“I love you, Christian.” She gave a small sob. “More than words can ever say. Thank you for your patience and understanding. But most of all thank you for loving me.”
“I’m the lucky one. I have you.” He enfolded her in his arms. “My fiancée …” He loved saying the word. “I love you, sweetheart.”
Christian whispered a quote from Marcus Aurelius, the Roman leader and his favorite philosopher. “Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart.”
Serena had all his heart and always would. Nothing else mattered.
Chapter Twenty-two
The next morning, after they’d slept late, Christian helped Serena bathe. It took much longer than the three men waiting downstairs would have liked, but then they’d never seen Serena naked. She was a goddess; her beauty would tempt any man, and Christian had no willpower where she was concerned. When Serena invited him to join her in the tub, who was he to decline?
Over an hour late, and leaving the bedchamber floor soaking wet, the couple finally arrived downstairs with Christian carrying Serena in his arms. They entered the drawing room and he placed her gently on the settee.
Serena was pleased to discover the men had held breakfast back for them. Hadley gathered some bread and eggs for her, along with a cup of strong tea. “Do you need help in eating?” he asked.
“If you could put some marmalade on the toast, I’ll manage.”
Over a jovial breakfast, the men teased Christian about becoming a mother hen, laughing at the way he fussed over her, ensuring she was comfortable and that she had enough to eat.
The moment she’d finished her meal, and as she sat comfortably sipping her tea, the mood in the room turned somber.
“I’ve thought about this all night and I hate to say it, but this mystery starts with you.” Maitland’s words sent a chill through her. “If you know something, we have to work out what that may mean for us and our safety.”
Serena set her cup down with a shaking hand. “What if the man was simply making that bit up? I mean, I’ve thought about it too, and I can only remember meeting your fathers once, when I was ten years old. My father had some sort of party, at Wilton House, on our estate.” She rubbed her forehead, “It wasn’t a ball. In fact, I don’t remember seeing many women there. Father seemed to keep them hidden away.”
The men shifted in their seats and looked at each other. Christian cleared his throat. “I think it was a party where the women were perhaps paid to attend.”
Serena’s mouth fell open. “You mean they were … they were …”
“Women of ill repute,” Christian finished as the others nodded.
“Well, I can’t remember my father holding another such event—not at Wilton House, anyway.”
“Then perhaps something happened at this function that dissuaded him from ever holding another. That would make sense,” Maitland said dryly. “Whatever occurred, you’re somehow connected.”
Serena chewed her bottom lip trying to remember anything about the week just after her tenth birthday. She sighed and with palms upturned in defeat admitted, “I’m sorry. I don’t remember anything.”
The men all started talking at once, arguing over what the next move should be. They grew louder as they each tried to talk over the other, and a small memory began to grow large in her mind. She’d seen this exact scene play out before. She remembered a group of men, a vastly different group of men, arguing viciously.
“Stop!” she cried out. The men became silent immediately. Serena leaned forward. “I remember when I was young, that there was a terrible argument one night. I was spying, as usual. Some of the men came to blows. Arend, your father was the most upset, and he left Wilton House that very night. I remember he tried to persuade Grayson’s father to leave too. A young girl was being led into one of the rooms as he left. His parting words were, ‘What you are doing dishonors the word “dishonorable.” It is beneath contempt. Perhaps the French got it right—the aristocrats are diseased.’ ” She grimaced. “I screamed at his words. I thought there was some horrible disease in my house, and I didn’t want to die in agony like my mother had. Father saw me, of course, and I was dragged upstairs to my room. I wasn’t allowed down again until his guests had left.”
The men sat looking at her in silence. Tears began to well in her eyes. “I’m not a girl of ten anymore. They did something to that young girl, didn’t they?”
Christian moved to sit beside her and folded her into his arms. “It’s more than likely, yes.”
Maitland jumped to his feet and paced the room. “The bastard—my father …” It was the most emotion Serena had ever seen him display. “This has to be the incident. I remember my father coming back from the week at Wilton House and locking himself in his study for days. He drank himself into oblivion. I simply thought he’d lost everything at the gaming tables. But this—this makes my stomach churn.”
“What is this? We don’t really know what happened.”
Hadley looked pointedly at Serena and said, “I can hazard a very good guess.” Serena glanced at the men and saw their reluctance to discuss the topic in front of her. But they had an idea about what they believed had happened at Wilton House all those years ago. Quite frankly, given her own experiences, she didn’t want to know.
“Christian, if you don’t mind, I think I’d like to lie down. I’m tired.”
He jumped to his feet, gathered her into his arms and, without another word, carried her back upstairs. As he laid her gently on the covers, she said, “You are not your father.” She could read the shame in his eyes and in the lines of his furrowed brow. “There are some evils in this world that, due to circumstances, can never be righted. You should not have to pay for your father’s sins.”
He kissed her. His lips were gentle, giving.
“I know you are right, but I have forever lived with the shame of my father. It hangs over me, a smothering cloud of disgrace.”
“Then once this is over, we shall blow the clouds away. Clear the air and never look back. Looking back will only hurt us. We need to make new memories and live a good, honest life. That’s how we can make up for the past.”
“God, I love you,” he whispered into her hair before departing back to his friends.
Once Christian had settled into the comfortable chair left vacant for him, Hadley began, “We need to identify the girl and what actually happened to her. Then we will be able to ascertain who is seeking retribution—her father, brother, or husband.”
Maitland spoke up. “You’re assuming it’s not the girl herself.”
“She’d need money and power to hatch this plan.”
Christian felt sick. “Christ, you don’t think she was a member of the ton?”
Maitland shook his head, “No. That doesn’t make sense. Surely whoever was her guardian at the time would have sought revenge already.”
“Serena’s father didn’t guard her.”
Arend said, “If, like we all assume, they raped and toyed with a young innocent—all of them—she could be dead for all we know. They may have killed her to keep her quiet.”
Silence invaded the room.
Finally Christian spoke. “My father would have been perfectly capable of killing a young girl to stop her from talking.”
Hadley stood and, with the brandy decanter in his hand, walked around topping up their glasses. “So what do we do now? We have to get word to Sebastian. He needs to know, and his sisters need protection. I hope he’s on his way back from Jamaica by now. I hope word of his pardon, and our warning, has reached him. As for Grayson, we need to find him, urgently. He has no idea he may be in danger.”
Christian regarded him. “The first thing I’m going to do is get Lily and Serena back to Henslowe Court in Dorset. I’m marrying Serena as soon as she’s well. They will be safer in Dorset. Besides, I want to go through my father’s papers and journals in the attic. I might find a clue
as to who our nemesis is.”
“Cracker idea,” said Maitland. “We should all do that. We can’t move Serena for a few more days. Let’s meet at Henslowe a se’nnight from Saturday and make a more precise plan.”
“Since Somerset borders Devon, I’m also going to ride to Devon and try to locate Grayson,” added Hadley. “We may actually have a small advantage.” Three pairs of eyes looked at him expectantly. “The villain thinks Serena and Christian are dead. The longer we can hide the fact she and Christian are still alive, the better.”
Christian pulled a face. “She’s alive, and she’s bloody well going to stay that way!” He looked at the men surrounding him. “I’ll do nothing to put her or Lily in danger. Nothing!”
Maitland quietly said, “She’s already in danger. All of us are. I suggest we ride to Dorset together and separate there.”
Arend offered a toast. “Here’s to setting our fathers’ ghosts to rest, and to enjoying a few more days of Christian’s hospitality.”
As the men drank, Christian reflected on the fact that Serena wasn’t safe yet. She’d escaped the frying pan only to step into the fire. Well, he’d been burned once and he was not about to let anyone, regardless of what his father had done, destroy the only true happiness he’d ever known.
He swallowed a large gulp of fiery liquid. If his enemy wanted a fight, a fight to the death, he’d give her one.
Epilogue
Serena’s wedding to Christian was held quietly a week later, on the Henslowe estate in the small chapel. It had to be a quiet affair. The villain must not learn that she and Christian were still alive.
Peter Dennett’s death had been dealt with by the magistrate. Arend had not been charged, as they accepted that he’d acted to save Christian from Dennett’s dishonorable behavior. Dennett’s brother, the Marquis, had taken his body home to their estate. It appeared there was not much love lost between the brothers. In fact, not many people mourned Peter’s passing.
The men continued to hope the villain thought both Serena and Christian were dead. Jock Fanselow had been shipped quietly out of the country to Australia. However, Christian was being very protective of Serena, insisting on a very small and quiet wedding.
Serena didn’t care who was present as long as she married Christian. Besides, she had the most important people in her life present. Her stepdaughter, Lily—Christian had signed the adoption papers two days ago—and all of the Libertine Scholars, bar Grayson, who was still missing. That was the only damper on their special day. She knew the men were worried.
Sebastian had arrived in England a few days ago. He’d sailed back from Jamaica shortly after them, news of his pardon having finally reached him.
What was even more astounding was that Sebastian arrived at their wedding with a wife in tow. He was married to none other than Beatrice Hennessey, the sister of Doogie Hennessey, Baron Larkwell, the man he’d killed in the duel. Serena had yet to find out how that had come about!
“I now pronounce you husband and wife.”
Christian turned to Serena, took her hand, and placed it on his arm. He stood looking back at their friends in the chapel. Neither of them had family present, apart from Lily. “I wish I could have shared our special day with the world.”
Serena smiled up at him. “I’m not. I have you all to myself. Besides, it hardly matters to me who shares our day as long as I have you for my husband.”
He bent and placed a kiss on her lips.
Together they began to walk back down the aisle, and as they neared Lily, Serena reached out a hand for the little girl. She slipped out of the pew and took Serena’s hand. “You look beautiful,” Lily whispered.
Something warm and wet slipped down Serena’s cheeks and blurred her vision.
She had a family, a family who loved her.
She looked at her handsome husband, blind to the blight of his burns, and let the tenderness and love in his gaze warm her from the inside out.
“My family,” she sighed. She was filled with gratitude that she’d found Christian—and Lily. All the pain of the past two years melted away. She’d have endured far worse to find this special happiness.
She wanted to focus on the future. They would have a future. She’d fight tooth and nail to ensure their time on earth together was all she’d dreamed of.
She’d let no one take this joy from her. Both Christian and Lily—and even she—deserved some happiness in their lives. Now that she had both a husband and a daughter, the joy in her soul single-handedly banished the hollow empty feeling inside her. The inner wounds were healed and she was now focused on a new beginning.
Watching Christian sign the marriage documents, she couldn’t help remember the last time she’d done this. She’d known, as she signed her name next to Peter’s, that the marriage was wrong. A second sense had told her it was a terrible mistake. She’d felt only fear.
Now, as she took the quill with a steady hand, her signature appearing in bold strokes on the document, a peace settled over her heart. This time she felt cherished and protected and desired.
She felt loved.
Sebastian approached to sign his name as their witness.
“You look beautiful.”
“Thank you. And not just for the compliment. Thank you for keeping my identity secret in Jamaica when Christian was your friend.”
Sebastian looked at Christian. “I’m not sure your husband has forgiven me for that yet.”
“We’ll discuss what you owe me later.” Serena laughed at her husband’s dry tone.
“Don’t you dare punish him for helping me. He’ll have better things to do than deal with your sulking; he too is newly married.”
All three of them looked across the church to where Beatrice stood.
Sebastian looked back at the register. “Don’t give me that smug look; it’s not a love match like yours. You know me, Christian. Love is something I avoid at all costs. This is merely a marriage of convenience.”
Serena was wise enough not to comment, but there was a story here and she meant to find out more. Sebastian had been a true friend when she needed him and she was determined to repay the favor. From the heated looks darting between Sebastian and Beatrice, she wondered if the handsome rake was deluding himself. This could be fun!
Then she looked at Christian, her husband, and remembered the first night she’d seen him, when she was a young girl. He’d been so handsome, so resplendent in his uniform, he’d taken her breath away. She knew now that what she’d felt for him was a young girl’s romantic idealism. She was nothing like the girl who had worshiped him from afar that night. The world had marked both of them. Now her love for Christian was richer and deeper and all-enduring.
As if reading her thoughts, Christian hugged her close and whispered in her ear, “I love you so much.”
“I’ve always loved you. And I’ll love you forever, Christian.”
“I’ll hold you to that promise.”
They joined Lily and the men and made their way through the connecting passage back to the main house, where the staff had put on a wedding breakfast.
She was now Lady Serena Trent, the Countess of Markham. Unlike Shakespeare, Serena knew what was in a name. Love. Loads and loads of love.
Acknowledgments
Another book finished and published—for an author, there is no feeling like it. But taking a book from inception to shelf involves a team of special people. My eighth book, A Kiss of Lies, is also my first book for Random House Loveswept, and working with my editors, Sue Grimshaw and Lesley Parsons, has been a truly wondrous experience. To have a team who love your stories, are so dedicated to making your book the best it can be, and who help and guide you is priceless. Thank you both so very much. Then there’s Carrie Divine, my talented cover designer. You were a magnificent find—I thank my lucky stars you wanted to beta read for me, allowing me to discover your outstanding design talents, and that Sue had the vision to use you for my Loveswept cover. To my numerous bet
a readers, thank you so much for your detailed feedback. You push me to tighten my stories and make them better. I must also acknowledge the members of The Beau Monde, who ensure I have my Regency facts straight and are a willing source of information. Finally, thanks go to Bron’s Bold Belles. When I’m down or unsure of a story, you jump in and lift my spirits so that I can continue to let the characters crowding my head emerge on the page. Which, after all, allows me to live my dream job, that of storyteller.
About the Author
Bronwen Evans is a proud romance writer. She is published in both print and eBook. She loves storytelling, and her head is always filled with characters and stories, particularly lovers in angst. Evans is a two-time winner of the RomCon Readers’ Crown and has been nominated for an RT Reviewers’ Choice Award. She lives in Wellington, New Zealand. She loves hearing from readers. You can visit her at www.bronwenevans.com.
The Editor’s Corner
Happy New Year!
Another year may have slipped on by, but don’t let these romances slip by you! Ring in the New Year with romance starting with an electrifying journey of emotional and sexual discovery that pushes two damaged souls to their breaking point—and beyond in, Ruined, by Tracy Wolff, the first installment of The Ethan Frost novels. Award winning author, Bronwen Evans, debuts The Disgraced Lords series with Loveswept, book one, A Kiss of Lies—tortured and abandoned, can two people recover and ignite each other’s deepest passions? Romantic Suspense fans will enjoy, In the Dark, where passion raises the stakes in Sally Eggert’s electrifying novel of deception and desire. Mary Ann Rivers launches her contemporary series with Live, riveting romance sure to please readers of Ruthie Knox, Kristan Higgins, and Jill Shalvis.
Fans of Stacey Kennedy’s Club Sin series will be thrilled to know another wicked and wild tale of submission, seduction, and love, will be available later in the month—Bared, Cora and Aidan’s story.
A Kiss of Lies Page 29
