Lords of Honor (69 page)

“Grace?” Owen implored.

“You are Alice’s father, Owen
.
You were supposed to be back from Italy in three months
.
I could have hidden
the fact I was with child
that long
.
I sen
t
letter after
letter, and never received
a response from you
.
I never heard anything, until I received a letter from you saying you would not be home for another two months
.
I still tried to reach you
after that even
.
”

Grace faltered
then continued, “
M
y maid
realized
I
carried a
child
.
She told father
.
He believed you received my messages and were ignoring them because you
never
inten
ded
to
marry m
e
.
A week later I was married
to Marston
by special license
.
No
choice
s were left to me
.
Father arranged
everything
.
Why did you not answer my letters, Owen
?
Was father
correct
?
Did you not want me after…after you got me with child
?”
A tear slid down Grace’s cheek.

Owen shook his head, “Grace, I swear it, I never received a letter from you
.
Not a one
.
I sent you several
letters
.
I even sent you some lace from Venice
.
I thought you might use it for your wedding gown
on
our
wedding
day
!
D
id you only receive the one
letter
?”

Grace nodded
.
“Just the one, Owen
.”

“Your father always favored Marston for you over me
.
I never knew how much until now
, a
t
t
his moment
.”
Owen’s jaw was rigid.
He exhaled loudly.

“Father
?”
Grace paled
.
“
Yes, you
must be
correct, Owen
.
He always wanted me to marry Marston
.”
Grace shook her head
in disbelief
.
“I never realized…” s
he s
uddenly felt light-headed
.
She w
avered
on her feet slightly
.
“I th
ought you did not want me
.
Oh,
w
hat you must have thought of me
!
I
t was father all along
, h
is doing.” Grace reached out to find something to support her
.
Her legs suddenly felt like water
.
“Owen!”

Owen was beside her
,
supporting her in an instant
.
He helped her to sit
.
He sat beside her
on the small settee
and t
ook her hand in his.

“Grace, had I known you carried my child I would have returned immediately
.
Immediately
!
I loved you Grace
.
I wanted to marry you
.
I planned on it.
I would have welcomed our child
.
You must know that.”

Loved her
.
Past tense
.
The words cut her heart
deeply
.
“I always wanted to believe it, Owen
.
I could not understand why you never answered my letters
.
Now it would seem they were never sent
.
Father stopped them
.
He
no doubt ordered
my maid
to watch me
.
He lied to me and
f
orced me into marriage with Marston.”

“What happened to your cheek, Grace
?”
Owen lightly traced the ugly bruise
with his finger
.

“I took Alice into my arms when I heard the commotion downstairs
.
I would not le
t go of her
.
She was terrified
.
She
scream
ed
as they tried to pry her from my arms
.
One of them hit me
.
When I woke up, my
little girl
was gone
.
I’m so frightened, Owen
.”
Grace tried to be strong, yet her tears came anyway
.
Her shoulders shook as she tried to keep from sobbing
.

 
“Shh
, Grace.” Owen enfolded Grace in his arms
.
He h
eld her against his chest
while she cried
.
His hand rubbed up and down her back
.
He felt helpless
.
Grace
did
not betray him
.
Someone else betrayed both of them
, m
ost likely
her father
.
They would never know
for certain because
he
passed away two years
earlier
.
And
now,
someone
had
abducted
Grace’s
daughter
.
H
is
daughter.

It sunk in
at that very moment,
that
he had a
daughter
!
He and Grace made a child
.
A child c
onceived in love
.
Alice
.
His mother’s
name was
Alice
.
He
’d never
met his daug
hter, Alice
.
He
would
find
his child
, f
or himself and
for
her mother
.
He had no intentions of living his life without either one of them
.
“I’ll get her back, Grace.” Owen pulled back,
and
gazed
into
Grace
’s brown eyes
.
“You are in danger, Grace
.
You must stay here with us
, w
ith me.”

Grace nodded
.
She
felt
relieved
.
She
was
alone since the day Owen left
for Italy
.
Marston
was
never a husband to her
.
He knew Alice was not his and ignored her
.
Grace
was not enthusiastic
to
Marston’s
attentions after they married
.
After a time, he quit coming to her
.
She became an adornment to host his social activities when he was in residence in Devon
.
She’d hea
rd of Marston’s
London
mistresses
over
the
remaining
three
years
and cared not
.
No, Grace
was
alone since
the day
Owen left for Italy
.
Until Alice was born
.
S
he soon found that
every
time she looked at Alice, she thought of Owen
.
Owen
had always been
in her heart.

“Libby is here, Grace.
She is Lady Wincanton now
.
There is something you should know
.
The
se same men, the Brown Coats,
took her
.
They cut her face
.
It’s a bad cut, Grace, and she’ll probably always have a scar
.
But she’s alive
.
I got her back
.
I’ll get Alice back too.”

“I saw Libby from time to time in Hartford and Bideford
.
She was always very kind to me and Alice
.
I am sorry she was hurt, Owen
.
But she is alive
.
That is the most important thing
.”
Grace straightened
.
She
dared to look
into Owen’s
deep blue eyes
.

Owen wanted to kiss her and more
; b
ut did
not
.
He c
ouldn’t
.
He would not leave Grace with a broken heart a second time
.
He
must find
Alice
first
.
There was a chance the Knights of the Brown Order
wanted him, Harry, Micah, Lyon, Trevan
and
Luc
to show up at the Jasmine Star for a reason
.
He
and the others
discussed it earlier that morning
.
With the top members of the Avalon Society out of the way, the Society would probably fold and cease to exist
.
The three of them believed the Knights of the Brown Order wanted the
six
of them
dead.

Owen found Libby after leaving Grace in the parlour in the capable hands of Lady Glaston
.
Grace
confessed to him she had not eaten since the day before
.
Lady Glaston
was personally seeing
to it
Lady Marston
ate a good meal
.
The gentlemen knew of his situation with
Grace, b
ut his sister did not.

He found her in the drawing room with Lyon’s wife, Sophia
.
“Libby, may I talk to you a moment?”

“Of course, Owen.”

“Lady Amesbury, Lady Glaston asked that you join her
and Lady Marston
in the parlour.”

“Of course.” Sophia smiled as she left Libby and her brother alone.

“How are you feeling, p
et?”

“
I feel a
little tired
, b
ut
I am
much better, Owen.”

He smiled and nodded
.
“You heard Lady Marston is here?” Owen asked her.

“Yes
.
Sophia
said her daughter was taken and that you believe the Brown Coats are responsible
.
It is horrible, Owen.
”

“Yes
.
And I will get little Alice back
.
Pet, do you remember four years ago when I court
ed
Lady Marston?”

“Yes
.
I do
, Owen
.
I always wondered what happened between the two of you, for you seemed to like her very much.
”

“Before I left for Italy, Grace and I, we, well
, um,
we fell in love, Libby.
” Owen ran his hand along his jaw
.
“W
e were intimate
, Libby
.
I asked her to marry m
e
and she accepted
.
We wanted to wait until I returned
from Italy
to announce our engagement
.
I stayed in Italy an extra two months
.
As you know she married Lord Marston before I returned
.
I thought she betrayed me.
”