Lord Cavendish Returns

by King, Rebecca

  “I was trying to lock the cellar door,” Mrs Able added. “But I couldn’t find the right key and had to leave before you got back up the stairs. I locked up as I left and made myself busy at the washing line as you came out.” The older woman showed no hint of remorse and even looked a little rueful as she relayed her activities.

  “You were playing matchmaker,” Sebastian sighed.

  “I had hoped that by spending time alone with her, Harper would see what a wonderful woman Arrabella is and decide to keep her.”

  Arrabella had never felt so humiliated in all of her life. “I don’t believe that I ever told you that I wanted a husband, Mrs Able,” she said quietly.

  Every part of her trembled with fear, confusion, hurt, and now worry for her future. She glanced at the man before the fire but could see little or no resemblance between him and Harper. It was clear that Harper was a Cavendish, and he was now an Earl for heaven’s sake, and an extremely wealthy one at that. In finding the register, and proof of his heraldic connections, he had been removed far out of her reach and her heart wept for her loss.

  It had been a wonderful adventure over the last few days and she wouldn’t have changed a second of it for the word. For the first time in her life, she had felt as though she was actually living and not just stumbling through life struggling to cope. She had no idea what the future held in store for her, but she knew now that it could not be with the man who had, over the last few days, laid claim to her heart.

  She stood and looked at Mrs Able. “You should not have interfered. This is my life and my decision to make. You could have brought me total ruination and forced me to leave this village in shame. What if we had been seen by the cleaning ladies? Harper is here for a particular reason. He hasn’t returned home to look for a place to stay. I could have been left to go my own way because of your match-making. You had no cause to interfere.”

  For the first time all evening, Mrs Able looked abashed and could offer no argument, however neither did she apologise.

  Arrabella turned to Harry Johnson, who looked shocked by the whole debacle. “I strongly suggest that you stop your foolish selfishness and stop behaving like a spoilt child. You are supposed to be a solicitor of good standing and a grown man at that. Go to your father, tell him how you feel and take it from me; wend your own way in life. You have the skills and the knowledge to do so. If the man doesn’t see you for your worth, then that is his problem not yours. You should see from his bitterness just what problems it can cause with those closest to you. Don’t allow bitterness to taint your view on your life either. Learn from your father’s mistakes and move on,” she finished coldly.

  Finally she turned to Harper. “I am sorry for my housekeeper’s actions. They are reprehensible and were conducted because of mistaken beliefs that were totally unfounded. I am glad that you have discovered the truth about your family at last, and hope that you will remember the men you grew up with as you move on in your life. The adventure has been enjoyable – sort of – while it lasted, but now it is back to the everyday humdrum of life and so will wish you well.”

  Her chin quivered, her voice trembled and she had to swallow past the lump in her throat, but her spine remained straight as she headed toward the door. She drew to a stop before Dominic and took one last look at the man who held her heart. “I hope you embrace your new family and allow them to become a part of your life. You have worked hard to uncover the truth and I am sure you will not back away from any joy that truth brings to you.”

  With that, she gave the man beside the door a wobbly smile when he opened it for her and swept through without a backward look. As she walked up the stairs she felt her heart break little by little. Everything within her yearned to hear him call out and ask her to stop, but he didn’t. By the time she got to the top of the stairs, tears tracked steadily down her cheeks. As soon as the door to her room closed behind her, they had turned into quiet sobs of misery.

  She knew that she had lost something precious that could never be replaced. He was going to leave and, apart from throwing herself at him and begging him to stay, which was something she couldn’t and wouldn’t bring herself to do; there was nothing she could do to stop him.

  Harper was stunned, but made no attempt to stop her. She looked exhausted and had clearly reached the end of her tether. He wanted to offer for her right there and then, he really did, but he wasn’t quite sure what he was going to do with his future. He was still officially part of the Star Elite and, until he had met with his boss, couldn’t make future plans with anyone. If Sir Hugo said that he had to do at least one last investigation before he could leave then that is what he would have to do, but each mission was dangerous and nobody was guaranteed to go home at the end of it. Could he really leave a fiancée, or wife, at home while he went to live in the shadows and put his life in danger?

  “I will go and see if she is alright,” Mrs Able declared sadly.

  “I would leave her for now, if I were you. She is exhausted and needs to rest. Drop in and see her in the morning, when she is rested,” Harper argued softly. He wanted to be angry with the older woman but, in all honesty, he understood her actions and even applauded them. “Just answer me one thing, Mrs Able?” The older woman nodded. “Just how bad is her father?”

  Mrs Able shook her head. “Sometimes he has to be reminded of his own name. Arrabella writes the sermons and pushes him through the services. She deals with all of the correspondence and, apart from meeting the Bishop, does practically everything the vicar should do. She even has to assist her father with the weddings, christenings and funerals now so that he says the right words in the right place. It is sad really. It won’t be long before the Bishop realises that he is no longer fit to conduct his duties safely. Unfortunately, the house is part of the church; it comes with the job,” she declared sadly. “Because Arrabella has had to do so much for her parents, she has had little opportunity to decide what to do with her own life.”

  “Surely the church will see to her needs? They won’t just cast her out will they?”

  Mrs Able shrugged and knew then that her mission had failed. “The new vicar will need to live here when he is appointed. I don’t how the state of their finances obviously, but a vicar’s salary hardly affords much in the way of luxuries.”

  Harper ran a hand down his face and wondered if he should have gone upstairs after her but he wasn’t quite settled in his own mind that doing so was the right thing for either of them.

  “I think you had better go now, Harry, and do as Arrabella suggested. Go and sort things out with your father. On this occasion we will not take any further action, as long as you never try anything like this again.” Dominic glanced at each of his brothers in turn and they all nodded their agreement.

  “I suggest you go home now as well, Mrs Able,” Harper suggested.

  “I am going to stay here for the night and will lock up behind you,” Mrs Able declared firmly. She was clearly disappointed that Harper had not done as she had hoped and offered for the young woman upstairs, and was now going to do whatever was necessary to protect her. “I wish you well. I know that Agatha and Bartholomew would be proud of the man you have become.”

  Sebastian clapped Harper on the shoulder. “I don’t want to interfere, Harper. I messed things up more than enough with my wife before we were married, and am the very last person who should give you sound advice but, from personal experience, if you don’t get a smack upside the head by way of a blinding revelation that she is definitely the one for you; and you don’t feel as though just one day without her in your life will make you utterly miserable, don’t offer for her. Let things rest. Someone will come along who is more suitable for both of you given time.”

  “She has helped me though,” Harper sighed. “I like her. A lot, if I am honest, but there is just so much going on right now that I don’t know what to make of any of it.”

  “Look, you have an estate and a family who want to meet you. Why don’t you
get away from Hambley Wood, Moldton, and the Star Elite, and come and see the estate you own? It is quiet and out of the way, and will give you the time you need to decide what you want to do and where you want to live. Until you see it, you cannot decide whether it is somewhere you want to keep or not,” Sebastian suggested gently. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what the man must be feeling and clapped him on the shoulder in a gesture of masculine solidarity.

  Harry quietly made his way out of the door and vanished into the darkness, but none of them paid any attention. He hadn’t said sorry for his behaviour but then, in a strange kind of way, he was as much of a victim of circumstance as Harper was. He hadn’t been asked to be born to a father like his either. His current problems were partly of his own making however, and it was now down to him to put them right. If he didn’t like the outcome then it was something that he had to deal with – legally, and above board.

  Once Harry had gone, Harper nodded to Mrs Able, and followed the Cavendish men to the door. The loud click of the lock sliding into place broke the silence as they made their way down the driveway. At the end, Harper turned to look back at the house. The upper floor was in total darkness and he just knew, deep in his heart, that Arrabella was lying on her bed, all by herself, crying. He wanted to go back inside, storm up the stairs and sweep her into his arms so that he could assure her that everything would be alright, but in all conscience didn’t know that it would be.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Two months later

  Arrabella stood inside the empty hallway and let the tears flow. She thought that her heart had broken eight weeks ago, when Harper had left, but her misery had been compounded by the stunning shocks that had rapidly been thrown at her mere days after he had left Hambley Wood.

  Nobody had seen or heard from him since, and nobody had any idea when, or if, he was ever likely to come back. While she was glad that she did not have to be in the village when he returned to deal with the house he had left; it was heart breaking to know that she would never see him again. She wondered where he was now; whether he had settled in to his new life and was happy.

  She sighed and wiped the moisture off her cheeks. Nobody knew that today was the day she was due to leave because she had made it perfectly clear to Mrs Able that she did not want any emotional goodbyes. It was devastating enough to have to leave as it was; the last thing she needed was to deal with other people’s upset.

  During the night of the confrontation, the last time she had seen Harper, Mrs Able had forewarned of what was to come. How right she had been. Not more than a week after Harper left the village; Arrabella had received a note from her aunt to inform her that her mother had passed away in her sleep. Her father had been bereft and had immediately sunk into a rapid decline that had rendered him unable to even complete the most basic functions. It had been impossible to conduct the church services without him and, when she had enlisted the help of the vicar from the nearby village of Bently to conduct a wedding; it had become apparent that the situation couldn’t continue. The Bishop had paid a visit and been concerned that her father was not likely to recover. He had been right. Not long after the Bishop had left, she had found her father standing out in the garden in his nightgown mumbling to his newly deceased wife. Arrabella and Mrs Able had brought him back inside, but he contracted a fever not long after that had proven more than he could fight.

  In the space of a few short weeks, Arrabella had not only lost the man she loved, but her parents and her home. Now she wasn’t quite sure what to think or do. She felt as though she as a piece of flotsam bobbing around on a storm tossed sea without an anchor or any sign of safe harbour.

  “You know, I really wished you would stay with me,” Mrs Able whispered sadly. She wiped her cheeks with the back of her hands and looked as bereft as Arrabella felt.

  “Thank you for your kind offer, Mrs Able, but my father left more in his will than I ever realised. He lived frugally, as you know, and was left that money from Mrs Denver, which he kept for me. I have more than enough to find somewhere of my own to live, but am going to visit with my aunt first and visit my mother’s grave.”

  Given how poorly her father had been, it had been impossible for either Arrabella or her father to travel to her mother’s funeral, and so Arrabella had arranged to spend some time taking the sea air while she considered what to do.

  “But where will you go? You cannot stay at your aunt’s forever. Will you be back? Will we ever see you again?”

  “I don’t know, Mrs Able, I wish I did, but I just don’t.” When Arrabella moved to the door, desperation began to filter into Mrs Able’s voice. “Why don’t you just write to him? He has only been gone for a few weeks. You need to tell him what has happened.”

  “It is nothing to do with him,” Arrabella sighed. “He made no offer for me and, whenever we were together, behaved like a perfect gentleman. He could have written at any point over the last few weeks himself if he was so inclined. The fact that there has not done so speaks louder than anything.” She smiled sadly and returned the hug Mrs Able gave her before she stepped outside to the waiting carriage.

  Her boxes and trunks were already loaded and there was no reason for her to delay her departure a moment longer. Once the door was closed she lowered the window and handed Mrs Able the keys to the front door.

  “I will write when I am at my aunts,” she whispered with a voice that quivered with raw emotion. The carriage lurched into motion all too soon and she kept her gaze locked on the vicarage while it was in sight. A little piece of her heart broke away and crumbled to dust with each foot she took away from the place she had called home. Now that she came to leave, she wasn’t sure if it was the house she was sad to leave, or the man. It was madness really because he had already gone but, as the miles rolled past and Hambley Wood faded into the distance, she knew that there was no hope of their paths ever crossing again and it left her with a bereft feeling that she knew would never leave her.

  “What the hell do you mean, she has gone?” Harper demanded. He glared at Mrs Able as though it was all her fault. He didn’t bother to wait for her to answer and stalked toward the vicarage. When the door barred his entry, he peered through the window and cursed at the empty room that lay beyond. He stalked back to the housekeeper. “Where did she go?”

  Mrs Able put the curtain she had been about to peg out back into the basket at her feet. “To her aunt.”

  “To stay with her mother?”

  Mrs Able shook her head sadly. “Her mother passed away I am afraid.”

  “What about her father? Where is he?”

  Mrs Able briefly explained what had happened while Harper had been with his new family. Harper listened with growing horror and stared in numb disbelief as he listened to the awful situation that had played itself out to Arrabella. In all of that time she had never once written to him to tell him what had befallen her. She had merely taken it upon herself to do as she thought best while she packed up her life and prepared to move on without help or support from anyone.

  “God, she must hate me,” he whispered. All of his dreams were suddenly held in limbo and he didn’t know what to do or where to go, and he stared at the floor in stunned disbelief.

  “When did she go?” Dominic demanded with a frown.

  Harper struggled to absorb what had happened. He stared blankly at the vicarage, unable to believe that she wasn’t there anymore. The last several weeks had been a whirlwind of new people and places that were accompanied by numerous decisions that had brought him vast wealth, fifteen staff and a life far away from the Star Elite.

  All he desperately needed now was a wife to help him keep it all together; and he knew exactly who was going to fulfil that role. Unfortunately, while his life had furnished him with everything a man could possibly need, and then some more besides, her life had thrown her nothing but grief and turmoil. How could she ever forgive him?

  While he had been away, he had asked himself several times if his a
cquaintance with Arrabella was too short to risk a future on, but then he had listened to Sebastian, Edward and Dominic recount the battles they had faced to keep their women in their lives and realised that once you knew that someone was important in your life, nothing should be allowed to stand in the way of a future together because time was precious; life was precious, and it was foolish to waste a second of it.

  He closed his eyes, and knew deep in his heart that he loved her. The time they had been apart had only made him miss her, more than he had ever missed anyone ever before. Arrabella was the woman he wanted to share his future with. Now, if only he could find her, he could tell her that.

  “She left about an hour ago.”

  “An hour?” Harper’s eyes snapped open and he leaned toward the housekeeper menacingly. “Which way did she go?”

  Mrs Able beamed at him like a proud mother and lifted her hand. “If you ride fast you should catch up with her,” she said but she had to raise her voice because all four men had suddenly lunged into action.

  She began to peg the washing out and hummed the wedding march beneath her breath as the sound of pounding hooves faded into the distance.

  Arrabella was tired already. She watched the outskirts of Skipton slowly edge closer and wondered what she would do when she got there. Should she stop and get something to eat in town, or carry on through and hopefully arrive at her aunt’s ahead of schedule?

  She yelped when the carriage suddenly jerked to a stop in the middle of the road.

  “What on earth?”

  When the coachman made no attempt to tell her what was happening, Arrabella opened the window. She was about to lean out to ask him what the matter was when the carriage began to roll again. The rumbling of the carriage wheels was loud, so she was left with little choice but to slam the window back up and resume her seat. With a shrug she shook her head and began to leaf through the book on the seat beside her.