Never a Bride (25 page)

Bertram Whittingham sat rigidly on the settee. Hudson hadn’t exaggerated the man’s condition. His face was as white as his shirt. His valet, Newton, stood behind the sofa.

“Dear God, it took you long enough to come down.”

“I beg your pardon, I—What’s this about Mirabella missing?”

“She hasn’t come home from the party. I went to Archer’s town house first, but no one was home. Is she here?”

The old curmudgeon got right to the point.

“No,” Camden replied as calmly as he could.

“This was on your foyer table.” Mr. Whittingham held up Mirabella’s mask.

Camden kept his voice soft and his face free of expression. He deliberately looked into Mr. Whittingham’s eyes. “It was in my coat pocket when I returned home this morning. Mirabella gave it to me to hold for her. The party continued until well after daylight. I left her not long ago.”

“It is after noon.”

Camden had no idea what time Mirabella left his home. It could have been five minutes ago or four hours. “We remained at the Hall talking about the evening’s events. She hadn’t eaten all night, so we ate a cold meal together. Perhaps you left just before she arrived, and she is now safe at home.”

“That is a comforting thought. Why did Archer not see her home as he was supposed to? Did you relieve him of his duty?”

A strange feeling suddenly hit Camden in the stomach. “No. I don’t recall seeing Mr. Hornbeck at all last night. When did you last see him? He certainly wasn’t around just before dawn. Mirabella asked about him, and I searched the grounds thoroughly. More than once.”

“Come to think of it, I didn’t see him at the party last night, either. But, of course, I didn’t stay long.”

“Are you sure he knew he was to see Mirabella home?”

“Of course. We talked about it. He was clear on that.”

Camden wasn’t sure he liked where his thoughts were taking him. “Then perhaps he didn’t make the party.”

“That would be inconceivable considering he has been attending parties with Mirabella for two years now.”

“Yes, that’s just what I was thinking. So why is it no one saw him? Was he often a guest in your home?”

“Certainly. Often.”

Unease settled over Camden, and he moved to the edge of his seat. “So it wouldn’t be unusual to see Mr. Hornbeck at your house late at night or early in the mornings?”

“Of course not. He’s quite welcome in my home at any time. What are you getting at?”

Hudson entered the room and said, “The tea should be ready soon.”

“Hudson, did you see Mr. Hornbeck last evening at the ball?” Camden asked.

Hudson wrinkled his brow in thought. “No, not that I remember. But there were so many people there, I could have missed him. Why?”

“Newton,” Mr. Whittingham said, “when you were with me, did you see him?”

“No, sir.”

Camden put his random thoughts together and an idea started to fall in place. Mr. Hornbeck would have been well known to Sarah. He was shorter than most men, unmarried, and free to go and come from the Whittingham home without notice. His name had been on Sarah’s dance card, but like Mirabella, Camden had overlooked him because he was her uncle. But not a blood-related uncle. A family friend. Someone who would never be suspected.

Camden stood up and looked down at Mirabella’s father and asked, “Do you know if Mr. Hornbeck has any kind of distinguishing marks on his neck?”

Mr. Whittingham’s eyes rounded slightly. “Why, yes, he does. When he was but a boy, his mama punished him for lying to her by sticking a hot poker to his neck. It’s a rather nasty-looking scar about here.” With a trembling finger, he pointed to his neck, just above the collarbone on his right shoulder. “You don’t suppose he didn’t go last night because he didn’t want anyone seeing it, do you?”

“I suppose that could be.” Camden rose. “I think I know where Mirabella might be. Don’t worry. I’ll find her and bring her home.”

Mirabella banged the lion’s head door knocker twice at Archer Hornbeck’s door. “Oh, be home, Uncle, and for once offer some sound advice,” she mumbled to herself as she stood on the landing wrapped in Camden’s coat.

She wanted to believe Camden had forgiven her indiscretions with the other gentlemen, and that he truly loved her and wanted to marry her. Could he have touched her very soul if he didn’t truly love her? Should she let that letter from America give her doubts about his love for her? She reached for the head of the lion as the door opened.

Archer’s housekeeper showed Mirabella into the drawing room and at Mirabella’s insistence went immediately to find her employer.

“Mirabella. Blue heavens, what are you doing here this time of morning?” Archer asked, tying the sash of his brown brocade robe. His thinning hair was mussed and a white scarf hung loosely about his neck and shoulders.

“I must speak to you. Do you mind?”

“No, certainly not, but I just arrived home and was changing. Come in.”

She realized her head was pounding from lack of sleep. “I’m sorry for arriving unannounced, but I needed to talk to you.”

“Come and sit down and tell me what this is all about. And what in God’s name do you have on?”

Not bothering to sit down, Mirabella looked down at the coat. She felt warm and safe wrapped in Camden’s great coat. “I have on Camden’s coat. I haven’t been home to change since the party ended.”

Archer turned to face her. “That much is clear. You are positively bedraggled. What has happened to you?”

“Nothing,” she said and prayed he wouldn’t notice the blush she felt rising in her cheeks. “I wanted to talk with you about Camden, Uncle.” She took an imploring step toward him. “I love him so much, and I’m so afraid of losing him, yet I’m not sure I have him to lose.”

“That makes no sense, Mirabella. If he’s done anything to harm you I’ll speak to your father immediately. Now, sit down and start at the beginning.”

“No, I’d rather stand. I assure you that Camden has done nothing to harm me.” She put her hand to her forehead trying to hide the second blush to light her cheeks. There was no way her uncle could know she had just left Camden’s bed.

“Then what is the problem?”

“It all started that evening you asked me if I had been free with my affections. Do you recall that evening?”

“Yes, yes. Go on,” he said as if he were in a great hurry.

“I had allowed certain young gentlemen to kiss me, but—”

“Good heavens, Mirabella,” he interrupted. “Don’t admit such a thing out loud even in the privacy of my home. Is Lord Stonehurst making trouble about this? He saw you in the garden with Mr. Farthingdale. We can’t very well do anything about that young buck, but we’ll vehemently deny rumors of any other gentlemen.”

“No, no. That is not the problem, Uncle.” She folded her hands together and wistfully said, “I want to know how do I know if he is telling the truth when he says he loves me?”

Archer looked as if she had asked him to explain the wonders of the universe. “Mirabella, no young lady should worry whether her husband loves her. What madness. Love is fanciful notions for storybooks and poetry. Lord Byron has ruined the acceptable order of things, I fear. What matters is that Lord Stonehurst should be good to you. He should give you fine homes, beautiful fashions, jewelry and, of course, children.”

“But those are not the things I want from him. I want love, and I fear that he may only want to marry me for the dowry I bring.”

“Mirabella, that is precisely the reason most men marry. Wives are picked for their beauty and their dowry. You are fortunate to have both. Lord Stonehurst knows this, and that is exactly why he has agreed to go ahead with the marriage even though you were most indecorous in allowing those young men liberties.”

Her uncle was not making her feel any better. She was beginning to wish she hadn’t come over to see him. “I had a good reason for allowing those kisses,” she said, feeling a little irritated.

His eyes rounded, and he threw up his hands in a frustrated gesture. “What pray tell could that be?”

“I was looking for someone.” Mirabella stopped and took a deep breath.

What was she doing here, trying to explain all this to her uncle? Plainly he knew less about love than she did. She could see now that the sensible thing to do was talk to Camden. She had to trust him to tell her the truth. Did he want to marry her because he loved her as he had said or were his words and his loving merely a ruse to get her to marry him so that he would have the money he needed to secure his family financially?

If, after talking to him, she didn’t believe Camden truly loved her, she had two choices. One was to not marry him, break the engagement, and tell her father the entire story starting when she first read Sarah’s diary. The other was to make her father and Camden happy by marrying him. There was always the hope that in time he would grow to love her. What she realized now was that she didn’t need her uncle to sanction either choice. She was quite capable, and it would be her decision to make after she talked with Camden. She didn’t even know why she felt the need to speak to her uncle. She should have gone straight home to rest, and she would have eventually figured this out by herself.

“Who have you been looking for?”

“Oh, never mind that, Uncle.” She smiled pleasantly at him. “You’ve already helped me come to some conclusions and I’m feeling better already. I think I was just overtired from the party, and for a few minutes I wasn’t thinking straight. But now I am. I must go home and sleep.”

“Mirabella, wait.” He grabbed her arm and swung her around to face him.

His robe parted at his chest and his scarf fell away from his neck. Mirabella stared at a wide, raised scar. At first she couldn’t believe she was seeing it. She had wanted to see such a scar for so long that she thought she must be imagining it was there. Disbelief washed over her. Surely it couldn’t be on her uncle’s neck. She blinked but it wouldn’t go away.

“Who were you looking for?” her uncle asked again, clearly puzzled by the way she was looking at him. “Perhaps I can help you.”

Mirabella couldn’t breathe. God help her, she couldn’t move. She wanted to deny what was before her eyes, but she couldn’t. Her head was pounding. She had never suspected her uncle. Even now, she couldn’t believe he would be capable of seducing Sarah.

Her voice was no more than a whisper but she managed to say, “You? Uncle Archer? I’ve been searching for you.”

“What in the saints’ names are you saying, Mirabella? You’ve found me. Dear girl, you are overwrought. You’ve always known where to find me.”

She tried to calm her breathing, and to think clearly. “You were supposed to take me home from my party last night, but you didn’t come. Why?”

He cleared his throat. His eyes jerked nervously. “I was there, you must have missed me.”

Tension and anger built slowly, heavily in her chest, sapping her strength, making her legs weak. “No. I would remember seeing you. You never arrived.”

“Of course I did. There were so many people there, you don’t remember.”

“You are lying to me.”

“Mirabella,” he exclaimed, his eyes wide with indignation. “It’s not like you to be so disrespectful.”

“Do you want to know who I have been looking for these past weeks?” She advanced toward him with anger shaking her whole body. “I’ve been searching for a man with a wide, raised scar on the right side of his neck.”

He straightened his shoulders and tugged on the front of his robe, then fumbled with his scarf in an attempt to wrap it around his neck and hide the scar. “That sounds positively rude.”

“You must have somehow learned I was looking for a man with a scar, and you didn’t come last night because you didn’t want me to see your neck.”

He straightened his shoulders and fumbled with his scarf again. “It’s true I didn’t want to bare my shoulder in public. That is an uncivilized thing to do, but I know nothing about you looking for a man with a scar. Whatever would you do something like that for?”

“For Sarah.”

“What?” His eyes widened. His face flushed red. “Sarah? Clearly you are overwrought. I’m going to dress and take you home. You need a tonic. You’re obviously not feeling well.”

Mirabella’s stomach knotted. “I don’t feel well. I’m devastated that you are the man who defiled Sarah, left her with child and to make her own way in life. She chose death for her and her baby instead.”

“What? You—you’re going mad.”

“No. I’m right.” Her voice was surprisingly firm, and that renewed her courage. “Oh, Uncle, how could you do that to her? How could you make love to her and leave her with a child?”

“Mirabella, you don’t know what you are saying! That’s not true.”

“Don’t lie to me. Don’t! What you did to Sarah was bad enough. You are a vile, contemptible man.”

His shoulders reared back and the veins in his neck bulged. “How dare you say such things to me after I have treated you like a daughter?”

“But look how you treated Sarah. She was like a sister to me. You seduced her, and then abandoned her like a stray animal. You didn’t even offer to marry her or try to help her.”

“All right. Maybe I did have relations with her, but there was no force. She wanted me. She was very pleased with the attention I showed her.”

Mirabella shook her head in amazement. She could hardly look at Archer Hornbeck. “I don’t know why I couldn’t see you for who you are. I don’t know why Papa couldn’t see what a vile creature you are.”

“Sarah didn’t think so. I made her happy. She enjoyed my touch. She enjoyed the things I did to her.”

“No.” Mirabella cringed at his words and backed away from him.

“I made her happy. It’s not my fault she conceived. Women like her are supposed to know how to keep things like that from happening. No one else would have touched her, given the way she looked and no dowry to speak of. She enjoyed the small amount of love I gave her.”

Mirabella shook with rage.
“Love?
How dare you use that word?”

“Yes. I told her what she wanted to hear. She wanted to be loved. She wanted affection, and I gave it to her.”

“If you loved her why didn’t you marry her?”

“I didn’t say I loved her. Blue heavens! I didn’t. I only said I did because she loved me, and she wanted to hear me say it. I had no desire to marry her. I have to marry a lady of wealth. My own fortune is low, and I have to make a worthy match. Sarah offered no money.”

”You are despicable.”

“No, Mirabella, I am a man. That’s all. A man. She wanted affection, and I gave it to her. Love is the very reason you are here now. You want Lord Stonehurst to love you. Men know women want to hear those words, but for the life of me I can’t understand why.”

Revulsion mingled with hurt and anger inside Mirabella. “She would have been good to you. Loyal. She would have had your sons.”

“What would I want with a son and a wife whom no other man could bear to look at? I need money.”

“She called you Prince Charming in her diary, but you are a beast.”

“You can’t fault me on this, Mirabella. Sarah was not forced to accept my attentions, and during our time together she was happy. And I certainly have no idea what happened when she went to bed the night she died.”

“Happy? She died with a broken heart because of you. She killed herself and her baby so she wouldn’t bring shame on my father’s house.”

“No, I—”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know or at least suspect that she drank a tonic filled with laudanum.”

His eyes blinked rapidly. “I—I had no idea.”

Mirabella couldn’t stand to look at him. She wanted to be done with him completely and forever. “You lie again. You are not fit to be a part of this Society. I want you to leave Town immediately, or I will let it be known what you did.”

Sweat had popped out on his forehead. “You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, yes, I am. Dead serious. A few well-chosen words to Lady Portsmand, Duchess Bickerstaff, and Countess Vanlandingham should set in motion enough gossip to make the mamas keep their daughters away from you and make all the widows stay in hiding. They will help me see to it that you will never be welcome in anyone’s home.”

His eyes blazed and veins popped out on either side of his neck. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“I promise I will. You not only betrayed Sarah, you betrayed my father’s trust. You either leave quietly and immediately, or I will not rest until you are ruined in Town.”

“And what if I spread the gossip about
your
indiscretions?” He pointed a short finger at her. “Have you forgotten that your reputation has already been called into question in the scandal sheets?”

“I have always known that could happen. I am prepared for it. My father would be greatly disappointed and hurt, but I know he would not abandon me the way you deserted Sarah. I will be well cared for and loved.”

“And what about Lord Stonehurst, this man you claim to love. I doubt he will want to marry you if he hears all I have heard about you.”

“You cannot frighten me with that. Camden knows everything about me. I have not hidden anything from him.”

Mirabella’s confidence grew even stronger. Camden knew all her faults, and he still wanted to marry her. He had told her he loved her. Why had she doubted that? Camden was handsome, titled. He did not have to marry her for money. If he were just after money, there were a dozen young ladies who would gladly bear his name.

Archer picked up the tail of his scarf and nervously wiped the moisture from his face. “Now who is the one lying, my dear girl? Does he know that you have kissed more than a handful of beaux?”

“I have nothing to hide from him, and I will freely tell him anything about me that he wants to know. Now, I’ll have your word that you will leave before this week ends, or I will begin my campaign immediately.”

“No, you can’t do this.” Archer grabbed for her but Mirabella spun away from him.

“You dare to touch me, and my father will not rest until you are in prison. If you want to maintain any kind of acceptable lifestyle, leave now.”