Chapter 33
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
“Iknow no more than you do,” Gregory simpered, his hands clasped, his head bowed like the weaselly little coward that he was. “Truly, he just appeared and demanded to speak with her, and I could not refuse.”
A tall figure in a cloak stood with his back to Adrian and Valerie, his posture tense and his tone less than patient.
“Listen, I did not come all this way to be left out in the hallway while some other gentleman speaks to my betrothed. This is discourtesy of the utmost degree, and I will not stand for it. Whoever this fellow is, you go in there and you instruct him to leave.”
It cannot be… Adrian squinted as if that might help him to better understand what he was seeing and hearing.
That voice was as familiar to him as his own.
It was a voice he had heard every day when he was away at school and was usually more interested in regaling him with lewd stories instead of educating a baron on courtesy.
Then again, Adrian did not often see the ‘society version’ of his friend.
“Richard?”
The cloaked man turned as if he had just heard a pistol shot, whipping around with a startled look upon his face.
Although, whether that was because he was seeing Adrian out in the wild, instead of behind the same four walls, or if it was the fact that his best and oldest friend was holding hands with, presumably, his betrothed was something Adrian could not decipher.
Valerie tugged on Adrian’s hand, her face scrunched in a mask of complete confusion. “You know him?”
“Adrian?” Richard rasped, shaking his head as if he were looking at a mirage. “Adrian, what on earth are you doing here?” He shot a glare at the baron. “Why did you not tell me that it was the Duke of Norwood speaking with your daughter?”
A little unanchored, Adrian did not know who to respond to first. He had been ready to do whatever he had to in order to wrench Valerie away from her betrothed, but he could not very well challenge his dearest—and, in truth, only—friend to a duel. Could he?
“He is my dear friend,” Adrian replied to Valerie, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. “We have known one another since we were boys. Indeed, he was briefly at Blackwall Castle when you were, though I… did not want the two of you to meet. I did not know that he was your betrothed.”
Valerie squinted, her throat bobbing. “It does not change anything, though, does it?”
“Certainly not,” Adrian reassured, leaning in to whisper, “You are mine, my love. No one else will have you but me.”
But, this did rather complicate matters.
“I thought you were at Roseby’s?” Adrian said, turning his attention to his friend. “You were supposed to be visiting me on New Year’s Eve. That is tomorrow. So, how can you be here?”
Richard approached, a confused smile upon his lips.
“I meant to ride to Blackwall this afternoon, to arrive by tomorrow. I have been back in London these past couple of days—Roseby’s was terribly dull now that he has so many children, so I made my excuses.
” His gaze flitted between his friend and Valerie.
“I had intended to try and invite you to my wedding on Twelfth Night, but it seems you have already met my bride.”
“My bride, Richard,” Adrian replied in an even tone, mustering a smile of his own. “The night you were certain I was hiding a woman in the castle—Valerie is that woman.”
He gave the abridged version of how the two had come to know one another, leaving out the saucier details.
The baron did not need to hear that and, in truth, neither did Richard.
He might have enjoyed telling his tales of debauchery to Adrian, but Adrian was not of the same mind: he preferred to keep what was private, private.
“I rode here at once, realizing what a goose I had been,” he concluded. “I love her, Richard. I love her and I mean to marry her. So, as your oldest friend and as the man who loves her, I ask you to stand aside. You will be compensated, of course.”
For what felt like an eternity, Richard stood there with a blank look on his face, one hand resting on his hip while the other lightly pinched his lips in thought.
Meanwhile, Gregory had turned a rather alarming shade of purple, like an infant holding its breath because it could not get its way. But what could he say? He could not intervene in a matter between two dukes; he was a mere baron who had caused this mess in the first place.
But if he had not, Valerie would not have fled, and I would never have met her. For that, at least, Adrian was strangely grateful.
“I never thought I would see the day.” Richard broke the tense silence at last, a breathy laugh escaping his throat.
“If you had told me that it was snowing in July, I would have believed it more than this. For so many years, I have tried to lure you out of your castle to re-enter society and meet a bride, and then one—mine—just stumbles in and does in one festive season what I have never been able to do in ten or more.”
Adrian shrugged. “Perhaps, it was all your desperate prayers for me to find a wife, finally coming true.”
He could not tell if this was a good sign or a bad one, his friend’s expression and tone falling somewhere between the two: annoyed but amused, pleased but frustrated.
“It took me an age to find a suitable wife,” Richard continued, groaning.
A dull Englishwoman, I believe you called her. Adrian kept that to himself; Valerie did not need to hear the insult, even if it was not in the least bit true. There was nothing dull about her.
“You can find another,” Adrian urged calmly. “I cannot. It is Valerie or no one.”
He felt her lightly squeeze his hand, as she peered up at him with a worried smile. There was such love in those pretty green eyes; he would not lose it, no matter what.
“How am I supposed to refuse my oldest friend when he has done the impossible and found himself a bride? Not just a bride, but one he loves?” Richard swept a hand through his hair, shaking his head as another stiff chuckle slipped from his lips.
“I do not believe in miracles, Adrian, but this must be one. Prayers answered, indeed.”
“You do not need to listen to this gentleman,” Gregory muttered, wringing his hands. “We had a deal.”
Richard cast the man a sharp look, his lip curling in displeasure. “And it was not much of a deal to begin with,” he said coolly. “Indeed, I believe my investments will be better placed elsewhere. I find that I no longer wish to bind my family to yours.”
Heart thudding that little bit harder, Adrian cleared his throat. “Does that mean…?”
“My good man, she is clearly yours,” Richard replied, grinning.
“Miss Wightman, you may consider our engagement broken. Marry my dear friend and, by goodness, make him happy! I have wanted nothing more for him since I first met him. Indeed, it is apparent to me that you are deserving of whatever you want, Miss Wightman, for you have achieved something remarkable—you have managed to get him out of his castle! This is the closest he has come to London in over ten years! I would invite you both to reside with me at my townhouse for New Year’s Eve, but I daresay I should not push my luck. ”
All of a sudden, a great laugh bubbled up in Adrian’s chest and spilled from his mouth, filling the hallway with a sound he had not heard in…
more years than he cared to remember. A gasp whispered from his side, and when he looked down, Valerie was beaming from ear to ear, as excited by his laugh as if he had given her a diamond the size of a duck egg.
“I have never loved a sound more,” she murmured, her hand to her heart. “Oh… what a laugh you have.”
Richard, too, seemed dumbstruck. “I had forgotten what that sounded like.” He sighed. “Goodness, I am almost tempted to ride to the Archbishop of Canterbury this minute and insist on him letting you marry at once!”
“That will not be necessary,” Adrian said, smiling. “We will do this the proper way, not in haste, but with all the planning that my bride desires. She is rather good at such things, as it turns out.”
Just then, the powder keg that was Gregory finally exploded, his pent-up tantrum bursting forth.
“This is beyond an insult!” the baron raged. “I am Valerie’s father! I am the one who makes the decisions. You cannot simply break an engagement and a deal because some other gentleman turned up. No one has asked me for my opinion, yet you are all in my house!”
The smile faded from Adrian’s face, and though Richard looked primed to put the baron in his place, he said nothing. Perhaps, he knew that it was Adrian’s responsibility to deal with his future father-in-law, or maybe he merely wished to spectate for once, instead of being the one scolding.
“You should be grateful that I am not just taking my beloved and leaving you with nothing,” Adrian snarled, pulling away from Valerie for a moment so he could stand over the wretched little man.
“If you had bothered to have some patience and some courtesy of your own, you would have learned that I have already promised to pay your debts. Not for you, but for her, so she can be free of you at last.”
The baron blinked up at him, his lips clamped shut.
“It is a pathetic man who must use his daughter as a pawn,” Adrian continued.
“It is even more pathetic that you think you can speak so rudely in my presence. I, like my friend, cannot abide rudeness. As for your precious opinion: you have no grounds on which to reject this, so I suggest you stay silent.”
Turning an even deeper shade of red, hands balled into white-knuckled fists, Gregory did just that.
Evidently, there was more he wanted to say, but with the prospect of his debts being cleared hanging over him, there was nothing he could say.
Not without risking his own freedom being taken away from him.
“But, I warn you now,” Adrian added, “if the debt returns after I have removed it, there will be no second chance. You will receive nothing more from me.”
A tight smile made the older man seem almost maniacal. “Very well, Your Grace.” He puffed out a breath. “I have no objection.”
“I am glad to hear it,” Adrian replied, as he retraced his steps back to Valerie.
She smiled up at him with such affection in her eyes that it swept away the sourness of having to put her wretched father in his place. Seeing her look at him like that was worth any unpleasantness, any challenge.
“Well then…” Richard clapped his hands together to punctuate the conversation. “I would have called this a wasted journey if I had not seen the impossible become possible before my very eyes. Will you be journeying back to Blackwall or will you be staying here, Adrian?”
“Blackwall,” Valerie replied before Adrian could. “We might yet arrive back in time for the new year.”
Richard nodded. “I will ride north, then, so I may join you to celebrate this momentous occasion.”
He walked forward and put out his hand. Adrian grasped it and shook it, so very delighted that it had been Richard who was due to marry Valerie. Things might not have worked out so well if it had been anyone else.
“If you arrive before us, inform the staff to prepare a feast,” Adrian said. “But do not tell them of the engagement, or that Valerie is returning with me. I would like to surprise them myself.”
Richard chuckled. “You sly fox.” He paused, eyebrow raised. “The young lady has changed you, Adrian, and I can confidently say it is for the better.”
“I cannot argue with that,” Adrian replied, as he brought Valerie’s hand to his lips and kissed it gently.
A fond smile graced Richard’s face. “I shall depart, then.” He flashed a wink at Adrian. “But, know this, you owe me now, my dear friend. And I already know just how you can pay me back.”
As much as Adrian cherished his oldest friend, he did not altogether like the sound of that. But Richard was gone, making a swift exit before Adrian could ask him to elaborate.