Captain Amberton's Inherited Bride

by Jenni Fletcher

  ‘Come and sit.’ She gestured towards the hearth and then reached for the coal scuttle, adding a few nuggets to the fire before stoking it back into life. ‘Tell us everything.’

  ‘Yes.’ Lance drew his brother towards one of the armchairs and then settled himself in the other, grasping hold of her hand and drawing her on to the chair-arm beside him as he did so. ‘What happened to you?’

  ‘I’m not entirely sure. I think I must have run mad for a while.’ Arthur’s gaze moved between them with open curiosity. ‘What must you think of me, Miss Harper? After the way I behaved towards you in the past, you must hate me. I was trying to prove something to my father, but I was unforgivably rude. You were as much a victim as I was, but I treated you atrociously. I’m sorry.’

  ‘You didn’t want to marry me.’ She said it matter-of-factly.

  ‘No, but believe me, it had nothing to do with you. I never meant to insult you.’

  ‘It’s all right. You didn’t know me. We didn’t know each other. I won’t deny that it hurt at the time, but you were unhappy. Anyone with eyes could see that.’

  ‘I suppose I was, though at the time I simply felt trapped.’

  ‘Is that why you ran away?’

  ‘Yes, though I’d no intention of doing so, I swear. I went sailing that day without knowing what I was going to do. All I remember is sitting on the prow, thinking about the future, about the life my father had planned for me, knowing that I didn’t have the strength to fight him. The next thing I knew I was in the water, except that it didn’t seem like me either. I didn’t feel anything, not the cold, not the shock, nothing. It was like I just stopped thinking and jumped.’

  ‘So you weren’t trying to drown yourself?’ Lance’s voice sounded unsteady.

  ‘No.’ Arthur shook his head. ‘I didn’t have a plan. I just knew that I didn’t want to think any more. So I swam and swam and kept on swimming. I felt the currents take me and I didn’t fight them. It sounds ridiculous now, but I thought I might find an answer if I just kept going. Luckily a fishing boat found me before I froze to death. They were on their way back to Aberdeen and I asked if they would take me with them. I didn’t have any money, of course, but the skipper was a kind man. He probably thought I was on the run from the law, but he said I could work off the cost of my passage if I wanted. So I did and I enjoyed it. It made a refreshing change to have a purpose, a task to do. I’ve always been good on the water and it turns out that I’m good with my hands, too. The crew must have known I was a gentleman, but I proved myself with hard work, and after a while they accepted me. When we got back to Aberdeen I asked if I could stay on board. The skipper offered me a pittance to try to dissuade me, but I accepted.’

  ‘Let me get this straight...’ Lance leaned forward slightly. ‘Are you saying that all these months, you’ve been fishing?’

  ‘Improbable as it sounds, yes.’ Arthur looked towards her ruefully. ‘So you see, I’m no ghost, Miss Harper. I’ve simply been in hiding. Which is another way of saying I’ve been a coward.’

  ‘You were desperate.’ She got up from the chair-arm and crouched beside him. ‘There’s a difference.’

  ‘Wait.’ Lance put up a hand. ‘What about Father?’

  Arthur’s expression became pained. ‘I didn’t know. It’s easy to avoid news when you’re at sea and I didn’t want to know what was happening. I assumed that things would just work themselves out without me, that you and he would be reconciled...’ He dropped his gaze. ‘I didn’t know about his death. I didn’t know anything until we made port at Newcastle yesterday and even then it happened by accident. I was sitting outside a tavern on the quayside when I overheard the landlord telling a story about a family near Whitby. The father had been a viscount, he said, who’d died in the same week one of his sons drowned and the other was shot overseas. He told it like some kind of morality tale, though I’ve no idea what the moral was. It was the first I’d heard about any of it and it was like my eyes suddenly opened again, as if I’d been asleep and dreaming for the past few months. I asked him what had happened to the other son, but he didn’t know, so I came back here as quickly as I could. I know I shouldn’t have broken in during the night, but I couldn’t wait another moment. It was bad enough hearing what happened to Father. I’ve been so afraid of learning the worst about you, too.’

  ‘Come.’ Violet stood up, trying to break the sombre mood. ‘You must be exhausted if you’ve been travelling since yesterday. I’ll get a room ready. Are you hungry?’

  ‘Wait!’ Arthur put out a hand to stop her. ‘No one else should know that I’m here. Now especially.’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ Lance started out of his chair. ‘We ought to wake up the whole house and celebrate.’

  ‘No.’ Arthur’s voice had an imperative tone she’d never heard there before. ‘As far as everyone else is concerned, I drowned that day.’

  ‘What? No, Arthur, you’re back.’

  ‘It’s too late. If I come back, then there’ll be repercussions for all of us. What’s done is done. We ought to just leave things as they are.’

  ‘But this is all yours. The house and estate are your birthright. You’re the—’ Lance stopped mid-sentence, his eyes turning towards her with a look of anguish.

  ‘What?’ Violet felt a tendril of foreboding tickle the back of her neck. ‘He’s the what?’

  ‘The heir.’ Her husband’s lips seemed to have turned white suddenly. ‘Arthur’s the heir.’

  * * *

  For a few moments, Lance felt as though time had stopped and all three of them were held suspended, unsure of what to do next, the implications of his words echoing loudly in the air between them. There were so many emotions coursing through him that he wasn’t sure which was dominant, only he was aware of a strong undercurrent of panic.

  Arthur was the heir. Arthur was alive. Which had been astonishing and incredible and wonderful all at the same time, yet the panic was still threatening to overwhelm him. The realisation brought with it a stab of guilt. How could he feel panic now of all times? The brother he loved, that he’d thought he’d lost, was alive. That was a cause for celebration, not panic. He ought to be jumping with joy, but instead all he could think of was Violet.

  She’d been supposed to marry the heir. That was what his father had wanted, what her father’s will itself had stated. Now that Arthur had returned, all of it would be called back into question. There would be lawyers and courts and precedents and rival claimants all clamouring over her inheritance. Would she lose the money after all? Did he care? The thought brought him up short. No, he didn’t give a damn about the money. He wanted it for the estate, that much was still true, but if it came to a choice between Violet and her inheritance then there was no choice. He wanted her.

  But what could he offer her in return? On his own he was just a disgraced former soldier. If he hadn’t deserved her before, then he certainly didn’t deserve her now. She deserved to keep her fortune and her freedom, too, to be mistress of Amberton Castle, but with a better man at her side—Arthur.

  He felt an ache in his chest as if his heart were really breaking in two. Maybe this was his real test, the way for him finally to make amends. This was the pain he deserved. After last night, however, he had a feeling she wouldn’t just accept that, not unless he made her—unless he pushed her away. If he could bring himself to do it.

  ‘You can’t just leave again, Arthur.’ He forced himself to speak calmly.

  ‘I can now that I know you’re all right.’

  ‘So that you can pretend to be dead again? I won’t take your inheritance.’

  ‘You’re not taking, I’m giving it to you. If I stay away for seven years, then it’ll be yours anyway. I don’t have to be gone for ever.’

  ‘No.’ He held Arthur’s gaze, his own intractable. ‘I’ll go to the authorities and tell them you’re still alive if
you try to leave again. Father wanted you to run the estate. He wanted you to be his heir.’

  ‘Why do you think I ran away?’

  ‘He wanted you to marry Violet, too.’

  ‘It’s too late for...’

  ‘No, it’s not.’

  ‘What?’

  It was Violet who spoke this time and he turned reluctantly to face her.

  ‘We can get a divorce.’

  ‘On what grounds?’ She looked as though he’d just threatened to push her down the stairs and his heart twisted.

  ‘Deceit. You can say that you were misled, that you were tricked into marrying me when the rightful heir was still alive.’

  ‘I’ll say no such thing!’

  ‘You have to. Otherwise, your inheritance might be forfeit.’

  He heard her draw a sharp intake of breath. ‘My inheritance?’

  ‘Yes.’ The look of hurt and betrayal on her face made him feel sick, but he kept going. ‘You married the wrong man. I’m not the heir.’

  Her eyelids flickered. ‘So you want me to put you aside and then...what?’

  He clenched his jaw, forcing himself to utter the worst. ‘Then the two of you can marry. It’s what both our fathers wanted, what ought to have happened in the first place. It might be the only way to secure the money.’

  There was a heavy silence before she spoke again, her voice sounding almost unnaturally, eerily calm.

  ‘In that case, I’ll return to Whitby in the morning.’

  ‘What?’ Arthur’s face was aghast. ‘Have the pair of you gone mad? This is ridiculous.’

  ‘It’s the best thing for everyone. I don’t want to be the heir, Arthur.’ He limped slowly towards the drawing room, pausing briefly in the doorway before slamming the door shut behind him. ‘I never wanted it and especially not like this!’

  Chapter Eighteen

  ‘How about some shortbread, dear?’ Ianthe’s aunt held out a plate of biscuits with a sympathetic smile. ‘Things always seem better after a little sugar, I find.’

  ‘No, thank you, Sophoria. I’m not hungry.’

  Violet felt as though she were in some kind of trance. In all honesty, she probably was hungry. She hadn’t eaten anything since supper at the ball and it was almost mid-morning. If she was, however, she didn’t feel it. She wasn’t sure she could feel anything any more. Her whole body seemed to be numb.

  ‘As you wish.’ Sophoria sighed and took a seat next to her on the sofa. ‘But are you quite certain that everything’s over between you and your husband, dear?’

  ‘Of course she is!’ Ianthe stopped pacing the length of the parlour long enough to answer for her. ‘She’s left him, hasn’t she?’

  ‘Yes, but she wouldn’t be the first woman to run away from her husband and then regret it, would she, dear?’

  ‘Aunt!’

  Sophoria shrugged placidly. ‘It wasn’t a criticism. All I’m saying is that women leave their husbands for all sorts of reasons. Some are quite right to do so and some do it because of a misunderstanding.’

  ‘If you’re referring to what happened between Robert and me, then this is a completely different situation and you know it.’

  ‘Do I, dear? It seems to me that every situation is different. We should never presume to know what goes on between a married couple.’

  ‘Maybe not, but I know that Violet’s left hers for a good reason. He was a reprobate from the start. I can’t believe I was actually starting to like him.’

  ‘I’ve always been rather partial to a reprobate myself. They make life interesting.’

  ‘Be serious, Aunt.’

  ‘I am. Everyone’s tastes are different and I’m afraid you may be letting your prejudices colour your judgement a little.’

  ‘What prejudices?’

  ‘Against, shall we say, a certain type of man. Lance Amberton may have been a reprobate in the past, but from what I’ve heard he was simply young and foolish. Hardly on a level with Charles Lester.’

  Ianthe’s hands fell to her hips. ‘How can you even mention that man’s name?’

  ‘Because I’m afraid you may be confusing one with the other.’

  ‘Lance Amberton’s reputation is appalling!’

  ‘Was appalling, dear. People can change.’

  Violet twisted her head towards the parlour window, looking out over the promenade and past the edge of the cliff to the foam-flecked sea beyond. Had Lance really changed? She’d thought that he had. The night before she would have answered that question with certainty, whereas now...

  Now she knew that Ianthe was right. He was as much of a reprobate as he’d ever been, only she’d deluded herself into thinking the opposite, into thinking he might truly care for her—into believing that someone she loved might actually love her back. But all he wanted—all he’d ever wanted—was her father’s fortune to save his family estate. He hadn’t lied to her—not exactly. He hadn’t needed to when she’d done such a good job of deceiving herself—but she’d only ever been a means to an end. He might have taken her to bed, too, but only after she’d as good as thrown herself at him. After she’d actually released him from his seven-year promise! No matter how wonderful it had felt at the time, it hadn’t meant anything to him, not really, and she’d been the worst kind of fool, letting her heart be broken by a fortune hunter, just as her father had said it would be.

  At least she hadn’t told him she loved him.

  She closed her eyes, trying to bury the pain, still as fresh as when he’d told her they ought to get a divorce. She could hardly believe that happiness could turn so quickly to despair. Everything that had happened since she’d woken up in his arms in the early hours felt like a bad dream. The remainder of the night and the morning too, although since she hadn’t gone back to bed, the two had merged into one. All she’d wanted to do was get away from Amberton Castle as quickly and quietly as possible, preferably without running into Lance again.

  So she’d dressed and packed and then sat by her chamber window, watching the lightening sky and waiting until she heard sounds of activity downstairs before picking up her carpet bag and making her way down to the hall, calmly demanding that one of the stable hands take her back to Whitby.

  On arrival, she’d gone straight to Ianthe’s house, interrupting her and Robert at breakfast. They’d sat and listened in stunned silence as she’d told them about Arthur’s return, calmly concluding with the fact that her marriage was over. Only the arrival of Sophoria on her weekly shopping trip had jolted them back to reality. Robert had tactfully excused himself while Ianthe and her aunt had set themselves the task of comforting her. She appreciated the effort, even if she knew it was hopeless—although at the moment they only seemed to be arguing.

  ‘People don’t change that much, Aunt.’ Ianthe’s hands were still braced on her hips.

  ‘I disagree. You should never expect anyone to change, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t sometimes do it by themselves. You said that Robert likes him.’

  ‘What does it matter who likes him?’ Violet interrupted finally. ‘He wants a divorce so that I can marry his brother. That’s all there is to say.’

  ‘Oh, dear, I’d forgotten that part.’ Sophoria patted her hand kindly. ‘What did he say exactly?’

  ‘Just that it would be best for everyone if we got a divorce and I married Arthur instead.’

  ‘What did he mean, best?’

  ‘I don’t know. He just said that his brother was the rightful heir and that we all ought to do what our fathers wanted in the first place. He’s worried about losing my inheritance and thinks that my marrying Arthur is the safest way to protect it.’

  ‘But Mr Rowlinson told you the money was safe.’

  ‘Yes, but Lance doesn’t know that, not yet.’ Fortunately, she added silently, or she might never have known the truth
about him...

  ‘And what did Arthur have to say about the idea of you marrying him?’

  ‘He said that Lance must be mad.’

  ‘Yes...’ Sophoria tapped her chin thoughtfully ‘...I have to agree it does sound that way, but then, it was the middle of the night and he’d had a shock. His brother’s sudden reappearance must have been extremely disorientating.’

  ‘He was happy to see him.’

  ‘Yes, but it must have thrown his own position into some confusion. People say strange things under those sorts of circumstances.’

  ‘What are you talking about, Aunt?’ Ianthe came to a standstill in front of them.

  ‘It just seems a rather extreme reaction to me. Not to mention an ill-thought-out one. I doubt Violet would be legally permitted to marry Arthur when she’s already been married to his brother. Even with a divorce, it might not be allowed.’

  ‘What does it matter?’ Violet pressed her fingertips to her forehead. ‘I’ve no intention of marrying Arthur and he doesn’t care for me either. He doesn’t even want his inheritance. He wanted to leave again without anyone else ever knowing he was alive, but Lance said he’d go to the authorities if he tried to run away.’

  ‘But that sounds rather honourable to me, dear.’ Sophoria folded her hands decisively in her lap. ‘However, all in all, I’m afraid I have to agree with Mr Arthur Amberton and say that your husband has taken leave of his senses.’

  ‘That’s not helpful.’ Ianthe gave her aunt a pointed look.

  ‘I’m sure it was only temporary. When he comes back to his senses...’

  ‘No!’ Violet clasped her hands together fiercely. ‘It doesn’t matter why he said it! He still said it. He wants a divorce and now so do I. I should never have married him in the first place.’

  ‘Then why did you, dear?’

  ‘Because we had an agreement, or at least we did until I broke it. Now it’s all ruined.’

  ‘You know you can stay here for as long as you want.’ Ianthe put a comforting hand on her shoulder.