Chapter 14

Heron House

"R ight! Where's the bride to be?" Achilles called merrily from the back of the foyer.

Ajax entered Heron House like a man who was going to trial the next morning. He felt as if everything had been ripped away from him, and he felt very uneasy, as if he had made a terrible decision.

He couldn't exactly put his finger on what it was. He had made the return trip alone, and that had certainly been a large part of it. He had grown so accustomed to her sitting beside him, her presence. Where was his other half? The person who he wanted to be with always.

He could not believe that he had been without her before, and it was terrible being without her now.

"Dear God, man, has she died?" Lord Zephyr demanded as he entered from the breakfast room.

Achilles' merriment vanished and he gaped. "Who's died?"

Jean-Luc took one look at Ajax and moaned, "No, the girl! What has befallen our Winifred?"

"She's not dead," Ajax gritted. "Her brother found us."

"Merde," Jean-Luc replied. "Did you fight a duel?"

"Almost," Ajax said. "I think I should have done."

"Why did you not?" Jean-Luc demanded, his brow arching in a way that only the French could manage.

"This isn't France," Ajax returned.

Jean-Luc tsked. "I know. More's the pity. There we know how to settle matters of the heart."

"Tell us what has happened," Achilles demanded, growing quite serious.

Ajax blew out a breath as if it could somehow cause his concern to dissipate. It did not. "It was most odd. You never would've believed it. We met quite randomly—"

"It is not coincidence," Zephyr stated.

"I don't want to hear it right now," Ajax growled. "For this feels like the prelude to a tragedy. He demanded that she go with him to avoid any more scandal, and he said that I should come to their house in London and make proper suit."

"There you go," Zephyr said with forced cheer.

"I don't know," Ajax said. "Her brother was brutal and he spoke terribly of her, as if she didn't deserve love and that marriage to me could be a problem."

Achilles snorted. "How could marriage to you be a problem? Marriage to our family is marvelous."

"I agree," Ajax replied. "But perhaps you haven't quite realized. Not everyone is thrilled that their child is going to marry into the Briarwood fold."

"How could such a thing be possible?" Jean-Luc demanded. "The family is old, eccentric, and has money. What more could anyone want?"

"Boringness," Ajax stated.

Jean-Luc made a face that suggested this was the most horrifying thing in the world. "The English are forever a mystery," his cousin surmised.

"Let us go immediately and see her," Zephyr said practically for a change.

"I think we should bring Mama," added Achilles.

Ajax nodded. "I think perhaps you are right. We should all go."

He wasn't taking any chances. Not with his and Winifred's future.

"They won't be able to say no if we go en masse," Achilles agreed.

Ajax drove a hand through his hair. "I think I've made a terrible tactical error. I should have followed them straight to her house. Something just feels amiss."

"You should have killed him," Jean-Luc said.

"Yes," Ajax said softly. "I think I should have."

Achilles clapped him on the back. "Don't worry. There's still time."

Ajax nodded his head, trying to draw comfort from his family. "I suppose so."

"Someone needs killing?" his beautiful mama drawled from the top of the stairs.

Ajax looked up, catching sight of the woman who always seemed to know what to do. "Not yet, Mama, but perhaps soon," he called.

"Oh, don't worry, my dear. If necessary, I'm sure we can just take the body down to one of the farms and have done with it."

He laughed, as he knew she'd hoped he would, but it felt hollow. "Mama, you are growing as bloodthirsty as your sons. Surely, you don't condone murder."

She winked. "For my children? Of course." Her face softened into one of concerned sympathy as she crossed down the stairs, her full skirts skimming the polished floor. "What has happened, my dear? Where is the bride to be? Your brothers and our darling Jean-Luc told me that there would be a wedding. That you might even go up to Gretna Green because the two of you were so enthralled with each other. I would have forgiven you somehow if you did race to Scotland and have it without me there."

"I wish we had," he gritted. "I should have immediately taken her north, but we were seeing so many wonderful things and having such a marvelous time. I was a deluded fool, Mama. I didn't think that anything could go wrong. I even told her thus. Her brother caught us."

She studied his face, then announced, "You are lucky that you are not dead. If I'm honest, brothers, fathers, husbands? They all like to shoot at fellows like you."

"This time it's not entirely deserved. I have asked her to marry me," he pointed out.

"Yes, but you did take his sister out unchaperoned."

"But you knew about that," he reminded.

Her brows shot up and she blinked innocently. "Oh yes, my dear. I still applaud the whole thing, but the ton can be quite brutal about these things when a young, unmarried lady is involved. And the Tuttles… They have never slipped into the murky but delightful waters of scandal before."

He ground his teeth. "Mama, I think we may need to go and rescue her."

His mother, his glorious mother, nodded. "Then we will. But first we shall make them an offer that only a fool could say no to."

"Mama?" he asked.

"First, we shall see what the situation is," she said firmly and quite serious now. The sort of serious that meant anyone who was in her way needed to get out of it. "It might be nothing, my dear. I'm sure her mama and older brother will be thrilled to have a union between our two families. Then, of course, there will be the marriage settlement. I'm sure your brother, Leander, will be thrilled to arrange a contract that makes certain she's to have a great situation if you were to suddenly die. She shall have a large allowance, for we are generous, are we not? And there will be money settled on each of your children."

His mother smiled then, and he knew that the Tuttles didn't have a chance.

"The usual sort of thing," she added. "Just like your siblings. All my children shall be taken care of. And my grandchildren, of course."

He blew out a breath, not realizing how tense he had been.

He could go and steal her away now. He could force the issue. But he didn't have to because he had his family.

And no one could stop the Briarwoods.

"Thank you, Mama," he said, grateful to be reminded by the woman who had taught him how to view life that every obstacle was an opportunity.

She cupped his cheek with her bejeweled hand. "Of course, my darling boy. Now, you look terrible. You must get some rest, for you must be on your best tomorrow to win them over."

"It won't be easy," he replied.

"Anything good never is."

"What the blazes were you thinking?" her mother cried out, slamming her hand down upon the table and causing the porcelain to jump and clatter.

"Mama," Winifred defended, back in one of her simple gowns, "I was thinking I wanted one single chance at this life before I was put away from it."

Her mother's face paled and her shoulders sagged beneath her own magnificent embroidered silk gown. "The selfishness of it. Your sister! Her possible marriage! Her chances could be completely devastated by this."

Her mother shook her head, lifted her hand to her mouth, and let out a furious cry. Then Winifred's mother swung a wild-eyed glance at her. "What if he does not come to call? Have you thought about that? What if, in the end, he has no desire to wed you? He's had you, after all."

"Mama!"

Her mother's face tightened with shame. "Am I mistaken?"

"No, Mama," she confessed without guilt, though she knew her mother expected her to prostrate herself with remorse. "You are not mistaken."

Her lack of contrition seemed to infuriate her mother further. "Could you be with child?" her mother snapped.

One would have thought that a cold shiver should have traveled through her at that. It did not. In fact, suddenly, the idea that she could be carrying Ajax's child warmed her. "Yes. I suppose I could be."

"God in heaven," her mother rasped, placing her hand to her middle as if she might collapse. "The horror of it all. And your brother nearly called him out. Do you know what it would be like to lose another?" Her mother pressed her lips together and looked away. Her fury dissipated and her shoulders shook. "My darling girl, I already lost your father. And to think that I could have lost your older brother because of your behavior. Must you always act like this?"

Her throat tightened and, for a moment, she was terrified that she would give in and beg her mother's forgiveness. All it would take was a little relenting on her part and she would be on her knees, beseeching her mother. As she always did when she made mistakes. But she couldn't. Not anymore.

"Mama," she dared, "I cannot help who I am."

"Try harder," her mother gritted. She sniffed and then dabbed at her eyes with her handkerchief. "I love you, my darling girl, but this is too much to bear."

"If you truly loved me, Mama, you would want more for me," Winifred protested.

Her mother's eyes flashed. "I want what is good for you. You should have a decent life in the country."

Even as her palms sweated, Winifred lifted her chin and stated, "I'm not going to the country. I'm marrying Ajax."

"You are not marrying him," her mother countered with sudden coldness. "Not for any foreseeable future."

"Whatever can you mean, Mama?"

"If you married him right now, the entire ton would talk. No, my dear, we're going to send you away. As was the original plan."

"You can't send me away," Winifred snapped. "I'm a grown woman."

"You are acting like a little girl," her mother hissed, shocked at her daughter's defiance. "You are still a member of this family. And you are a female and belong to us. Of course we can send you away. You are a spinster with no money. You have no say. And frankly, at present, I think you need rest. A great deal of rest. Perhaps the supervision of a doctor. And we can make certain that you are always cared for if you do not cease this brazen behavior. Now, I would never want to do that to a child of mine. So you best do as we say. Do you understand?"

In the eyes of her mother, she had behaved as a mad woman. She'd dared to defy her mother. She'd dressed as a man. She'd lost her morals. She been bold…

Winifred swallowed and yet she would still not bend. Not now that she had found her strength. "I understand, Mama, but Ajax will come, and he will tell you the truth. He wishes me to be his wife."

Her mother sighed. "Even if it was the greatest proposal ever, my dear, I would not let you marry him for at least a year. I cannot let anyone think that you are marrying just because you've been seduced and that a babe might be on the way. No one would believe that a man like that would want a girl like you."

The words echoed her brother's and, again, the blows were harsh. She blinked, trying not to show her pain. Trying not to show that her family could hurt her so.

Her mother folded her hands and looked Winifred up and down. "It isn't that you are plain. It isn't even that you are a spinster. It's the fact that you are so different."

Winifred swallowed. She would not be beaten. She would not go back. "I know that no one has ever been interested in me before, but Ajax genuinely loves me."

Her mother threw back her head and laughed. "A man like that? He told you that he loves you? He had his way with you, my dear girl. You have been reading too many novels, but all of the wrong ones. Girls like you end up in the gutter because of men like that. Even if he marries you, he's a rake. He will leave you alone at home with the babes, and he shall be out on the town. A girl like you could never satisfy someone like him." Her mother shook her head, then she wiped her hands together as if she was wiping the sordid tale away. "I'm so sorry, my dear. You're not that interesting. You're not that clever. You're not good at conversation. You are—"

"Yes, I am," she countered ferociously, her own power shocking even herself.

Her mother's eyes flared, and her face paled at the force of Winifred's argument. "What did you say?"

"I am good at conversation," Winifred declared without fear now. "Ajax loves listening to me talk."

"Ah, yes, of course." Her mother sniffed. "To have his way with you, my dear, to have his affair with you. But now that he's had you, let us wait and see what happens."

"Yes, Mama," she replied defiantly, "let us wait and see. For he will come and my life will finally be full of joy and away from you."

Winifred tried to understand how her own mother could deny her so. Could think so little of her. But she no longer had to share her mother's views. No, she was free from that now. Thanks to Ajax. Thanks to his brothers and his cousin.

And thanks to herself.

She licked her lips and began more calmly but just as strongly, "I wish you could accept me for exactly who I am."

"I wish, my dear," her mother returned without a hint of kindness, "that you had not tried to throw everything away just because you wanted a little bit of fun."

A little bit of fun.

Was that all she had wanted? No. Ajax was right.

All she had wanted was to find herself. To truly be herself. And that was no small thing at all. It was actually the greatest thing. She would not go back now, no matter how hard her mother tried to drag her. Not ever again.