The Mysterious Heir (32 page)

“Devil take you, Morgan, I'm going to meet Anthony's family. I have to see things right. I have to see to the second coach for the ladies as well as the one for the gentlemen. If
they are to journey right back here with us, they have to be comfortable.”

When at last all was in order, Anthony bowed and happily took his seat in the carriage. “We'll be there faster than the letter, and won't Uncle be pleased. See you next week for the wedding.” He grinned.

But Lord Beverly paused, and he watched narrowly as his friend Morgan slipped his arm about Elizabeth again, and noted with dismay how she leaned in closer to her fiancé.

“By the by,” Lord Beverly said, stepping down from the coach steps and walking over to the pair, who seemed to have already forgotten his presence. “A word with you. Out of young Anthony's hearing. There is no longer any chaperone at Lyonshall, not that Isabel ever was one, of course, or at least not a proper one. But now that I am going and taking Anthony away for the entire week, there will be no one. I think it would not be at all proper for you to remain here without a chaperone, Elizabeth. I think you should take your old room at the Rose and Bear and only have Morgan visit during the day, or for tea, or dinner, or such. It will not do for you two to remain here alone for the week before the wedding. Not at all the thing, Morgan,” he said, growing ruddy at the look he inadvertently intercepted that passed between the two of them.

“Of course,” the Earl said smoothly, never taking his eyes from Elizabeth's lips.

“Naturally,” Elizabeth sighed, “I shall leave until the wedding.”

“Very good,” Lord Beverly said abruptly, and turned on his heel and left. But the last thing he saw as he turned his worried eyes back toward the couple as his coach pulled away, was the sight of them still standing closely together gazing into each other's eyes as though the world had gone away along with him.

But that is exactly what did transpire. Elizabeth left Lyonshall not ten minutes after her cousin and Lord Beverly's dust had died down. She took a room at the inn, and stayed there, seeing the Earl only at teatimes, until her wedding the following Sunday.

At least that is what they told Lord Beverly when he returned. And that is what they told Simon Beverly Anthony Courtney, who was born the following spring, when he grew older. And that is what he, the eighth Earl of Auden, always told his grandchildren when they begged again to hear the thrilling story of the search for the heir to their great house of Auden. But it should be noted that as he remembered his parents and the long years they had together, he always grinned when he came to that part of the tale.

About the Author

Edith Layton has been writing since she was ten years old. She has worked as a freelance writer for newspapers and magazines, but has always been fascinated by English history, most particularly the Regency period. She lives on Long Island with her physician husband and three children, and collects antiques and large dogs.

The above bio appeared in the original print edition of this novel. For more information about Edith Layton's life and books, please visit http://www.facebook.com/authoredithlayton.