Page 25 of One Night of Scandal (Fairleigh Sisters #2)

Was it possible, Dear Reader, that one night of scandal could lead to a lifetime of love?

SOMEONE WAS BANGING ON THE DOOR OF Lottie’s bedchamber. That might not have been so jarring if the culprit hadn’t also been shouting her name at the top of his lungs.

Startled from a sound sleep, Hayden sat bolt upright in the bed, muttering an oath. Lottie simply rolled over to her stomach and moaned in protest, refusing to abandon their cozy nest of rumpled blankets and entwined limbs.

But the banging and shouting showed no signs of ceasing.

Clutching a pillow to her naked breasts, Lottie sat up and raked a tousled curl out of her heavy-lidded eyes.

“I do believe it’s Sterling. Whatever is the matter with him? Did I scream again?”

Sliding his arms around her waist, Hayden nuzzled the downy skin at the nape of her neck and murmured.

“No, but if he’s willing to wait, it can be arranged.”

The banging persisted.

When Lottie tried to wiggle out of his grasp, Hayden simply shoved her back among the pillows.

“I warned you that if I ever got you into a proper bed, my lady, I was never going to let you out of it. You stay right where you are. I’ll handle him this time.”

His expression stern and his hair poking out in all directions, Hayden clambered from the bed, sweeping a quilt around his lean hips.

“Careful,”

she warned.

“He might be armed.”

“If he is, then he’d best be prepared to choose his second because this time I have every intention of accepting his challenge.”

Lottie might have been more alarmed by her husband’s threat if she hadn’t been distracted by how scrumptious he looked garbed in nothing but a quilt. Sighing dreamily, she admired the masculine roll of his hips as he swaggered to the door and threw it open.

Sterling opened his mouth, but before he could utter a word, Hayden shook a finger in his face.

“I’ve had it up to here with your meddling, Devonbrooke. Carlotta is not a child anymore. She’s all grown up and she doesn’t need you poking your arrogant nose in her business. You may still be her brother-in-law, but you’re no longer her guardian. She’s my wife now and she’s right where she bloody well belongs and intends to stay—in my bed!”

Frowning in bewilderment, Sterling peered over Hayden’s shoulder at Lottie. Warmed by a thrill of pride, Lottie grinned and wiggled her fingers at him.

Sterling shifted his gaze back to Hayden, something in his expression making Lottie’s smile fade.

“I didn’t come here about Lottie. It’s your daughter. She’s gone missing.”

After hastily tossing on their scattered garments, Lottie and Hayden hurried downstairs to find most of the family gathered in the drawing room. Sterling was pacing in front of the secretaire. Laura perched on the edge of the cream-colored sofa, her pretty face etched with strain. Harriet sat on the divan, while George leaned against the hearth behind her, his indolent posture belied by the fitful drumming of his fingernails on the mantel.

Hayden strode directly to the black-garbed figure sitting in the corner.

“Where is she?”

he demanded.

“Where is my daughter?”

Miss Terwilliger looked even more shrunken than usual, as if she was in danger of being swallowed altogether by the overstuffed wing chair. Her gnarled knuckles curled around the head of her cane, she peered up at Hayden over the top of her spectacles, her rheumy blue eyes rimmed with red.

“When Allegra failed to show up for her lesson this morning, I went to awaken her. But when I drew back her blankets, all I found was this.”

She reached into the chair beside her and held up the doll Hayden had given his daughter.

Hayden took the doll from her withered hands, tenderly smoothing one of its shimmering raven curls.

“You were supposed to look after her,”

he said, raising accusing eyes to the old woman.

“How could you let this happen?”

“No, Hayden,”

Lottie reminded him grimly.

“I was supposed to look after her.”

Before he could reply, Cookie came marching into the drawing room with Ellie in tow. Judging from the little girl’s swollen eyes and reddened nose, she appeared to have been weeping for a very long time.

“Go on, child,”

Cookie commanded, tugging the girl in front of her.

“Tell them what you know.”

“But she made me promise I wouldn’t!”

Ellie wailed.

Laura swiftly rose and slipped an arm around her daughter’s shoulders.

“I would never ask you to break a promise, Eleanor, but the marquess here is very frightened for his little girl. He loves her just as much as we all love you and if he doesn’t find her soon, it will make him very sad. Can you tell us where she’s gone?”

Scuffing the toe of her slipper on the carpet, Ellie gave Hayden a shy glance.

“I told her you were here last night. At first she didn’t believe me, but after I told her about the mouse and Aunt Lottie turning all pink, she knew I was telling the truth.”

Lottie could feel herself turning pink all over again.

“What did she do then?”

“She said she was going to see her papa. But then a little while later, she came to my bedchamber and asked for her doll back.”

Ellie frowned at the doll in Hayden’s hands.

“When she told me where she was going, I thought she was going to take it with her.”

“Where?”

Hayden asked desperately.

“Where did she tell you she was going?”

“To Cornwall. She told me she was going home to Cornwall.”

Relief washed over Hayden’s face.

“She’s only ten years old. If she set off for Cornwall, she couldn’t have gone very far.”

His pleading gaze swept them all, finally coming to rest on Lottie.

“Could she?”

“The mail coach,”

Harriet whispered.

Since her blank expression never changed, it took everyone a minute to realize she had even spoken.

“What was that, Miss Dimwinkle?”

George asked, leaning over her shoulder.

“The mail coach!”

Harriet repeated, her eyes lighting up behind the thick lenses of her spectacles.

“Allegra knew that was how I ran away to Cornwall. She was always asking me questions about my journey. She said it sounded like a fine adventure.”

Sterling collapsed against the secretaire, pressing his fingertips to his brow.

“Dear Lord! If the child managed to wrangle herself a seat on one of the mail coaches that departed last night, she could be halfway to Cornwall by now.”

Hayden raked a hand through his hair, looking dazed.

“This still makes no sense whatsoever. If she knew I was here, then why in the name of God would she go there?”

Kneeling in front of Ellie, he gently clasped the child by the shoulders.

“Think, sweetheart. Think very hard. Did Allegra say why she was going to Cornwall?”

Ellie slowly nodded, her bottom lip beginning to tremble.

“She said she was going to see her mother.”

The carriage flew across the moor, bouncing through every furrow and rut until Lottie feared her teeth were going to fly right out of her head. Hayden had driven them across England like a man possessed. They had traveled both day and night, stopping only to change horses when the coachman warned Hayden that the animals were in danger of dropping dead in their tracks. When a broken wheel spoke had delayed them for nearly an hour, Lottie had feared Hayden was going to continue the journey on foot.

They had overtaken three mail coaches along the way, but despite Hayden’s frantic pleas and threats, none of the drivers reported seeing a little girl trying to book a passage to Cornwall. But the last driver did remember that there would have been another coach ahead of him—a coach that had been scheduled to depart for Cornwall shortly after midnight on the previous day.

Allegra’s doll sat on the seat across from Hayden and Lottie, her cool violet eyes and unruffled demeanor mocking their agitation. Lottie tucked her hands deeper into her muff, wishing for her own doll’s smug smirk and twinkling eye. But her doll had vanished right along with Allegra.

As the carriage hurtled across the moor, Hayden gazed out the window as he’d done for most of the journey, his profile as bleak as the winter sky. He’d barely spoken a word to Lottie since they’d left London, retreating back into that wary shell where she had first found him. But when she reached for his hand, he took it and laced his fingers tightly through hers.

As they turned into the manor’s drive, a winter squall seemed to be blowing in from the sea. Rain scented the chill air and the rising wind whipped the naked branches of the orchard trees into a dancing frenzy.

The carriage rolled to a halt. Before Lottie could even gather her skirts, Hayden had flung open the door and was racing toward the manor, shouting his daughter’s name.

Lottie reached the house just as Martha came bustling into the foyer to find her master standing there, hatless and frantic.

“What on earth are you doing here, my lord?”

she asked, her round face wreathed with shock.

“If you’d have sent word that you were returning so soon, we would have prepared your—”

Hayden caught her by the shoulders before she could finish.

“Is Allegra here, Martha? Have you seen her?”

Martha blinked dazedly.

“Allegra? Of course Allegra’s not here. She’s in London with you.”

Lottie glanced desperately around the foyer, her gaze finally settling on the mirrored hall tree, where a stack of unopened envelopes lay, awaiting Hayden’s return.

“The mail, Martha,”

she said urgently.

“Has the mail arrived today?”

“Why, I believe so. I sent Jem to the village to collect it over an hour ago.”

She waved a dismissive hand.

“There was nothing of any import—just a few notices and a letter from your cousin Basil.”

Lottie and Hayden exchanged a wild look.

“Allegra!”

Hayden shouted, starting up the stairs.

“Allegra!”

Lottie echoed, flying down the corridor that led to the kitchens.

They met in the music room a short while later, both hoarse and out of breath.

“I can’t find a trace of her anywhere,”

Hayden admitted, his face reflecting his despair.

“None of the servants have seen her either.”

Lottie shook her head.

“Oh, Hayden, what if we were wrong? What if we’re here and she’s somewhere in London—lost and frightened and all alone.”

Hayden gazed up at Justine’s portrait, his hands clenched into fists.

“But your niece swore she was coming here to see her mother.”

The words had barely left his lips before he slowly turned to look at Lottie, the dread in his eyes chilling her blood to ice.

Allegra stood at the edge of the cliff, her traveling cloak billowing in the wind. She looked very small and very fragile against the roiling backdrop of sky and sea. Making a small, strangled sound in the back of his throat, Hayden started forward. Lottie grabbed his arm, pointing at the loose rocks beneath his daughter’s feet.

They crept forward as one, terrified that their approach would startle her over the edge.

When they had drawn close enough to be heard over the roar of the waves crashing against the jagged rocks below, Hayden gently called out, “Allegra.”

She turned, the sudden motion making her sway. Hayden’s muscles went rigid and Lottie knew it was taking every ounce of his self-control not to spring forward and try to snatch his baby up into his arms. Tears misted Lottie’s eyes when she saw the ragged doll Allegra was clutching.

“Allegra, darling,”

Lottie said, smiling tenderly at the girl.

“your father and I have been so very worried. Won’t you come here and let us have a look at you?”

Allegra shook her head fiercely, the wind whipping her loose hair across her tear-streaked face.

“I don’t want you looking at me. I don’t want anyone looking at me.”

Lottie and Hayden exchanged a bewildered glance. Stretching out one hand, Hayden began to inch closer to Allegra. She recoiled, skittering even closer to that deadly abyss. As he froze, his hand still outstretched, Lottie would have traded ten years of her life to be spared the look she saw on his face in that moment.

“Are you afraid of me, Allegra? Is that it? Are you afraid of me because you think I hurt your mother?”

She shook her head again.

“I know you didn’t hurt her. I heard you and Lottie talking. I know the truth now. I know exactly who killed my mama.”

Hayden could barely choke out the word. “Who?”

Allegra lifted her chin, looking her father in the eye. “I did.”

Hayden took two more steps toward her, unable to stop himself.

“Of course you didn’t! How can you say such a ridiculous thing?”

“Because it’s true! I couldn’t understand why she loved me so much on some days, but couldn’t seem to stand the sight of me on others. One day I stood outside her door for hours and I cried and I begged her to come out and play with me. But she wouldn’t. So I got mad and I shouted, ‘I hate you! I hate you! I wish you were dead!’ ”

Allegra’s chest hitched with a broken sob.

“And then she was.”

“Oh, honey.”

Hayden dropped to his knees in front of her, blinking back his own tears.

“You didn’t kill your mama. You’re not to blame for her death. Your mother was very sick and she didn’t know any other way to end the pain.”

He shook his head helplessly.

“She loved you so very much. You were the light of her life. If she hadn’t been sick, she would have never left you. She would have never left either one of us.”

Lottie squeezed Hayden’s shoulder, knowing it was the first time he’d ever said those words and believed them. He wasn’t only exonerating Allegra; he was forgiving himself for all the sins he’d never committed.

He stretched one trembling hand toward his daughter.

“Please come here, sweetheart. Come to Papa.”

Allegra’s face crumpled. She reached for him, but in that moment, a violent gust of wind caught her cloak and tugged her backward. Her feet began to slide on the loose rocks. As her legs pedaled madly, fighting for balance, Hayden lunged for her and Lottie lunged for Hayden.

Allegra screamed, the shrill sound the stuff of nightmares. Hayden caught the front of her cloak in his fist just as Lottie’s doll slipped out of her arms and went plummeting toward the crashing waves below. The three of them teetered there, trapped in a battle with the wind. Digging her fingernails into the back of Hayden’s coat, Lottie gritted her teeth and tugged with all of her might, knowing he would never let go of his daughter, not even if he had to go over the edge of that cliff with her.

Terrified that she was going to lose them both, she clenched her eyes shut and whispered.

“Please, oh dear God, please…”

At that precise moment, a wild surge of jasmine-scented wind propelled Allegra up and into her father’s arms. All three of them went tumbling backward, collapsing against the rocks.

“Oh, Papa!”

Allegra cried, throwing herself into Hayden’s arms for the first time in four years.

Wrapping his arms around her, he buried his face in her tangled hair.

“It’s all right, baby. Papa’s here. He’ll never let you go.”

Trembling with relief and astonishment, Lottie glanced toward the cliff. The ethereal outline of a woman was drifting in the air. As she smiled and nodded without a trace of mockery in her sparkling violet eyes, Lottie finally understood the message she had returned to deliver—in death she had finally found the peace that eluded her in life.

Lottie slowly nodded back at her, accepting Justine’s unspoken blessing to make this man and child her own. By the time Hayden lifted his head, she was gone as if she had never been anything more than a wisp of cloud drifting across the stormswept sky.

As Hayden reached for Lottie, drawing her into their enchanted circle, she smiled up at him through a shimmering veil of tears.

“It’s all right, Hayden. I understand now that Justine will always be your first love.”

He cupped her cheek in his hand, his green eyes both fierce and tender.

“Justine might have been my first love, but you, my sweet Lottie, will be my last.”

As his lips brushed hers, his kiss flooding her with wonder and hope, the sun broke through the clouds and a merry measure of piano music drifted to their ears.

Hayden froze.

“Did you hear that?”

he asked, looking around wildly.

“Do you think it was a ghost?”

“Don’t be silly, Papa,”

Allegra said, tilting her nose in the air.

Exchanging a grinning glance, she and Lottie finished in unison.

“There are no such things as ghosts!”