Dance with Deception: Scandalous Secrets, Book 1 - Exclusive Edition (Scandalous Secrets - Exclusive Edition) (16 page)

        
For the first time since the chaos of my betrothal began, I didn’t base my decision upon my duty to my father. Instead, I did what was best for you and your family. As you have devoted so much of your life to Victoria’s happiness and protection, I pray that you will come to understand my actions
.

        
I am so very sorry I caused you pain. I will always regret my parting words and I will always love you
.

        
Gwendolyn

By the time Gwen signed her name, her hands were visibly shaking as she glanced at the ivory clock on her mantle. Daybreak had arrived. She would be able to deliver instructions and get the note delivered to Sebastian before her bloody cowardice returned.

Slipping out of her suite in search of her trusted butler, Gwen found Norris in the morning room drawing open the heavy drapes. Dawn, she noted with a heavy heart, had brought an end to the misty weather mere hours before.

After issuing explicit instructions to her trusted butler, Gwen returned to her bedchamber where she could hide from the sun, certain that Mother Nature was mocking her torment with such a brilliant sunrise.

She wrapped herself in her warm, down duvet cover. Too tense to sleep, Gwen instead curled upon her chaise before the fire. When she finally drifted into slumber, it was for no more than a few hours. The sound of a maid outside her bedchamber stirred her.

For one brief moment Gwen felt as if her life was normal but reality quickly set in, chilling her body like a sudden gust of wind.

Sebastian awakened love within her and a thousand other glorious sensations that she never before knew existed. Her body now felt hollow without him. A welcomed numbness had spread throughout her limbs in the last few hours, making it easier to confront her uncertain fate. Perhaps it would ease her turmoil during the next confrontation she would have with her father?

She was steadfast in her refusal to marry Keir. Although she feared her father would never forgive her, she no longer cared. Without Sebastian’s love, she didn’t care about anything.

Gwen stood, steeling her shoulders for the upcoming battle. It was time to face her father. She tugged at the bell pull and waited for her maid.

Jane’s cheerful good morning was almost too much for Gwen to abide. “You look like you had a restless night, Miss. Shall I fetch you some warm chocolate and biscuits?”

“Thank you, Jane; however I don’t believe anything will lessen my horrid headache.”

“We shall give it a try, Miss.” Jane’s perseverance made Gwen smile in spite of herself. “Would you like me to open the drapes before I fetch your tray?”

Gwen cringed at the thought of the blinding sunshine. “No, thank you.”

One step at a time, she would tackle her future, when she was fully prepared to do so and not a moment sooner.

Gwen threw open her wardrobe door, surveying her selection.

What does a young woman wear to her execution?

Sebastian awoke from the sweet oblivion of sleep to find himself sprawled on his sofa with an empty brandy decanter nestled in the crook of his arm.

He rolled onto his side then squinted from the harsh sunlight pouring into the room. If only he’d had the foresight to close the damned drapes before he passed out.

Lifting his throbbing head from the armrest, a groan escaped his throat. The cragginess of his own voice startled him. He placed the empty decanter on a gilded table with a head-splitting
thump
then stumbled to the pull and rang for his butler.

Winston promptly entered the room, the dignified man showing no signs of shock at seeing the disheveled state of his master.

In a whisper, so as to limit the throbbing in his head, Sebastian instructed the man to bring some coffee up to his suite.

It took an eternity to reach the safety of his bedchamber. Thank God those blinds were closed! He collapsed onto his mattress with a deep sigh of appreciation and relief. To his dismay, his inebriated state failed to dull his memory of his last encounter with Gwen.

Sebastian ordered himself to stop his insanity, his self-pity. He couldn’t continue to pine over someone he would never have regardless of how deeply he loved her. In addition, he refused to drink himself into oblivion every time he thought of her. Lord knows if he did that, he’d drink himself to an early grave.

There was a faint knock on his door. Sebastian groaned in reply. His butler entered carrying a tray of coffee and a plate of dry toast. He set it upon the antique table in front of the closed drapes.

“Winston, you are a saint,” Sebastian muttered before his butler nodded then exited his master’s suite in silence.

Sebastian downed his coffee then bathed in welcome silence, emerging from his solitude feeling much more civilized with one resolution planted in his mind: he must do his damnedest to forget Gwendolyn MacAlistair. He would accomplish this feat by jumping back into his old life, the bachelor’s life he had abandoned so long ago.

Gwen believed him to be the same man he had been years before, carousing with voluptuous,
eligible women of the
ton
so why the hell shouldn’t he behave like it?

The first item on his agenda was to open his London townhome and spend each of his evenings gambling at White’s, attending the theater, and enjoying every other activity he could think of. He’d do his damnedest to ensure that there would be no free time to pine over the woman he lost.

Why wait? Tonight would be the perfect evening to begin. He yanked the bell pull, and once his valet entered the room, his pulse quickened as he issued orders to prepare his evening finery and ensure his coach would be prepared for an outing.

In keeping with the theme of the day, Sebastian stalked into his masculine office.
Keep busy and you’ll be fine
.

He sat behind his massive mahogany desk, removed his spectacles from his jacket pocket and slipped them onto the bridge of his nose. Just as he’d picked up his first contract to review, his butler knocked on the door.

“Yes, Winston, what is it?”

“Excuse me, Your Grace. A letter came for you, but I’m afraid the messenger insists on handing it to you personally.”

“Who is it from?” Sebastian asked over the top edge of the document he held to read.

“He says it’s from his mistress, Your Grace.”

Frustrated, Sebastian slammed the contract on his desk. “And who the hell would that be?”

His butler appeared unnerved as he shifted his weight before replying, “Miss Gwendolyn MacAlistair, Your Grace.”

Sebastian’s pulse quickened. “Send him in,” he snapped, his mind racing.

A man he recognized as Gwen’s butler strode into his office with an air of confidence.

“Excuse me, Your Grace.” He bowed, then approached the desk, handing Sebastian the letter. “Miss MacAlistair dispatched me to deliver this missive to you directly. She specified that no reply is necessary.”

Sebastian nodded, not trusting his voice. The man bowed before exiting the room, closing the door behind him.

The pounding in his head returned in full force.
Good God, she wrote to me
. Sebastian ripped the seal and read the missive at least three times before placing it upon his desk. He then picked it up again, reading it a fourth time before rising and walking to his window.

He surveyed his lush, colorful grounds, but all he could think of were five specific words in Gwen’s note – the five most important words to him.

I will always love you
.

With that one statement, his earlier plans to forget her vanished. Of course he could try to numb the pain of living without her, but there would always be a hole in his heart where she had once been.

Sebastian wracked his brain for a solution. Gwen wouldn’t elope with him; therefore, he must obtain her father’s permission for their union. But how? Lachlan MacAlistair would never consent, not easily that is. Sebastian must convince the old
man that he had no choice.

“Bloody hell.” Sebastian cursed aloud as he picked up a jade paperweight from his desk and rolled it between his palms.

Think! What are you going to do? What can you do?

Slowly the seeds of deception were planted. If Lachlan believed that his daughter had been compromised, he would have no choice but to insist the guilty party marry Gwen to avoid a scandal. So, Sebastian’s scheme took root.

With her wedding less than a month away, and if Lachlan was as manipulative as Tristan believed, the old man would probably try to pawn the imaginary child off as Dunlop’s. Since it was too late for him to seduce her, Sebastian would proclaim he had compromised Gwen weeks ago. If asked when and where this fictional sin was committed, he would mention the time he’d escorted Gwen home following the rainstorm. It wasn’t much of a stretch of his imagination for Sebastian had wanted to take her virginity then and on many more occasions.

If, God forbid, Lachlan mentioned her imaginary defiling to Gwen, the memory of lying on the grass with breasts bare as Sebastian’s mouth explored every inch of them just days before should be sufficient to garner a blush from her. She may even look guilty enough to convince the man that the unthinkable did indeed happen.

Sebastian considered the old man’s health. Lachlan appeared fit the evening prior but, if he were indeed ailing, a possibility existed that
Sebastian’s duplicity could cause him to suffer a relapse. Without hesitation, he composed a note to his family doctor, requesting they meet at Ainsley as a precaution.

His conscience told him his actions were wrong. He was, after all, manipulating people the way his father had. As God was his witness, Sebastian had long hated the man for it.

What other choice do I have?

Sebastian wracked his brain for any other option but none presented itself. Besides, Sebastian convinced himself, this situation was different. He loved Gwen, and his father never loved anyone but himself. Sebastian was protecting Gwen. He was also protecting his own heart. After fighting against love it had found him and Sebastian refused to let it escape. Besides, he would tell her the truth. However, before doing so, he’d give her time to discover what he had known all along.

They belong together.

Sebastian would move heaven and earth to marry Gwen and would love her more than life itself.

As God is my witness I will make this up to her
.

Striding from his office, Sebastian walked with determination to his waiting carriage, his mind racing with the particulars of his plan. He arrived at Ainsley and pounded at the bronze doorknocker, his heart lodged in his throat.

The butler opened the door and Sebastian bounded into the foyer. “I’m here to see your master.”

“Forgive me, Your Grace, but he instructed me
that none of the family is accepting visitors today.”

“Why not?”

The butler’s eyes widened, an indignant expression spreading over his features. “I don’t ask such questions, Your Grace.”

Sebastian paused, fighting to keep his temper in check. “At the very least you can tell me if he is well.”

“Yes, Your Grace. My master appears in acceptable health.”

Sebastian peered into the hallway. “Where is his daughter?”

“In her rooms, Your Grace. She hasn’t come down yet, aside from handing me the letter I delivered to you earlier.”

“I must speak with Mr. MacAlistair now.”

“Your Grace, he instructed—”

“Yes, you’ve already told me. What is your name?” Sebastian spoke with cool authority.

“Norris, Your Grace.”

“You’ve done your job well, Norris, and I will take full responsibility for disturbing him. Tell him I am here.” Sebastian’s tone brokered no argument. He wasn’t leaving without a betrothal arrangement.

Norris bowed his head. “Yes, Your Grace.”

After waiting for what seemed like an hour, the butler returned at last and escorted Sebastian to Lachlan’s second floor study. Norris rapped on the door before opening it and waving Sebastian inside.

“You’re dismissed, Norris.” Lachlan hissed.

Sebastian entered and spotted Gwen’s father sitting on an overstuffed chaise, his boots resting on the matching ottoman. He closed the leather-bound
bound volume he’d been reading and placed it on his lap.

The healthy pink tinge in the man’s cheeks provoked a sigh of gratitude. Although Lachlan looked fatigued, he seemed quite alert with a sharpness about his eyes. However, in spite of the man’s robust physical appearance, Sebastian remained relieved that he’d instructed Dr. Danbury to meet him nonetheless.

Lachlan’s failure to verbally acknowledge his presence caused an annoyance to pulsate through Sebastian’s veins. He was certain it was a deliberate snub.

Their meeting was off to a bad start.

Damned if he’d let his opponent see weakness, Sebastian crossed the room, his posture tall and countenance proud, before halting a couple of paces from the old man.

“I’m here to discuss your daughter.”

Lachlan’s response was hostile. “We have nothing to discuss where Gwendolyn is concerned!”