The Earl That Overruled My Destiny

by Hanna Hamilton

  As the footman hurried away, quick to do as he was bidden, Lord Newhost glanced awkwardly at Lord Noah, still flung over the horse. At the moment, he was still and silent. “And someone get this man from the horse.”

  “I wouldn’t untie him,” Lord Caspian offered.

  Lord Newhost pinched the bridge of his nose, looking as if he’d rather be anywhere else at the moment. “Leave him bound, then. And you—Lord Caspian—come inside. To the parlor. You’re our…” Lord Newhost trailed off.

  “Our guest,” Gwendoline supplied.

  She locked eyes with her father, silently pleading with him to believe her, to give her this. But it was difficult to interpret what she found there. Gwendoline had, as she often did around her father, the terrible feeling that he was unfathomably disappointed with her. And what she wouldn’t give to have that feeling erased and consigned to oblivion!

  “Our guest,” Gwendoline’s father said reluctantly.

  Lord Caspian relinquished the reins to the waiting stable hand and smiling, dipped his head in acknowledgement. “I would be honored to accept your hospitality, Lord Newhost.”

  Lord Newhost attempted a smile, but it looked more like he’d tasted something unpleasant and was trying to hide that he had. “Very well. Gwendoline, why don’t you head to your room and make yourself presentable.”

  Gwendoline realized that this really meant, Why don’t you go somewhere more appropriate while Lord Caspian and I speak to one another? But Gwendoline knew, too, that she wasn’t dressed for company.

  “I shall,” she said.

  Without delay, Gwendoline’s lady’s maid was at her elbow, practically bursting with anxious energy and an ill-concealed desire to hear all the details of everything that had transpired.

  “I’ll tell everyone soon enough,” Gwendoline said, as they climbed the stairs. “Presently, it is most important that I look my best.”

  Because if Lord and Lady Elderdale arrived, Gwendoline realized this would be an excellent opportunity to finally put to rest the feud between the Lockwoods and the Farradays.

  And maybe then, Lord Caspian and I can court one another, assuming he is willing.

  It seemed to Gwendoline as though Caspian was quite willing, and her face warmed from the memory of his chaste kisses and gentle touches. And if today would be the day that their families resolved their feud, Gwendoline wanted to look her best.

  * * *

  When Gwendoline emerged from her room, her curls pinned back, and dressed in an elegant gown of lilac silk, trimmed with white lace and small, pink pearls, she looked very much like a proper Lady. She allowed herself to slip into a delightful fantasy, wherein she was the heroine of some great novel. She imagined that she was an elegant lady on her way to meet her lover.

  And perhaps, she was. Although she and Lord Caspian were certainly not lovers, if this went well and if the feud was resolved, Gwendoline hoped they might be.

  And there will be no danger, then.

  She shivered, despite being home and safe. Her mind went unwillingly back to standing beside Lord Caspian’s favorite lake and to the barrel of that pistol pointed at her heart. She was safe now, but it was terrifying to realize how close she’d come to being shot.

  Being shot!

  It was not something that happened to young ladies. Gwendoline gathered her courage as she drifted through the halls of the manor toward the parlor where she knew her father and Lord Caspian would be waiting. Perhaps, Lord and Lady Elderdale would be there already, too.

  But no. They would want to ready themselves, too, for this visit.

  Once Gwendoline approached the parlor, the maid hastened to open the door. The parlor was as lovely as ever. It was a golden room, and the drapes had been cast aside, so the morning light spread in and illuminated every surface.

  “Gwendoline,” Lord Newhost said, smiling tightly.

  Lord Newhost stood when she entered, but he’d been seated on a loveseat made of polished rosewood and backed with fine, dark velvet. Lord Caspian, who’d also risen at her arrival, sat across from Gwendoline’s father. The table between the two men was laden with tea and muffins, served on delicate porcelain. It seemed that, despite any misgivings, Lord Newhost had resolved to be a proper host.

  “My Lords,” Gwendoline said. “I apologize for keeping you waiting.”

  “Nonsense,” Lord Caspian replied. “A lady always ought to look her best.”

  As he said that, Gwendoline’s eyes drifted over his hair and face, disheveled and dirtied from chasing Lord Noah through the bushes and the undergrowth. There was a streak of dirt across Lord Caspian’s cheek, which he hadn’t wiped away yet, and his shirt was torn unevenly. But somehow, he looked even handsomer than ever like that.

  “Yes,” Gwendoline said. “I think a lady must, indeed, look her best at all times.”

  She sat beside her father, noting that he also glanced at Lord Caspian, seemingly taking in the younger Lord’s appearance.

  “We were discussing music,” Lord Caspian said, determinedly cheerful.

  He seemed anxious and overly eager to please, and Gwendoline averted her gaze, hoping that no one noticed the flush rising over her cheeks. Lord Caspian wanted to impress her father, and Gwendoline had no idea if—considering the unusual circumstances—that would or would not be possible.

  “So we were,” Lord Newhost replied, with considerably less enthusiasm.

  “I quite like music,” Gwendoline said.

  She was almost certain that Lord Caspian didn’t know that about her, and despite Lord Newhost’s frosty glances and grimaces, this almost felt like greeting a suitor into their grand estate.

  “Do you play?” Lord Caspian asked.

  “Well enough,” Gwendoline replied. “But my father is really the one with musical talents.”

  Lord Newhost smiled tightly. “You’re both here now, so I think I deserve some idea of what has transpired during the night.”

  “It’s a long tale,” Lord Caspian said, “So I do beg your gracious pardon, my Lord, but I do feel as though it’s one best shared once my parents have also arrived.”

  “I see.”

  “But I can assure you that no dishonor has come to your daughter or to your family’s name,” Lord Caspian added.

  Gwendoline felt her father’s eyes burn into her, and while she once might have buried her anger and averted her gaze, tonight, she met her father’s blazing eyes. “I will also vouch for that,” she said. “I have only done that which would bring our family respect and prosperity, Father. I swear that by anything you like, by my honor and by yours.”

  “I don’t understand,” Lord Newhost said. “Just a handful of months ago, I recall that you paid Lord Caspian a gross insult, and now, he sits here, having accompanied you on some midnight escapade.”

  “Truly, the insult was deserved,” Lord Caspian said, his tone light.

  Lord Newhost’s face darkened like a storm cloud. Despite Lord Caspian’s best attempts at being charming and polite, it was clear that Lord Newhost would not be so easily swayed.

  Perhaps, it will be easier once Lord and Lady Elderdale are here, and Lord Caspian and I have shared all that we have learned.

  “The insult was not deserved,” Gwendoline said, holding her father’s gaze. “But Lord Caspian is a good man. I dare even say he is a noble man and worthy of your respect.”

  Her father’s face reddened more than Gwendoline had ever thought possible, and there was a time when that alone would have been enough to dissuade her persistence. But there was too much at stake now for her to be anything save adamant and strong. She and Lord Caspian had broken the rules of etiquette.

  They had midnight meetings and late-night escapades. These were certainly things for which Gwendoline knew she ought to expect a scolding, but surely, they were all justifiable if the feud between their families ceased once and for all. And that was the goal which Gwendoline knew she ought to strive toward.

  “Lord and Lady Elderdale,�
�� the parlor maid Eleanor announced, dipping into a respectful curtsey.

  Lord Elderdale entered, his face stern and unreadable. He’d dressed exceptionally well for the occasion, as Gwendoline suspected he might. Beside her lord, Lady Elderdale was dressed nicely, too. She was a beautiful woman, and that was something which Gwendoline had never quite noticed before. She had Lord Caspian’s smile, bright and teasing.

  “Good morning,” Lady Elderdale said.

  Lord Elderdale’s frown deepened. His eyes swept over the room, lingering briefly on Lord Caspian. “I’m missing a son,” Lord Elderdale said.

  The lord’s tone was clipped and curt. He wasn’t the least bit happy to be there, and although Gwendoline had expected some reluctance on the Lord’s part, it was different seeing it unfold before her eyes.

  “The other one is elsewhere,” Lord Newhost replied, his tone equally cold. “Why don’t you have a seat? Perhaps, then, your son and my daughter will explain why they have seen it fit to bring us all from our beds at such an early hour?”

  “I would like to know that,” Lord Elderdale said, taking a seat as far away from Lord Newhost as was conceivably possible without leaving the room.

  Perhaps, this was an ill-conceived plan. Lord Caspian and I ought to have given them more warning, more time.

  But that seemed impossible, anyway, after Lord Noah’s actions.

  Lady Elderdale smiled. She looked awkward, but her face was as soft and warm as a rose opening to the spring sunshine. With a sharp ache, Gwendoline thought of her own mother, still on the country estate and far from London. At a moment like this, Gwendoline dearly desired her mother’s presence.

  “Now, then,” Lord Newhost said. “I think we have spent enough time not addressing what has brought us all here. I’d like some answers.”

  “For the first time, we might be in agreement on something,” Lord Elderdale said tightly.

  There was no humor in either man’s eyes. Gwendoline looked at Lord Caspian, thinking suddenly of the ride back, where she’d wrapped her arms around him and felt his warmth brush against her own body. And she remembered the smell of the forest on him, of crushed pine and grass and freshly fallen rain. Her toes curled inside her silk slippers.

  Lord Caspian reached into his coat and drew forth the familiar locket, holding it aloft. Gwendoline heard a sharp intake of breath, and when she looked to her father, she saw that his right hand gripped the polished wood of the loveseat so tightly that his knuckles were white. “Where did you get that?” he whispered. “It’s been lost for…for a very long time.”

  Lord Caspian nodded. “I’d imagine it’s been missing since Lord Charles gave it to Lady Helena shortly before their elopement, and that is the matter which began everything and the one which we need to discuss directly.”

  Chapter 30

  There was a moment which seemed to stretch into eternity, during which everyone seemed to hold their breaths. Caspian’s eyes wandered to Lady Gwendoline, sitting beside her father. The Lady’s gaze was anxious but determined. She looked valiant in that moment, fiery and strong. But this was a different fire from the sort that Caspian had once liked to provoke her to.

  This fire was strong and strange, hinting at an iron-hard resolve. A spark of admiration lit inside Caspian’s mind. If there was any person, man or woman, on Earth that he’d choose to have at his side for a moment like this, it was Lady Gwendoline.

  “Elopement?” Lord Elderdale asked.

  Beside him, Lady Elderdale had paled. Caspian felt a sharp prick of guilt as he looked at his mother. All her secrets were about to be unraveled before her, and if there was any way to conceal them still, Caspian might have tried to. But there couldn’t be, not with Noah’s treachery and his attempt on Lady Gwendoline’s life.

  “Yes,” Lady Gwendoline said. “If we open this locket, you will see that there are two locks of hair—one fair and one dark—from my uncle Lord Charles and Lady Helena. They were in love.”

  Caspian offered the locket to Lord Newhost, who accepted it with trembling fingers. The lord opened the latch, and the locks of hair were still there, just as Caspian had known they would be. While he’d been in and out of consciousness, he’d taken the locket from Lady Helena’s old room and tucked it in his coat, just in case.

  For the best, it seemed.

  “My God,” Lord Newhost muttered. “I never thought I’d see this locket again.”

  “There it is, My Lord. I don’t know if you knew about the elopement, Lord Newhost. But you would already know that, wouldn’t you, Father?” Caspian asked, looking toward his father. “You must have known.”

  “He did,” Lady Gwendoline replied, “Because his father resolved to lock Lady Helena in her room until her wedding day. It was Lord Charles’s planning and resolve which spared her such a fate.”

  Caspian raised an eyebrow, and Lady Gwendoline flashed him a mischievous smile. “I may know more about what transpired than even you, My Lord. I endeavored to keep Lord Noah talking, to delay any harm that he might cause me until I could think of a way to escape.”

  “Harm?” Lord Newhost asked, his back straightening. “What sort of harm?”

  “Noah would never harm anyone,” Lord Elderdale argued, immediately leaping onto the defensive.

  “He would, and he nearly did,” Caspian cut in. “If you’d let us finish, we’ll explain it to you.”

  Lady Elderdale cleared her throat. “He—he tried to hurt you?” She sounded faint. “Over—over Lady Helena?”

  “Yes,” Caspian said.

  When their eyes met, Caspian saw the uncertainty and the near panic in his mother’s gaze, but he could do nothing save continue.

  “Lord Noah revealed that he is the child of Lord Charles and Lady Helena,” Lady Gwendoline said, her voice very strong, “Their legitimate child. The two eloped and were legally wed. And once Lord Noah learned of this, he felt as though he deserved both the Elderdale and the Newhost titles and properties as compensation for how terribly his parents were treated”

  “Noah felt that Lady Gwendoline and I were too close to learning the truth of his plans, so he sought to rid himself of her,” Caspian continued.

  “Rid himself of her?” Lord Newhost exclaimed.

  Lady Gwendoline smiled weakly. “He tried to shoot me, but Lord Caspian arrived to save me.”

  Lord Newhost sprang to his feet. “And I let that man into my house—”

  Lady Gwendoline rose fluidly and stood facing her father. “Please, be seated. This is more important.”

  “He pointed a gun at you?” Lord Elderdale asked. “Caspian, is that true?”

  Caspian nodded. “Your favorite pistol. If you look, you’ll find it missing. It is at the bottom of a lake now. I was so worried for Lady Gwendoline’s safety that I charged Noah on horseback, and when he fell, it flew into the lake.”

  “You shouldn’t have been on horseback,” Lady Elderdale said. “You were injured!”

  “But if he hadn’t been…” Lord Newhost trailed off. “You truly saved my Gwendoline? My daughter?”

  Caspian nodded. “I’d have done anything to save her. Please, I’ll explain.”

  “We both will,” Lady Gwendoline said.

  Slowly, Lord Newhost sat, and his daughter joined him once again on the seat, covering his hands with her own.

  “By chance, Lady Gwendoline and I discovered that Lord Charles and Lady Helena were in love with one another, and we thought that if we learned the truth of what happened, we might be able to end the feud between our families,” Caspian explained.

  “I found love letters from Lady Helena to Lord Charles,” Lady Gwendoline said. “They’re in my room. If you like, I can fetch them as proof.”

  Lord Newhost leaned forward, letting his forearms rest on his knees. He looked suddenly old, as if he’d been carrying some terrible burden for years and was too weary to shoulder it any further. “I don’t think that will be necessary, Gwendoline. If you say you have found them, I don
’t doubt you.”

  “And I knew they were in love,” Lord Elderdale admitted. “But it was…well, I knew that my sister insisted she loved Lord Charles. That much I’ll admit, but that changes nothing.”

  “It changes everything,” Lady Gwendoline argued. “If we know now that both of them were truly in love with one another, we know that our families have been fighting one another under false pretenses for years. This feud serves no one.”

  “And not only did they love one another,” Caspian said, looking pleadingly at his mother. “But they eloped, didn’t they? And they had a child.”

  “I’d know if there was a child,” Lord Elderdale said immediately. “That’s absurd.”