He thought of Roxanne's sweet laughing spirit and warmth, her slim body and tantalizing red hair, the way she made him feel complete and happy, and he cleared his throat again. "Sir William, my name is Dominick Chandler, and I would like your permission to pay my addresses to MissMayfield."
Pure shock washed over the baronet. Leaning back in his chair, he said, "Of the WiltshireChandlers?"
Thinking it a good sign that her father knew of his family, Dominick said, "Yes, sir. My father was Charles Chandler, and I am heir to my uncle, ViscountChandler."
His pale eyes like ice, the baronet said without inflection, "So you wish to marry my daughter. You're what, twenty-one ortwenty-two?"
"Twenty-one,sir."
"And Roxanne is eighteen." With startling suddenness, Mayfield's calm manner erupted into rage. His face reddening, he snarled, "Do you seriously think I will allow my daughter to ruin her life by marrying a worthless, debt-ridden, dishonorable wastrellikeyou?"
Dominick stiffened, stunned by the virulence of the attack. Controlling his temper with effort, he said, "I'll admit that I've sometimes been intemperate, sir, but I'm not debt-ridden. I've inherited a competence from a great-aunt, and I'm about to take up an appointment with the East India Company. When my uncle dies, I'll inherit his title and a very pretty property. You won't have to worry about your daughter'sfuture,sir. "
Mayfield leaped to his feet. Though he was inches shorter than Dominick, his fury made him menacing. "There has never been a Chandler worth the powder to blow him to hell! You're a bad colt from a bad stable, boy, and I don't want you near Roxanne! Do you understand me? I forbid you ever to see my daughteragain!"
Dominick felt the blood drain from his face. Thank God Roxanne had already agreed to elope with him. That was not the way he had wanted to start their marriage, but if an elopement wasnecessary...
Guessing his thoughts, Sir William growled, "Don't think that you can get around me, Chandler. I will discharge my daughter's worthless chaperone, and from this day forward she will not be allowed out of my house without two escorts. Men, not simpering females who might be taken in by you. Every servant on this estate, every laborer, will be told to give the alarm if you appear. The gamekeepers will be instructed to shoot on sight. By God, I'll put man traps around the property! Step in one of those and it will cut you in half. You'll never see her again, boy! Resign yourself tothatfact."
Dominick had aroused exasperation in many, and occasionally anger, but never anything like this. Bewildered, he asked, "Is it me that you hate, or would you feel the same about any man who wanted to marryRoxanne?"
"Both. My daughter ismine, and she belongs here at Maybourne. But it's a special pleasure to deny you. I knew and hated your father. He was just as handsome, just as selfish, just as arrogant, as you." Mayfield's face worked angrily. "He ruined the girl I loved! She killed herself after he betrayed her by marrying your mother, who was an heiress. I was never able to make him pay for his sins, and now he's beyond my reach, frying in hell. But the sins of the father are visited on future generations, and the good Lord has given me the opportunity to inflict a small measure of justice on you. I've waited many years for thismoment."
A sick feeling twisted inside Dominick. His father had indeed been selfish and arrogant. He had abandoned his family for good when his son was seven, leaving behind nothing but a bad reputation that had tainted Dominick's life. Deeds that in most young men would be considered high spirits were considered proof of wickedness in Dominick. It seemed bitterly unfair that after doing so little for him in life, his father now had the power to cost him the girl heloved.
Hoping an appeal to reason might work, he said, "Is it fair that your revenge will cost your daughter herhappiness?"
"Bah,happiness!" Mansfield sneered. "For a woman, satisfaction lies in service. I need Roxanne here to run my household and see to my comfort. It will be a better life for her than having her heart broken by a roguelikeyou."
"You're wrong!" Dominick retorted. "Roxanne and I love each other! We were born to be together, and you can't keep us apart. If we must wait three years until she is of age, we will. Since that is the case, you might as well consent now, and spare yourself alienation from your onlychild."
"'Born to be together! That's romantic rubbish." The baronet's eyes narrowed. "Your mother is still alive, isn't she? Do you want her to know the full measure of your father's wickedness? She's frail, I understand. Such news might be injurious to herhealth."
Dominick paled. "You couldn't be so cruel! She has suffered enough becauseofhim."
"To save my daughter I would do far worse." The baronet paused, breathing heavily, before continuing with lethal menace, "If you ever try to see Roxanne again, I swear by all that's holy that I'll tell your mother every loathsome detail of your father'scrime."
Dominick felt trapped in a nightmare. It had taken years for his mother to find a measure of peace after her husband's abandonment, and she had never regained her laughter. If she discovered that her marriage had been the cause of another girl's suicide, the shock might kill her. And if that happened--Dominick would never forgivehimself.
Voice shaking, he said, "Very well, you win." He stopped as pain lanced through him. To give Roxanne up, to never to see the wondrous warmth in her eyes, or to kiss her welcoming lips… Never to introduce her to the mysteries of passion… Unable to see any alternative, he whispered, "I swear that I… I won't try to see Roxanneagain."
"I want your word on that." Mayfield scribbled a few words on a piece of foolscap, then pushed it and a pen across the desk. "Sign this pledge that you renounce her, and I promise that your mother will never learn what yourfatherdid."
The paper saidI promise never to see Miss Roxanne Mayfield again. Blindly Dominick lifted the quill, dipped it into the inkstand, and scrawled his signature across the bottom. It would have made more sense to slash his hand and sign inblood.
He turned and left before hebroke.
* * *
While Dominick spokewith her father, Roxanne withdrew to her room and paced. The time dragged endlessly. Maybourne Towers had been named for the towers that stood at each of the four comers. Her room was in the southwest tower. Though the circular shape was inconvenient, she had asked for this chamber when she was a child because it made her think of fairy tales andprincesses.
Yet though she had always loved the room, now it seemed a prison. Her perambulations took her to the west window. She glanced out over the park, catching her breath when she saw a dark-haired manridingaway.
Merciful heaven, her father must have refused Dominick, or her beloved would not be leaving withoutseeingher!
He reined his horse in and turned around to stare at the house. Though he was silhouetted against the light and she could not see his face, there was a kind of wildness in hismovements.
Roxanne waved frantically, but Dominick gave no sign of seeing her. The afternoon sunlight was reflecting off her windowpanes. She fumbled with the catch so that she could open the casement and call to him, but before she could unfasten it, he wheeled his horse and galloped away offfuriously.
