Page 33 of Starlight and the Duke (Cherish and the Duke #5)

He nodded, wanting to laugh at the sight of the three of them subduing Anne while Cordelia was toppling into the garden below.

He would have found it hilarious were it not for the possibility they might have been hurt themselves.

He wasn’t going to calm down for a while after witnessing that close call.

Reggie and Bromleigh pushed their way through the crowd to reach their wives, their faces ashen when they realized what had just happened.

“Cherish, dear heaven! What were you thinking?” Bromleigh growled as he drew his wife into his arms and let out a shuddering breath.

Cherish frowned up at her husband when he released her. “I was thinking to help my best friend. Would you not have done the same?”

“Of course, but…but…” He glanced helplessly at his wife, no doubt wanting to chide her for risking her own safety while in her delicate condition, but could not say anything, since they had not made the formal announcement yet.

“Besides,” Cherish said, her manner softening as she noticed her husband’s dismay, “I merely helped to hold her down after the fact. It was Margaret who laid her low.”

“My sweet Margaret?” Reggie’s eyes widened as he wrapped an arm around his wife’s waist. “What did you do?”

Margaret regarded him with big, innocent eyes. “I merely applied what you taught me.”

Bromleigh stared at his nephew. “Reggie, what in blazes have you been teaching your wife?”

“How to defend herself,” Reggie said with a ring of pride. “I wanted her to be able to protect herself if ever I was not around. I’m so proud of you, love. But…what happened?”

Margaret quickly explained. “You know how you can just feel malice in a person?”

Rob supposed it was that same uncanny ability that made the hair on the back of his neck prickle whenever he sensed danger.

“I noticed what she and Cordelia were about to do, so I…” She showed her husband her exact motions, although she did not use any force when digging into his ribs with her elbow.

“Well done,” Reggie muttered, and kissed her on the cheek.

“How did Cordelia take a tumble?” Bromleigh asked, staring at Fiona. “Weren’t you the one meant to go over into the bushes?”

Fiona cleared her throat as she nodded. “I knew to dart out of the way upon hearing Margaret’s warning, so she missed me, and…well, she might have tripped over my foot.”

“You tripped her?” Reggie asked.

Fiona looked marvelously indignant as she tipped her chin up. “My foot was there. How is it my fault she stumbled over it?”

Rob let out a breath and whispered in her ear, “Thank goodness for your big feet.”

She laughed and swatted his shoulder. “That remark is going to cost you.”

He grinned, knowing he could tease her in this manner because she actually had dainty feet, and she knew he adored everything about her.

But the incident had given him a scare, and they all needed a little humor injected to relieve the tension. Finding himself in need of more relief, he kissed Fiona more thoroughly than he ought to have done.

But when would he get away with kissing her in public like this again? After all, they had just announced their betrothal and had been about to celebrate with a champagne toast before those two crones had attempted to harm Fiona.

The betrothal toast was postponed for twenty minutes while he and Bromleigh first dealt with Anne and her parents.

They were appalled, ashamed, so disappointed in their daughter, and apologized profusely.

They offered to pack up and leave this very night, but Bromleigh took pity on them.

“First thing in the morning will do. There are too many dangers in traveling in the dark.”

They next met with Milbury, who attended them without his sister, since she required medical treatment for her broken ankle. Ramsdale, because of his experiences on the field of battle, was able to attend to it without need to summon a doctor.

Cordelia ought to have been grateful, for she would have been left writhing in pain for hours were it not for his capable treatment.

But gratitude was not in her nature.

Milbury appeared quite humiliated as he joined him and Bromleigh in the study.

“Durham…Bromleigh… I don’t know what to say.

I am horrified by what my sister attempted to do to Lady Shoreham.

Obviously, she is not well. I ought to have noticed it sooner, but I was so lost in my own grief, I…

Well, that is no excuse. Thank goodness she managed to harm only herself.

But I shudder to think what she might have done to my boys if they ever displeased her. ”

“Yes, get her away from them immediately,” Rob said.

“This very night,” Milbury agreed, and then gave an agonized groan. “To think, I considered having her look after them. I expect you shall want me to leave now and want nothing more to do with me or my family, who have caused you so much trouble. I fully understand and will not blame you.”

Fiona had come in to join them and heard most of what Milbury said. “Your sister is the one who must answer for herself. I do not blame you, Lord Milbury.”

He turned to Fiona, not realizing she had been standing at the threshold and listening in.

“But I am responsible. I should have been more alert and noticed her behavior had become erratic. She’d seemed a bit withdrawn since coming to Milbury Hill, but I attributed it to fatigue from her travels.

Dear heaven, for this reason I had not pressed her to take over the care of my sons. ”

“Who has been watching them?” Fiona asked.

He winced. “I have. They’ve been in my care these past few days…my incompetent care. But she was meant to take over the task starting tomorrow. Thank goodness I delayed it. The idea of having her watch my sons? No, it is all my fault.”

Fiona frowned. “Why are you placing all the blame on yourself? You are a good father who was trying to do right by his children.”

“And might have exposed them to great danger,” he said with a wealth of feeling to mark his continued anguish. “Lady Shoreham, I shall understand if you refuse to ever speak to me again or ever have anything to do with me or my boys.”

“Nonsense. You are all welcome at Shoreham Manor, as I hope Durham and I shall be welcome at Milbury Hill.”

“Most assuredly,” he said with much surprise. “Both of you have an open invitation. I cannot begin to thank you for all you have done for my family.”

“But you will understand if your sister shall never be permitted to set foot on my property,” Fiona added.

Milbury let out a breath. “Nor will I allow her anywhere near mine again. First thing in the morning, I shall be making arrangements to place her in a sanitarium, where she may live out the rest of her days in comfort but under watchful care. In the meantime, I shall have to figure out how to be enough of a father to those lads to make up for the loss of their mother.”

“You’ll do fine, Milbury,” Fiona said. “But call upon Durham and myself if ever you are in need of assistance.”

Milbury rose and bowed over her hand. “I will try my best not to abuse your kindness, Lady Shoreham. Nor will I allow my boys to trouble you very much. It may not be easy, for they regard you as their fairy princess.”

Rob smiled at Fiona when she glanced at him. Yes, she was his fairy princess. Soon, his wife. He could not fault Milbury’s sons for having good taste.

Bromleigh spoke up once Milbury left. “Fiona, are you all right?” It was just the three of them now.

“Yes, perfectly fine thanks to your wife and Margaret.”

He released a deflated breath. “I’m so sorry your joyful moment was ruined. Shall we try another toast to celebrate your betrothal?”

She nodded. “Yes, have your footmen pour everyone another glass of champagne. But give me a moment alone with Rob. There is something I need to say to him.”

Rob’s heart hitched. Was she backing out?

No, she would not have agreed to another toast.

Bromleigh left them in his study and shut the door behind him to allow them privacy.

“What is it, love?” Rob asked when she stood before him and simply stared at him.

“I was so afraid.”

He took her into his arms. “When? Out there on the terrace when Anne and Cordelia—”

“No, not that. Even if they had managed to push me over, I would have ignored any bruises or broken bones and gotten up out of spite to unleash my fury on them. You know I am no meek flower.”

He smiled, for she could indeed be fierce when she wanted to be. “You would have had them cowering.”

But she could also be soft and vulnerable, as she often was with him. And now, for her to admit she was afraid meant something serious.

“What scared you, Fiona?”

“These past few years,” she said, still looking up at him, “as my love for you changed from abiding friendship into something more… I did not think it possible for you to love me as much as I loved you. I did not realize love could bury itself so deeply into one’s soul or devour one’s heart so completely. ”

He cast her a wry smile. “It was always this way for me and my feelings for you, holding you in innocent love when we were children, and then it blossomed into something more.”

“I felt the same,” she said. “It has taken me until now to accept this is real and trust in our feelings.”

He shook his head. “What you mean is that you did not trust mine.”

“Only because I dared not believe you could feel this way about me, too.”

He frowned. “Was it not obvious? Have I not made an idiot of myself over you?”

She smiled. “I couldn’t see it because the depth of my love for you frightened me so much that it blinded me in many ways. I made up all these excuses about why I should not marry you. I was too old. I could not give you children. I could never—”

“We don’t know that children are out of the question.”

“Oh, Rob,” she said, her smile fading. “Do not get your hopes up for something that will never happen.”

“And do not be so certain it won’t. But if it turns out you are right, I will never be disappointed.

Whatever my future holds, it will be a future with you in it.

With us together, as we were always meant to be.

I found my fairy princess when I was barely a lad out of leading strings—she just took a little longer to find me. ”

“Rob…”

“Yes, love?”

“Do you think it is possible for us to marry tomorrow?”