Time After Time (139 page)

“That’s precisely why I want to talk to her. I want my son back!” the baron exclaimed. “All I ever did was try to ensure the Maitland name was not tarnished any more, and for that my son has rejected me. David is the next Baron Maitland, yet he won’t answer my letters or agree to see me. He hasn’t had anything to do with me since he found out what I did to Penelope and her stupid mother.”

“It’s nothing more than what you deserve. You aren’t worthy to kiss the ground upon which Penelope walks. Get out,” Lucas said, “I never want to see your face again.”

The baron looked fit to be tied. “This is unacceptable!”

He hadn’t been able to protect Penelope when this man hurt her as a child, but he was here now. He advanced on the baron.

“It is justice for what you’ve done to your brother’s child. You will keep in mind that Penelope is now the Countess of Ravenstone. She is no longer your niece.”

Without further preamble, he hauled the baron up to his feet and unceremoniously dragged him out of the study, through the hall and out onto the street. He turned to see Banks scurry past him to follow the baron out. Lucas strode back into the hall, filled with a sense of purpose. He’d taken the first step needed to put things to rights between him and his wife.

“Lucas? Is everything all right? I heard a commotion.” Olivia’s voice drifted from the stairs.

He smiled at his sister. It was time for step number two. “Send a message to Blakewood. He’s going to escort you to the ball tonight, where you will announce your engagement.”

• • •

A week later, Lucas stood on the sidelines playing chaperone to Blakewood and Olivia in yet another ball celebrating their engagement. The woman standing beside him tittered, and the sound grated on his nerves. Was this how it was to be for the rest of his life?

Penelope never tittered. She laughed the way she did everything else — with her whole heart. And at one time, her heart had belonged to him. He felt the familiar dull ache in his soul. In the weeks since his wife’s disappearance, the words she’d said to him during the darkest night of his life had branded themselves into his memory:

Love makes a person endure. It’s the absence of it that destroys.

He was now doomed to live her words, enduring endless days and nights of the relentless, unforgiving hell that would surely constitute the rest of his life, preserved only by the hope his wife would someday return to him so he could show her how wrong he’d been. About everything.

He took in the happiness in his sister’s face as she danced with Blakewood. Olivia wore an expression of joy not unlike the one he wished to see on another face. He tossed back a healthy amount of champagne to wash away the bitterness.

If Penelope’s intention had been to teach him a lesson, she’d pounded that lesson into him a hundred times over during her month-long absence from his life.

Among other things, he wanted to know if Penelope was safe. He had always been so sure of her, and now he was sure of nothing. He didn’t know if she was well, or if she hated him. Well, she could not hate him any more than he hated himself. Where was she? If he could only find her, he would spend the rest of his life making it up to her. He didn’t want to give up on their marriage without a fight.

“Thank you again for accepting my suit,” Blakewood commented as he walked up to Lucas. “I promise I will be a good husband to Olivia.”

“I know,” he replied quietly.

“I find it odd your wife is not here. Surely you have told her about my engagement to your sister? I would have thought she would want to help Olivia with planning the wedding.”

His gaze swerved to Blakewood. Why wouldn’t this man leave him alone? “I’d hoped she would, too.”

“I appreciate that she is busy at your country estate, but this is big news for the family, isn’t it?”

Lucas’s heart stilled. “She’s busy at my country estate?”

“Isn’t she?” Blakewood asked. “Colonel Martin said the carriage horses he rescued arrived at Ravenstone the other day, and your wife told him they are doing very well, all things considered.”

“Yes,” Lucas said, hardly hearing his own voice. “I’d forgotten about that. I intend to go home to give her the news about Olivia’s impending nuptials myself.”
Among other things
, he added silently as his heart pounded wildly in his chest.

Penelope was in Ravenstone! Thank God. Lucas gave Blakewood a distracted nod and walked out of the ballroom without another word. There was only one thing on his mind as he gave instructions to his coachman.

Lucas was going home.

• • •

“You look lovely, my lady, if I may say so.”

Penelope finished rearranging her skirts and gave Finchley a distracted smile. She was going to an important meeting, and she was determined to make certain things went the way she wanted them to. She might have failed in her marriage, but she refused to fail in this.

“I don’t understand why the man who is offering a home to the horses Colonel Martin sent wants to meet at the inn. Ravenstone is only a ten-minute drive, and he’d be able to see the horses then.”

Finchley looked away and cleared his throat. “Perhaps he is exhausted after a long journey and would like to be able to retire immediately after the meeting.”

“I would’ve been happy to offer him accommodation at Ravenstone.”

“I believe he is hoping to receive your invitation,” he sputtered.

She rolled her eyes. “Then why didn’t he visit Ravenstone in the first place?”

Finchley’s face took on the look of a trapped hare. “I don’t know, my lady, I am not privy to the gentleman’s thoughts … Oh, look, here we are!” he said with an air of desperation as the coach stopped in front of the Horse and Farrier Inn.

Finchley opened the door for her and helped her alight. “I will stay here, my lady, and keep the coachman company while you have your meeting.”

She smoothed her skirts one last time. “Wish me luck.”

Finchley beamed at her before he ushered her into the inn’s private salon and promptly closed the door behind her with a precise click.

She walked further into the room, her heart kicking up like a wild horse when she saw Lucas emerge from behind the wingback chair that faced the hearth.

Dear God, he had found her. She fought the urge to yank the door open and flee.

“I see you’re still in the habit of meeting strange men in private salons,” he said quietly as he stalked up to her.

For a moment, she could only stare at him in confusion. What was he doing here? Was he angry? She was about to apologize for running away before she remembered she had told this man she loved him and he hadn’t cared.
What do I have to apologize for!

She recovered from her surprise and stood her ground with a verbal attack. “My God, but you are as persistent as a skin rash!”

Lucas’s brows rose at her peevish tone, but he didn’t comment on her unflattering analogy. “You gave me quite a scare, you know. You left without a word to anyone, and you took my butler with you.”

“I apologize for the inconvenience, my lord,” she said sarcastically. “As you have seen, Finchley is fine. Though I cannot vouch for his health after I’m through with him for conspiring against me.”

“He’s in my employ; his loyalty is to me.”

“Ah,” she said. “So you’ve come all this way from London to lecture me on household hierarchy?”

His sharp features were suddenly bleak with remorse. “I’ve come here to bargain with you.”

She sucked in a deep breath. She was about to tell him she wasn’t interested in any more of his bargains when she noticed the documents laid out on the low table next to the chair he’d just vacated.

“I’ve had weeks to think about how we are to go on from here. I didn’t want to just barge back into your life, seduce you and take over, as I did before.” Lucas gestured to the table. “Those papers give you complete control of the Ravenstone estates while they are under my name. It’s all legal — you can keep as many unwanted horses or any other animals you want to keep, and you can use the profits from the estates to fund Colonel Martin’s endeavors.”

He was giving up control of his estates? The ones he’d tried to save by marrying her? She opened her mouth to speak but he silenced her with a raised palm.

“I would hand the estates to you if I could, but because we’re married, this was the only way you could have control of them. You can speak to a solicitor and review the documents if you want to.”

She shook her head. “No, that’s fine. I trust you.”

One side of his mouth kicked up in a faint, half smile. “I am giving you control of the estates because it’s the only thing of value I have to give you.”

She felt dazed. “Why?”

“Because I would rather live my life under your mercy than to be without you ever again,” he rasped.

“Oh, Lucas — ”

“You were right,” he continued. “I’ve been living in the past for way too long, but I didn’t realize it until you left me, until you showed me what a bleak future I had without you in it.” Naked pain slashed his features. “If you would give me another chance, nymph, I’ll spend the rest of my life making up for the way I’ve treated you.”

She didn’t know what to say. This was beyond anything she had ever expected from him. Lucas was giving up everything he thought was important. For her. It was an unbelievably amazing gesture. But it wasn’t what she wanted at all.

“I love you, Penelope,” he choked out, as if the words were being gouged from his chest. “It took me awhile to realize it, but I do now. I want you to have a choice, which is why I brought these documents. You don’t have to share my bed if you don’t want to, but please don’t leave me like that again, sweetheart.”

“Lucas — ”

“The other documents on the table are divorce papers.”

Her head snapped up. “You’re going to divorce me?”

Lucas fixed his gaze just beyond her left shoulder as if he found it too painful to look at her. “The control of the estates is yours whether you stay married to me or not,” he said hoarsely. “As far as I’m concerned, you deserve it after all you’ve suffered because of them. I’m not bribing you to stay married to me. If you don’t want to be my wife any longer,” he paused to clear his throat, “I can at least know I’ve done what I could to make you happy.”

“
What?
” She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry or hit him. She had a feeling she would end up doing all three.

“It’s your choice, nymph. I want you to know that whatever you choose, you will be provided for.”

Oh, her poor, tormented, fierce warrior. She wanted to throw herself into his arms and love him until all his hurt was healed. Instead, she chose to punish him a little bit for all the pain he’d caused her. “I don’t need to share your bed ever again?”

Lucas hauled her against his shaking frame. “I want to share my life with you, sweetheart,” he whispered. “Because without you, nothing in my life has meaning. Let me see you at dinner and breakfast and let me hold you at night. Let me be your home. Let me share my life with you, and I’ll give you anything you want. Everything you want.”

Happiness pierced her heart. How could any woman deny a man who was willing to give up everything to keep her? He was hers. After a lifetime of waiting, he was finally hers.

She walked over to the table and flung the papers in the fireplace — that’s what she thought of his bargain. Then she faced him and raised her eyes to meet his.

“
You
are everything I’ve ever wanted,” she whispered.

Lucas groaned as he reached for her and claimed her lips in a desperate kiss that was filled with yearning. She held him to her and kissed him back, a sweet kiss that spoke of a love that not only demanded, but forgave all.

“You’re everything I’ll ever want,” she said against his lips.

Lucas held her tighter, giving her another fiercely tender kiss, and she gloried in it. For once in her life, she had a home. She pulled back and looked into his eyes.

“There’s one thing I want to discuss before we get carried away,” she said, only half joking.

Lucas tensed. “What is it?”

“Were you really serious about my not sharing your bed?”

His dark eyes searched hers intently. “Is that what you want?”

“No,” she admitted. “I want to share myself with you, too. All of me.”

Lucas hugged her tight. “Good.”

“Besides, we’ll make wonderful parents,” she added.

“You’ve always been the soul of modesty,” he teased before claiming her smiling lips again in a sweet kiss.

“I love you,” she told him when he finally raised his head.

Joy was evident in his features, making him look much younger. “I was afraid I’d never hear you say that again.”

Her lips twitched in amusement. “Me either,” she admitted. “Lucas?”

“Yes, love?”

“How did you find me?”

Lucas laughed and kissed her again. “Someone reminded me that you like to hide in the most obvious places.”

About the Author

Ivory was born in the Philippines and lives in Carlisle, United Kingdom, with her husband and their perpetually hungry canine. She’d love to hear from you. Contact her through
www.ivorythewriter.wordpress.com
or through her twitter handle @ivory_lei.

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