Lord Cavendish Returns (29 page)

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
acquaintance 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.

A
movement outside of the carriage caught her eye and she studied
several riders racing off into the distance. They jumped the low
hedgerow as though it didn’t exist and vanished from sight within
the blink of an eye. She wondered what it was like to be that free;
so unfettered and able to go wherever they chose at such a fast,
thundering pace. Meanwhile she had boxes and trunks and a
lifetime’s worth of paraphernalia in the back of the coach,
trundling it with her like a giant turtle.

Judging
that Skipton was at least an hour away, Arrabella tossed her book
down on the seat beside her and leaned her head back against the
squabs. Within minutes she was fast asleep.

She
gasped when she awoke to find that darkness had fallen and she was
still in the carriage. Her heart began to pound in her throat as
she slid across the seat and stared out of the window in horror.
She could see nothing; not even her own reflection but, unless she
was very much mistaken, she was nowhere near Skipton.

“
Hello?” She called as she slid down the window and leaned out
to peer up at the coachman. She couldn’t see him. Was he still
there? Had he fallen off and the horses continued to plod along
with nobody to guide them? She immediate discounted that thought as
ridiculous. That being the case, they must have passed someone at
some point and they would have raised issue with a carriage rolling
past without a coachman. So what was going on?”

“
Hello? Coachman? Where are we?” she called, but nobody
answered. She waited several moments more before she leaned out of
the window a little further to be able to see him. Unfortunately,
she nearly unbalanced herself and got a face full of wet hedge for
her troubles. She retreated back to the safety of the carriage,
dragged the window back up and sat perched on the edge of the bench
while she tried to decide what to do.

Should
she jump out? If she did, the coachman would have her belongings
and besides, she had no idea where she was or which way to head
toward people and safety. She wished now that she had taken Mrs
Able up on her kind offer of a room for as long as she wanted it,
and not left Hambley Wood at all for the time being. Now here she
was, in a carriage, in the middle of nowhere, with a coachman who
wouldn’t talk to her. She didn’t know whether to laugh or
cry.

“
Think like Harper,” she whispered, and closed her eyes as she
recalled his beloved face. She had done the same thing many times
over the last few weeks and it had never failed to steady her
tumultuous world. Right now, she wished he was there with her so he
could tell her what to do, or wrap her in his strong arms again and
make her feel safe.

She
gasped again when the carriage suddenly made a sharp turn to the
left and she slid across the bench seat. A large stone pillar
passed by the window but she couldn’t see any sign of a building.
She could, however, see a huge manor house sitting in the middle of
some trees at the end of the long driveway.

“
What on earth?” Before she could take in what was happening,
the coach pulled to a stop outside an ornate front door.

Her
mouth fell open when she saw the eldest of the Cavendish brothers,
Dominic, open the door for her and drop the step. As he lifted a
hand to help her out, his eyes met hers. The proud, beaming smile
he gave her held a hint of devilish mischief in it that immediately
warned her that he had been up to something she most probably
wouldn’t like, but he would make no apology for it.

She
stepped down and felt rather than heard someone approach from
behind. Her gaze fell on Harper who strode toward her with long,
determined strides. As soon as she realised it was him, she could
do little more than burst into tears.

“
God, Arrabella come here,” he growled and there, in front of
all three Cavendish brothers, and a rather unprofessionally
delighted butler, he hauled her into his arms. She could do little
more than bury her head in his neck and weep as he held her tight
against him.

He
kissed her temple and cheek before he buried his head in her neck
and breathed in the essence that was purely Arrabella. Nothing on
earth could have forced him to let go of her, not now. Just the
sight of her looking so lost and befuddled broke his heart, but the
sound of her quiet weeping made him want to fight something to
protect her. There was little he could do to help her with her
grief though and so he did what he could and simply held
her.

“
I am sorry,” she whispered. She tried to ease away from him
but he refused to release her. Instead he rested his forehead
against hers and closed his eyes for a moment.

“
I am sorry, Arrabella, for not being there when you needed
me,” he growled.

“
You had to sort yourself out, Harper. There was nothing you
could have done.” She was so very pleased that he was there. For
the first time since he had left, she felt safe; as though her
world had steadied and she could face anything life threw at
her.

Her
heart ached with the wealth of emotion that began to bubble deep
within. The words that would tell him how she felt about him
hovered on her lips but she daren’t speak them. After all, he had
offered her nothing and she could only consider him as a friend
now. Still, it was enough. Just to have him there was more of a
relief than she dared to admit and she wouldn’t have changed it for
the world.

“
You kidnapped me,” she accused without any hint of
anger.

Harper
grinned and looked over the top of her head at his co-conspirators.
“I had a little help,” he declared unrepentantly. He loosened his
arms enough to allow her to turn to look at his brothers, but he
made no attempt to let go of her completely while he made
introductions. “Arrabella, this is my elder brother, Dominic. This
is Sebastian, and this man here is Edward.”

Arrabella smiled but, before she could speak, Edward hauled
her into his arms and gave her a hug. She was briefly handed to
Sebastian, who also hugged her and welcomed her to the family,
before she was passed to Dominic, who hugged her and looked at her
a little ruefully.

“
One thing you need to know about us is that we do things a
little differently to all the rest.”