He understood Lady Anne’s bitterness, for she had come to this summer house party to snare him. However, Lady Cordeliashould have been pleased to learn Fiona was no longer a threat to her standing within the Milbury household.
But no. The woman was as miserable and dour as ever, her lips pursed and body stiff. However, it was the looks she continued to cast Fiona that had him worried.
Did she simply resent anyone’s good fortune? Or was her jealousy particularly fixed on Fiona, who was as lovely and beloved as Cordelia was bitter and alone?
After the meal, everyone moved onto the terrace to watch the sun set over the water.
The waspish pair must have been hovering in wait for just the right moment when his back was turned to make their move and approach Fiona. Rob noticed the pair sidling toward her as he finished a conversation with friends at the opposite end of the terrace, and was about to return to Fiona’s side when they caught his eye.
Fiona was speaking to other guests, unaware and engaged in lively conversation while standing beside the balustrade. Everyone was looking upward, distracted by the evening’s display, for the sunset was a particularly magnificent blaze of reds and yellows tonight.
Rob had been standing with several of the Silver Dukes on the opposite end of the terrace, accepting their congratulations on taking the leap to marriage, when he noticed those two suddenly position themselves on either side of Fiona. “Excuse me,” he said, his heart beating faster as he made his way through the crowd toward her.
He did not have far to go, merely the length of the terrace. However, impeding his movements were the distracted onlookersoohingandaahingat the sky, and Bromleigh’s footmen, who were circulating among the guests carrying trays laden with champagne glasses to hand out for Bromleigh’s formal toast in honor of Rob and Fiona’s betrothal.
Rob’s breath caught in his throat when he saw the pair nod to each other and place their hands to the small of Fiona’s back.
Did they mean to push her off the terrace?
Fiona was standing up front with Margaret and Cherish, her hands on the stone balustrade as she marveled at the sunset. None of them were paying attention to those two jackals.
He was only halfway through the crowd when Margaret suddenly noticed what was happening and must have given Anne a sharp elbow to the ribs, because the woman suddenly doubled over. In the next moment, Cordelia let out a cry as Fiona also realized what was happening and dodged out of the way at the same moment the shrew attempted to shove her.
Unable to stop herself, the wretched harpy found herself pushing air, lost her balance, and tumbled over the balustrade into the bushes below. “My ankle!” she screamed amid the gasps and cries of others who had seen her topple off the terrace, which was raised a little higher off the ground on that side. The fall would not have been deadly, but still precipitous enough to cause injury.
Cherish, Margaret, and Fiona held Anne on the ground while several gentlemen rushed down the steps to reach Cordelia.
Too bad that witch had merely broken an ankle, Rob thought. This was no doubt what she had hoped to do to Fiona—have her break a limb because she could not bear to allow any happiness to go unpunished.
“Fiona! Are you hurt?” He found himself trembling as he took her into his embrace.
“I’m fine, Rob. Truly.” She hugged him back, but quickly eased out of his arms to return to assisting her friends in holding down Anne, who was still struggling and now attempting to kick her way free.
Oh, gad.These ladies were with child.
Rob took over, urging Margaret and Cherish to back away while he drew Anne to her feet. However, he kept a firm grip on her arm as he called for her parents to attend him in Bromleigh’s study.
But he did not notice them in the crowd, and no one seemed to know where they had suddenly disappeared.
Rob called over Potter, Northam Hall’s ever-efficient head butler. “Will you please find Lord and Lady Hastings and deliver them to the study? Once there, do not leave them unattended. I will arrive shortly to speak to them.”
“At once, Your Grace,” Potter said, and ordered two footmen to follow him.
Aubrey came over to take hold of Anne, leaving Rob free to see to Fiona.
She nestled in his arms. “Wasn’t Margaret splendid? And Cherish, too?”
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 inher 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.”
