Cardiff Siblings 01 - Seven Minutes in Devon (5 page)

Not just the incident at the river,
but before that summer, when Morgan had thrown herself before a
racing carriage in the hopes she would be trampled to death. Alas,
Morgan hadn’t even met Miss Hathaway yet, so his reaction was
entirely unfounded.

But he also blamed her for that time
after the river, when Morgan had ripped leafy spurge from the
ground and ate it, desperately wishing that it was water hemlock
and would be enough to finish her off, and yet unaware that she’d
selected the wrong poison.

They had been fortunate that the
poisonous plant had not been lethal; however, Morgan’s eating it
had caused her to collapse into the lot of it, and its sap had left
her scarred and blind.

Aidan took another swallow of whiskey
and carried his glass with him to the window. David’s study looked
out over the rose gardens, where a number of lush red and sunny
yellow blooms still blossomed, despite the lateness of the
season.

How terribly unfair. On Morgan’s last
visit to Heathcote Park, the sun had never peeked out from behind
menacing clouds and heavy fog. The world had been cast beneath a
dismal, gray blanket until it felt as though it would never change.
The beauty of the place had been tarnished by the year without a
summer, and now, when nature had returned to its usual heavenly
glory, she couldn’t experience it. She couldn’t see how the colors
of the flowers were bursting with life, or watch a sunset turn the
sky first to flame, then pale gold, then soft rose.

For a moment, Aidan’s hand itched to
pick up a pastel and capture the scene outside the window. It only
lasted a moment, though, because then he remembered that he could
never share his creations with Morgan again, that she could never
experience his artwork for herself. That was why his pastels had
become so grim, so gruesome. So rage-filled. He wanted to take his
pain out on the one who’d caused it. Instead, he merely drew and
shaded what he wished would happen.

It was never enough.
He
could never be
enough.

David cleared his throat in the
doorway, and Aidan turned to him.

“
I thought I’d find you
here.” David crossed into the study and poured himself a glass,
scrutinizing the decanter before taking a swig. “Excellent choice,
if I do say so myself.”

“
That’s why I came this
summer.” There was no masking the droll tone of his voice. “I can
always count on you to have the highest quality in
everything.”

“
Don’t lie. You’re here
because you still can’t stand to allow Morgan out of your sight—no
matter that she seems to be fine now—and
she
is intent on getting out into the
world again.”

“
Fair enough,” Aidan
conceded. “Allowing her to attempt to live life again has presented
the lot of us with quite the riddle to solve.”

“
At least she’s alive to
make the attempt,” David muttered.

Aidan blanched. Did David believe he
wished Morgan had died?

He eyed Aidan quizzically and took
another sip from his glass. “Your mother seems to have no such
qualms. She’s off in Shropshire. I’d say the countess is ready for
Morgan to move on with her life.”

Being ready for Morgan to move on was
only half the tale. “Either that or Mother can’t face the
possibility that we’ve all been duped into believing Morgan
is…believing she…” Blast, it was so hard to put things in
words.

“
That she won’t try to hurt
herself again?”

A clatter sounded in the hallway, and
glass hit the floor. An altogether-too-familiar feminine voice
followed—the voice belonging to the very woman who had fueled his
art for the last three years—and the cords in his neck tightened
until he thought his veins might explode.

“
Drat.”

A fortnight in Miss Hathaway’s company
would prove far too long for Aidan to maintain any semblance of
cordiality if the mere sound of her voice was enough to set his
teeth on edge. David caught Aidan’s eye and scowled at him before
stepping out into the hall.

He must not have hidden his reaction
to the chit’s reappearance well. He remained near the credenza and
sipped from his glass, waiting for her to go on her way so he could
drink in peace.

“
Oh, David, I was hoping
you’d be down here,” Miss Hathaway said amongst the clunking of
curios and trinkets being replaced on the table just outside the
study door.

“
Let me help you with
this.”

“
I’m just so clumsy all the
time,” she murmured.

David laughed—a genuine laugh, which
left Aidan seething even more. How could anyone feel anything but
rage whilst in Miss Hathaway’s presence?

“
Perhaps if you watched
where you were going instead of trying to read and walk at the same
time…”

Precisely the damned problem. Or one
of many.

Aidan filled his glass from the
decanter again and took a long swallow. This would be an absurdly
long two weeks. At least others would arrive tomorrow. Maybe he
could find a way to avoid Miss Hathaway—and to keep Morgan away
from her as well. Surely there would be other young ladies present,
others better suited to befriending his sister.

“
Oh, dear. I must have
broken this one.”

Much as she would break his sister
again, if given the chance.

“
Don’t worry about it,
Emma. Why were you looking for me?”

“
Oh. Well. I had hoped you
would take me to the new library. If you’re not busy, of course. I
know you said we could do it after supper, but Vanessa suggested
you might have time now, and since Mr. Cardiff seems so wholly
opposed to me spending any time with Lady Morgan today…”

Aidan couldn’t fail to notice the
derisive tone her voice took on at that last bit. He slammed his
glass on the sideboard and marched across the room. When he reached
the doorway, he crossed his arms over his chest, stepped into the
corridor, and glowered at the repugnant girl.

She jumped back at his appearance, her
brown eyes rounding as far as they could go. “Oh, I…I’m sorry,
I…”

David passed a look between them, his
eyes flashing with annoyance when they fell upon Aidan, and then he
turned to Miss Hathaway. “I’d be glad to take you to the library
and give you a tour.” His tone had gentled. How was David so bloody
well in control of his reactions around her? “Why don’t you wait
for me in the drawing room? I’ll fetch you in a few moments. I just
need to finish a word with Mr. Cardiff.”

She dipped her head. “Of course. If
you’ll excuse me.” Before either of them could respond, she
scurried off down the hall again.

Aidan wasn’t sorry to see her go, yet
he couldn’t stop himself from admiring her retreating form. Good
God, when had she gone from being as straight as a tree trunk to
having the curves of a woman? And why the devil was he noticing
it?

When she had disappeared
around the corner at the end of the hall, David spun around and
shoved a finger into Aidan’s chest. “You
will
remember that Miss Hathaway is
my wife’s sister and accordingly treat her with the appropriate
level of respect.”

Aidan rubbed the back of his neck.
That stung, coming from David, because they’d learned to behave as
gentlemen together. They’d gone to school together, taken their
Grand Tours together—become men together. And David would never
dream of treating Morgan with anything less than the utmost
respect. “I didn’t say anything.”

“
No, but you said plenty
when you arrived. And your eyes just now said far more than you
would ever dare to say with words in my presence.” David took a
breath and let it out slowly. “I have never understood your
animosity toward her, and I never—”

“
You just—”

David held up a hand and
scowled. “Allow me to make myself quite plain. I will not tolerate
your behavior. If you cannot find a way to comport yourself in a
civil manner with regard to my sister-in-law, or
any
of my guests, you
will have to leave.”

“
In that case, I’ll take
Morgan with me.”

“
I said you would have to
leave. Morgan is free to stay.” David crossed his arms over his
chest. “It will be her choice, just as living her life is.
Trenowyth will remain, so there is no reason she must go just
because you’re incapable of behaving as anything other than an
arse.”

Morgan would never leave with him if
given the choice, should he be forced to go. Aidan held no doubt on
that score. This was her first foray into society in years, her
first attempt to test herself and see how she could get along. He
couldn’t bear the thought of leaving her behind. He wouldn’t be
able to watch over her, to guarantee her safety.

That couldn’t happen. The family had
all promised Morgan a fortnight of enjoyment. Two full weeks of
diversions and entertainments, of not thinking about the
past.

Well, he hoped she would not think of
the past. That was the point of all of this, after all.

Despite the sharp stab of pain it
caused his pride, Aidan nodded. “Understood.”

“
Good. Then I suspect we’ll
have no problems.” David walked away, following the path clumsily
blazed by Miss Hathaway moments before.

Aidan stood there for a long while.
How could he tamp down the rage that built within him every time he
saw Miss Hathaway’s face or heard her voice? He would have to find
a way.

This might prove to be a very long
fortnight, indeed.

Emma took a sip of her chocolate the
next morning and placed the cup back on the dining room table,
cautious not to overturn anything. Perhaps overly cautious, but now
was not the time to make a cake of herself again. She turned the
page of her book as quickly as she dared, lest she rip the pages
from the bindings.

Damaging the book would not
do.

Almost before the page had been
settled, her eyes were roving over the words as fast as they would
go.

How dreadful, that Sir Walter Elliot
and his family must let their estate! Emma had been far too close
to similar circumstances in her own life. It felt entirely too
real. The authoress, Miss Austen, had Emma hooked into the story,
as usual.

Coming to the end of the page, she
bent back the spine more than she’d intended in her haste to turn
to new words. “Lud,” she muttered, earning a snicker from the
footman standing beside the door. She frowned up at him. He raised
an eyebrow, almost daring her to comment on his
reaction.

Instead, she returned her
attention to the novel. Yesterday afternoon, she’d selected two
from the library:
Mansfield Park
and
Persuasion
.
Mansfield Park
hadn’t lasted her the
night. Emma had finished with it before turning in to bed. She
could quite possibly finish
Persuasion
before any of David and
Vanessa’s other guests arrived.

After reading about twenty more pages
without pausing to take a bite, the footman snapped to attention
and his austere expression returned, drawing Emma’s notice. She set
her book aside and took a now-frigid bite of shirred egg. Someone
must be joining her, finally.

Sure enough, Lady Morgan came through
the entryway to the breakfast room with her maid on her
arm.

“
Good morning, Miss
Hathaway,” the maid said with a sweet smile. “We imagined most of
the house would still be abed at this hour.”

“
Indeed, most of them are,”
Emma replied. She cast a surreptitious glance behind them as the
maid helped Lady Morgan into a seat across from her. No one else
followed. No Mr. Cardiff—at least not yet—and no Lord Trenowyth.
Thank goodness. Emma didn’t mind the earl overmuch, but she wasn’t
ready to face the cantankerous grump who was his brother today. It
was far too early for such unpleasantness, and no amount of
chocolate could ease the way. “Good morning to you both. Did you
rest well, Lady Morgan?”

“
Yes, quite,” the blonde
lady murmured with a slight smile, which she then turned in the
general direction of her maid. “Thank you, Janetta.”