“Well, what do you have to say to that, Lord Ashcroft?” Lord Harrow said, a hint of triumph in his voice. He was obviously pleased with his daughter’s performance.
Sebastian looked at him frankly. “I have already said that it did not happen like that at all, but I know that no one will believe me.”
“I cannot believe the audacity!” Lord Harrow said, spittle flying from his mouth. “I will tell you what is going to happen now, young man. You will marry her. It is the only way to save her reputation.”
Sebastian had sensed that this was what was coming. He looked at Felicity and thought for a moment what a shame it was that she had allowed herself to get swept up in all this. He had thought, up until now, that although she was plain and not at all charismatic, she was a pleasant enough young lady.
But the look of malice in her eye as she approached him on the terrace had shocked him. He had not believed her to be capable of such plotting and duplicity. And now, her father wanted him to marry her? He would never agree to it.
“And what happens if I don’t marry her?” he said quietly, looking Lord Harrow straight in the eye. He did not want this man to believe for one moment that he was frightened of him for all his shouting and raging.
A look of surprise crossed Lord Harrow’s face for a moment. Clearly, he had not expected Sebastian to refuse his demand. “Well,” he said eventually, puffing out his chest. “If you do not do the decent thing, then I will have to demand satisfaction!”
On the other side of the room, Sebastian’s mother, who had been silent until now, let out a gasp of horror. “A duel?”
“Yes, a duel!” Lord Harrow declared. “You leave me no other option, Ashcroft, if you will not do the decent thing.”
Lucinda stepped forward and clasped Sebastian’s hand in her own. “You must marry her, Sebastian,” she said urgently. “I know you do not love her, but you must move past that. You cannot fight a duel; I will not allow it!”
Sebastian squeezed his mother’s hand. “Mother, you cannot make this decision for me,” he said softly. “It is more than a matter of honour; you know that as well as I do.”
He turned to Lord Harrow. “If you really insist, My Lord, then I shall see you at dawn.”
Lucinda gasped again, and her knees gave way beneath her. Thomas lurched forward to catch her.
“What on earth do you think you are doing?” Thomas said to him sharply as he supported his wife’s weight to stop her from falling to the ground. “Your mother will not survive the shock if something happens to you!”
Sebastian shook his head. “This is my only option,” he said firmly. Then he headed for the door and left the room.
Out in the corridor, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned to see Adrian struggling to keep pace with him as he walked away from the room where all his hopes for the future had been dashed into tiny pieces.
“Have you lost your mind?” Adrian demanded.
“Possibly,” Sebastian said. “But I will not marry that conniving girl, and I have a feeling there is more going on here than meets the eye.” He looked at his stepbrother and held his gaze. “Can I count on you to be my second?”
Adrian’s face turned a little pale, and he swallowed before replying. “Of course,” he said, his voice trembling a little. “I will see about the guns and meet you in the morning.”
Sebastian nodded and turned away. In just a few hours, his fate would be decided once and for all. But now, all he wanted was to be alone so that he could think of Isabella in private.
Chapter 27
Mist hung over the fields as Sebastian walked towards his fate. The sun had not quite yet risen, and the light was almost luminous, ethereal. He shivered. He felt as if he was crossing over into another world.
And well he might be soon, he reflected. He had not slept for the whole of the previous night. Thoughts of the possibility of his imminent death had kept him awake, along with the pain of the memory of Isabella’s distress. Her cry of pain when she had seen him clasped in that torturous embrace with Felicity would never leave him. And he could do nothing to relieve her suffering.
He knew that he did not want to go to his death without her knowing the truth. He would have to tell Adrian, he thought. He would have to instruct his stepbrother, in the event of his death this morning, to tell Isabella that he loved her and that he had always intended to do the right thing in the end.
He wondered, for a moment, if she would have accepted his proposal the previous night had he ever had the chance to make it. He sensed that she would have done. The look he saw in her eyes whenever their gaze met across a crowded room told him all he needed to know about her feelings.
But circumstances had torn them apart, and he did not know if he would ever see her again, let alone be able to hold her in his arms and tell her that he loved her.
He walked on, his heart heavy. He wondered again and again if he should have heeded his mother’s advice and acquiesced to Lord Harrow’s demands to marry Felicity. But his honour would not allow him to marry a woman he did not love, a woman whose moral compass was clearly so far removed from his own. He could not bring himself to do it, even if it meant risking his own life.
The only woman he wanted to call his wife was Isabella, and he knew now that he would probably never be able to do that, but he would not consent to marry another.
But he did not want to die. He did not want to face the terrible unknown that lay before him. He had to admit to himself that he was afraid, and his heart pounded at the thought of what might lie beyond this world and what might be waiting for him in the next world. He tried to push the thoughts away, but they kept coming at him, like a swarm of insects buzzing at his brain.
He crossed the lane and entered the field at the very edge of the Evermere estate, which was the place where he had been instructed to come for the duel. Lord Harrow’s manservant had brought him a message in the middle of the night outlining the details for the following morning.
