Chapter 5 #3
Presently, the earl finished his conversation with the runner. As soon as the door closed behind Briggs, Richard turned, his face stormy with emotion. He stalked across the room, eyes blazing.
Before Brendan could react, the Earl of Saunton’s fist connected with his jaw.
The room swam out of focus. He dimly saw the large duke springing forward, coat-tails flaring as he rushed to intervene.
Darkness swallowed him whole.
“Brendan?”
Slowly, he opened his eyes. Halmesbury loomed above him, his usually unreadable gray eyes revealing a flicker of concern.
Groggy, Brendan tried to recall the past several moments. Or had it been minutes? It was impossible to know. His memory was clouded, the pain in his jaw a steady, pulsing throb.
“Why is Richard angry with me?” His voice came out hoarse, as though it had been scraped with sand.
Halmesbury hesitated, his features tightening. “It came to light why you would not name the woman you were with. We are both rather … appalled.”
Brendan blinked, frowning at the ceiling. His thoughts struggled to order themselves. Are my wits addled? He had expected judgment, but appalled? That word hit oddly. “About Lady Slight?”
“Nay, you blackguard! About Lily! She is my wife’s cousin. An innocent!”
Richard’s fury hit the air like a thunderclap. Brendan had never seen the earl so unhinged—his complexion blanched in fury, cheekbones stark, green eyes bright with rage.
“What about Lily?”
“You debauched her, you treacherous lech!”
Brendan turned his head slowly toward Halmesbury, wincing at the movement. “Who is Lily?”
That did it.
Richard surged forward, the air between them charged with violence.
“Hold off, Saunton!” The duke’s deep voice rang out as he blocked the earl’s advance, standing firm between the two men. “I think there is more to this.”
Brendan raised a hand to rub at his bruised jaw, his mind finally beginning to clear. “I was with Lady Slight that night. I knew if I named her without her consent, she would deny it. And truthfully … I did not want to admit it aloud. I was embarrassed.”
Halmesbury’s brows drew together, a flicker of confusion crossing his face. “You are saying … Moreland’s daughter lied about being with you? Why would the young lady destroy her reputation to protect you?”
“I do not know.”
“What is this?” Richard’s voice cracked with disbelief. “Never say you believe this scoundrel?”
Brendan frowned. “Which one is Lily, exactly?”
Richard let out a growl of disbelief and stalked closer. Brendan tensed, grateful that the duke stood sentinel between them.
“She is my wife’s cousin, you deviant!”
Brendan furrowed his brow, trying to remember.
“My word, man! She was with us in this very room two days ago!” Richard gestured wildly toward a nearby chair.
Brendan closed his eyes and searched his memory. “The little one who looks like a fairy?”
The earl took a sharp step forward, rage tightening his features, but the duke’s hand shot up again.
“She is lovely,” Richard rebuked firmly, warning in his tone.
“The one who never stops talking?” Brendan said, still blinking in confusion.
“She is a lively optimist,” the earl snapped. “And she barely spoke the day of the murder. She was heartsick for Annabel.”
“I barely know her. I hardly recollect she was here, after all that happened that day.”
“You will have plenty of time to correct that—when you wed!”
Brendan’s mouth parted. “I cannot marry her!”
“You shall! The young woman has destroyed her reputation to save your neck!”
Brendan sat upright, his hand flying to his throat. A cold chill settled along his spine. He could have hanged. He would have hanged. Grimes had nearly arrested him, and without an alibi, there had been no defense. No hope.
The motive had been clear. The means unquestioned. The baron was dead. Brendan would have been tried for patricide.
That the woman—Lily—had sacrificed everything to save him, for reasons he could not fathom, made his stomach clench.
He remembered her now. Tiny, with those wide, expressive eyes and that nervous chatter. She had always seemed like a side character—a child—in the drawing rooms of Town.
And yet, she had just procured his freedom and his life.
Collapsing back to the floor with a slow exhale, Brendan closed his eyes again.
“I suppose,” he muttered, “that I shall have to marry her.”
“What have you done?” Her mother’s wail cut through the drawing room, a desperate cry that interrupted Papa’s calm explanation of Lily’s predicament.
Aidan spun away from the fireplace, an ornate creation of veined marble and carved acanthus leaves, and staggered to a nearby armchair, collapsing into its cushioned depths.
His face had turned ashen, his usually rakish expression stripped of all composure.
“This is all my fault … If I had been here as agreed …”
Lily did not move. She could not. Her gaze remained fixed upon the hearth’s blackened grate, now cold and empty.
Her hands were clenched in her lap, the tension in her fingers making her knuckles throb.
Her family’s reactions echoed around her like distant voices muffled by water, her heartbeat roaring in her ears.
“There is no time for regrets,” Papa said quietly. His voice, low but unwavering, cut across the disarray in the room. “Lily felt compelled to act, and it is our place to support her.”
“But, Hugh, she is ruined!” Mama cried, twisting a handkerchief in her trembling fingers. “Lily will never make a good match now that the peerage believes she was bedded by … by … by a murderer!”
Lily winced at the word, her lips pressed together as though to contain the swell of emotion threatening to escape. A wave of cold dread passed through her. Yet still, beneath the mortification, a steady voice within repeated, You did the right thing. There was no other choice.
Papa’s tone sharpened slightly. “Christiana, Mr. Ridley is not a murderer. Lily has merely reported what she saw. She has done what any decent person ought and provided him with the alibi he so sorely lacked.”
“But, Hugh—”
“Our child will be secure,” he bellowed, a wall of loud resolve, “because we shall stand with her!”
Lily flinched. She had never heard Papa raise his voice before. He was usually accommodating to her mother’s wishes, but there was one subject on which he always stood firm. Family loyalty always came first.
Lily supposed she was fortunate that this was the case.
When she had knocked on the door of his study, she had not been certain how he would react to what she had to tell him, but she should have known.
Papa had immediately called for the rest of the family to join them so he could break the news. Even now, he stood by her side.
She looked up at her father, towering above her. His face showed the signs of aging, but his square jaw was firm and his expression resolute.
Blowing a deep sigh, Papa relaxed his features before continuing. “I know you wanted Lily to make a good match—the best match—but her conscience dictated that she take action. Now our family must work together to help her forge a new path.”
Her mother lifted a hand to cover her mouth, a sob escaping as her chocolate brown eyes glistened. Lily’s heart wrenched in her chest. Her own eyes prickled with the threat of tears as she dropped her head to stare at her twisting fingers.
“I am … so sorry. I … did not know what else to do.”
“Nay, I bear the blame!” Aidan jumped to his feet, pacing back and forth and flinging his hands into the air.
“If I had been here that night, I would have seen him myself and been able to step forward as his alibi. It is my fault that Lily was alone. If not for me, she would never have been in this situation in the first place.”
“Aidan.”
Her brother continued to pace in front of the large fireplace, mumbling about his culpability.
“Aidan!”
He stopped to look at their father, who said, “Lily made her decision, and there is no undoing it now. News of her spending the night with Ridley will spread through the ton shortly, and we must prepare ourselves.”
Aidan nodded dully, still pale from the shock of recent revelations.
“Will … will Mr. Ridley offer for her?” Mama’s voice was fretful, and guilt stabbed Lily.
“I shall contact him forthwith to learn his intentions.”
“And if he does not?”
Papa firmed his jaw at the question.
Please, Lord. Mr. Ridley must help me!
“We must find a gentleman willing to marry her.”
Lily nearly choked at Mama’s declaration. What kind of man would be willing to marry her now? Surely not an upstanding one?
Papa shook his head, much to her relief.
“Aidan will take her to the Continent until the scandal dies down?” Her father glanced her way, and Lily nodded in agreement. She had contemplated many alternatives over the course of the night, and that was the only one which appealed.
But Mr. Ridley will do the right thing. He must!
Aidan came to sit by her side, his boyish face gaunt in the morning light. “Whatever you need, Lily Billy. I will pound Ridley until he comes up to scratch, if you wish. Failing that, we will visit the wonders of Europe together.”
Lily pulled her lips into a half-hearted smile as she dropped her head against his shoulder. She was grateful that her family would support her over the coming days.