As if none of them had ever missed a beat, Lachlan gathered Diana into his arms and continued to turn her about the ballroom as if they had been partners from the very beginning. At first, Diana thought to resist but then she found herself melting into Lachlan's arms, the feel of him against her evoking memories of that night. Even now, her heart still beat in time with his. She still loved him. She suspected she always would.
"I think of that night, too," Lachlan admitted as if he could read her mind "Every single day since we parted, actually. In fact, you are all I can think about. Day and night both."
"Lachlan, I..." Diana began but he quickly put a finger to her lips.
"Not here. Not while all of these people are watching." Then with a skill she had seen demonstrated once before, Lachlan began winding them through the other dancers, following a complex path that took them closer and closer to the terrace doors with each pass.
For a moment, Diana stiffened when she thought she saw Claire appear but then she realized it was only Eliza who, for some reason, was headed directly for a large line of potted plants along the back wall. She also thought she saw Lord Candlewood headed in the same direction but she quickly realized that her eyes must be playing tricks on her. None of that was possible. It was not even logical.
Lachlan however, seemed to instinctively know in what direction Diana's thoughts headed. "She is gone, lass," he assured Diana. "Back to Scotland where she will not bother us again."
"How can you be certain?" Diana asked quietly. Then another thought came to her. "And you assume much, Lord Hallstone. I have not yet forgiven you. I am not even certain I believe that you are not involved with that woman in some way."
"And yet here you are in my arms," he countered, his body moving seductively against hers as they neared the doors to the terrace and the dark gardens beyond. "I suspect that if you truly did not believe me, at least in part, then you would not have been so willing to dance with me this evening."
Lachlan had her there. "You are correct," Diana admitted grudgingly. "I am not saying that I believe you, necessarily, but I do think you should be allowed to explain." She licked her lips. "So explain."
With a quick glance around them, Lachlan whirled them right the door and onto the darkened terrace. It was as if he knew it was going to be empty, for he did not even stop to look and see if others were about, but instead whisked her directly down the steps and into Devonmont's famous gardens that were dimly lit with lanterns similar to those in Vauxhall.
With each step, he pulled her deeper into the garden and Diana knew she should resist, but she could not. She wanted to be here with him and in her heart, she knew she would most likely forgive him anything. Even a dalliance with his stepmother. In her heart, she already had. If that made her a fool, then so be it. She loved him far too much to let him go. It would not be easy but she could overcome this.
When Lachlan finally stopped moving, Diana found that they were deep in the garden with only a thin shadow of light cast over them. To their right was a bubbling fountain, complete with a grinning cherub. It looked a little maniacal, but the sound was nice at least.
Then she looked up into Lachlan's hopeful face and something inside of her eased a bit more, her release of anger complete. She loved this man. She had to believe that he loved her. That did not give him a right to betray her, certainly, but it did earn him a chance to explain, just as her mother had said.
"That day with Claire outside of Madame LaVallier's was not what you think," he began, taking Diana's hands in his. "Truly, it wasn't."
Lachlan's midnight eyes were dark and pleading, and there was an earnestness in his face she had not seen before. More than that, there was pain. It was a pain that mirrored her own. In that moment, Diana knew for certain that Lachlan was telling the truth.
"Go on," she said with a nod. "Tell me what transpired."
Gently, Lachlan tugged Diana down to a bench beside the fountain. When they were both seated, he continued. "I told you that Claire's goal has always been to wed me after my father passed. You know that. I have never once lied to you about it." He grasped Diana's hands in his. "What I did not realize was that each time I rebuffed her advances, she became more determined to have me. She viewed my refusals as some sort of convoluted game. I truly believe that, in her mind anyway, she felt that if she chased me long enough and hard enough, that I would eventually give in. That I would give her what she wanted."
"But you never did." In her heart, Diana knew this was true.
"No, I didn't," Lachlan assured her. "The morning you saw me outside the dress shop, Claire had already invaded my home. She threatened to bring my old mistress, Fiona, to London to attempt to shame me somehow into returning to Scotland with her. Claire believed that Fiona knew more about me than she did, that she had some kind of hold over me. When in truth, it was just the opposite. Long ago, Fiona trusted me with a secret, a grave one. When she threatened to trap me into marriage, I used that secret against her to keep her quiet."
Diana frowned. "That must have been some secret."
"Fiona is a Campbell and had a stillborn child to the already-married laird of another clan," Lachlan said, knowing Diana needed to hear all of the truth, no matter how ugly. "She buried the child in secret but for some reason, probably hoping to keep a claim over me, she told me about the child's grave. When I would not wed Fiona, she threatened me. And I, in turn, threatened her." He shook his head. "It was not my finest moment, Diana, and not something I am particularly proud of."
"And Claire thought to use the threat of Fiona against you, not knowing that it was not possible." Slowly, Diana began to understand the depth of the other woman's obsession with Lachlan. "And when she discovered that she could not, she did not take it very well."
Lachlan snorted, the tension within him easing a bit and a glimmer of hope brightening inside of him. Perhaps he had not lost Diana after all. "To say she did not take it well is an understatement. She was livid. She threatened to ruin me, to hurt you. That day outside of Madame LaVallier's, I was on my way to find you and warn you what she was about, that she was far more dangerous than I had feared."
"To let me know that Claire was on her way." Diana thought that over for a moment. "Did you know what she would tell me?"
He shook his head. "No, not specifically, but I had an idea. Claire has long attempted to convince everyone she meets that she and I have been intimate, and that she is carrying my child." Lachlan blew out a deep breath. "I have never lain with her, Diana. Not even once." He gripped her hand tighter. "For all that I am and all that I have been, I could not and would not do that to my father, no matter how cruel he has been over the years. Even at my worst, I was not that sort of man. Nor would I ever be."
At his words, the knot of fear and anger Diana had been carrying around with her for the last three days dissolved completely, washing her clean inside. She could see the hope shining in Lachlan's eyes and knew he was telling the truth. Reaching up, she cupped his cheek with her hand. "I believe you, Lachlan. I know you are telling me the truth. And that you always have."
"Thank God!" Lachlan felt as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders and suddenly, the world seemed brighter than it had in days. Diana believed him. She forgave him. He had not lost her.
Then, she bit her lip uncertainly and his world dimmed again. "But what happens when she tries again? For I am certain she will not give you up that easily. She is too infatuated with you to simply allow us to be happy." She looked around the darkened garden. "For all we know, she is here now, watching us."
"Ach, lass, she is not." Lachlan slipped back into his Scottish brogue. "I've sent her away with the help of Lord Candlewood. She is on her way to be tucked safely into an asylum even now. She tried to kill my father as well by using poison, and might have succeeded if not for the duke. That man..." He shook his head in disbelief. "He knows things. It is uncanny. His man, Harry Greer, is on his way north with my stepmother as we speak. She will not
trouble us again. Nor will she ever set foot in London again." Then he smiled. "Or in Edinburgh for that matter."
"Then she is well and truly gone?" Diana could not imagine a better outcome, and suddenly, the very real possibility of a true future with Lachlan opened before her. She could have the marquess of her dreams. Forever. The question of love? All the rest? It did not matter. Lachlan cared for her. He had found a way to send Claire away for good so that she was no longer a threat to their happiness. That was all that mattered.
Lachlan nodded. "She will not bother us again. I can assure you." Then, to Diana's surprise, he rose briefly before falling to his knees in front of her.
"Lachlan, get up," she hissed, a bit embarrassed now. "What if someone sees you?" Though she had to admit that was unlikely, as they still appeared to be quite alone in the Devonmont's garden. She wondered if Candlewood had something to do with that. She suspected he did.
"Let them see me, love," he said, grasping Diana's hands in his. His heart swelled at the sight of her, her mouth slightly open, as if she could not quite believe her good fortune. "I no longer care. In fact, I wish all of them, every last blasted member of society, to know the truth."
Something in Diana's heart unfurled at the expression on Lachlan's face. Dare she hope it? "And what truth would that be, Lachlan, my love?" She could see it plainly now, written on his face, the one emotion she had never thought she would see there. Still, she wanted to hear him say those words. Even if it was just once.
"I love you, Diana Saintwood. I love you above all others. More than I have ever loved anyone in my entire life." As before, Diana could see the truth of his words shining in his eyes. She felt the first tears prick at her eyelids but she fought them back. Diana had waited her entire life for this moment. She would not cry. Except that she found she could not help herself.
Then Lachlan pulled Diana to her feet, his arms coming to slide around her. "Say something, my love. My heart." He wiped at her tears with the pads of his thumbs. "Ah, lass, I did not mean to make you cry."
She sniffed and stifled a laugh. "I am crying because I love you, Lachlan." Then she bit her lip. "And I was not certain I would ever hear you say that you love me in return."
Lachlan felt his heart burst, though whether from joy or something else, he could not be certain. What he did know was that there was a healthy dose of love mixed in to his emotions. Just as it should be. "I should have said it long before now, lass, and I am sorry I did not. I think I need to rectify that, don't you?"
As Lachlan pulled Diana to him to kiss her deeply, she smiled against his lips. "I think that would be a perfectly marvelous and completely wonderful idea."
Sinking into his kiss, Diana realized that a life of both action and inaction had led her to this moment in time. Every step she had taken had brought her here - to Lachlan McKenna. The man she loved. And she knew she would not have it any other way.
Epilogue
Late July 1820
Seldon Park
Sussex
"Go back to bed, Lachlan, my love. It is early yet." Diana rolled over onto her side, not really surprised when her husband followed her across the bed to press his already straining erection into the small of her back.
Gently, she fingered the strand of exquisite rubies around her neck, the very same strand she had admired in Mr. Roarke's shop months ago. Lachlan had once said that he loved to see her wear rubies and nothing else. True to his word, he had presented her with the jewels last evening as he was undressing her so that they might make love. He had requested that she wear the precious stones - and nothing more. Of course, she had indulged him, just as she always did. Diana found that once they were wed, there was very little she could refuse her husband, especially when he was giving her pleasure. Just as he was now.
"It's ner' too early, my love," Lachlan sighed as he nuzzled her shoulder. Then he ran a hand up her bare thigh and around to cup the swell of her stomach. "What with the babe already on the way, you are always awake at this hour anyway." Then he stroked a hand up to brush against her sensitive breasts and then rest lightly on her arm. "And you know I cannot ever have my fill of you, lass."
A smile on her face, Diana rolled back over to face her husband, loving the way the streams of early morning light cascaded through the rose window in their guest bedroom at Seldon Park. "As I can never have my fill of you, either." She reached up to stroke his face. "I love you, Lachlan McKenna. More and more each day."
He returned her caress with one of his own. "And I love you, Diana McKenna. More than I thought it was possible to love anyone." Then he leaned down to press a kiss to the swell of her abdomen where his child already grew within her - most likely conceived the first night they had made love, based on Diana's calculations. "And I will love this wee one just as fiercely. I cannot regret a single thing that we have done, lass. Except perhaps that you did not have the large wedding you deserve."
"I would not trade one single night in your arms for all of the wedding flowers in St. James," Diana replied saucily, threading her fingers through his hair. "And the blacksmith at Gretna did offer me that pretty bouquet. Even my mother thought it was quite lovely. Even though it was also rather dead once we returned home."
The night Lachlan had confessed his love for her in the garden, Diana had not wanted to be parted from him again. Even though she knew it was the proper and correct thing to do. She had only just found him again after coming so close to losing him. She did not wish to take any further chances. So when she had scandalously suggested that they run off to Gretna Green in his coach so that they might wed immediately, she had thought he would refuse. However, the dark, desirous look that had come into his eyes just then had said that he liked her suggestion very much. So much that as soon as he had been able to walk, Lachlan had whisked Diana off to his coach, and together they rode off into the night.
When they had returned from Scotland, Diana had expected that there would be consequences to face, especially from her mother. There had not been - much to the surprise of both of them. It seemed that the night they had departed, Lord Candlewood had been so kind as to inform Lord and Lady Westfield of Diana's location, along with the admonition not to follow the happy couple. Something about true love conquering all, which did not sound at all like the Bloody Duke. Then again, he had not been behaving much like his old, notorious self as of late anyway.
"Besides," Diana reminded Lachlan soberly, "had we not left town when we did, it is unlikely we would be wed at all by now."
That was enough to momentarily dampen Lachlan's joy and desire for his wife. "You are right, I fear. I just cannot understand how your sister-in-law's cape came to be wrapped around that carriage axel. When those horses were spooked and took off..." He shivered a bit at the thought.
"I am just as certain we do not wish to know," Diana replied, tracing lazy circles upon her husband's magnificent chest. She needed him inside of her. Soon. "Is it wrong of me to be slightly relieved that Patience is dead?"
On one hand, Lachlan wanted to say that it was, for the death of Oliver's wife had cast a decided pall over everything and plunged the entire Saintwood family into mourning. For a little while at least. However, only a scant four months later, it was clear that the family as a whole did not truly miss the late Patience Saintwood. And it was difficult not to notice that Oliver's drinking had stopped. Mostly.
Then again, the woman had done nothing but heap shame upon the otherwise well-liked and well-respected Saintwood family. Which was why, Lachlan supposed, much of the ton was willing to look the other way when, after only a short period of mourning, all of them but Oliver seemed to have moved past the woman's death and had ventured out into society once more. There were the old dragons who still screeched about impropriety, of course, and there always would be. However Lady Jersey had made it clear that she supported the Saintwoods in whatever they chose do, including not entering full mourning for a woman that nobody had particularly cared for. And where Lady
Jersey and the patronesses of Almack's went, so the rest of society followed.
"It is a difficult situation, my love," Lachlan finally offered, "but one we have weathered admirably, I think. And my father still lives, at least for now, so there is that to consider. We are blessed in many ways." Then he drew Diana closer to him and kissed her deeply. "But enough of tragedy. We have a new day ahead of us and the rest of the house party to enjoy. It was very kind of Lord Candlewood to invite us, you know. He did not have to do so."
Diana shook her head with a smile. "He indulges those he cares for, I think. Sometimes more than he is willing to admit. He has a good heart. As do you, my love." Then she smiled more widely and wrapped her arms around Lachlan's neck, loving the feel of his hard body against hers. She loved this man will all that she was, and she knew that he loved her as well. It had been a difficult journey to reach this point, but one she would not trade for anything in the world.
"Ah, Diana, my lass. You undo me. Truly." For she did. A few months ago, Lachlan had not thought it possible for him to love anyone. Anyone at all. But that was before Diana. Before her generous heart had shown him that he truly was a good man. Before she had taught him how to love.
Then, with the morning sun shining down around them, Lachlan gathered Diana close and proved to her once more that she was indeed, the love of his life. Forever.
Author's Note
Here it is. Finally. Diana's story. However, I must confess, it didn't turn out at all the way I originally envisioned it.
When I first created the character of Lachlan McKenna, he was only meant to be a plot device in one of my previous Seldon Park novels, At the Stroke of Midnight. However, unlike some of my other secondary characters, Lachlan stuck with me and I found myself mentioning him in other books in the Seldon Park series. I wasn't quite certain what to do with him, but I knew he was hanging around in my mind for a reason.
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