Page 31 of A Lady’s Guide to Scoundrels and Gentlemen (The Harp & Thistle #1)

T he carriage began to sink and lean to the side, and they all groaned with that special frustration long travel instills. They were so close to their destination, it felt like a cruel trick. Dantes watched out the window as the driver leapt off and sprinted toward the house to escape the downpour.

“Look at it out there.” Ollie jumped as a frightening boom of thunder cracked above and shook the ground. “No way I’m going out there right now. I’m waiting here until it stops.”

“I’m glad I had the children wait out the storm with the governess and my lady’s maid back at the station.” Lady Litchfield peered out the window at the storm. “Their carriage surely would be stuck right behind us!”

Dantes sank back in his seat and watched the rain pour. The drive leading up to Summerwood was quite long, with tall trees lining it. They all seemed to be hoping the rain would let up in a moment.

But before Dantes could decide if he should run to the house like the driver had, Lady Litchfield let out a shout of surprise and pressed her nose to the window.

Following her line of sight, Dantes spotted a male figure coming toward them in the rain.

“That bloody…pigeon-livered…wagtail!” Lady Litchfield shouted out. And then, the woman surprised them all by jumping out into the rain and running toward the figure. Dantes lifted his eyebrows sky-high at this. Lady Litchfield had not said much about her husband on the train except that she hadn’t seen him in quite some time. However, it appeared she had had enough of his antics.

Deciding to follow suit, Dantes rose as best he could to climb out, too. But Victor suddenly shoved Dantes back into his seat and ran after Lady Litchfield. Ollie, happily staying put where it was nice and dry, shot a questioning look to Dantes. But Dantes said nothing, far too curious about the events occurring outside.

Winthrop was jogging toward them but came to a dead stop in realization his wife was coming for him, Victor following not far behind. The cad turned to run for his life. That, Dantes had to admit, was exceptionally funny. He would have to give Lady Litchfield a good pat on the back for that later, perhaps even a toast.

“What are you going to do now?” Ollie asked.

Dantes eyed the distant house, though in the rain and the steamy mist it had created, it was hard to see. “I have no idea. I don’t know how upset she’s going to be.”

“Well, I can tell you. She’s going to be hopping mad. With flames coming out of her eyes and steam coming out of her ears.”

Dantes let out a laugh, and it felt good. Yes, Vivian was going to be pretty mad. But they would get through it, figure it out, move on. Get married. Hopefully. “I’m going.” Dantes went to climb out when Ollie grabbed his arm.

“You’re sure?” Ollie looked nervous. “It’s pretty bad out there.”

“Yes. I’m sure.” Dantes pulled his arm away and went to leave again.

But Ollie grabbed him once more.

Annoyed, Dantes scowled over his shoulder. “What are you doing?”

“I, um…” Ollie scratched at his head “I don’t like storms.”

Dantes lifted his eyes to the sky. “And I don’t care. I’m going to the house—right now. Either you come with me or stay here.”

Ollie let out a sigh of frustration. “Fine.” He grudgingly followed Dantes out into the downpour.

They hurried up the long drive, and through the fog and rain, Dantes could barely make out the shape of the front door, where the driver took shelter in the covered porch. Dantes’s lungs and body were still weakened and he soon began to tire, his shoulder started to ache, but he pushed through it. Seconds later, however, Vivian burst out the front door, halting right before the porch stairs, shouting at Winthrop as he bolted past her and into the front door, slamming it shut behind him. And then, Tewksbury emerged.

Upon seeing Tewksbury, Dantes slid to a halt.

The world around him stilled, and there was no sound, other than the millions of raindrops that tapped against the leaves of the enormous trees around him, and his heart pounding in his ears.

Why the blazes was Tewksbury there? And why had he been alone with Vivian?

Winthrop hadn’t been with them, and her father wasn’t around anywhere.

His heart caught in his throat on a sob. He was too late.

Vivian had probably written to him numerous times to say she was going to marry Tewksbury if he didn’t respond to her letters. But she had to marry the man, didn’t she? He knew how much she enjoyed her freedom after living under her father’s roof her whole life. And he knew she worried what would happen if Winthrop got his hands on everything. Honestly, he couldn’t really blame her if she had chosen Tewksbury.

It was a desperate situation. And she didn’t know he loved her. But oh, how he loved her!

And it was his own blasted fault she didn’t know and had married another!

He hung his head and buried his face in his hands. For the rest of his life, he would have to live with his own stupidity.

But then, through the sound of the rain and his shattering heart, there was a small and distant cry.

He looked up.

Vivian cried out his name. And started running toward him.

A flutter brought his dead heart back to life and he started running toward her, too, the blasted rain pelting his face. His heart revived, beating with life because she wasn’t furious with him, or at least not so furious she went into the house and slammed the door in his face. And even better, she wasn’t standing at Tewksbury’s side, nor by her father, who had emerged to see what the commotion was.

No, she was running toward Dantes, crying out to him in front of her family, the family she hadn’t wanted to tell yet about their betrothal. This was her moment of running through Hyde Park that he needed, the confidence from her, the declaration that she did in fact love the frightening Dantes McNab and she didn’t give a blasted care who knew it! The most stunning relief washed over him, and the interior pocket of his jacket heated against him as he recalled what lay safely inside.

But as Vivian came closer, there was a bright flash of light as lightning struck the tree she was passing. And then she screamed.

*

Vivian ran as fast as she could. He’d come to her, Dantes had come to her—she’d been so sure he’d never want to see her again, so sure she had ruined everything by saying those cursed words, by the paintings. And here he was, rushing to her!

Had this been Anne’s doing? Was Dantes angry with Vivian? Was he hurt? Had she hurt him? The mere thought of it struck her heart.

Whatever happened, she didn’t care. She wanted to be in his arms again. Kiss him again. Hear his voice. The rain felt like needles on her face, but she hardly noticed.

“Dantes!” she shouted with all her might, and he went from a run to a sprint. Her arms extended out to him in joy as she got closer to him.

Lightning flashed.

The world went white.

The light was so bright, it sent an electric quake of shock through her. Sure she’d been struck, she screamed out with pure terror. That white light was immediately followed by the most ear-splitting crack of thunder she had ever heard in her life. It vibrated the marrow in her bones.

Snapping wood echoed out and when she realized she hadn’t been struck, she opened her eyes and looked up in the direction of the noise. An enormous branch was tumbling down from the top of a towering tree. Right above her.

“Vivian!” Dantes screamed as her body reacted by raising her arms protectively to her face. A loud, rustling crash slammed into the ground and she held her breath as she realized the branch had only missed her by a few feet.

A cacophony of shouts from every direction began to descend upon her, shouts of fear and then relief as they all found her safe, the mud and puddles not the slightest concern to anyone.

Her family.

His family.

Their family, really.

Dantes’s sprinting didn’t slow, and he launched over the branch without a thought. Breathing hard, he easily lifted her from the ground and searched her for injuries, and once he’d seemed to convince himself that she hadn’t died, that she hadn’t gotten hurt, he pulled her desperately against him and pressed his mouth to hers for a kiss. Her heart pounded so hard in her chest, she was sure he could feel it. She buried her fingers into his wild hair, and for a few minutes, she forgot where she was, all of her senses and feelings and awareness only around him as they kissed each other with fear, with relief, against all odds at finally being back together.

“You scared the life out of me.” He finally pulled away, but only a few inches, his hands remaining on her face. His green eyes were bright with fear. “I’ve never been so scared in my life, Viv. I almost watched you get crushed by a tree.”

She started crying, and it irritated her. She had never been a crier, and she seemed to always be crying now, her heart so sensitive to everything. Or maybe that was the way it was supposed to be. Dantes breathed life and warmth back into her. “Bernard…” She couldn’t even say it out loud. The devastation she felt at her brother’s deception and betrayal was too much.

“I know. Lady Litchfield figured it out. I don’t care anymore. Forget Winthrop, and that’s the end of it. This is all I want. I only want you every day, forever. Now, please tell me you didn’t marry Tewksbury.”

She gave him a misty laugh, surprised that was a concern of his. “No. I was going to get on the train tomorrow, go home, and give you a piece of my mind. And then,” she continued, “I was going to convince you that you don’t have bad luck, that the curse isn’t real.”

His smile fell. “You don’t believe in it even after what just happened?”

She shook her head. “Even after what just happened. You know why?”

He waited for her to continue, looping a loose strand of wet hair behind her ear. But his eyes were filled with skepticism.

“I realized you’re not unlucky. In truth, you’re possibly the luckiest man in the entire world.”

Dantes gave her a sidelong glance. “All right, I’d like to hear this.”

“Well…” She took a deep breath and noticed the rain was letting up. “Think about it. The fire, for example. We escaped unharmed despite being taken by surprise and not being able to find each other—you remember how bad the smoke was. Thankfully, no one else died in that fire, either. In the carriage accident, Ollie didn’t die because you knew what a gunshot sounded like, because of where you’d lived as a boy. And then you were mere hours from death and miraculously came back from it. You never lose fights, you didn’t marry the wrong woman, you have a successful pub with your brothers. Of all the pubs Bernard could have gone to, he went to yours. And even though you and your brothers all irritate each other, you really do genuinely love each other. You know you can trust and rely on each other completely. I didn’t get struck by lightning, or crushed by the tree, even though I came pretty close to both. And best of all, you get to marry Britain’s richest spinster .” She ended this with a shy smile.

Dantes tilted his head in thought, and she could see he was deeply considering everything she’d said, that she had finally reached something deep inside of him that had been closed off forever.

“Yes, but what about my parents?” Dantes replied. “My father getting killed in a derailment, my mother’s addiction and death, living on the streets—though thanks to that, I learned what a gunshot sounds like. Getting sent off to boarding school, which comprised the worst years of my life, and all I wanted were my grandparents then. The knife to my face, and everything else Crosby put me through? And yes, we survived those events you laid out, and this one just now, but those events sure aren’t lucky.”

But she shrugged her shoulders. “Bad things happen, Dantes. To everyone. And no one is immortal. That’s all it is, darling.”

For a long while, he stared at her, his eyes boring into hers, but a softness came over him, a softness she had never seen in him before, almost like something had been released from deep inside of him. “Maybe you’re right,” he said simply, as if it weren’t the biggest deal in his—or her—life.

“Of course she’s right.” It was Ollie. Vivian startled, as she had forgotten all about everyone else. “We’ve been telling you the same thing, but you don’t listen to us.”

Dantes grinned as Ollie shook his head and placed an arm around Dantes’s shoulders. And while Ollie teased him about it further, Vivian looked around at the faces of relief that surrounded them. Father, Anne, Victor, Ollie. When had Keefe come outside? Even Mr. Tewksbury was there, and a man who was a complete stranger, perhaps the driver of the carriage stuck in the mud. Bernard’s absence was not lost on her, but she would deal with that later.

They were her family, her friends, standing in the rain, though it was more of a drizzle now. And each one of them stood with her, not minding that they were covered in mud.

She had never been alone, had she?

“I thought Vivian had been struck by lightning.” Anne looked up to Victor, who stood near her.

Victor stared back but didn’t speak.

“I saw the branch fall,” Ollie jumped in. “I knew the lightning hadn’t hit her but thought she’d been crushed.”

Now that the fear from the storm had dissipated along with it, there was a lot of “Did you see that?!” and “Look at your clothes!” coupled with laughter and other excited discussion.

With everyone distracted, Dantes pulled Vivian off to the side for a moment of attempted privacy. “Vivian…” He paused in thought. “I’m really sorry about everything that happened.”

“I don’t want to dwell on it anymore. If you want the paintings home, that’s fine. If you want them fixed, that’s fine too. Whatever you want. I shouldn’t have surprised you with such an extravagant gift, or stormed off the way I did. But it will be your money, too, if you still want to get married.”

His eyebrows pulled together severely. “Of course I still want to get married, Vivian. That’s why I came out here. I love you.” He didn’t even flinch, and the words flowed, as if he’d been saying it all this time.

Her eyes went wide at the shock that hit her. “Oh, can I say it, too?” She waited for a denial, but he smiled back instead. “I love you, too, Dantes.”

“It’s going to be hard for me to get used to that. But I understand now what you mean, that you can’t go without saying it. They aren’t mere words, are they?”

“No, darling, they’re not. They’re everything.”

Dantes sealed their love with a kiss, wrapping his soaking-wet arms around her soaking-wet waist. “It’s still going to make me anxious, at least for now,” he admitted, his cheek pressed against her hair. “But I have something that I think will help me and I hope you like it.” He pulled back to reach into his jacket, revealing a wet ring case, and handed it to her.

With eagerness, Vivian opened it and found a gold ring with a four-leaf clover made of emeralds. “It’s beautiful,” she said with deep awe. “Dantes.” She looked up at him with a wide smile. “This is magnificent!”

A faint blush on his cheeks crept up from behind his beard. “It’s your wedding ring. I had it blessed by a priest too, to keep you safe. I know it’s a bit absurd, and you’re probably right about me not truly being unlucky. But you wearing this, I don’t know—it will make me feel a lot better.”

She admired it for another moment, turned it a bit to watch the rich green and gold sparkle in the now-unclouded sun. She handed it back to him. “I can’t wait to wear it.”

“What are you going to do about your brother?” Dantes asked after stuffing the box safely back in his pocket.

“I’m not sure. This is our first discussion as a couple, I believe, since his actions affected us equally.”

“Very well.” Dantes stared off toward the house. “He hurt you. And I’ll never be forgiving about anyone doing that.”

“No,” Vivian agreed. “He tried to keep you from me, even after I’d helped him when he needed it.” Vivian looked in the same direction as Dantes, knowing her brother was somewhere inside the house, hopefully packing. There used to be a time when Bernard had been her best friend, and she had always looked up to him because of it. Maybe that was why she’d made so many excuses for him over the years, overlooked the now-obvious signs that something in him had changed dramatically. He wasn’t the Bernard Winthrop she had grown up with. Looking back, she could see he’d begun to turn after his wedding, and that had been over ten years ago. He’d been so young when he and Anne had married, probably too young, not that that was an excuse. But before his wedding, he’d been so carefree and happy, and really had seemed to want to be with her when he’d chosen her to be his wife. Clearly, some kind of pressure as a husband, maybe even as a father, had had something to do with it. How, she could not say and probably would never know. But he had made the decision to marry Anne, he should never have hurt his family the way he had, and it would take her a long time to forgive him for it or trust him again, if she ever did.

She probably should have never paid off his debts in the first place, at least not so easily, but she couldn’t take that back. “I don’t know if I can cut him out of my life forever. But for the time being, I want to keep my distance. Our distance.”

Dantes agreed.

“I’m going to tell him he must leave today. I don’t want him at our wedding, either.” She finally admitted this with a heavy sigh. “That was really hard to say out loud.”

He pulled her close and she felt safe against him. “I don’t want him there, either. I’m so glad we’re in agreement on that. I know he’s your family, but what he did…”

“I know. But you’re my priority now, Dantes. You, our future.”

“I can’t wait to start it.”

The sun now shone in a sapphire sky, clouds turned fluffy and happy. The air was quickly becoming sticky and humid. Vivian noticed everyone walking back to the house, and she wondered how in the world they all were going to get cleaned up when there were only two bathtubs. She said this out loud, not really expecting a response.

“You and I can double up.” Dantes dipped down to her ear with a daring voice.

She laughed. “You think so?”

“Yes, after we strip off our muddy clothes and toss about the sheets for the rest of the afternoon, locked away while everyone else cleans up. Then we can double up in the bath. You know, it saves a lot of time.” He gave her a roguish grin.

Vivian couldn’t help but laugh. “I think that’s a splendid idea.” She paused. “I do have a secret to tell you. I made some wedding-related inquiries after I received the letter from the solicitor. There’s a little church here in the middle of renovations. But as it’s wedding season, they were the only place with an opening for us in time. Technically, they aren’t even holding weddings this year because their building is a mess, but I don’t much care about that, do you?”

“No. I don’t care where we get married, as long as we do.”

“Good. I promised them a nice donation when they told me it would be impossible. Suddenly, it became possible. They even offered to help get a special license once I told them Britain’s richest spinster and famous pugilist Dantes McNab would be the ones exchanging nuptials.” She paused and felt her face go hot. “I got ahead of myself a bit and had them put your name on there.”

Dantes grinned. “What would have happened if you decided to marry Tewksbury instead?”

“Oh, dear, that would have been an uncomfortable conversation, wouldn’t it?”

Dantes laughed heartily.

“What do you think?” Vivian asked. “You want to marry me tomorrow morning?”

Surprise flickered in Dantes’s face. But then he said, “It’s not even a question, my little rose.”

“I love you,” she whispered, no longer needing to hold it back, wanting to say it fifty more times today.

“I love you, too, Vivian.” He responded with a smile. “Always and forever.”