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Abigail trailed behind Selina and Duncan. He had his arm wrapped around Selina’s waist, holding her close. Abigail held no envy for them, only happiness for the love they shared.
Duncan pulled Selina off to the side, and Abigail heard him whisper to Selina, “I will join you soon. I only want to check on Lucas. He left in a temper, and I worry over his state of mind.”
Selina stood on her tiptoes. “Another reason why I love you.”
He drew her in for a deeper kiss, then winked at Abigail before he pulled away and sauntered off in the opposite direction. Abigail chuckled at the dazed expression on Selina’s face as her husband walked away.
“How did I get so lucky?” Selina asked in awe.
“Because you deserve it,” Abigail answered, drawing her arm through Selina’s.
Selina smiled. “As do you. Perhaps we should follow Duncan. I will cover for you if anyone questions your whereabouts. From what I noticed, Lucas tried to get your attention during dinner.”
Abigail glanced over her shoulder to see if anyone stood nearby, then pulled Selina around the corner for privacy. “I believe he attempted to propose to me before Ramsay interrupted.”
Selina’s eyes widened. “Oh, my goodness.”
“Exactly.”
“How would you have answered?”
Abigail frowned. “No.”
Selina’s eyes twinkled. “Your answer does not sound very convincing.”
Abigail leaned against the wall. “I am so confused. He barely grazed his hand across mine, and I wanted to lean in and kiss him.”
Selina giggled. “That would have shocked the table. Though it would also have been quite entertaining.”
Abigail smiled at the vision. “Too scandalous?”
“Oh, yes, most definitely.”
Abigail straightened. “Will you give my excuses? I am going to retire early this evening.”
Selina nodded. “One day you must stop running.”
Abigail attempted a smile. “But not today.”
“Good night, my friend.”
Selina watched Abigail retreat to her bedchamber. She understood the need to steal away some precious time from the Holbrooke family. While she had learned to love them, sometimes they were a bit too much. Although they meant well with Abigail, they also wanted to force her happiness, something Abigail and Lucas needed to discover on the path of their own making, not one directed by others.
Selina wanted to offer her support of Lucas along with Duncan. Her husband had shared with her the plans Lucas had for Abigail. While she didn’t agree with them, she wanted to help him understand how wrong his decisions were. Selina paused outside of Lucas’s study. The door stood ajar, and she was about to stroll in when Duncan’s comment stopped her.
“Lord Ross? You fool!”
“I know. Stop calling me that. I have called myself that more times than I can count for the past hour.”
Selina peeked inside the room. Lucas was slumped in a chair, drinking whiskey straight from the bottle.
Her husband paced back and forth relentlessly, running his hands through his hair. “You must confess,” Duncan ordered.
“How? She will run off forever.”
“What I do not understand is how your father hasn’t pieced together your duplicity?”
“He is too preoccupied with his own schemes to pay any attention to mine.”
“Are you mad?” Duncan asked.
“As mad as the rest of you.” Lucas took a long swig.
Duncan grabbed the bottle from Lucas and took his own drink. “Why?”
Lucas threw back his head and stared at the ceiling. “At the beginning, it was to discover how serious she was about leaving. Once I discovered her determination, we had settled into sharing a weekly correspondence with one another. Then out of obligation, I offered Abigail a position.”
Duncan shot Lucas a bewildered look. “A position for your two fictional daughters?”
Lucas winced. “I see the error of my antics.”
“No! I do not believe you do,” Duncan replied with sarcasm.
Selina struggled to understand what Lucas was admitting to. Lucas was the mysterious Lord Ross, not Uncle Theo and her mother-in-law? Selina closed her eyes at the enormity of the situation she had caused by accusing them earlier of this deception. Not only were they not the culprits, but she had also given them the ammunition to blow Lucas’s identity to shreds. Now they had devised a new plan in their matchmaking attempt. However, none of them understood the devastation this would bring to Abigail.
Abigail wanted to strike out on her own in search of happiness. And now it would all come crumbling around her with everyone’s deception. Somehow Selina had found herself in the middle of it. Perhaps there was a solution to the situation.
Selina pushed open the door, striding inside. “Then help me understand why you started the correspondence back again when she wasn’t able to take your offer after the holidays.”
Duncan stepped toward her. “Selina, I swear I had no clue.”
Selina held up her hand to quiet him and faced Lucas, waiting for an explanation. “Explain yourself,” she ordered.
Lucas sat up straighter in his chair at her tone. He glanced at Duncan to gain any interference, but his cousin only shook his head, informing him he was on his own. During their betrothal, Selina had been a defying force, but she had softened after her marriage to Duncan. However, she stood before them now in all the glory every lady of the ton feared.
He gulped. “I missed her.”
Selina looked at him with exasperation. “You missed her? You saw her every day.”
“’Tis not the same.”
Selina threw her hands up in the air. “Now I am more confused than ever.”
Duncan guided Selina over to the settee and settled her next to him. “Why do we not let Lucas explain his mishap to us while we listen to him with a smidge of support? I am positive after he explains we will understand his intention toward Abigail.”
Selina crossed her arms over her chest. “I am listening.”
Lucas cleared his throat, stalling for time. His mind scrambled to explain the reasons for his foolishness. But his only answer was the one he had stated. “I missed her.”
Selina sighed at the heartache reflected in Lucas’s declaration. “You already stated so.” Taking pity on him, she tried to coax out his reasoning. “How was it not the same?”
“She refused to talk to me for days on end. As she observed each courtship in this family, she grew more forlorn, and whenever I spoke to her, she misunderstood my intentions.”
Selina quirked a brow. “Perhaps because you made her feel as if she was not your equal.”
Lucas scowled. “No more so than you.”
Duncan growled. “Leave my wife’s previous behavior out of your drama. She has apologized and redeemed herself with Abigail. You will not tarnish their friendship by making Selina suffer remorse for her past actions, when you are the only one who continues to treat Abigail wrongly.”
“My apologies.”
Selina nodded her acceptance. “Why did you start the correspondence again?”
“I missed the connection we held from those letters. It was as if my father’s mad matchmaking never happened and we were friends once again. Only through her letters, Abigail introduced another side of herself that she never showed me before and I in return expressed my true self to her.”
“I understand. But why did you offer her employment again?” Selina asked.
Lucas sighed. “I panicked. She stated how she had another offer and explained how inappropriate our correspondences were. Abigail planned to accept the offer and didn’t want her new employer to speculate on our friendship. So, I concocted a story of how my current governess had gotten engaged.”
Duncan scoffed. “You have fabricated the entire ordeal. Hell! You used our own grandfather’s name.”
“And both your mothers’ names,” Selina added.
“What?” Duncan exclaimed.
“Tell him the names of your two little girls, Lord Ross.”
Lucas winced. “Anna and Rose.”
Duncan groaned. “You have sunken to a new low, cousin.”
“It is romantic,” Selina gushed. “Did you fall in love with Abigail while corresponding?”
Lucas swallowed hard. “I have always loved Abigail. Even when you and I were engaged, I longed for her. It pierced my heart to watch her suffer. Now her heart will become destroyed once she learns how I impersonated Lord Ross.”
“You must confess before she learns the truth on her own,” Selina urged Lucas.
Lucas sat forward. “How? Either way, I am doomed.”
“But if you—”
“No,” he cut off Selina with his firm answer.
“You can—” Selina tried again.
“Selina,” Lucas warned.
“You have to try to . . .”
Lucas shook his head. “I will handle this on my own.”
“How?” Selina asked, her irritation shown in that one word.
“I will pen her a letter stating how I have taken a bride. I will explain how my new wife has taken to the girls and she will care for them. The letter will arrive tomorrow before the fiasco my father has planned comes upon us. I will let Abigail down gently.”
“And your father?” Duncan asked.
Lucas’s eyes narrowed. “I will take care of my father. Somehow, he figured out my deception and aims to unveil it to Abigail by forcing me to confront my feelings. I am confused about how he figured out Lord Ross was a fictional lord.”
Selina sighed. “’Tis my fault. I might have accused them this morning of deceiving Abigail. I thought they were behind the mysterious Lord Ross. They convinced me they were and promised to end their deceit. Of course, I held belief in them. They are quite devious.”
“You are not to blame. I should never have allowed it to reach these lengths,” Lucas assured her.
Lucas walked to the window and stared outside. He had made such a grave error by impersonating Lord Ross. Now Abigail would suffer disappointment from losing her position, and he was to blame. If he thought he would have trouble convincing her to marry him before, then once she learned she had nowhere to run, she would only refuse him all the more. She would believe he only offered for her out of pity.
But not if he offered for her before the letter arrived from Lord Ross.
He must sneak into her bedchamber once the rest of the house retired. Perhaps he could convince her to ride away to Gretna Green before everyone awakened.
Lucas stiffened when Selina touched his arm. “What can I do to help?”
He turned and offered her a smile. “Nothing. I blundered our own engagement and it would appear that I am blundering my courtship with Abigail. While I thank you for your support, I cannot ask you to betray your friendship with Abigail. It is too precious and one that should have formed years ago. I did you a great injustice during our betrothal, and I will no longer allow you to sacrifice your happiness for me. Our arrangement ended the day you wed Duncan.”
“Pshh. Nonsense. We are family and family always stands by each other’s side. No matter the dilemma. I will stay silent for now, but understand this, I will praise the few attributes you possess to Abigail,” Selina added with a wink before she joined Duncan at the door.
Duncan nodded his own support and swept his wife away. Lucas watched them leave with envy. While he had never loved Selina or suffered any heartache when she passed him over for his cousin, he missed the security his betrothal to her brought. When he thought he was set to marry Selina, he suppressed the love he held for Abigail. He accepted the terms of how they would never experience their own happily ever after. But when Selina married Duncan and ripped away his future, the ripples of the aftermath had affected him greatly. He’d fought with his emotions, trying to keep them at bay. But he had failed miserably.
Now he was forced to wed Abigail. It was the proper thing to do since he had ruined her. He did not differ from his cousins’ husbands, after all. However, once they married, he would hurt Abigail by forcing her to endure the cruelty of the ton’s judgment. They would never accept her, and every one of his peers would see her as easy prey. Abigail’s happiness would wither away with each day of their marriage. And it would be all his fault.
Lucas decided to retire to his bedchamber. No need to ponder over what he must accomplish. He had a proposal he must make tonight. While he would be over the moon if she said yes, he also dreaded the word. Either way, Abigail would become his bride.
~~~~~
LITTLE DID LUCAS REALIZE his father had overheard the entire conversation with Selina and Duncan. His son was under the impression that a simple letter withdrawing an offer of employment would solve his problem. But what Lucas didn’t understand was the severity of how Abigail would react. He only hoped Lucas didn’t blunder his explanation. Perhaps a visit from the boy’s grandfather would help him come to his senses.
After all, his father-in-law was a formidable presence who would demand the truth.