Bronwyn Scott's Sexy Regency Bundle (252 page)

Scott

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Beldon's voice was full of disbelief when he spoke. 'What my father did was dishonourable. He sold his daughter in marriage when she loved another and that other was willing to marry her and

'

give her a respectable life-

'Don't be angry with your father,' Valerian broke in. 'I didn't tell you this to drive a wedge between you and his memory. He was a good father to all of us. I do not think it is a sign of dishonour to try to protect your family from ruin.'

Beldon protested. 'It's not as if you were disreputable or poor or untitled. You were Philippa's equal in all ways.'

'He did what he thought was best,' Valerian said with finality. 'I must

some of the blame. I knew

Cambourne was interested. The betting book at White's attested to the fact. But I went ahead and put your father in the position of having to refuse me. It might have been better for all if I had just let the romance dwindle, or I hadn't started it at all.'

Beldon shook his head. 'It is so typical of you to bear the burden of another's choices. At school, you were so quick to champion the underdog and to protect others, even when they should have shouldered their own responsibilities .'

'Still, it had to be done. You know I couldn't access my full inheritance until I was twenty- seven,'

Valerian reminded him. 'If the family could have lasted five years, I would have thrown every pound I owned into seeing the family redeemed, but your father could not wait.'

Beldon went back to sorting the packets. 'I under-

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stand.' But his tone suggested otherwise. Valerian knew it would take Beldon a while to come to grips with the realities of the past. He appreciated that, for Beldon, the past was being rewritten.

'Your father asked me to break it off with in a way that didn't place him as the villain or jeop-ardise her willingness to marry Cambourne. You know Philippa. If she thought there was any chance of coercing her father into changing his mind, she would have tried. She could not

about my offer.'

'So you played the cad and told her this meant nothing to you.'

'Essentially,' Valerian admitted, then added, feeling the need to clarify that there were limits to how much of cad he'd been willing to be, 'It wasn't an "affaire" in the truest sense of the word, Beldon.

I left her untouched. You needn't assume the worst about me, whatever the

have asserted about

me since then.'

aside, I've always found you to be a man of honour,' Beldon said, meeting Valerian's gaze evenly.

'Yes, well, you might, but consequently does not. The past and the present-the way she understands them-fit together all too well. My performance that night in the garden was quite convincing. Perhaps you can see for yourself the implications that now impede any courtship I might conduct with her at present.'

Beldon tossed the last packet into a pile of violet wildflower seeds. 'I absolutely see what a mess you've got yourself into. She thinks you really are a

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cad for using her so poorly in the past and now doubts that your affections are sincere.'

Valerian gave him a wry smile. 'It's worthy of a Lane farce.'

'I don't know if "farce" is the right word,' Beldon replied. 'Do you think your efforts will be in vain?'

'If they are, we'll call it a drama. If I am successful, we'll call it a comedy. It can't be a comedy unless the ending is happy.' Valerian was glad for a bit of levity. The conversation had been far too serious, but necessary. If his time abroad in diplomatic circles had taught him anything, it was that the past always came back to roost. He'd known the choice to come home would mean facing his old demons. But he'd chosen to do it anyway. There was only so far a man could run and only so long.

Valerian set aside his work. 'Let's go up to the house and see if Mrs Wilcox can set out tea for us.'

'I agree with the going up to the house part, but tea, Valerian?' Beldon raised his eyebrows. 'I suspect we'll need something stronger before we're through.'

Valerian gave Beldon a chary stare. What else did his friend want to winkle out of him today? Certainly there were more secrets to impart, but he'd shared all he was capable of sharing in one day. Professing one's soul took a lot out of a man.

Beldon came around the table and slapped him on the back, laughing. 'From the look on your face, you'd think I was the Spanish Inquisition, Val. I mean, we have plans to make. The way I see it, we have to convince

that you were play-acting

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that night and all for a good cause, paint you as the noble fellow you are, and convince her to put her trust in you again.'

'You make it sound so easy,' Valerian groused, shutting the greenhouse door behind them. The weather seemed exceptionally cold after the humid warmth of the orangery.

'Well, it would be easy if she was here to be convinced,' Beldon drawled, stopping to stare at the back side of Roseland, looming impressively in all its sandstone majesty. They began the short trek to the back terrace. Beldon stopped shy of the granite steps. 'Aha! I have an idea.'

'Oh, no, your ideas-' Valerian began.

'Are good ideas,' Beldon finished for him, fixing him with a stern stare. 'Listen, here's your "situation" as it were: you've just returned from years away and have never really lived here since you came of age. You find there is much to be done to make

modernised.' B

pitched his voice dramatically. 'But, alas, you are a feeble man with no brain for interior design. If left to your own devices, you'd have striped chintz curtains with polka-dot-satin bed comforters.'

'I see where you're going with this.' Valerian glared. 'You want me to ask

to redecorate

Roseland.'

Beldon shrugged. 'She'll do it anyway if you marry her. Might as well get a jump on it.'

Valerian laughed at his friend's practicality.

'You're an optimist.'

Beldon sobered from his earlier jocularity. 'I