He’d gone along with the plan because he hadn’t expected it to wound Lucy the way it obviously had. They’d convinced him she was playing along, that it was a friendly bit of rivalry between them. A bit of lark was all. In the process, he had hurt his wife, his darling, wonderful Lucy.
To his surprise, Mr. Harris climbed in the carriage with him.
“If you mean to try to change my mind—”
But Mr. Harris held up a hand. “Actually, I mean to admit to you that you’re right. We took this game too far.”
“That seems a very abrupt change of position.” Reed wasn’t generally a suspicious person, but he’d seen an underhandedness in his in-laws over the past week, albeit it a good-humored underhandedness, and it made him wary.
“Robert, Charles, and I were thoroughly enjoying this little rivalry with the ladies. And I know from speaking of it with my wife that she, Amelia, and Clarissa have been amused as well.”
“Forgive me if I haven’t found it overly amusing.”
Mr. Harris acknowledged Reed’s position with a quick nod. “I am not at all happy with how things have turned out myself. We didn’t mean to hurt Lucy’s feelings.”
“I need to apologize to her,” Reed said.
“Oh, son, you must do far more than that.”
The declaration was not a promising one. “Did you have something particular in mind, because I am currently at a loss.”
Mr. Harris’s expression turned ponderous. “I might. I just might.”
Chapter Seven
Lucy’s tears dried by morning, though she kept to her room all the next day. She didn’t want to hear any more of her family’s schemes nor see the glint of triumph that would, no doubt, be in her father’s eyes. The gentlemen had scored a decisive victory, with Lucy’s broken heart being the spoils.
Over the past months, when something worried or upset her, she’d turned to Reed, and he’d listened as she talked it through. That always made her feel better. But he wasn’t here, and he’d made it quite clear over the past week that he didn’t really care to be.
She could go to their house not many streets away, ask if she could come home, and they could forget the rivalry they’d been entangled in the past few days. But there would always be the knowledge in the back of her mind that he hadn’t asked her back and didn’t really wanted her there.
When the dinner bell sounded, Lucy instructed her abigail to have her meal brought up on a tray. She simply wanted to be leftalone. But the minutes stretched out, and her food didn’t arrive. After nearly thirty minutes had passed, Lucy began to suspect something had gone wrong.
She opened her bedchamber door a crack and peeked out. The corridor was empty. The family would be at their meal already. She tiptoed down the stairs, not wishing to draw attention to herself. They would want to talk, but she had no desire to. The corridor where the dining room stood was silent.
Now thatisodd.She glanced around, trying to sort it out. It was the dinner hour, and her family were not ones to miss a meal. She was nearly certain that Robert and Amelia, and Charles and Clarissa intended to take dinner with them that night. With six people sitting down to a meal, there ought to have been quite a bit of chatter.
Perhaps they had decided to eat elsewhere. The staff always seemed to know more about the comings and goings of the family than anyone. She stepped into the dining room, intending to tug the bell pull, but the sound of voices down the corridor stopped her.
She listened. Definitely voices. Lucy moved toward the sound.The drawing room?Why were they gathered in the drawing room? She pulled the door open a bit and looked inside. Seven pairs of eyes darted toward her. Then the room seemed to spring into action.
“Oh, no you will not, you lying blackguard!” Father declared in ringing tones, pointing an accusatory finger at Reed, of all people.
Lucy opened the door more fully.
“I will not be deterred, old man,” Reed replied, in stilted and overly dramatic tones. “Resign yourself.”
Mother pressed the back of her hand to her forehead and dropped against the sofa. “Whatever shall we do?”
Amelia and Clarissa rushed to Mother’s side, waving smelling salts and patting her hands as if consoling her.
Robert rose and stood next to Father. Though his expression was serious, Lucy knew the look of laughter hovering in the back of her brother’s eyes. “You will not get away with this dastardly plan, Mr. Stanthorpe.”
“Oh, but I will,” Reed said. “You will not keep us apart a moment longer. If I must move mountains or cross oceans, I will. For true love always wins in the end!” He spun about, facing Lucy. “Never fear, my lady, I have come to rescue you from this vile place of imprisonment.”
“What in heaven’s name—”
Reed stepped up to her and wrapped his arm around her waist. He looked back over her family, assembled in an obviously preplanned pose. “Do not attempt to follow us,” Reed warned. “For I will allow nothing to come between me and my true love again.”
