ she whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks now. ‘Come and help me, please!’

  But he had no way of knowing that she needed his help and she couldn’t get word to him. Not with Ryder on guard and her room on the second floor. She wasn’t going anywhere tonight.

  She sank to the floor and gave way to despair.

  Chapter One

  8 years later

  ‘When are we leaving, Mama?’

  Maude, Lady Hexham, stifled a sigh. ‘Soon, dearest. I told you, we have to wait for your father’s cousin to arrive first.’

  ‘How soon?’

  Maude gritted her teeth in frustration and tried not to let it show. It was probably the tenth time her six-year-old daughter had asked the same questions in the last half hour, and Maude was ready to scream. She knew the situation was not of her daughter’s making, however, as the real culprit was Luke, the new Lord Hexham. The man who was stepping into Maude’s late husband’s shoes.

  The man who was taking everything.

  Maude clenched her fists behind her back, battling to keep her emotions under control. When she had first been informed of her husband’s death a month earlier, she’d felt nothing but relief as theirs had not been a happy union. Fairly soon, however, the relief had given way to worry when she realised that Edward had left her and their child nothing. The estate was entailed and would go to his cousin and there was apparently no widow’s jointure for her. How was she going to support herself and her daughter? And how could her father have agreed to such a disastrous marriage settlement on behalf of his only child? It beggared belief.

  Never one to let adversity grind her down for long, Maude had tried to come up with a solution, but had hit on only two possibilities. She could throw herself and her child on the mercy of a distant cousin on her mother’s side who was wealthy enough to be able to afford to take them in, or she could try to find a position as housekeeper. As long as her employers allowed her to keep
her daughter with her, that was. The thought of living as a poor relation and being made to work for nothing didn’t appeal to her, however, so in the end she had opted for the second choice.

  Luckily, she had kept the diamond necklace she’d inherited from her mother, which all those years ago she had intended to take as her only dowry when she eloped. When it wasn’t needed, she’d hidden it away, unable to even bear the sight of it because it reminded her of that awful night. Now it would come in useful once more though and she had decided to sell it in order to give herself time to apply for suitable positions. She could only hope the money would last long enough.

  ‘But why can’t we stay here?’ Anna’s plaintive tone intruded on her mother’s thoughts. The little girl was sitting on top of two small trunks, kicking her legs with monotonous regularity against their sides out of sheer boredom.

  ‘Because this house belongs to the new Lord Hexham now and he will want his own family to live here.’

  ‘We’re his family, aren’t we?’ Anna looked confused, her big emerald eyes, so like her uncle’s, shiny with the threat of tears.

  ‘In a way, yes, but …’ Maude didn’t know how to explain to her daughter that Luke was hardly likely to view them with any charitable feelings. He had probably thought he’d never return at all, since his uncle had banished him from Hexham Hall some eight years previously because of the proposed elopement. Luke had apparently left in a huff, swearing never to set foot in the place again, and he had kept his word. Until now.

  ‘Is he late?’ Anna was still drumming with her heels and Maude longed to shout at the child to stop, but she knew that might set off the threatening tears and she didn’t feel able to deal with that at the moment. She had to somehow get through the ordeal of handing over the house to her former suitor.

  ‘Yes, he is late, but he’s probably been held up by the weather,’ she told her daughter. It was raining stair rods and claps of thunder reverberated round the hall every now and again. Still, Maude railed inwardly at Luke for not having the courtesy to arrive at the appointed hour. Surely he could have taken the weather into account? It was rapidly turning dark outside now and she and Anna had some distance to travel to the nearest inn before nightfall.

  ‘Being late is rude, isn’t it?’ Anna persisted, looking slightly smug that she was not at fault on this occasion.

  ‘Yes, dear, unless there is a good reason.’

  Just then, there came the sound of horses’ hooves on the gravel outside the front door and the footmen rushed out to assist with the arrival of their new master. Inside, the butler Donne harried the rest of the household staff into a welcoming line behind Maude, who stood straight and took a deep breath, preparing herself to greet the new Lord Hexham.

  The man she had once loved and lost.

  She gave herself a mental shake. That was all a long time ago and this was not the moment to think of such things. It was in the past, forgotten. At least she assumed it was, by him. He’d never written so much as one letter; never enquired as to why she hadn’t kept their assignation. Perhaps he had never really cared.

  A veritable stranger swept into the hall on a gust of cold autumn air, shaking raindrops from his hat. He handed it to a footman, who stepped forward to take it together with his cloak. Maude stifled a gasp at the sight of the man before her, so easily recognisable, yet so changed from the youth she had once known. Gone was the laughter and easy-going manner. Instead she saw a handsome, but scowling countenance, darkened by the Spanish sun from his time in the Peninsula fighting the French. His eyes, still as green as ever and fringed by dark lashes, were no longer twinkling, but serious and surrounded by tiny crow’s feet, no doubt from squinting into that same sun. She noted that his shoulders were much broader, his body toned and muscled from years in the army. He had an air of assurance and authority, as if he was used to command.

  Maude shivered, but took a deep breath and stepped forward.

  ‘Welcome to Hexham Hall, my lord.’

  He gave her a measuring stare, which she managed to return without quaking, and said, ‘Thank you.’

  He looked around the vast marbled hall, as if assessing the value of his newly acquired possessions. Hexham Hall was an imposing building which had been altered and added to by several generations of the family, changing from its original Jacobean layout to a more fashionable Georgian style with a huge entrance porch framed by columns. Maude was aware that the interior and furnishings were somewhat shabby and the walls could do with a coat of paint, but she hadn’t had the wherewithal to change that. Instead she had made sure it was all as clean as it could possibly be. The maids had been sweeping and polishing for days. ‘I trust you will find everything in order. And now we shall leave you in peace. Come Anna, make your curtsey to Lord Hexham and we’ll be on our way.’ She turned to Donne. ‘Is the carriage waiting?’

  ‘Yes, my lady. It’s been ready an hour or more,’ the butler replied somewhat pointedly. He had always been an ally of Maude’s and had made it clear he was sad to see her go.

  If his new employer heard any reproach in these words, he ignored it, merely looking at Maude again as if seeing for the first time that she was dressed for travel. His gaze took in the two trunks and then settled on the little girl, who came forward and curtseyed prettily.

  ‘Hello, Uncle. I’m Anna and you’re late. It’s rude to be late.’

  ‘Anna!’ Maude took hold of her daughter’s hand, mortified at the child’s lack of manners. ‘Please excuse her, my lord, she’s anxious to leave.’

  ‘No, I’m not, I want to stay here. In my room.’

  ‘I have told you, it is no longer your room,’ Maude tugged Anna towards the front door. ‘And Lord Hexham isn’t your uncle. Now come along.’

  ‘Wait.’ Lord Hexham’s voice stopped them in their tracks and, against her will, Maude turned to look at him. He was frowning even more than before, and this time his scowl was directed at her. He took a few steps towards her and spoke for her ears only, lowering his voice so that the servants wouldn’t hear. ‘Why exactly are you leaving, madam? This is your home, is it not?’

  ‘No, Hexham Hall belongs to you now. All of it,’ Maude pointed out, although surely the solicitor must have told him that already?

  ‘Yes, but you are family. I cannot simply cast you out.’

  ‘Can’t you? I was under the impression that we would not be welcome here.’

  ‘I have no idea who told you that, but they were mistaken.’

  ‘But surely after what happened in the past …?’ Maude felt confusion swirl inside her. Why on earth would he want her under his roof? And how could he expect her to stay when he hadn’t even cared enough about her to find out why she didn’t turn up for their elopement? But perhaps he had finally understood that she hadn’t acted of her own volition all those years ago? A little surge of hope flared inside her, but his next words made it wither and die as quickly as it had sprung up.

  ‘The past is just that, past,’ he said, his voice harsher than before. ‘Unlike you, I never sought to be in this position—’

  ‘I didn’t either!’ Maude interjected, shocked at the implication that she’d coveted being mistress of this house. She’d known that was what he thought, but it simply wasn’t true. Why did he persist in thinking that?

  It was all his uncle’s fault. Her father-in-law had taken great pleasure in showing her a curt letter Luke had written to congratulate his cousin on his marriage. ‘I’m sure he and his bride will deal admirably together. They are well matched in duplicity and deviousness and I’m sure she will enjoy her new title to the full,’ it had said. That was when Maude had realised that Luke thought she’d only been toying with his feelings and had intended to marry Edward all along. That her only ambition was to have a title. He couldn’t have been more wrong.

  She opened her mouth to explain this to him now, but he held up his hand to stop any further protests from her. ‘I don’t want to hear your reasons. You made your choice and
as I said, it’s in the past.’

  Maude clenched her fists under cover of her skirts. Why wouldn’t he listen? ‘But ...’ she began.

  He ploughed on, as if she hadn’t spoken. ‘Suffice it to say that I hadn’t thought to set foot here again, but with both my uncle and cousin gone, I had no choice but to sell my commission and come back. That doesn’t mean I wish you to leave. I shall need your guidance in matters of the estate. I was never expected to take over the running and so no one saw fit to teach me anything about it.’

  ‘I’m sure the steward can do that. I’m a mere woman, after all. That was never my domain.’ That wasn’t quite true, as Maude well knew, but after Luke’s stubborn refusal to hear her out she wasn’t in the mood to humour him.

  The steward, Mr Aiken, was an incompetent man. He had only been kept on by Edward because Edward himself didn’t understand figures and so had never realised the extent of Aiken’s mismanagement. Maude had tried to tell him, but to no avail.

  ‘Much you know about it,’ Edward had sneered at her. ‘Stick to household matters and don’t meddle in mine.’ Maude realised that it was no use protesting that the two went together and that without a proper income from the estate, she couldn’t run the household correctly.

  She took a deep breath now, trying to stem the rising tide of fury that was bubbling up inside her. She wanted to grab her daughter’s hand and run. Just seeing Luke again after such a long time was agony and she realised that all the feelings she had once had for him were still there, as raw as they had been eight years previously. And as he continued to look at her coldly, she knew that this time they were not reciprocated. Perhaps never had been, except as a youthful infatuation.