Page 33 of To Steal a Lyon’s Heart (The Lyon’s Den Connected World #85)

Mr. Clark,

Meet me at White’s at half past three. Tell them you’re meeting a Mr. Porter. I have evidence of Lord Alston’s death.

T hey left it unsigned.

Sam could still hear Amelia’s litany of curses on his head as he and Blakewood took the carriage to White’s.

Sam stared out the window, agog at the world and how big it seemed after his confinement.

Was he mistaken, or was London more beautiful than it used to be?

He must be delirious. It was the same but not, or perhaps he simply had a new appreciation for the ability to leave his home.

Sam took a deep breath and skated his hand over the velvet of the coach seat.

Bloody hell, he even missed his coach. He flicked at the tassel hanging on the small curtain and smiled.

“Something amiss?” Blakewood asked with amusement.

Sam shrugged. “I just can’t believe I’m finally outside.”

He wished Daisy were here, and Amelia, but White’s would not permit women entry.

Which meant that Aunt Ruth would also be absent.

Sam wanted a public place to enact his humiliation on Nelson without his mother there to use her hysterics to their advantage.

The woman fainted at clouds if it could so much as earn her a glance from a person of note.

“Are you sure about this?” Blakewood asked.

“Absolutely.”

“It will stir up more scandal.”

“Nelson loves scandal. And Aunt Ruth will get all the attention she desperately craves, just not in the manner she wants.”

“She’ll be cut.”

“Likely.”

“You really don’t care?” Blakewood asked with skepticism.

Sam ground his teeth as he pulled his gaze reluctantly from the passing scenery. “Why should I care?”

“They are still family.”

“You are my family,” Sam said.

Blakewood huffed. “As warmed as I am by that sentiment, it has always been my duty to play devil’s advocate. Think of all the outcomes.”

“I have.”

“And? What about Daisy? She’s already been affected by my an Amelia’s hasty marriage. This will only add to the savage gossip.”

“We’ll marry out of town. Once all this is done, let’s quit the season. We’ll stay at Alston Abbey and enjoy the quiet.”

“Your life hasn’t been quiet enough?”

“Don’t be obtuse. We can fish, take walks, picnic, play lawn games, and enjoy life without the presence and pressures of loathsome people like Chase and Nelson lurking about. I want to move past all of this, and I cannot do that without a change of scene.”

Blakewood twisted his mouth and looked away. “I suppose that is warranted.”

“I want peace, Blakewood. I want to feel like I can breathe and not worry about what I could lose. Alston Abbey is a refuge. My home. Daisy will love it there.”

Blakewood smiled. “She will.”

“Have you heard from your parents?”

Blakewood nodded. “I received a message this morning. They’ll return in two days.”

“Will Daisy have to return home?”

“Likely. It wouldn’t be proper for her to stay, not once the truth is revealed.”

“I’ll speak to your father first, shall I? Ask for her hand properly.”

“That would help.”

“How entrenched is their friendship with Lady Claystone?”

Blakewood shook his head. “Lady Claystone and my mother are childhood friends, but she’s always been a strict woman.

And as Daisy got older, Lady Claystone became more demanding and chiding.

She tries to hide it, but I know she considers our father beneath her.

She thinks our mother married down. It causes a lot of tension between Lady Claystone and our father, so he avoids her and our mother doesn’t press it.

In the beginning, Daisy looked up to Lady Claystone.

Daisy was trying so hard to please her. I thought this connection, this marriage, was what Daisy wanted—we all did.

So we placated Lady Claystone. I never imagined Daisy would be unhappy and hide it from us. ”

Sam fought his rising anger. “Daisy wants to make everyone happy.”

“To the detriment of herself,” Blakewood said somberly.

“But now I can be the one to guard her happiness,” Sam said.

Blakewood half smiled. “I still don’t see it.”

Sam frowned. “See what?”

“The two of you together. It doesn’t make sense.”

“What the devil does that mean?”

“I forget sometimes how young you are, Alston. You are wise beyond your years in some ways—you’ve had to be. You took on an immense responsibility at a young age. So, when I see you with Daisy, who my parents and I have admittedly sheltered, it seems at odds. She’s so meek—”

“She’s short stature and that is often associated with meekness. She’s been trained to be meek, but I think she has a wild side.”

Blakewood leveled a glare at Sam. “She is sweet and innocent.”

Sam smiled. “She is.”

Blakewood narrowed his eyes at him.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m not a reprobate. She is my betrothed as far as I’m concerned. And don’t pretend your conduct with my sister was chaste before you wed, Blakewood.”

“Amelia is not like Daisy.”

“No, Amelia is loud, impatient, stubborn, and adventurous, but still a young woman who was also sweet and innocent not that long ago. I happen to know she’d never kissed a man before you.

She is my twin. She always told me all her secrets, up until you crossed the boundary from enemy to lover. ” Sam grimaced and shook his head.

“I became her friend first,” Blakewood argued. “I wanted only to protect her.”

“Yet you think I don’t want the same for Daisy?

I had no one to talk to. I couldn’t bear to look at the two of you in wedded bliss knowing I—” Sam swallowed, “I was empty. Don’t you understand?

There was this emptiness inside me, and I didn’t think I would have anything to fill it with.

Something had been taken from me, and I couldn’t name it.

All I knew were anger and sadness. Those feelings only intensified when you and Amelia were in the room, bloody making moon eyes at each other, holding hands.

That had been taken from me. The chance to fall in love, to feel those wonderful things.

I’d sit there and wonder, what if I did die?

You two had each other now. Amelia was safe.

You were her champion. I wasn’t needed.”

“Sam,” Blakewood said with shock, “ we needed you.”

Sam’s eyes burned and he looked away. “Death has a way of bringing the blurry bits into focus. Daisy and I are more similar than you think. For too long I’ve been playing the older gent.

Sure, I revel like any bachelor of my status, but my childhood was cut short.

My university years were spent balancing studies and the responsibilities of my title.

I worried constantly about Amelia, knowing how unhappy she was living with Aunt Ruth.

There was no peace. You can’t say I spent an inordinate amount of time drinking and gambling, can you? Not then. There wasn’t time.”

“No, that was what drew me to you. You weren’t annoying like the other young lads. You had intelligence and a gravity that I appreciated.”

“Exactly. I went from childhood to adulthood with no in between. I don’t feel young, Blakewood. But when I look at Daisy, suddenly I do. She’s the springtime after my winter.”

Blakewood blinked at that, and Sam grinned. He knew he’d stunned him with that last bit.

“Don’t question what I feel for her. You hated Amelia, or at least you pretended you did.”

“I didn’t hate her. I just didn’t know how to hide my feelings. Disdain was the easiest to keep a barrier between us. Your courtship, however, is unusually fast. I don’t know how I’ll explain it to my parents.”

“Then don’t. Some things don’t need answers or explanations. I’m a medical miracle, after all—I can’t even explain how I’m alive. We can just take these gifts as they come and be grateful.”

“Every second is a gift,” Blakewood murmured.

“What?”

“Don’t you remember?” Blakewood asked.

Sam shook his head.

“When Amelia first saw you after your injury, that is what Dr. Bradley said to her. ‘Every second is a gift.’ He was referring to your life.”

“What was left of it, you mean,” Sam said.

Blakewood nodded somberly.

“Every second is a gift, and when I’m with Daisy, time stops.”

Blakewood looked up at him. “That’s how it feels with Amelia.”

“Then we should both be glad our sisters have found two men to love them.”

The carriage came to a stop and the tiger opened the door. Blakewood and Sam got out in front of White’s. Blakewood went in first to see if Nelson had arrived then came back out with a scowl.

“He’s not here yet,” Blakewood said.

Sam checked his watch. “Late? To such an important meeting? We may as well sit and have a drink.”

“I’d rather pace out here.”

“Be calm, Blakewood. It’s not like he’ll pull out a pistol. He’s a coward.”

Blakewood wiped at the back of his neck.

“Nervous?”

“I don’t like spectacles, not like you and Amelia do.”

“I can do this on my own, you know.”

Blakewood huffed in aggravation as Sam moved past him. He pushed through the door, the scents of cigars and spirits assaulting his nose in a familiar but not so pleasant aroma that he remembered it to be. Sam took a seat at a table, glances turning his way and followed by frantic whispering.

“Alston? Back from the dead, are you?”

Sam smiled. “Daniel. The devil wouldn’t keep me.”

Sir Daniel approached Sam’s table. “May I sit?”

“I’m waiting for someone.”

Sir Daniel raised a brow, his sooty black hair slicked back and his eyes sparkling with mischief. “What happened to you?”

“I fell off my horse and broke a rib.”

“Your cousin has been using your title, you know.”

“I know.” Sam sipped his drink. “That’s why I’m here to correct him.”

Sir Daniel stroked his chin. “Fisticuffs? Should I make a bet before he arrives?”

Sam frowned. “You don’t think I could beat him?”

“He might stand a chance if your rib is still poorly. Action has been sadly lacking since you’ve been absent at the Den, you know.”

“So, you missed me? Didn’t my sister trounce you soundly in my place?”