Lord Greyton's Fall From Grace (Lords of Avalon Novella Series) (21 page)

Grace
truly
didn’t
care about anything
at the moment
.
Owen had written her only once,
and it was a
short, bitter
letter
that mentioned nothing about love or affection, or their child
.
He
sent
l
etter
s
to his mistress, Mrs. Woodson once a week
.
He wrote his family twice a week
.
Those facts spoke volumes
.
She told Owen
five times
in five separate letters
she was with child
.
He had yet to acknowledge the fact that she
did
carr
y
their babe
.
He obviously did not care.
Part of her wanted to die.

Yet the part of her that carried Owen’s babe wanted to live
.
She might not have Owen
,
but she would always have his child.
No one could ever take
their
child from her.
And Marston, though she
ne
ver liked him, offere
d to allow her to keep her child
.
And Papa hadn
’
t scolded her once, though if it were
made
known she was
unmarried and
with child,
his reputation as well as hers c
ould be ruined
.

Grace nodded weakly
.
“Tell him I will marry him, Papa.”

“This is for the best, you will see, Grace
.
Obviously Greyton did not truly love you, and he certainly wasn’t willing to take responsibility for getting you with child
.
Marston will be kind to you
.
And you will have your child
.
The wedding must be
tomorrow,
for you are far along
.
It will be private
.
We will hold the ceremony here
.”

After she nodded her consent, t
he Squire rose and left his daughter’s room
.
He grinned
triumphantly after
he closed the door behind him.
He would
soon
receive a great deal of money from Marston
to pay off his debts
.
He decided to
pour himself
a brandy to celebrate
his success
.

Roseland Abbey, November 1830

Owen hurried dow
n the stairs
.
He arrived at
Roseland
well after midnight
.
Once he
set foot
on English soil, h
e was anxious to see his family and
get himself
to Radley
and find out what the hell had happened
with Grace
!

“Owen!” Libby sque
aled with excitement as she jumped up
from her chair and embraced her brother
.

“You’re looking lovely as always, Pet!” Owen kissed his sister’s cheek loudly
.
He embraced his father, noting he looked
more
tired and
a little
thinner than when he left.
Reginald
clapped him on the back
.
“Sit down, Owen
.
Eat.”

“I’m
famished
.
I neglected to stop for a meal yesterday, I was so anxious to get home
.”
Owen sat down.

They
ate and talked.
Owen told them of the many wonders they had discovered in Italy.

When the
y
had finished their breakfast
Libby asked her brother, “Will you
join
me
this morning
, Owen
? 
It is chilly but fair enough to ride.
”

“
I’m sorry,
pet
.
I am going to Radley and talk to Grace
.
I must find out why I never heard from her in all these months
.
I will ride with you tomorrow morning.
”

Libby
gave her father a worried look
.

“Go take your ride, Lamb
.
Allow me to talk to your brot
her,
”
Reginald said to his daughter.

Libby rose and hurried from the dining room
.

“Father, I
insist
,
I must go to Radley
and talk to Grace
this very moment
.
I will talk to you when I return.”
Owen
stood
.

“Sit down, O
wen.”

“Father, I
–“

“Sit down
!
You’re not going to Radley
.
Grace is not at Radley.”

“What are you saying, father
?”
Owen grew very still.
Something was very wrong, he could tell by the look on his father’s face
.
His heart thundered in his chest
.
Was Grace well
? 
Good heavens, was she ill or worse
?

“She married Marston four weeks ago
.
She resides in Bideford with him
.
Rumor has it she’s with child.”

Owen stood very still for long moments
.
“What
?”
After a few seconds,
Owen pounded his fist u
pon the table causing the footman walking past in the hallway
to jump. “
Bloody Hell!
Why didn’t she tell
me
? 
Why did
she
not
answer one damned letter
?
Why did you not tell me in your letters
?”

“
There was
no point
in
tell
ing
you
in a letter.
I did not know she was married until after the fact
.
I only found out three weeks ago.
You were
still
in Italy
it would only have upset you
further
.
You could not write her as she is
now
married
.
I will tell you this
,
son
.
Grace has not looked well since you left
.
I do not trust her father
.
She is not happy now
.
I saw her two weeks ago and she looks very poorly
, even worse than she did when I saw her two months ago
.
I do not know what happened, but I suspect it has every bit to do with Marston and the Squire
.
I’ve thought it odd since you told me
the Squire
would not hear your offer for his daughter before he left.”

“She could have written to me! She could have told me she changed her mind, that she wanted
him
.
Obviously love wasn’t enough, she wanted money
.
Everyone
knows Marston is as rich as Cro
e
s
us
,
”
Owen spat bitterly.
And she carried Marston’s child!
It could not be his child, for he had been gone five months.
The knowledge hit him like a knife to the gut.

“We are not paupers, son
!
We have a great deal of money!
” Reginald said then lapsed into a coughing fit. When he recovered he said, “
You haven’t listened to a word I’ve said, Owen.
There is mor
e
to this than meets the eye, I’ll wager.
This is the Squire’s doing.
There is a ball
i
n Bideford
in three days time
.
It is in honor of Lord and Lady Marston
.
I suggest you go
to the ball,”
Reginald Darrington held up his hand, “
if
you
think
you
can control yourself.
I think it would be helpful if you talked to Grace
in person
, discreetly of course
.
At least you would have an answer
.
I’m telling you Owen, that girl loved you as much as you loved her
!
But as she is married, there is naught you can do now
.
My guess is her father forced her into it.
”

When h
is father began coughing again
,
Owen helped him to his study
.

Owen saw her across the ballroom
.
There was no mistaking the shine of her golden brown hair
, or her lovely figure. D
ressed in a bronze
-colored
gown
,
Grace
looked
beautiful
. Owen flinched from the sudden
ache
he felt in his heart at t
he painful reminder
of his great loss
.
He watched as s
he excused herself from the circle she stood in and started across the ballroom
.
She
seem
ed
to have a purpose
.
An elderly woman stopped her
.

Grace turned her head to talk with the woman and when she turned her head back around she stopped
abruptly
for there was a broad chest
directly in front of her
.
She looked up
ward
.

“Owen!”
She felt the blood drain from her face
.
She was
suddenly unable to breathe
.
Owen
stood as
strikingly
handsome
as ever
before her
.
But he
looked very angry
.
His anger confused her
.

Owen was not prepared for her reaction
.
She visib
ly paled
.
Tears filled her
dark brown eyes
that sported dark shadows
beneath them
.
She actually trembled
.
He feared she might faint
.
He placed his hand beneath her elbow
.
“I wish to have a quick word with you,
Lady Marston
, if you would be so kind as to oblige me.”

He led her to a quiet alcove
.
“I just wish to hear from your own lips, Grace, why you married Marston when you accepted my proposal
? 
And why did you
not reply to my letters
, not once in the five months I was gone
? 
You could have at the very least told me
you favored Marston
.
”

“I did not wish to marry Marston, Owen, as you well know
.
I told you in
my
letters…”

“
What letters
? 
I never
received
any
letters from you,
Grace,
not one,
” Owen ground out
.

Grace began to sob
.
She jerked her arm from his hand
.
“
Of course you did, I sent dozens of letters.
You gave me no choice, Owen
.
I sent
letter
after
letter
.
Y
ou never answered
, nor
acknowledged
..
.” She
began to cry harder and sobs prevented her from speaking clearly.
“You never answered
, Owen.
I
t was almost t
oo late
.
I had to
.
Papa found out
…
I no longer had a choice
, Owen
.
There was no choice left to me
.”
She trembled
and leaned against the wall for support. “
My f
ather arranged everything…I never wanted to-” A loud, heart-wrenching sob escaped her
.