His Scandalous Kiss: Secrets at Thorncliff Manor: 6 (23 page)

He felt her shiver slightly in response to his bold remark, but rather than shy away, she said, “Then it is fortunate that
we are not in a bedchamber, Sir.”

Grinning, he pressed his face into her shoulder while holding her close in his arms. “You kill me, Mary. Do you know that?”

He felt her breaths slow a fraction. Her arms found their way around him in a close embrace. “And you undo me,” she whispered,
her words filled with raw emotion. They trickled through him, settling deep within his heart. Whatever he told her now, it
would not be enough, and so he said nothing at all.

“Should we tell Lady Duncaster about what we have found tomorrow?” Mary asked as they made their way back upstairs a short
while later.

“Yes. I think she deserves to know. Don’t you agree?”

“Certainly.” Arriving in the interior courtyard, they fell silent until Mary quietly asked, “And what of the special license
that you mentioned?”

“I have sent a request. If all goes well, it ought to arrive within a couple of days.”

“We should probably warn your mother and my aunt.”

He winced. “That will not be an easy conversation.” In fact, he dreaded it already.

“No, but we will get through it together, and then—”

“Then we will be married.” A wonderful prospect.

They parted ways at the top of the stairs with Richard offering Mary a swift kiss on the cheek. Returning to his bedchamber,
he applauded himself for his control. It had been a struggle for him to refrain from taking more than what he had. Recalling
the look of pleasure upon her face as he’d held her in his arms, he felt his pulse quicken. He needed a drink. Hell, he needed
her
! Clearly that special license could not arrive soon enough.

“Here is another option for you to consider,” Lady Oakland said as she handed Mary what had to be the hundredth fashion plate.
“The gown will take at least two weeks to complete so it is imperative that you make your decision today so there can also
be time for a fitting.”

Seated to her right, Richard said nothing as he turned the page of his newspaper. He was almost completely hidden away behind
it, leaving Mary with the trying task of dealing with his overexcited mother and siblings. Annoying man. Which was probably
why she couldn’t help herself from saying, “While I truly appreciate your suggestions, Lady Oakland, there is a very good
chance that I will not be requiring a new gown.”

Lady Oakland’s eyes widened with apparent dismay, as did her daughters’. Beside Mary, Richard stilled. Clearly he had not
been so engrossed in his paper as to miss out on the conversation. “What on earth do you mean?” Lady Oakland asked. “Of course
you must have a new gown for your wedding. It is certainly not an expense that Richard would be unwilling to spend. Is it,
Richard?”

“Not at all, Mama,” Richard said, lowering his paper.

“Then it is settled,” Lady Oakland declared.

Turning to Richard, Mary gave him a beseeching look. His mouth tightened a little around the corners but then he reached for
Mary’s hand and nodded before addressing his mother. “If I may make a suggestion, I think it might be wise to postpone any
further wedding preparations until we are sure that there will in fact be a wedding.”

Silence fell upon the room, followed by a collective, “What?” from Lady Oakland and her daughters.

Richard cleared his throat. “Three weeks seems like an eternity, Mama, so I have taken it upon myself to request a special
license. We plan to marry as soon as it arrives, which will likely be long before any gown you plan on ordering for Mary could
be ready.”

“But . . .” Lady Oakland looked from Richard to Mary and then back again.

Eventually Fiona made her opinion on the matter known by saying, “First Chloe and now you, Richard. How utterly disappointing.”

“I apologize,” he said, “but one day you will understand.”

“And when exactly
were
you planning on sharing this decision with us?” Emily inquired, crossing her arms in protest.

“As soon as the special license was in hand,” Richard said, glancing at Mary with some disapproval.

She responded with a shrug.

“Well,” Rachel said, speaking up for the first time, “One cannot fault you for your efficiency.”

Biting their lips, Laura, Chloe and Emily dropped their gazes to the floor. If Mary wasn’t mistaken, the sisters were doing
their best to refrain from laughing. Lady Oakland, however, looked quite appalled, but rather than comment on Rachel’s indelicate
remark, she asked Mary, “Is your aunt aware of this decision of yours?”

“Not yet,” Mary admitted, “but I do believe that her eagerness to see me settled will offset any misgivings that she may have
about a hasty marriage.”

“I see,” Lady Oakland said. She studied Mary and Richard for a long, almost awkward moment, before finally slumping back against
her seat with a sigh. “Well, I suppose it is your decision.” She punctuated her statement with an elaborate wave of her hand.
“Shall we ring for some more tea?”

Mary blinked. This conversation had certainly gone a lot better than she had expected and with far less resistance.

“I think I would prefer a glass of brandy,” Richard said. Rising, he went to ring for a maid before making his way over to
the sideboard. The order for a fresh pot of tea was placed moments later, arriving shortly after that.

“You ought to be relieved, Mama,” Richard’s sister, the Duchess of Stonegate, said as she reached for a sweetmeat. “To arrange
one wedding is a task, but to arrange three? If you ask me, you are fortunate to have a daughter and a son who are willing
to forego such planning not to mention the expense.”

Lady Oakland barely had time to respond to that remark before a knock sounded at the door. The Thorncliff butler, Mr. Caine,
entered the room. “Please excuse the intrusion,” he said, “but a gentleman has just arrived.” He looked toward Mary. “He claims
to be your brother, Lady Mary. Shall I show him in?”

“Oh, by all means, please do,” she said with unhindered excitement. As foolish as Andrew could be, he was still her brother
after all. They had grown up together and she loved him with all her heart—even if it was clear that he had taken advantage
of her kindness over the years. But all of that would change now the moment she got married. Richard would help Andrew become
a better man and all would be well.

She reached for Richard’s hand as she rose to her feet. He got up as well, standing solidly by her side as the door opened
again and Andrew entered the room.

The moment he saw Mary, a broad smile lit up his face, his eyes sparkling with mischief just as she remembered. Releasing
Richard’s hand, she hurried over to her brother. “I cannot tell you how happy I am that you have come.”

Taking her hands in his, he bowed his head to kiss her knuckles. “How can I stay away when you intend to wed? I cannot possibly
allow you to do such a thing without making the acquaintance of the lucky man who has won your heart.”

Stepping back from Andrew, Mary turned to face the Heartlys, their expressions warm and welcoming—all except for Richard’s.
His features were set in rigid lines, his mouth drawn tight and his eyes like two angry storm clouds bearing down on Andrew.
“You,” was all he said.

Looking toward Richard, Andrew dropped Mary’s hands, his face as pale as new fallen snow. He shook his head. “No,” he said,
his eyes going wide. “You cannot be here. It is not possible.”

“And why is that?” Richard asked, moving toward him like a panther out on the prowl. “Because I am supposed to be dead?”

Andrew shook his head, his mouth opening as if he meant to say something, but not a single word escaped him.

Halting his progress, Richard glared at him. “Because, if I am alive, then you can no longer claim to have acted as heroically
as you allegedly did?” With cold detachment, he slowly asked, “Because I know the truth about you, Lord Carthright?”

An icy shiver trickled down Mary’s spine. “What are you talking about?” It wasn’t a question she wished to know the answer
to, but one that had to be asked.

Richard’s jaw clenched, tightening the rippling skin that marred the left side of his face. Sharply, he turned his head in
her direction, the warmth with which he’d looked at her a short while earlier completely gone. Instead, incomprehension and
deep anguish filled his eyes. “I would never have considered a friendship with you, let alone something more than that, if
I had known that you were related to
him
.” The words cut deep, as they were no doubt meant to do.

Lady Oakland took a step forward. “Heartly—”

“How could I not have discovered this?” He shook his head. “I do not understand. You do not have the same surname!”

Swallowing the painful knot in her throat, Mary said, “My brother and I do not share the same father.”

Richard grimaced, his shoulders slumping as if the entire weight of the world now rested upon them. “Of course.”

“Heartly, I—”

“Not a word,” Richard clipped, cutting off Andrew. His eyes remained on Mary. “Do you have any idea of what your brother has
done?” She shook her head, unable to speak as Richard raised his hand to the scarred flesh marring his cheek. “This is because
of him, because he was too great a coward to do his duty and because he would rather run and hide, leaving me to face the
enemy alone.”

It was a grave accusation, one that Mary could not quite believe. Still, she looked to Andrew, hoping he might deny it. Instead
he said, “You got your vengeance though. Did you not?”

“What I took from you will never erase your actions at Waterloo. We had a plan, Carthright, but when I needed you, I found
you gone.” He paused for a moment before saying, “And then you took credit for what
I
had managed to accomplish before being captured. You gained a title that you did not even deserve—land too.”

“Until
you
took it all away from me,” Andrew practically shouted.

Unified gasps filled the room. “Dear God,” Mary murmured as she pieced it all together.

“And I enjoyed every moment of it,” Richard told Andrew. “Since you were foolish enough to stake it all at cards—”

“There is no honor in fleecing a foxed man,” Mary said, “no matter what he may have done.” The situation that was presently
unfolding in the bright and sunny parlor was an absolute nightmare.

“Foxed?” Richard snorted. “You think he was foxed when he boasted at the gaming table that he would easily double his money?”
He took a steady step in Mary’s direction, his eyes sparking with repressed fury. “Oh no, my lady. Your brother had his wits
about him when he chose to risk it all, of that there is no doubt since my sources have confirmed it. So if he has told you
otherwise . . . well, all things considered, I would not be the least bit surprised.”

Stepping aside, Mary distanced herself from her brother. From Richard too, since it would seem that there was a large part
of him that she did not know at all. Recalling what her aunt had said, Mary couldn’t help but ask Andrew, “Did you really
spend your entire fortune on repairing Carthright House?”

“The repairs I spoke of were made,” Andrew assured her, “and the staff has always been paid on time.”

“Tell her the truth,” Richard clipped.

A lengthy pause followed before Carthright spoke again. “Admittedly, the cost of running Carthright House was not as great
as I wanted the world to believe.”

“What he means to say,” Richard grit out, “is that he made some risky wagers and that he lost.”

“And the investments you spoke of?” Mary asked, preventing Andrew from responding to Richard’s accusation. When Andrew shook
his head, her heart fell. “You were supposed to use the money I gave you to regain control of your life . . . it was supposed
to cover your expenses and help secure a stable income . . . but instead, you lied to me. You gambled it all away,” she said,
addressing Andrew as if he were a stranger, “and Heartly won it.”

“Ironically, I had meant to gift the estate to you,” Richard told Mary, “but after this, I wonder if there will even be a
wedding.”

She found that she could scarcely look at him, or her brother for that matter. “Were you ever going to tell me about this?”
she asked Richard.

“I did not think it would be necessary,” he said. His eyes had grown vacant, adding further distance between them. “In fact,
I had hoped to put it behind me, but it seems that will no longer be possible.”

A painful sob escaped Mary. “This cannot be happening. It simply cannot.” Retreating, she moved toward the door.

“Mary,” Richard said, the sound of her name reflecting the heartache that she was feeling.

She shook her head. “I need to think.” She swallowed convulsively. “Your actions aside, you have said some things just now
that I cannot easily forget.”

“Mary,” Richard repeated, taking a step in her direction.

Refusing to listen, she turned away from him and left the room. There simply wasn’t enough space indoors for all of her emotions.

Sunlight spilled over Mary as she stepped out onto the terrace with leaden feet. The air out here was fresh, and yet it felt
as though she was suffocating. Blindly, she made her way toward the steps and down onto the path below. How could this be?
How could she have been so filled with joy no more than half an hour earlier, only to find herself burdened by grief now—her
heart, no longer weightless, but like a dull rock, heavy inside her chest.

Ignoring the sound of her name being called, she continued in the direction of the lake, toward a vacant spot where she could
be alone. As she went, she thought of Andrew, of how dishonorable he’d been if what Richard said was true. She did not want
to believe it, but Andrew had failed to deny the accusation.

Shoulders slumping beneath the weight of this discovery, she considered Richard and how happy he’d made her. Still, there
was no escaping the fact that he’d kept a very large part of his life from her. In a way, she understood. He’d wanted to put
the past behind him and move on—had not believed there was any chance of her ever finding out about what he’d done. But his
words! Lord, how they hurt!

Pausing, she tried to look at the situation objectively. Richard had spoken in anger. She knew that. Doing her best to move
past the pain in her chest, she considered an important question: had Andrew not been her brother, would she have approved
of Richard’s actions then? Did he not deserve some form of compensation for what he had lost and all that he had suffered?

Deep in her heart, she knew that he did—she knew that what Andrew had done was wrong, even if she did not know the specifics.

“Mary.” The sound of her name was closer this time. Turning, she saw that it was Sarah, her pale blonde hair curling softly
against her cheek.

“I called to you from across the lawn, but you must not have heard me,” Sarah said. Frowning slightly, she moved a little
closer. “Are you all right, Mary?”

Unable to speak for fear that she might start crying, Mary managed a solid nod.

“Clearly that is not the case.” Sarah’s eyes filled with concern. “You look as though you have just received some troubling
news. Is it your parents? Are they not well?”

Shaking her head, Mary looked away, her eyes fixed on the soft surface of the water which occasionally rippled as mayflies
darted across it. “As far as I know, my parents are both well.” She took a quivering breath. “Do you know what it feels like
to have your heart torn from your chest?”

There was a small pause, and then, “I am familiar with the sensation. Yes.” The confession surprised Mary. For a second she
didn’t quite know what to say. As it turned out, she didn’t have to say anything at all since Sarah continued by adding, “Spencer
and I had a few difficulties before we decided to marry. I kept something from him—something terribly important—and he judged
me for it once he found out.”

“What stopped you from telling him?”

“Fear, I suppose.” Moving off toward the right side of the lake, Sarah waited for Mary to fall into step beside her before
saying, “I did not think that he and I would ever be able to be together, and so I chose not to mention the one thing that
could ruin his good opinion of me forever.”

“But he found out anyway.”

Sarah nodded. “The truth has a funny way of surfacing at the most inopportune moment.”

“Perhaps you should have been honest with him from the start,” Mary suggested.

“Perhaps,” Sarah agreed. She was silent for a while before saying, “We all keep secrets, some greater than others. I daresay
you have your own fair share of them.”

The comment brought Mary up short. “What do you mean?”

Sarah shrugged. “Nothing, other than that it is rare for a young lady to be venturing about outside on her own during the
early hours of the morning. If you will recall, Spencer and I crossed paths with you a couple of weeks ago when we were returning
from a walk.”

“I remember it well, even though I am not prepared to tell you the reason for it. I hope you can understand.”

“Of course.”

“But Mr. Heartly knows the truth.” Mary couldn’t stop her voice from rising. “I shared my secrets with him as soon as it became
clear that our friendship was developing into something more.”

Nodding, Sarah seemed to ponder that. “So you feel betrayed?”

“I . . . I do not know exactly what I feel, other than that I wish I would have discovered the relationship he has to my brother
a lot sooner than I did.”

“Mr. Heartly is a friend of his?”

A snort was all Mary could manage. “Not in the least.”

“I see.” Following the path to the right, they allowed it to lead them around some flowerbeds and back in the direction of
the house. “That does complicate matters. I trust that you are fond of your brother?”

“Of course I am,” Mary said. “He is my family!”

“That is true,” Sarah agreed, “but being related by blood is not always enough. Character counts as well, and although I do
not know the reason for Mr. Heartly’s dislike of your brother, I am certain that it must be justified, in which case you may
want to consider which of the two deserves your loyalty the most.”

“I fear that Mr. Heartly will no longer wish to have anything to do with me,” Mary said. “The look in his eyes when he saw
my brother and the things he said . . . I believe he will want to distance himself as much from him as possible, even if that
means cutting all ties with me.”

“You cannot be certain of that. Talk to him, Mary—if you still wish to spend your life with Mr. Heartly, that is. But be prepared
to turn your back on your brother if need be.”

“How can I possibly do that?”

“By asking yourself if he is worth sacrificing your future happiness for.”

It wasn’t a question that Mary wished to consider, and yet she knew that she had to. Andrew—the carefree boy she’d grown up
with. He’d always been prone to laughter, always ready with a smile to cheer her up. But he was selfish. Undeniably so. And
Richard had paid a great price for that. Didn’t he deserve her support?

“I cannot think of what to do right now,” she murmured, more to herself than to Sarah. On one hand, she wanted to run into
Richard’s arms, but on the other, she feared the power that he wielded over her. “He showed no consideration for my feelings
at all, and in not doing so, he shattered my heart. How can I trust that he will not do so again?”

“I cannot answer that question for you, but perhaps if you speak with him—”

A distressed laugh pushed its way past Mary’s lips. “There is nothing for me to say.” He hated her for being Andrew’s sister.
She’d seen it in his eyes when he’d told her that he never would have associated with her if he’d known. “Nothing at all.”
Turning away from Sarah, Mary headed for the house, one foot stepping in front of the other, moving her forward until she
eventually found her brother. To his credit, his expression was somber as she reentered the room from which she’d fled a short
while earlier. He was the only one present now, abandoned by the Heartlys, it would seem.

“Of all the men in England,” he said as he rose to greet her.

Stiffly, she came to a halt before him, anger swiftly taking hold in response to his flippancy. “I would caution you to think
twice before mocking me.”

He raised an eyebrow. “It was not my intention to do so. You know how grateful I am to you for your support.”

“Do I?” When he gave her a curious look she said, “Upon reflection, it has become increasingly clear to me that you have been
taking advantage of me for some time now.”

Knitting his brow, he crossed his arms. “We are family, Mary. It is our duty to help and protect each other. Especially with
Mama and Papa so far away.”

“That is what I told myself as well, Andrew, which is why I wanted to help you invest when your own funds were depleted. But
the truth of the matter is that you have squandered away your fortune, along with all the money I have given you, in the most
irresponsible way imaginable.” Studying him, she went on to say, “If I were to hazard a guess, you did not even discover the
information for which you have been rewarded. Heartly did that before he was captured, didn’t he?”

“Of course not. I overheard the conversation that those French soldiers were having just as well as he did.” He looked away
a moment before once again meeting her eye. “But they discovered our presence there and rather than try to silence them, I
ran.”

With slow and measured breaths, Mary walked toward her brother. Her hands curled tightly into fists at her sides. “Would you
and Richard have been able to overwhelm them if you had not done so?”

A second passed between them until he finally dropped his gaze and nodded. “I believe so. Yes.”

Pausing her progress, Mary swayed slightly on her feet, disgusted by her brother’s actions. “You left him to die, Andrew!
Dear God, how could you?”

His eyes filled with angst as he came toward her. “You were not there, Mary. You cannot possibly imagine what it was like,
fighting for survival.”

She shook her head, deaf to his excuses. “He was captured because of you, tortured even, yet you do not appear to be the least
bit sorry for it.”

“You are wrong about that. I feel terribly about what happened, but I am also angry at Heartly for what he has done to me.
He has taken everything from me, Mary, and—”

“Stop,” she said, unwilling to let him continue. “He has every right to seek satisfaction. If you do not see that, then you
are a far greater fool than I would ever have imagined. Indeed, I am beginning to wonder if I know you at all, Andrew, for
in my mind, my brother would never have done something this callous.” She hesitated a moment before saying, “You could at
least have gone to fetch help, but you made no attempt at that either, did you?”

He shook his head. “I was frightened.”

“
Frightened
.” The word whispered across her lips. “You were weak and unworthy of the uniform you wore.”

For a second, he looked as though she’d just struck him, but then his eyes darkened and he said, “You have grown bolder since
I saw you last. I find that I do not care for it.”

“And I find that I do not care for a brother who would happily trade a man’s life for a title and fortune!”

“Not happily,” he clipped.

“Really?”

“What do you want me to say? To my knowledge Heartly was dead, so why shouldn’t I have taken the reward when it was offered
to me?”

“Because it was wrong!” The words whipped across the room leaving Mary’s throat feeling sore. Tempering her voice, she met
her brother’s resentful glare. “What happened to you?” She could scarcely believe that the man before her had once been the
boy with whom she’d played so well as a child. “You were always so kind and considerate toward others.”

“I have made mistakes. I cannot deny that.”

She gaped at him. “Is that supposed to make it better?”

“What can I say, Mary? Heartly suffered for what I did and I am sorry for that, truly I am, but I have suffered too. The humiliation
he has forced upon me . . . You ought to know that I have challenged him to a duel. We meet tomorrow at dawn.”

Staggering back, Mary steadied herself against the back of a chair while her hand covered her mouth. “You must be mad.”

“Of course not,” Andrew bit out, “but if you think that I will allow that man to methodically plan my ruination without demanding
satisfaction for it, then you clearly do not know me at all.”

“Indeed, I am beginning to see that I do not.” She shook her head. “They burned his face, Andrew, broke his leg and his arm.
The fact that he was able to escape at all is a miracle in itself and yet you have the audacity to feel as though you have
been wronged when you are no worse off now than before you went to war. All he has taken from you are the things that should
have been his, and only because you were foolish enough to gamble them away.”

“You cannot marry him, Mary. Not after what he has done to me. Promise me that you will not do so.”

Pain tore through her heart. “I do not think I need to make such a promise. It is unlikely that he will still want to marry
me now that he knows that I am related to you.”

Andrew nodded. “You are probably correct.” He tried to smile. “On a positive note, Heartly has assured me that he will return
all my funds to me along with the estate if I win against him tomorrow. Wish me well and hopefully I will soon be able to
repay some of the money that you have given me these past two years.”

“No,” Mary said as she took a step back. “I will not wish you well, Andrew. Not after all that has been revealed today.”

“You would rather that Heartly wins?” he asked with dismay.

In spite of how hurt she was by Richard’s words, she knew he deserved to have her on his side. “He is ten times the man that
you will ever be. The fact that you may be my brother is insignificant in this instance.”

“Your mind is clouded by your love for him, Mary. Clearly he has managed to influence your way of thinking, but you cannot
ignore the fact that you and I have history. We have known each other for twenty years, grown up together, spent Christmases
together . . .”

“And that might have meant something if you had been more honorable . . . more deserving of my high regard and admiration.
As it turns out, you deserve neither. My support lies with Heartly.”

“But I am your brother.” The words were desperately spoken as she went to the door.

Looking over her shoulder at him, Mary shook her head with sadness. “Not anymore.”

Forcing back the tears that threatened in response to the familial tie she’d just broken, Mary hurried down the hallway with
only one goal in mind: to return upstairs to her bedchamber where she could be alone with her thoughts. But as she turned
a corner, she found her aunt exiting one of the salons alongside Lady Duncaster, her eyes filling with concern the moment
she spotted Mary. “Is everything all right?” Lady Foxworth asked. “You look a little out of sorts.”