Page 15 of A Lyon’s Lesson

“Heather actually.”

Rick groaned. “What do they want me to do now?”

“Come and have dinner. The family, together. Well not Ava—she’s busy—but the rest of us.”

Rick closed his eyes. His head still ached, and his stomach still felt upset, despite Reynolds’s magic brew. This time, for some reason, it hadn’t worked.

He struggled with himself for a few moments and finally flung the bedclothes off and got up. Everything threatened to go black for a moment as his head swam, and he grabbed the bedpost to keep himself upright. His normally slow brother was there, catching his arm to steady him.

“Fuck, Rick! What have you done to yourself?” he muttered.

“Too much rum, gin, and whatever other rotgut I could find to pour down my throat,” he admitted. “I was aiming for oblivion. All I got was misery.”

Hereward said nothing to this, which was typical of him. Unlike Robert, Ward never judged. It was something Rick rather liked about his bovine sibling. He bit his lip and clapped Hereward on the shoulder. “Thank you,” he said simply.

Hereward blinked at him. “For what?”

“Standing buff. A chap can rely on you.”

Hereward blushed faintly and shrugged. “You’re my little brother,” he said gruffly. “I still remember pulling you out of the water barrel you’d got yourself into at three and couldn’t get out of again. If I hadn’t found you, you’d have likely drowned. You were frozen and exhausted!”

Rick, who could only barely remember this incident, smiled. “Thank you, big brother.”

“You were always more daring than me,” admitted Hereward. “Always doing something harebrained. You’d have made a good pirate, I think.”

Rick laughed. “You may be right. A bit late for that. You know I would never have thought I would marry before you. In fact, I didn’t intend to marry at all. You’ve not been tempted?”

Hereward flushed again, a deeper red this time, and looked away. “I’ve thought about it, but—”

Rick moved to the basin and poured water, splashing it onto his face. He glanced over at Hereward and said curiously, “You’ve someone in mind?”

Hereward shrugged. “Not really. I mean—no.”

Rick took up a cloth and wet it, wiping his body with it. “There is someone, but you’re not confident. Why not? You’re a damned sight better catch than me.”

Hereward paced away from him to the window and stood with his back to the room. His big shoulders radiated a tension Rick had rarely seen in his placid brother. “Is it someone Rob would disapprove of?” he asked softly.

Hereward shook his head. “It’s more complicated than that. It’s a legal matter.”

Rick dropped the cloth in the water and dried his body, his mind whirring in an attempt to disentangle that piece of information.

Hereward turned to face him and said gently but firmly, “Forget it, please. I try not to think of it.”

Rick frowned at him a moment, tossed aside the towel, and crossed to put his hands on his brother’s broad shoulders. “I’ll not tax you, but if that is really the case, I’m sorry for it. No better man than you ever drew breath, Ward. If there is anything I can do, you will let me know?”

Hereward gave an abrupt nod and squeezed Rick’s hand where it rested on his shoulder.

Rick let him go and returned to dressing.

As it turned out, the evening was more pleasant than Rick anticipated and, returning to his lodgings for the last time that night, he reflected that he was fortunate in his family, despite their occasional disagreements. He had a great deal to be thankful for.

Settling to sleep, he spared a thought for his bride-to-be and wondered what she was thinking and feeling this night.

Chapter 9

Rick knew a moment of blind panic as he entered the church where his life as he knew it would end, and it took every ounce of his self-control not to turn and flee as he had that night at the Penningtons’ ball. Perhaps it was the presence of his brothers that stopped him, or perhaps it was the twinge of conscience that reminded him he had behaved like a coward and a man completely lacking in honor on that occasion. Whatever it was, he didn’t flee. He walked down the aisle on legs that felt shaky and stood with a fast-beating heart and stomach tied in knots, waiting for his bride to appear.

The wait seemed interminable, but eventually a change in the music that had been playing quietly in the background as the church filled with the murmurs of the hastily assembled guests, heralded her arrival.