At Long Last

by Shirlee Busbee

  Jeremy looked wry. "Of course you are. Why else would you be casting up your accounts this way? And looking pale as a ghost? I thought you looked peaked when I arrived, but I put it down to the heat. I know differently now." His mouth twisted. "You may think of me as little more than a child, but I am old enough to remember Mama turning pale at the very sight of food and rushing from the room when she was pregnant with the two boys. You're pregnant, my girl, and don't try to gammon me into believing that Tony Daggett isn't the father!"

  Arabella stared at him incredulously, her thoughts jostling wildly in her mind. Pregnant! The notion had never entered her head... though it should have, now that she considered it. Looking back over the past several weeks, she realized that she had not experienced her monthly flow and that she was displaying all the symptoms of early pregnancy. Jeremy's conclusions, she thought with a little flutter in her chest, were absolutely correct; she was pregnant with Tony's child.

  "Well?" Jeremy demanded. "Am I right?"

  Unaware of the silly grin on her face, Arabella nodded. She was going to have a baby! Tony's baby! Could there be anything more wonderful?

  "Is the prospective father aware of the impending event?" he asked dryly.

  "Uh, no," Arabella answered. At Jeremy's expression, she added, "Oh, take that disapproving look off your face—I just found out myself."

  "That may be, but you had best tell Daggett. If the babe is not to be labeled a bastard, getting the pair of you married is of the utmost importance."

  With a thud Arabella came back down to earth. Under other circumstances, a hasty marriage would, of course, be the next step, but with the situation between herself and Tony so strained, she flinched away from the idea of becoming his wife. For all she knew, he no longer wanted to marry her. She didn't believe that Tony would not marry her—especially once he learned of the coming child—but she discovered that she did not want to be married simply because she carried his baby. She definitely did not want Tony to feel that he was being forced to marry her, even if he had proposed marriage at one time. He might not still feel the same way.

  "There is no need for me to make a decision at this very minute," Arabella said. "Tony can be told soon enough." A dreamy expression flitted across her expressive features. "Right now, I want a little time to get used to the idea myself."

  Jeremy snorted. One hand on his hip, he regarded her impatiently. "Time," he said grimly, "is something that you do not have. If I discovered your state so easily, how long do you think it will be before others do the same? Others such as Mama or Cousin Agatha—they, in case you have forgotten, have sharper eyes than mine. You cannot wait. You and Tony must be married before anyone else learns of this." He drew himself up. "As the head of our family, I must insist."

  Arabella made a face. There were many times she had wanted Jeremy to act with more maturity and to take his duties as the eldest male in the family more seriously—she just wished that it wasn't at that precise moment he had decided to do so.

  "Jeremy," she said gently, "I am a grown woman. I will celebrate my thirty-third birthday this fall. Don't you think that I am a little old for you to be dictating to me?"

  "No, not if you are going to act irresponsibly. Do you realize the scandal that your pregnancy will bring down on the family if you are not married—instantly? Believe me, there is going to be enough counting on the fingers and raised eyebrows when the babe is born. Delaying your marriage to Tony will only add to the gossip—especially if you are standing there taking your vows with your belly sticking out like a ripe melon." He took an agitated step around the room. Glancing back to where Bella sat, he said, "I know that I do not have the power or influence that our father would have had over you and that you are no longer a young maid, but good gad, Bella, what were you thinking of? This is a dreadful affair. Our sort are not in the habit of producing children until at least nine months of marriage!"

  He sighed and ran a hand through his golden locks. "I do not mean to lecture you—but having gotten yourself into this position, I cannot believe that you, of all people, are willing to put the family through the shame and gossip that will follow us if you are not married as soon as decently possible. If our family disgrace is not enough to sway you, think of your babe—you know how all the old tabbies are—they will never allow you or your child to forget the circumstances of its birth. Remember our sisters, too—don't you think that your actions will reflect badly on Sara and Jane? It could even leave them open to the sort of advances that cannot be tolerated." Craftily, he added, "Why, I may be forced to fight a dozen duels before I have them safely married off. Have you thought of that?"

  Arabella could not deny the force of any of Jeremy's arguments, but something inside of her stubbornly resisted the notion of racing to Tony and blurting out that she was pregnant and that he had better be prepared to marry her instantly. There had to be, she thought unhappily, another way to resolve this situation. It wasn't that she wasn't ever going to tell Tony, it was just that she did not want to tell him immediately. She wanted time. Her lips tightened. She wasn't about to be hustled into marriage. The baby was hers; she would decide when she would marry—and who for that matter!

  But Jeremy wasn't going to give her any choice. Correctly reading the expression on her face, he took matters into his own hands.

  "Since you seem to have lost your wits," he said curtly, "I see that I shall have to act on my own."

  Spinning on his heels, he stalked from the room.

  "Jeremy!" Arabella shrieked, leaping up to follow him. "Wait. Where are you going?"

  He tossed her a look over his shoulder as he bounded down the stairs. "To see the father of your child!"

  "Oh, wait! You cannot!" she cried, hurrying after him, but she was too late. Jeremy was through the front door and down the front steps before she even reached the bottom of the staircase. She ran out onto the veranda in time to see him riding away.

  Damn. Damn, she thought to herself, as she stood there biting her lip. Her fate, she decided grimly, was not going to be settled by two stubbornly determined males—despite her earlier thoughts, she had no doubt that once Jeremy told Tony about the baby that Tony would be just as insistent, in fact more insistent than her brother that they marry. Tony was, she realized uneasily, perfectly capable of carrying her off somewhere and holding her a virtual prisoner until she agreed to marry him. When Tony got an idea into his head, it was nigh impossible to stop him from seeing it to the end. There was only one thing she could do—she had to prevent the pair of them from making plans for her that would allow no escape.

  Muttering under her breath, Arabella picked up her skirts and ran toward the stables at the back of the house. Ignoring the startled servants, she pulled out the little black mare from her stall and, taking only enough time to throw a bridle onto the sleek dark head, leaped upon the mare's back and careened away. Skirts flying, her trim ankles and bare calves shockingly exposed beneath her jumbled-up gown, she urged the mare into the green woods.

  Jeremy had several minutes head start on her, and Arabella, while a decent rider, was not known for her intrepidness in the saddle. Consequently, she concentrated more on staying upon the mare's back than speed as they galloped through the shadowy forest, the mare clearing fallen logs and gurgling streams with ease.

  Knowing Jeremy had probably taken this same shortcut through the woods to Sweet Acres, she hoped to overtake him, but despite her efforts, she arrived at her destination several minutes behind her brother. She had just broken from the woods and come galloping up to the front of the big house as Jeremy and Tony prepared to mount their horses. That they had already reached some sort of agreement was obvious from their expressions; that and the fact that they were apparently on the point of riding back to Greenleigh to confront her.

  Arabella's face was red from her exertions; the brush and trees had liberally snagged her gown and torn her hair loose from its normally neat chignon. Bright waves of fire tumbled around her shoulde
rs as she halted her horse. Her blue muslin gown was ripped in several places, and a series of nasty scratches marred the smooth paleness of her calves. Tony took one look at her and in two swift strides reached her side. With less-than-gentle action, he pulled her from the heaving horse.

  "Blast it, Bella!" Tony growled, his expression half-angry, half-anxious, as he cradled her next to him. "Have you no sense? There is our babe to think of now—you should have waited for us—you had to know that I would come to you."

  Breathless and a little more shaken from her wild ride than she would have liked to admit, Arabella was grateful for Tony's strong arms around her. For just a moment she let herself relax against him, savoring the warmth of his body, the stirring masculine scent that was Tony's alone.

  Pushing back a lock of fiery hair that had fallen across her eye, she finally straightened up and stepped away from him. She met his indigo-eyed gaze, and said quietly, "Yes, I knew that you would come to me—but only because of the baby and because Jeremy had coerced you into doing it."

  Tony bit back an oath. Glaring at her, he demanded, "Is that what you really think? That I only want to marry you because of the child? Or that your brother could make me do anything that I did not want to?" He gave a bitter laugh. "You seem to forget that when we last parted I asked you to marry me." He looked wry. "And as for Jeremy... when, my pet, have I ever allowed anyone to coerce me to do anything?"

  They both knew the answer to that question, and Tony did not wait for her to reply. One hand firmly around her upper arm, he hustled her toward the broad steps of the house. "Come along now. This is no place for this discussion. Let me get you inside out of the sun and have Billingsley bring us some refreshments. I think that a tall glass of lemonade will make you feel cooler and more comfortable."

  There was no arguing with Tony, and, quite frankly, the idea of sitting down and allowing him to coddle her for a few minutes was vastly appealing. Meekly, Arabella let him guide her up the steps and into the welcoming shadows of the house.

  It was only after she was seated and had drunk half a glass of the lemonade that the niceties were put aside.

  Standing in front of her, his blue eyes dark with emotion, Tony made her heart turn right over her chest when he asked softly, "You are going to marry me, aren't you, Bella? I know that there is much between us that must be resolved, but surely it is nothing that we cannot overcome—at least for the sake of our child." He sank down onto one knee and taking her hand in his, he dropped a kiss on the back of it. Oblivious to Jeremy, who suddenly became very interested in the shine on his boots, Tony said huskily, "I want to marry you—I always have—since the first moment I met you. To have you for my wife is my dearest wish." His voice thickened. "To have you and our child is something I never dreamed would happen." He smiled whimsically. "Will you deny me my dearest dream?"

  "Oh, Tony, you perfectly wretched creature!" Arabella cried, all her reservations fleeing at his first touch, her entire body turning shamelessly into a puddle of warm, quaking pudding at his words and the look in his eyes. "You know that I have never been able to deny you anything."

  His expression boyish and eager, he bent forward. "Then you will marry me? As soon as it can be arranged?"

  Arabella tried to recall all her reasons for wishing to delay marrying Tony, but it was impossible. She wanted to marry Tony Daggett. She had loved him for years. She was carrying his babe. He wanted to marry her. Convinced that if not for the wicked intervention of some enemy five years before, they would already be married, she was having a hard time finding any excuse—reasonable or otherwise—not to marry Tony. One thing was clear: She would be a fool if she let pride or anything else stand in the way of marrying him this time.

  Her lovely eyes shining, she said gently, "Of course I shall marry you. Whenever you want."

  "Bella!"

  Jeremy forgotten, his hard face alight with joy, Tony swept her exuberantly up into his arms. Arabella was never certain how it came to be, but she next found herself seated in Tony's lap, his arms around her, her head pressed against his shoulder as he rained kiss after kiss upon her upturned face.

  "You have made me the happiest man in the world, sweetheart," Tony murmured between kisses. "I swear to you that I shall be a good husband to you and a good father to our child. I swear it"

  Dreamily Arabella caressed his lean cheek. "I know you will be—I would not have agreed to marry you otherwise."

  He looked down at her, his expression grave. "You know that I love you more than life itself, don't you?"

  She smiled. "Probably. But I confess to liking to hear you say it."

  "Then you shall—every day of our lives together."

  "Oh, Tony!"

  There was another spell of kisses and gentle murmuring between the lovers. This exceedingly gratifying time might have gone on indefinitely, if Jeremy, while agreeing privately that it was all very affecting, hadn't decided that it had gone on long enough. He cleared his throat, and muttered, "Uh, don't you think that we should start planning the wedding?"

  Recalled to his presence, the two lovers stared blankly at him for a second and then, with identical bemused smiles on their faces, nodded.

  "Yes, of course," Tony said briskly, still keeping Arabella possessively clasped in his arms.

  "Mama will have to be told," Jeremy said unhappily. "And she will not like it." He straightened his shoulders and, looking at Arabella, said manfully, "As head of our family, I should be the one to tell her—she will probably take it better from me anyway. And I will arrange for a notice to be posted." He glanced to Tony. "Today is Tuesday. Shall we try to have the wedding on Friday at Highview? That will give Mama time to get over her hysterics and to make a few plans for the actual marriage." He frowned, looking again at Arabella. "Mama will, no doubt, be difficult at first, but she shall see reason. Cousin Agatha, I am sure, will help her to be sensible. Of course, waiting until Friday will also give us time to invite a few intimate friends to the wedding—the Crackers, the Gayles, Blackburne, and perhaps even Tony's uncle and cousins. We do not want your marriage to be a ragtag affair." Jeremy sighed and grimaced. "As for the babe... we shall just have to claim it as a seven-months child."

  Tony had listened to everything Jeremy had to say, and while he agreed, he could not shake a nagging feeling of impending danger. His heart brimming with love, he glanced down at Arabella where she rested confidingly against him. He had lost two wives already. Two wives he had not loved, but he had, in his own fashion, mourned them. Even spoiled, reckless Mercy. Adoring Arabella as he did, he could not envision life without her.

  Uneasily, he reminded himself that someone had already cost them five years, that someone had once gone to incredible lengths to prevent their marriage—and nothing had changed that he could see. Why someone had wanted him and Arabella parted had always baffled him. His lips pursed thoughtfully. No, that wasn't true. He had known that Arabella's family had been adamantly opposed to their marriage, and he supposed that he could not blame them for feeling as they did—his black reputation was not all a lie. Even so, he could not envision Arabella's father being part of the vile plot that had torn them apart. William Montgomery had loved his daughter and, more importantly, had always struck Tony as an honorable man, not someone who would stoop to blatant trickery.

  Yet the fact remained, that someone had gone to a great deal of effort to cause that parting. And though five years had passed... someone still might not want him and Arabella to marry. This time, they might not be willing to settle for a broken engagement. What if they were to decide that Arabella must die? Die as Elizabeth had and her babe with her?

  He tensed as a blade of pain and fear cut through him. Instinctively his arms tightened around Arabella. He could not bear it if she were to come to danger. He loved her. Beyond reason. Beyond life. He would not dare to be the cause of putting her life, and that of their child, in danger. By becoming his wife, he admitted grimly, she might be in grave danger.


  "I have no argument with your plans," Tony said, "but I would remind both of you that someone went to great lengths to prevent Arabella and me from marrying five years ago. The purpose behind destroying our engagement has always eluded me, but clearly, someone did not want us to marry. I cannot think of anything that has changed during these past years that would guarantee that this person will not try again to stop our marriage." His mouth thinned. "And this time, whoever it is, might not be content with merely a broken engagement."

  "You think that Arabella will be in danger if she marries you?" Jeremy asked, his face suddenly pale and very young.

  Tony nodded. "I do, which is why, though I will marry Arabella, and just as soon as it can be arranged, I want it kept secret. We three and Blackburne should be the only ones who know that she has become my wife."

  Arabella's first instinct was to argue. It was bad enough that they were going to have to have a hasty wedding, but to have no wedding at all? To marry secretly? But as she turned Tony's words over in her mind, she realized that he was right. There was a hidden enemy out there, and while she did not fear for her life, she could see the wisdom in not broadcasting their marriage. Not until the enemy had been unmasked.

  She frowned. "Tony," she began, "there is much in what you say, but there is something else that is inescapable—we cannot keep our marriage hidden forever." A rueful smile lit her face. "Soon enough my expanding belly will declare my state for all to see—and only a fool would think that you are not the father."

  "I know—the babe makes haste imperative, and I don't intend for our marriage to remain secret any longer than it has to. I want to let everyone know that I am lucky enough to be your husband." His features twisted. "But I am afraid—for you. Someone murdered Elizabeth. Someone prevented our marriage once before. Don't forget that Molly's body was found only this morning. It is the devil's own luck that I was not hanged for it—and from one of my own oak trees. I think my enemy is still very much at large."