Brotherhood 02 - Broken Promise (7 page)

Sarah reached out to steady herself. “You would take Jonathan away from me?”

“I’m not taking him away from you. I’m offering him a better life than the one you can give him. I’m offering you the same gift.”

She had to think. She couldn’t let him give Jonathan to the earl. Penderly would rather see Jonathan dead than pass down his title to the son of an actress.

She pulled the cover tighter around her and knelt on the blanket where Jonathan played. She’d lose him once Penderly found out he existed.

She cupped her hand to Jonathan’s rosy cheek and he squirmed with excitement. This was his usual reaction when she came near him. He was such a happy baby. Such a beautiful baby. So like his father in looks and coloring. Her heart ached at what it would mean not to be able to watch him grow.

How could she keep him with her?

A stabbing of fear engulfed her. The pain was so intense she thought her heart would break. She picked him up and nestled him close. How could she give him up? And she’d have to once the earl saw her, once he realized she wasn’t Lady Fledgemont.

She rocked back and forth, letting the tears run down her cheeks. Jonathan was hers. He’d always been hers, from the moment of his birth.

She suddenly despised the man the Earl of Penderly had sent to find her. Disliked him with more intensity and bitterness than she thought it was possible to feel.

She stood with Jonathan in her arms and turned to face him. She didn’t care that her cheeks were wet with tears. Didn’t care that the fury she felt for him was evident in her gaze. In fact, she wanted him to know how angry she was with him. Wanted him to know that his loyalty to the Earl of Penderly would mean Jonathan’s death.

She stepped toward him, shoved aside any attraction she’d felt for him. The emotional pull he’d awakened in her died a sudden death.

She took another threatening step toward him. When she was close enough she could touch him if that was her intent, she turned little Jonathan in her arms. “I want you to take a good look at Jonathan, Captain Landwell. I want you to notice how blue his eyes are. His father’s were the same blue. I want you to remember the way his blond hair curls at the ends. His father’s did the same when it got overly long. I want you to take note of his happy face, his rosy cheeks, his plump little arms and legs. Jonathan is a beautiful child. He’s a happy child. And he’s alive.”

More tears streamed down her cheeks but she didn’t care. Let him see them. If she couldn’t convince him to change his mind, these would be the first of many tears she’d shed.

“I want his face etched in your mind so you never forget it. I want his giggles and excitement to haunt you every time you close your eyes, because your actions today will end his laughter.”

“Enough!”

His roar should have frightened her. It didn’t. It only frightened Jonathan. He stiffened in her arms and let out a series of whimpers. She turned the babe in her arms and nestled him close. “What hold does Penderly have over you? What did he offer you that was worth taking a child away from his mother?”

The muscles knotted at the sides of his jaws. His anger was palpable. But she didn’t care. She would lose everything that was important to her if she couldn’t convince him to let her keep Jonathan.

Captain Landwell’s fists tightened at his sides and he kept his glare focused on her “There is no hold. I am not a man who can be bought. If you knew me better, you’d know that.”

“I have no desire to know you better,” she said with all the bitterness pent inside her. “In fact, I wish I had never met you.”

“I’m sure you do, but your wishes don’t count now, do they?”

She glared at him and tried to hold that look. With a menacing threat, he held out his arms. “Give me the babe.”

“No.”

“Give him over.”

He didn’t wait for her to relinquish Jonathan on her own, but took him from her. She struggled to keep him with her but Landwell was too strong, too overpowering. He held him in his arms and stepped out of reach.

“The boy and I will wait out in the hall while you dress. In the meantime, I’ll have the innkeeper’s wife send up a tray. We’ll breakfast before we leave.”

“Leave? No! You can’t mean—”

“Enough of your arguments, Lady Fledgemont. When we finish our meal, we’ll go to London. My brother has a town house where you and the babe can stay while I talk to Penderly. Unless, of course, you decide to stay behind. Then I’ll take Jonathan to London without you.”

The blood rushed from her head. Fear pressed against her chest like a heavy weight. “I’ll never give Jonathan up. Never!”

“Good. I was hoping you’d realize how much a boy needs a mother growing up. It would be a shame to deprive him of someone who loves him as you obviously love your son.”

Her heart pounded against her ears. She had to go with him—he’d left her no choice. But surely she could find a way to escape before he handed Jonathan over to Penderly.

A cold chill wracked her from head to toe. She’d killed a man before to protect the babe. Surely she could find the courage to do the same again if she had to.

She closed her eyes and prayed it wouldn’t come to that.

“Dress now and collect your belongings. We’ll leave as soon as we’ve eaten.”

He exited the room and she quickly dressed. She didn’t like having Jonathan out of her sight. She didn’t think he was so cowardly he’d take the babe while she dressed, but that didn’t stop the unease that consumed her. The babe hadn’t been out of her sight since he’d been born.

She fastened the last button on her cuff as she rushed across the room and threw open the door. He stood in the hallway with Jonathan in his arms and a smile on his face.

“I knew you wouldn’t take long, my lady, but you far surpassed the usual time it takes a woman to dress.”

“I didn’t realize you were so experienced concerning the time it takes a woman to dress.” She reached for Jonathan and took him from Landwell’s arms. When she looked up, his smile broadened. How could she be attracted to someone who was so worldly?

She’d considered his features to be pleasing, even handsome in a rugged sort of way. But when he smiled, his eyes lit with a glow that sent shivers down her spine. His effect pummeled her with a staggering force and she stumbled back a small step.

He reached for her and clasped his fingers around her arms. His secure grasp made her feel safe, caused her to crave remaining close to him. What was wrong with her?

She’d always been the strong one, always had to make the decisions when her mother fell ill, then her father, and after, when Lord Fledgemont died and she was left to care for Lady Fledgemont. And finally when the poor lady died and she had to protect Jonathan. Why was she so willing to yield now?

Austin Landwell was about to destroy her future. Destroy Jonathan’s. She should be trembling in fear. Instead, she couldn’t seem to think straight. Or breathe.

“Are you all right?”

“Of course. I…uh…lost my footing.” She tried to pull out of his grasp but he wouldn’t let her.

“You’re unsteady because you haven’t eaten. Come. Sit down. I’ve asked Mrs. Pollock to send up a warm tray.”

Without hesitation, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and ushered her back into the room. As if his announcement was a summons, the innkeeper’s wife stepped through the open doorway with a tray in her hands.

“Ah, just in time, Maude. The lady just commented that the smells coming from your kitchen made her mouth water.”

The rosy-cheeked cook hurried forward and set the tray on a small table. “Then she’d best lose no time in doing justice to what I brought her. It’s obvious the poor dear hasn’t had a decent meal in who knows how long.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Landwell echoed.

“Sit down, the both of you. I brought some milk for the wee lad and I’ll just sit here by the fire and feed him while you and the Captain eat. It’s been ever so long since I’ve held a babe in my arms.”

Sarah handed Jonathan over. “Thank you, Mrs. Pollock.”

Landwell pulled the chair near the fire and when Mrs. Pollock was settled, he moved the small table and tray to the other side of the room. He obviously wanted to eat where they were semi-secluded so they could talk in private. But he didn’t have to worry. Mrs. Pollock was too busy fussing over Jonathan and making motherly cooing noises to hear anything they said.

“Sit here.”

His order shifted her attention. He pointed to the edge of the bed. After she sat, he shoved the table close to her. “Eat your food while it’s hot,” he said, then walked to the other side of the room and brought back another chair.

He sat, then looked at the fare Mrs. Pollock offered them. Another smile lifted the corners of his lips. Two deep creases formed on either side of his mouth and her heart clenched. She shifted uneasily, as if moving would stop the emotion from growing.

“Eat,” he ordered as he dropped another large spoon of meat pie onto her plate. “I’m not sure when we’ll get our next meal.”

She clutched the floral cloth she was sure Mrs. Pollock intended she use as a napkin. “Perhaps we can stay here one more day. Jonathan would benefit from the extra—”

“We’ll leave as soon as we’ve eaten. The next decent inn is several hours from here. I want to reach it before nightfall.”

“But—”

He held up his fork to halt her words. “Arguing will do no good, Lady Fledgemont. The sooner we reach London, the sooner I can convince you that Lord Penderly and his wife mean the boy no harm.”

“Then I will continue to use the little time I have left to convince you I have no intention of giving my son over to the Earl of Penderly.”

The meaning behind their locked gazes was plain. They were at war. The battle lines were drawn and neither of them intended to yield. He was so sure that
if
there had been an attempt on Jonathan’s life, Penderly wasn’t involved in it.

And she was equally as sure that he was.

“Did you miss London while you lived at Wakemoor?” he asked after he’d eaten a good portion of the fare on his plate.

His question shocked Sarah. It was a personal topic she wasn’t willing to discuss. It was more information than she wanted to divulge, and yet, she found herself wanting to know as much as she could about him.

“No, I didn’t miss London. I grew up in a village identical to Wakemoor, and the villagers more than made Fledgemont and me feel welcome the moment we arrived.” She took a sip of the water Mrs. Pollock had brought with her and set her glass down. “What about you? Are you content living in London?”

“Content?” He sat back in his chair and studied her. “I’m not sure it’s possible to be content in London. If you have the means to enjoy the social life, London is where you go for excitement. If you don’t have the means to enjoy London, the City is a place from where you are desperate to escape.”

She slowly chewed the piece of warm buttered bread she’d just put in her mouth. “That’s an unusual way to look at things. On which side of the fence do you fall?”

He seemed to think for a moment as if he’d never considered why he stayed in London. She waited for his answer.

“I think I’m content because I know I’m able to escape any time I want.”

“Yet, you don’t. You stay there. Why? Is it because of your work? Do you enjoy what you do so much?”

He laughed, but his laughter had a hollow ring to it. As if the opposite were true.

“How did the Earl of Penderly find you? Were you acquainted with each other somehow?”

Her question seemed to surprise him. He lifted his glass of wine and took a swallow as if that particular point made him uncomfortable.

“Did you know Penderly before he hired you to find me?”

He set down his glass and took a deep breath. “I’d met him once before.”

“When?”

“After the war. After I returned.”

“You were friends?”

“No.”

Captain Landwell slid his plate toward the center of the small table indicating he was finished. It also afforded him time, as if deciding exactly how much he wanted her to know—if anything.

“I visited their home to tell them I was with their son, your husband’s younger brother, when he died.”

A painful stabbing of emotion pierced her heart. She ached for him, saw how much reliving that affected him. “I see. Is that why you agreed to find me?”

His gaze shot up to meet hers. “I agreed to find you because the Earl of Penderly was desperate to make amends with you. He and his wife are eager to provide for you as their son, your husband, would have.”

His words jarred her. She slowly placed her fork down beside her plate, then dropped the napkin to the table. Landwell did the same.

Their conversation was at an end. Without casting her a glance, he rose and pulled the table away so she could rise. She walked to where Mrs. Pollock held a sleeping Jonathan and took him.

“Thank you, Mrs. Pollock,” she said. “The food was delicious.”

“I agree,” Landwell said from beside her. “Your husband had better beware. If anyone in London finds out about your talents, they’ll steal you away from him.”

“Oh, you’re such a tease, Captain. But wouldn’t I love to see what the Mister did if anyone came to try.”

Her hearty laughter lightened a very tense atmosphere, but once she left the room, the barriers were back in place.

He picked up the single bag that contained Jonathan’s and her earthly belongings. “Do you have everything you need?”

She had to make one final attempt to stop him from taking them to London. “Is there anything I can say or do to convince you to change your mind?”

He walked to the door and opened it. “No.”

She tossed another light blanket over Jonathan and hugged him closer. Landwell left her no choice. She wouldn’t allow him to take Jonathan away from her. But now wasn’t the time to make her final stand. That would come when he least expected it.

He motioned for her to exit the room and she walked toward him. She refused to have him force her to leave the room, but neither would she submit without letting him know how deeply she despised his domineering manner.

She lifted her shoulders and marched past him. It wouldn’t be now. Perhaps not even today, but the time would come when he would pay for trying to take Jonathan away from her. Because she would lose him when she came face to face with the Earl of Penderly.