Lord Cavendish Returns (28 page)

“
I am perfectly capable of looking after myself,” Arrabella
declared defiantly.

“
I know you are, but it is about time that you thought about
settling down with a man and having a family of your own to look
after. Your father needs constant care and he needs to be looked
after by someone who can see to his needs. He cannot continue to do
the job he is doing for much longer, you know that. At some point
it is all going to go horribly wrong and there will be nothing you
can do about it.”

“
What about Harper? Didn’t you think about him in all of your
machinations? I mean, he is from London, which is stacked to the
rafters with beautiful women. I am a country miss. There is a bit
of a difference.”

Harper
lifted his brows and watched the interplay with interest. He wasn’t
sure whether to laugh and applaud Mrs Able for her endeavours, or
groan as he waved goodbye to any chance he had of ever leaving
Hambley Wood without Arrabella as his wife.

“
He is a man. You are a woman. You have men who are interested
in you both in Hambley Wood and Moldton, but that man there is the
best there is.”

“
It was you who hid the keys.”

“
Yes I did. I took the keys out of the drawer and followed you
to the church when you went to search for that
register.”

“
Sweet Jesus.” Harper turned toward Harry. “I am sorry,
because of everything else that was happening I thought it had been
you who had locked us in the crypt.”

Harry
shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I went to the church and found
the back door open so let myself in. This woman was fumbling with
the lock on the door at the back of the ante room and didn’t see me
take the register and leave.”

“
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.