No more guests had been expected, especially given the nasty turn of the weather and the fact that traveling in it was to risk life and limb. Yet the commotion in the foyer of a new arrival was such that no one at Seffington Park could be unaware of it. Following scurrying servants and the Misses Tate who finally seemed to notice someone other than one another, Rachel wondered at what could be happening. As she descended the stairs a feeling of dread settled in her stomach.

“Oh, of course you are welcome, my lady! Naturally, we sent your invitation but it… must have been mislaid by the post. Those drivers are a menace! Coaches tearing up and down the road at all hours of the day and night! Is it any wonder that they are so unreliable? When do they rest? I cannot imagine a more ineffective way of managing one’s employees than to work them to a state of exhaustion that does not allow them to properly attend their duties.”

Listening to Daisy’s longwinded excuse and wild tangent, it was clear that the woman, whomever her ladyship might be, had not been invited at all. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, Rachel only just managed not to gasp. The sheer number of bags that had been carted into the foyer was obscene. She’d never seen a person travel with so many.

“Have your footmen come and carry my bags up. I assume you have a suitable chamber for me and that I will not be relegated to the servant’s hall?” the woman asked imperiously.

She was probably in her sixties, but well dressed and incredibly well preserved. No one would ever have described her as beautiful though. There was a hardness about the woman that would have prevented her from being called anything other than passably handsome.

“We would never place you in such humble quarters, Lady Elwynn,” Daisy said, throwing a pointed look in Rachel’s direction.

Rachel’s feeling of dread, already significant, swamped her in that moment. Lord Elwynn’s mother had arrived.

“As to your invitation being mislaid, Mrs. Atwell,” the woman said stiffly, “You needn’t try to pretty it up for me. Mrs. Brandon wrote to inform me of the schemes being hatched here at Seffington Park. I have put myself at great risk and faced terrible ordeals on this difficult journey to save my son! I’ve come to put a stop to this nonsense once and for all. I’ll not have that shocking little adventuress sink her greedy claws into my son a second time. Where is he?”

“He went for a ride in the direction of Wynn House,” Rachel said, stepping forward. “I’m sure when the weather turned he took refuge there. No doubt he will send word as soon as it is safe to do so.”

Lady Elwynn narrowed her eyes and her mouth turned down in a sour expression. “Who are you to speak so impertinently to me?”

Daisy tittered nervously. “Oh dear, Lady Elwynn, please allow me to introduce my cousin, Mrs. Rachel Wilmont.”

“Forgive me, Lady Elwynn. I did not think it impertinent when the information I possessed was in direct answer to your question,” Rachel replied in an easy tone, despite her shaking hands.

Lady Elwynn’s expression grew thoughtful. “And where is Mr. Wilmont?”

“I am a widow, Lady Elwynn,” Rachel lied smoothly.

“Are you any relation to the Wilmonts of Derbyshire?”

She was not related to them, not by blood at any rate. “No, ma’am, I am not.”

“Hmmmph. Then find me Miss Penworth. I will have it out with her once and for all.”

“Miss Penworth is ill. A fever. Quite contagious,” Rachel lied.

“And in this house?” Lady Elwynn asked, obviously gleeful at the notion.

“It is not a serious illness in one so young and healthy as Miss Penworth, but if one is aged or in ill health, it could be very worrisome indeed,” Daisy said, taking the lie that Rachel had spun and running with it full tilt. “Several of the maids had it and have recovered, but some of the women from the village have passed from it sadly. A lung ailment. Quite terrible.”

Lady Elwynn eyed them both suspiciously. “I will let these blatant fabrications stand because I am wet and tired. Have one of these sickly servants of yours show me to a room, Mrs. Atwell, and I will see both my son and that trollop in the morning or there will be a reckoning!”

Daisy waved one of the footmen over and gave him instructions on where to put Lady Elwynn. When she’d left and another bevy of servants had come to cart all of her bags up the stairs, Rachel dared to ask the question, “What on earth do we do now?”

“Drink,” Daisy replied with feeling. “Drink and perhaps hide.”

* * *

It was full dark when Augusta awoke. The only light in the room was the dim glow of a dying fire. Alone in the bed, she sat up only to see Hugh standing by the window.

“The ice and rain have turned to snow,” he said. “If we get enough of it, I can ride to Wynn House after daybreak and get the sleigh for our return to Seffington Park.”

“Must we go back? Can we not stay here and pretend that things like social status, meddling friends and our rocky past simply do not exist?” she asked, a wistful smile curving her lips. Following their initial battle and all that had come afterward, they’d settled into an easy peace with one another. She was loathe to see it spoiled by others.

“I’m afraid we must. But we need not stay long… We will be married as soon as it can be arranged,” he said. “If you do not wish to reside at Wynn House, we can go anywhere you like. London, Bath, I have an estate in the North that you might prefer.”

Augusta blinked in shock. “Hugh, we cannot marry! It would ruin you!”

“I don’t give a damn,” he said easily. “I married a woman I did not love. I wasted twelve years of my life in a limbo of never living. And I cared for Felicity, I did… but we were never truly happy. She died never knowing what it was to be truly loved. I’m not going to live that way anymore, Augusta, I won’t do it. If my family wishes to break with me over it, that is their choice. If friends wish to turn from me then they were not my friends to start.”

“It cannot be that simple,” she insisted. The weight of all that he’d said was pressing on her. More than that, the spark of hope that had flared to life in her when she’d first set eyes on him on the road, was now a raging fire inside her. She wanted to quash it, to rein it in before she allowed herself to envision happy endings that could not be. “Can it?”

“It can be. It will be if you only allow it.”

“I can’t think of it now… My mind is still whirling and it’s difficult for me to accept.”

He frowned as he moved back to the bed, settling beside her there. “Do you believe that I love you?”

“I believe that you loved me once. And I think that given time to learn who we are now, we might love one another again… But I have no guarantee of that.”

His smile was both sad and pitying as he brushed her hair away from her face. “There are never guarantees in love. There is only risk with an outcome of ruin or reward. Risk it, Augusta, I implore you.”

“Is it so easy for you then? What if I break your heart this time?” she demanded.

“I think that for the happiness I have known in the past few hours, if I could have that, even for a short time, it would be worth it. You had heartbreak and so much tragedy in your life, Augusta… but for the longest time I had nothing. There were no highs or lows, only this frustrating and mind numbing middle where I simply existed. I think I would rather have my heart broken than to simply let it waste away.”

“What a romantic you are!”

“You can call it what you like, but I’m tired of only existing. And if watching Felicity grow weaker every day, wasting away before me, taught me anything, it’s that life should be lived and not simply borne.”

The statement struck a cord within her that thrummed with truth. She’d been existing, no more than that — forcing herself to espouse false contentment with her lot in life because it was easier to accept the misery that was than to hope for more and be disappointed. It was a sad and lonely excuse for a life, walled off from any chance at true happiness.

Taking a deep breath, Augusta rose from the bed and left the safety of the blankets behind her. Standing before him, she was completely naked—devoid of clothing, but also her defenses. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” she said softly. “I’m tired of being afraid to be happy because it might be taken from me.”

He closed the distance between them and swept her into his arms. She felt safe and secure for the moment. That was where she would learn to live, she vowed. In each moment, savoring what she had while she had it without fear leading her to make dire predictions of how the future would fail.

* * *

Hugh lifted her into his arms, but not to place her on the bed. Instead, he strode toward the hearth now blazing with a newly fed fire. Placing her on the rug there, he came down beside her.

The firelight gilded her flesh, painting it in shades of gold like a pagan goddess. She would think him a romantic fool if he were to say such, so he kept his musings to himself and simply savored the vision she presented. Looking at her was a pleasure too long denied him.

“You’ve no idea how beautiful you are,” he said.

“I’m not. I’m passably pretty… and that isn’t an attempt at fishing for compliments. That is what was said of me by the hostesses at Almack’s during my Season,” she stated.

“And what would they know about it? I daresay those women haven’t the faintest inkling what appeals to a man. If they did, they’d have the person who makes that lemonade drawn and quartered,” he retorted.

She laughed aloud at that, a delightfully carefree giggle that he had not heard in years. There’d been little enough reason for her to laugh, but that would change, he vowed. Every remaining day of his life would be devoted to seeing her smile and hearing her laugh in just that way.

“When the weather breaks, we’ll head for London,” he said. “I’ll procure a special license and we’ll be wed immediately.”

“Are you certain that is what you want?” she asked, searching his face. “I couldn’t bear it if you were to regret your choice.”

“I’ve regrets enough in my life, and they can all be traced back to the moment I let you go… There are no doubts, Augusta.”

“Then we shell set society ablaze with scandal… again,” she agreed.

“Perhaps we should do something scandalous now,” he suggested, sliding his hand over her belly and down to the thatch of dark curls nestled between her thighs.

Her eyes darkened and her voice, when she replied, was breathless, “What did you have in mind, my lord?”

“Some things defy description in mere words,” he said, sliding his fingers into the wet, welcoming heat of her body. “They can only be truly understood through demonstration.”

“Then consider me your apt and very eager pupil.”

Hugh smiled as he kissed her soundly, until they were both breathless and aching. Then he showed her precisely what he’d had in mind.