Page 76 of The Beastly Earl

"Elspeth was not the only one who noticed the way you looked at Lady Westbrook," his mother said softly as she gazed out the window at a memory he couldn't see. "I remember times when I'd look up to see your father staring at me the way you do, Lady Westbrook. You're in love with her, and I'm certain she loves you as well."

"I have nothing to offer her. Not even the keep is really mine to give."

"You have more to offer than you realize because there's only one thing she wants." The conviction in her voice made Ewan jerk his head toward her. A knowing smile touched her lips. "She wants your heart. If you give her that, you give her everything."

"She deserves better than a man who's less than whole," he said in a hoarse voice as he looked out the window again. "a man who isn't what others believe him to be."

"Don't you think that should be her decision to make?" Wallis squeezed his arm slightly. "You have a chance for the happiness your father and I only had fleeting glimpses of. Don't let anything stand in the way of that. Life is far to short and precious, Ewan."

With another squeeze of his arm, Wallis left him standing at the window. Ewan turned his head and watched her walk out of his study. Don't let anything stand in the way…his mother had said. An image of Louisa's lovely face filled his head. Everything she'd ever said or done had made it clear she saw past his war-ravaged body. He glanced over his shoulder at the parchment lying on his desk. She'd bared her soul to him, and offered him her heart in that passionate letter. The question now was whether he had the courage to do that and more.

Chapter 20

Sebastian closed the note in his hand, and with a vicious flick of his fingers threw it onto the desk. The Earl of Argaty's note had arrived a few moments ago, and Sebastian's initial reaction was to send a curt refusal to the man's request. Glaring at the folded piece of paper, he debated how best to handle the problem of the earl. A soft squeak of sound made him lift his head to see the study door opening.

The sight of Helen entering the room sent a familiar emotion crashing through him. It would always be this way for him. No matter how old they grew, everything else would fade from view the moment he saw his wife's beautiful face. That he'd won her love was something he gave thanks for on a daily basis.

"I've come to rescue you," she said with a mischievous smile.

"Rescue me?" Sebastian's mood lightened as he moved around the desk to meet his wife halfway. "I wasn't aware that I was in need of such extraordinary measures."

"Perhaps I should have said, I'm in need of rescuing," she laughed as she stepped into his embrace and kissed him lightly. "The children have been pestering me for the last hour to come see when you'll be done with those diplomatic pouches. They're all under the impression that a certain Lord Melton promised to take them riding when he finished his correspondence, including our youngest who doesn't even possess a riding habit yet."

Helen eyed him with exasperated amusement, and Sebastian cast his gaze heavenward as if he hadn't any idea what she was talking about. When his wife made a small noise of aggravation, he bent his head to kiss her deeply. A long moment later, he lifted his head and drank in a deep breath at the way his heart pounded in his chest.

As always, his deep love for her made him ache to demonstrate how much she meant to him. He wanted nothing more at the moment, but to carry her up the stairs to their bedroom and spend the rest of the day worshipping her body with his. It was a wish that would go unfulfilled with the children waiting on him. Instead he looked down at her and smiled with satisfaction at the languorous desire on her face.

"That, my love, is how you should always look." As she arched her eyebrow in a silent demand for an explanation, he grinned. "As if you'd been thoroughly kissed by a husband who adores you."

"Why do I think this is your way of avoiding a discussion about Tilly going riding with you and the boys?"

"She needs to learn how to ride at some point, and she loves spending time in the stables."

"She's only five, Sebastian."

"And she has her heart set on going, but if you don’t want her—"

"You know as well as I do the child will convince Fergus that you instructed her to have him saddle heaven knows what animal and ride him out of the stable without batting an eye. She is a Rockwood through and through." Helen shook her head in exasperation, but Sebastian saw the pride on her face as well. "At least I know she'll be safe riding in front of you."

"And you know I'll guard her and the boys with my life," Sebastian quietly reassured his wife with a light kiss.

"I have no doubt you will, it's simply that you're almost as bad as Lucien when it comes to encouraging our daughter to be a tomboy." A small frown of disapproval furrowed Helen's brow. "Constance continuously expresses her frustration with Lucien's habit of using Jamie's nickname for Imogene."

"We're about to enter a new century, my love. I think the next generation of Rockwood women will find their world completely different from what you and my sisters have experienced. Lucien and I are of the same mind when it comes to giving the girls the same experiences as the boys whenever possible."

"Surely it won't be that different."

Helen's frown deepened with concern as she smoothed the lapels on his jacket. Uncertainty had always been an unsettling sensation for him, and his mouth twisted with a deep foreboding he'd been unable to shake for weeks now. He preferred order as opposed to chaos, but recent political events had made him become uneasy on almost a monthly basis. He knew better than to try and hide his concern from his wife.

It would be a pointless exercise when she read his moods with such ease. Even after more than ten years of marriage they only had to look at each other across a room to instantly know what the other was thinking. It was the one piece of order in his life that had remained constant from the moment Helen had said she loved him after her ordeal at the hands of the Marquess of Templeton. He shook his head slightly.

"I think the next ten to fifteen years will bring a turmoil and upheaval unlike anything the world has ever seen."

"Do you mean more war?"

Helen drew in a quick breath of alarm. They'd had several acquaintances who'd recently lost loved ones in the Boer War, and the thought of a larger conflict was one he'd been unable to dismiss in recent months. He cupped her lovely face in his hands and kissed her gently. When he pulled back, he shook his head.

"I don't know. I simply want the next generation of Rockwoods to be ready for whatever trials might lie ahead for all of us."