It took Octavian a moment to realize what she was offering.
He laughed softly once it sank into his mind. “I knew life with you would never be dull. Come on, love. I’ll wrap my jacket around you so you don’t get twigs poking your arse.”
“Octavian! Oh, I did not think of that.”
He grinned. “Because you’ve never been naughty like this before. But we are both tense and in need of a release. Trust me, you are going to enjoy this.”
Was there ever a doubt?
CHAPTER 23
OCTAVIAN TOOK SYD’Shand as they sat in Parkhurst’s magnificent parlor about to dine with the duke and Lord Harcourt. “Lady Thorne,” the duke said once his footmen had served them and then left, closing the gilded double doors behind him. “It is long past time you were told the truth.”
Octavian felt Syd’s excitement shooting through her like bolts of lightning. “Yes, I wish to know. Who am I?”
Lord Harcourt, looking quite wan and beaten down, nodded.
“You are my brother’s daughter,” Parkhurst said, getting straight to the heart of the matter. “I said nothing while my wife was alive out of respect for her. You see, I loved Julia Crawford. That was her name, Lady Julia Crawford, daughter of the Earl of Crawford. But my brother was eldest, so he was meant to marry her. Our fathers had agreed upon it. Julia and my brother, Douglas, had no choice but to go along with the arrangement.”
“But Douglas rebelled,” Harcourt interjected. “He had fallen in love with Catriona Langley and would have no one else as his wife.”
Parkhurst nodded. “Please know that I loved my brother and would never have done anything to interfere with his arranged marriage…even though Julia happened to be the woman I loved. This was all becoming a Shakespearean comedy. A Midsummer’s Night Dream. Each of us pledged to the wrong people. Then suddenly, my brother and I saw how to make it right.”
Octavian frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I helped my brother marry Catriona.”
Syd gasped and almost spilled her wine. “What are you saying?”
“I was there at their wedding ceremony. I was his witness. You were borninwedlock, Lady Thorne. Not out of wedlock.” He glanced from her to Octavian and then back to her. “It will, of course, cause some complication. If you and Captain Thorne were to have a son, he would have a superior claim to mine for the Parkhurst title. The terms of lineage are clearly set forth in the ducal grant of title.”
Octavian stared at Syd’s father. “Did you know this?”
“Not until a few days ago. Douglas…who is your true father, Syd…had rambled something about marrying Catriona on his deathbed. But he was delirious most of the time and I did not know whether to believe him.”
“It wasn’t Harcourt’s fault,” the duke interjected. “I lied to him when he asked me about it. Our father was in the process of amending the betrothal terms to replace me as the intended husband for Julia, the woman I loved. Theonlywoman I would ever love. I did not want anything to jeopardize our happiness, especially any impediment to my claim on the title, for I knew by this time that she cared for me, too. So, when Harcourt told me what Douglas had confided to him about marrying Catriona, I denied it had ever happened.”
The duke buried his face in his hands a moment before looking up at them again. “Fate had given me this opportunity, you see. I could not slam that door shut on my happiness. So I did the only thing that seemed logical at the time. Douglas was dead. Catriona had died in childbirth. Who was to know?”
“And I was desperate to have a child of my own,” Harcourt said. “I knew my wife hated me and this would never happen for us. And there you were, Syd. This beautiful, green-eyed girl handed to me in answer to my prayers.”
“Why did you wait until now to say anything?” Octavian asked, for he could see that Syd was too choked up to speak. “In truth, Parkhurst, why even say anything now when it might jeopardize your claim to the dukedom?”
“Because it was never about the dukedom for me. I would have been happy serving as the heir’s spare for the rest of my days. But it was all for Julia. I would have lost her if her father believed I was not next in line to the title. I did it for love.”
Octavian said nothing, for who was he to judge?
In his opinion, that marriage was based on a lie. Might he not have done the same if he and Syd were in those roles?
Had he not been willing to risk everything for Syd?
“Ours was a deep and abiding love,” the duke continued. “I don’t think two people were ever happier as husband and wife than we were. I lost her last year. We were never blessed with children, unfortunately. Perhaps I was being punished for taking advantage of my brother’s death. Julia was innocent and completely blameless in all this. She never knew about you or Douglas’s love for Catriona. We all kept it secret from her to her dying breath.”
He now turned to Harcourt. “I’m glad you came to me and told me what your wife had done. This secret has lain buried too long.”
Harcourt had tears in his eyes as he nodded. “I never meant to hurt you, Syd. You have always been my precious daughter. I tried my best, but I know I have been a miserable father. And now I shall lose you forever. There is no greater pain for me than to no longer have you, the greatest joy in my life.”
Syd flung herself into his arms. “No! You are the only father I have ever had and all I want. You did the best you could. What child can ask for better?”
