Lacybourne Manor (63 page)

But he couldn’t.

He was in love with Sibyl.

He had been in love with her
since he saw her that first night under the copse of the trees with
Mallory at her side and Bran in her arms.

And he would be in love with
her until the day she died.

If he was a different type of
man and believed in things like magic or destiny, he might have
believed he loved her since before he was born.

For Colin Morgan had been born
with a broken heart, the broken heart of a long-dead warrior, a
warrior who lost his love and his life at near the same exact
time.

Though Colin didn’t know that
and wouldn’t believe it if someone told him.

Colin turned from the window
and walked into the Great Hall, looking up at the portraits and
seeing Royce and Beatrice with new eyes.

He had been avoiding this
knowledge for weeks, with the pursuit of Sibyl and then her safety
uppermost in his mind. If he had allowed himself to think about how
he felt about her, it would have made him vulnerable.

Which he was now.

And he decided, since he’d
never felt it before in all of his years, that he absolutely
detested the feeling.

There was someone out there who
wanted to slit their throats, wanted them to watch while it
happened, just like the dream.

Colin stared at Royce and
Beatrice, wondering if that was how they died. Bile rose up in his
throat as it hit him and he believed, for the first time, that
something so vile could live for centuries and curse anyone
involved in it.

And he couldn’t,
wouldn’t
allow it to happen again.

* * * * *

At five forty five, nearly five
hundred years earlier, the dark soul let the accomplices into the
kitchen at Lacybourne.

Much coin changed hands.

And together, they went over
the plan.

* * * * *

And at the same time, in
William Godwin’s hall, Royce Morgan’s mother sat next to Beatrice
Godwin’s mother.

“I congratulate you, Penelope,”
Beatrice’s mother, Mary, stated.

“On what, Mary?” Royce’s
mother, Penelope, asked.

“Fine meddling, that.” Mary
nodded at the beautiful couple whirling before them, the
dark-haired lass smiling so brightly up at her golden-haired
warrior, it veritably lit the room.

“I congratulate you in return,”
Penelope said generously for she secretly thought it was mostly her
doing.

“Thank you,” Mary murmured with
humble dignity, even though she wasn’t humble at all, as she
thought it was mostly her doing.

“They’ll have fine children,”
they said at the very same time, turned to look at each other and
then burst out laughing.

Their laughter died when
they saw Old Lady Griffin tap her cane none-too-gently on a young
lad’s shoulder and said loudly, “I say, I would like
to dance
.”

Then the two happy mothers
burst out laughing again.

* * * * *

It’s not only star-crossed
lovers who are reincarnated, you know.

* * * * *

“Food’s ready!” Kyle shouted
and the children tore away from Sibyl and rushed down the garden’s
terraced steps in such wild abandon, she feared for a moment they’d
all end up in a heap of broken bones at the bottom.

Luckily, fate was smiling down
on them and this did not happen.

Sibyl followed at a much slower
pace and then, as if by magic, she felt Colin’s eyes on her. She
actually felt them before she even knew he was there.

And halfway down the steps, she
turned and saw him striding out of the backdoor from the kitchen,
striding purposefully with all his masculine grace, all the while
looking at her.

Without hesitation, she ran
down the steps, across the paved slabs and threw herself into his
arms. He also didn’t hesitate and those arms closed fiercely around
her.

“We’re free!” She smiled as she
turned her face up to his. “Rick’s no longer holding us captive in
the library, the sun is shining, a bunch of people I love are
sitting in the garden and the shish kebabs are ready.”

He was staring down at her, a
peculiar look on his face and his hand came up to the side of her
neck, his thumb at the soft skin under her chin.

Something in his eyes made her
toes curl.

And her stomach pitch.

And, if that wasn’t enough, her
heart skipped three beats.

Then it started racing.

“Are you all right?” she
whispered.

“I love you,” he said quietly
in return.

And then the world fell away
and there was only the two of them, alone together, and all time
and place faded.

* * * * *

Marian was not the only one to
notice the gold shimmer in the air intensify to the point that it
seemed as thick as treacle.

Mags noticed it too.

As did Phoebe.

And Jemma.

And, of course, Tina and
Kyle.

The kids didn’t notice
anything.

Annie murmured, ‘I’m finding it
a bit hard to breathe,’ as the golden air caught in her lungs.
This, somehow, caused her no fear. She thought it felt rather
pleasant actually.

Meg’s face collapsed in a smile
for she was looking to her left and seeing Colin holding Billie in
a way so tender and true, it could only be love.

Mrs. Griffith missed it all;
she was looking around on the ground by her chair.

She couldn’t find her cane.

This was because Mallory was
lying on it.

* * * * *

“Oh my goddess.”

Colin smiled.

Sibyl’s eyes were wide. The
colour drained from her face and then just her cheeks suffused with
warmth.

“
Oh my
goddess
.”

Colin’s arms tightened.

“Say it again,” she
demanded.

“You heard me,” he growled
low.

“
Oh… my…
goddess!
”

Colin’s smile widened before he
asked, “Is that all you have to say?”

She pulled her lips between her
teeth and then let them out. “No.”

His eyebrows rose
arrogantly.

“I love you, too.”

And then her face split into a
smile that if she had known, she would have been devastated but
still wouldn’t have been able to stop herself, had an
ever-so-slight negative effect on the ozone layer.

And just as incapable of
stopping himself, Colin kissed her.

It was sweet and wild and
beautiful and absolutely everything a kiss should be.

When he lifted his head, he was
shaken to his soul.

“Oh my goddess,” Sibyl
whispered reverently.

Apparently, so was Sibyl.

She blinked and then tore out
of his arms but not away. She grabbed his hand and with all her
strength, started pulling him towards the house.

He followed for three steps and
with a slight tug of his hand in hers, brought her to a halt and
she whirled back.

“Colin! We have to go
inside.”

“Why?”

She walked back to him, closing
the short space between them, grabbed his other hand and exerted
pressure on both, trying to walk backwards and pull him with
her.

“
We have to…” she
explained, “you know…
do
it
. Break the curse. Like…
now!
”

He grinned again and she felt
her heart skip three more beats and her legs start to wobble.

“Darling, we have guests,”
Colin pointed out.

She glanced quickly at their
audience and caught their knowing smiles then back to Colin.

“They won’t mind,” she assured
him.

His grin broadened to a wicked
smile but he didn’t move.

“It’ll only take ten minutes,”
she cajoled.

His eyebrows rose again.

“Okay… fifteen,” she
amended.

The smile turned lethal, her
stomach did a somersault as his head tilted.

“Twenty?” she tried.

He shook his head and she
stomped her foot.

“Colin!”

He lifted one of her hands up,
brushing his lips on her knuckles and as he did this, never once
did his eyes leave hers.

She stared at him, mesmerised.
Just that morning, Royce had done the same thing.

“Colin,” she said far more
quietly.

“Marry me, Sibyl.”

Her breath caught.

Her mind stilled.

All thoughts of Royce flew into
the atmosphere.

She couldn’t have uttered a
word if she’d learned at that moment that the World Health
Organisation had been given a gazillion dollars to socialise
healthcare globally.

He didn’t wait for an answer,
just dropped her hand and put one of his in his pocket. Then there
was an extraordinary, princess cut, diamond ring being slid on her
finger.

She knew just by looking at it
that it was exorbitantly expensive.

And she didn’t care one
bit.

“
Oh my
goddess!
” This was said (more like
screeched) from behind them, coming from Mags.

Sibyl finally found her
voice.

“Does this mean you think you
can boss me around for the rest of my natural born days?”

He tugged sharply at her hand,
Sibyl fell into him and his arms closed around her.

“And through eternity,” he
promised against her lips, this said in his low, effective, deep,
rich voice.

She was powerless against it
and therefore instantly agreed.

“Okay.”

* * * * *

While Sibyl and Colin ate
vegetables on sticks and were given pats on the backs, hugs,
kisses, handshakes and many congratulations through smiles and
tears…

Nearly five hundred years
earlier, at the same precise time, Royce helped Beatrice onto
Mallory’s sleek, dark, back.

They were going home to
Lacybourne.

He swung into the saddle behind
her and the moment he settled, he felt her tremble against him.

“Nerves, my sweet?” His voice
rumbled deliciously in her ear.

She shook her head and looked
back him, pressing her chin endearingly against her shoulder. “I
just can’t wait to be home.”

Then she smiled, a lovely,
inviting, slightly anxious smile.

And at the sight, his guard
lowered.

And Royce Morgan, for the first
time in his life, became vulnerable.

Chapter
Twenty
-Nine

The Real Consummation

“What are you doing?”

Sibyl whirled then with an
obviously guilty movement shoved behind her back the small, pink
box with glossy, intricate writing embossed on top.

They’d just finished their
vegetable shish kebabs and she’d ducked upstairs to begin planning
her first night with her new fiancé, who also just happened to be
in love with her.

In love with her.

It was, maybe, the most
important night of her life.

And it was, definitely, the
happiest.

That fiancé was now standing in
the door to their bedroom but he didn’t look happy. His face was
like the thunder beginning to threaten outside.

“What are you doing up here?”
she asked, her voice just as guilty as her posture.

“I asked you a question, you
disappeared.”

No, he was
definitely
not
happy.

“
I told Mags
and
Phoebe
where I was,” Sibyl explained.

“You still haven’t answered my
question,” Colin was a dog with a bone.

“
And
Jemma,” Sibyl continued, for good measure, as he
clearly still was not happy.

“Sibyl,” he growled.

She finally gave him an answer,
though not enough of one for his liking. “I needed to check
something.”

“What?” he asked instantly.

She hesitated.

“Some… thing,” she stalled,
drawing out the word for as long as she could.

Slowly he moved into the room
and slowly he closed the door.

And also, very slowly, he
turned the key which now sat in the lock on a permanent basis.

And then he slowly turned and
put the key in his pocket.

“Explain,” he said curtly when
he again caught her eye.

“I… can’t,” she whispered.

“And why is that?” He didn’t allow her to
answer but kept talking. “Do I have to repeat that I very much
do not
like it when you disappear?”

She was silent, she felt this was the best
course
of action until she actually
could
explain or think of a creditable lie she might be able to
impart without getting caught out in it.

She thought, rather
hysterically, that the happy, euphoric tone of the evening that
followed his vow of love and marriage proposal was sadly brief.

“Explain,” he repeated.

She decided she couldn’t keep
her silence (because, obviously, he wasn’t going to let her) and
he’d never believe a lie, so she gave in.

“I can’t explain…” she rushed
on when he opened his mouth to, what she was sure would be, bark at
her, “I have to show you. I was just getting ready for later.”

He was silent but his silence
was not hesitant or anxious. It was expectant.

Impatiently expectant.

“Just… hold on,” she said and
then she ran to the bathroom and shut the door, praying he wouldn’t
follow.

Luckily, he didn’t.

And she loved him a little bit
more at that show of trust.

And if she loved him much more,
she’d explode with it.

What was in the box was Mags’s
present that she brought Sibyl from America. Not any of Sibyl’s
favourite treats that she couldn’t get in England, like spiced,
black corn chips or grape jelly. But instead, a nightgown so racy
that when Sibyl had opened it, Bertie had stood abruptly and left
the room on an expletive.