Lords of Honor (31 page)

“Yes
.
I
shot
him in the shoulder
.
Newt got him in the arm first, before any of us
.
If you remember,
I aimed for
his
heart, but
Harry
and
Lady Glaston
were in my way
.”
Lucien Saintmaur, Lord Wyldhurst frowned
and pulled at his chin as he thought
.
“My
Maman
will be fine
in Bath
.
S
he
is
lately
irritating and
quite
shrewish
.
I doubt anyone
would take her
.
I
f they did they would
b
ring her
right
back
, I can assure you
.
My sisters are all married now
.
My brother is in London
.
But, I left Glastonbury
last month
in an amorous mood, and realizing that I too need to marry soon,
” Luc paused to grimace, “
I decided to
begin
court
ing
a lovely young heiress instead of taking a new mistress
.
I will send a letter to
Maman
and Miss India Edens, and her Papa.
”

“Your
Maman
is not
a shrew
.
She’s a darling!” Micah
laughed heartily
.

Wyldhurst shrugged indifferently
.
“Perhaps she’ll be a darling to me
once again
when I marry
.
Presently
she nags and complains all her day
s
.
If you were marr
ied, Lucien, i
f you
produced
an heir, Lucien, i
f I had a grand
son
, Lucien
.
Mon Dieu
!
It is enough to make a man go insane
.
I remember now why I stay in London for such long
periods
of time.”

“What of your aunt, Owen?” Micah asked.

“I sent her to her brother’s house in Plymouth.”

“Newt
?
Jack
?”
Harry queried, “What of your families
?”

“My sisters are with father in Dorset
.
I sent him a letter this morning to keep a close eye on t
hem and to be wary of strangers,
”
Jack supplied
.
“My younger brothers are there as well.”

Harry nodded
.
“Newt?”

“My Mother and Aunt and cousins are in Derbyshire for the summer
.
I will send them a letter.”

“Good
.
Does anyone happen to have a current membership roster for the Avalon Society
?
We need to study our new members and even the older ones
.
There may be a member involved in all of this as well
.”
Harry asked, “Micah
, s
urely you have a roster here?
”

“I do
.
I have
our most recent list
given out at our meeting in London in March
.
It’s in
the
study
.
I’ll go
retrieve
it
.
I will also write my letter to
Reverend Davies
while I’m there
.
Excuse me for a few minutes.
”

After Micah
wrote
his letter to the v
icar and sent it by one of the young lads
working in his household
, he came across Rowena on his way
back
to the library
.
“Where is Libby?” he asked
her
.

“
She is in the parlour
.
I just came to find Harry
.
You’re still
in the library?
”

“Yes, I’ll get him for you.”

“No, Micah
.
It can wait
.
Micah, are you happy with your situation?” Rowena asked him softly
.
She laid her hand on his arm
and looked at him in concern
.

“I am very happy, Rowena
.
I think Libby and I suit very well
.
I believe we are perfect for one another
.
We care for one another already.
”

Rowena flashed him a genuine smile
.
She sighed
.
“I am so relieved
, Micah
.
I knew because of the circumstances you would do the honorable thing and
offer for
her
.
She is very happy you are getting married as well…”

“And you wanted to make certain I returned the sentiment.”

Rowena said, “Micah, you are my dear friend
.
Mostly I wanted to make certain you were happy
.
And now that I know you are, I feel better for Libby too.”

Micah smiled
in delight
.
“So Libby is
truly
happy!”

“Very much so
.
And it appears you are as well
.
Get back to your meeting
.
Just tell Harry to find me when he is finished.”

“I will
.
And Rowena?”

“Yes, Micah?”

“Thank you for making certain I am happy
.
I appreciate that
.”
Micah
winked at
his dear friend
.

Rowena smiled broadly
.
Her
smile
quickly turned
to a
frown
.
“Harry would call it interfering, I fear.”

“He won’t hear anything from me,
”
the corners of Micah’s mouth turned up
.
He winked at her
.

Rowena beamed at him and turned to hurry back to the parlour to rejoin Libby.

“Rowena, did you know Micah’s first wife?”

“No
,
I did not
.
I only recently met Micah
.
I shall ask Harry about her
.
I think he did
meet
her.”

“Please, don’t bother
.
I’m merely being
curious
.
He does not speak of her
often at all,” Libby sighed.

“No
, h
e does not
.
But, it is quite clear to me that he adores you, Libby
.”
Rowena smiled.

“I hope so
.
He is so kind
.
S
ometimes I fear he marries me only because he sees it as his duty
.
But he did tell me he recently decided it was time to remarry
.
He
told
me he wants to marry me very much
.
He
confessed that he was
attracted to me and plann
ed to c
om
e
to Devon in the next few weeks to see if I was attracted to him
.”
Libby decided to put her nerves behind her
.
She was growing
fond
er
of Mi
cah with each passing day
.
S
ince they arrived at
Horethorne Hall
the
re was
less
private
time
to spend
together
.
She realized they were in danger and the men
consult
ed often
.
It was impossible for
her
and Micah
to
talk privately in company
.
T
here
were
their nights together
, yet
she found herself missing those
few
magical
days when it was just
the two of them
.

“If Micah tells you something, Libby, it is the truth
.
I know him well enough to know that
.”
Rowena patted Libby’s arm.

“
You are correct
.
I
also
know
this
, Rowena
.”
Libby smiled
brightly
realizing
Micah
did
care for her
.
Having heard how much Micah loved his first wife, Libby
still
wondered if Micah could ever love her
.

J
ust
past
luncheon Micah
received his response from the v
icar
.
He was ensconced in the library with his fellows
.
He smiled
after reading the
Vicar’s reply
and rose
.
“I must find Libby
, a
nd respond
at once
to the
Reverend Davies
.
He
will be here tomorrow at noon to perform the wedding ceremony if it suits us
.
Is this agreeable to you, Owen?”

“Of course, g
o,” Owen waved him away
with a
grin
, “find my sister.”

Libby
and
Rowena
were still in the parlour
.
They were working on
transcrib
ing
the
Secretum Domini
.

“Libby,
come
walk with me for a moment, I wish to speak to you.”

Libby smiled
as she rose
.
She hurried to join him
.
Once in the hallway, Micah took her hand and entwined his long fingers with hers
.
“The Vicar can perform the wedding ceremony tomorrow at noon
.
Is this suitable for you?”

Libby looked up to see his very pleased smile
.
She beamed
.
“Yes
, of course
!”
Libby lifted up on her toes to place a
quick
kiss to his lips, her
palms
rest
ed
against his
hard
, muscled
chest as she did.

Micah’s arms wound around her, he pulled her close
r against him and
deepened the
kiss
.
When he pulled away, he said,
“
It is settled
.
Tomorrow it will be
, sweetheart
.
I must go and send a confirmation
to
the
v
icar
.
Then I’ll tell the gentlemen
.
Shall we tell Rowena
our news
together?”

“
Yes, o
f course!”
Libby beamed
.
She and Micah would be married tomorrow
!

“We’ve good news, Rowena
.
Libby and I shall be married tomorrow at noon!”
Micah smiled happily as he entered the drawing room
, his lady on his arm
.