Page 69 of Daring the Forbidden Earl
Mark wrapped both hands around his brother’s. “Why did you not just knock upon my door and speak to me? Why did you have to do it this way?”
“I tried… and you… ignored my… letters.” Hugh coughed, his face scrunching up in pain. “And then… you tried to shoot… at me in the… park. I had to… get you to listen, somehow.”
Tears rolled down Johanna’s cheeks as she listened to their exchange, for they were clearly the victims of misunderstanding and miscommunication. And now, there would be no way for them to change their intertwined fates. Mark would never have the chance to know Hugh, and Hugh would never truly become a brother to Mark.
All of this, for money I would have given willingly.
It was too sad to comprehend, punctuated by the wrenching sobs of Lizzie.
“Don’t cry, love,” Hugh urged, as a trickle of blood meandered from the corner of his mouth. “I’ll be waiting for you, and… I’ll be waiting for our child.”
Lizzie shook her head, no longer able to speak, and pressed her trembling lips to his forehead, his cheeks, his lips, his nose, as though trying to remember every part of his face with her kisses.
Hugh’s eyes focused on Mark. “Take care of… her for me. I wanted… the money so I… could give her… the best life. You’ll have… to do that, to… pay me back for… saving your hide.”
“I will,” Mark promised, his eyes seeking out Johanna’s. “I swear to you, I will ensure that your beloved and your child never want for anything.”
Johanna gave a nod of agreement, knowing it was the least she could do, considering Hugh had just rescued Mark from a shot that might have killed him, instead. And Lizzie was going to need supportive, sympathetic people at her side, if she was going to overcome this devastation.
It will be painful, and it will be tortuous, but I will not let you endure it alone.
“Thank you, Brother,” Hugh murmured. “And… I’m sorry.”
Mark shook his head. “Do not apologize.”
“I have… to.” Hugh suddenly spasmed, his body clenching up as a groan of pain escaped his lips. “I did… the wrong thing. I’m sorry… for that. But, know this, it… was never your… fault. I never… blamed you. I never… hated you, either. If I could… do things again, I… wouldn’t do… it this way.”
Mark’s brow furrowed in anguish. “Do not try to speak, Hugh. Conserve your strength. I would not have you speak your last words to me, when there is someone else who deserves them far more.” He paused. “But, rest assured, all is forgiven.”
Gently, Mark placed a kiss upon his brother’s hand before letting it lie against Hugh’s chest. That done, he got to his feet and made his way toward Johanna, leaving Hugh and Lizzie to share their final moments together.
“Are you hurt?” Mark whispered, his voice strangled with sadness. He knelt at her side and put his arms around her, unfastening her bindings.
She gave a solemn shake of her head. “I am not. Are you?”
“Only in here.” He pressed a palm to his heart.
Johanna covered his hand with hers. “I will help it to heal, my love, just as we will both help sweet Lizzie to heal.”
“How could I have been so blind?” Mark swallowed thickly. “I should have known my mother had not gone away to a sanitorium. I should have known there was another… reason. A brother. A sibling. Someone I might have loved and cared for, if I had only had the opportunity to know them.”
Johanna put her now-freed arms around him and pulled him close, where he buried his face in her neck. “You were not to know, my love.” She rubbed comforting circles between his shoulder blades, clutching onto him as tightly as she could. “You were not to know.”
Chapter Forty-One
Mark stood outside the warehouse, leaning against the bulwark of an abandoned boat as he stared out to sea. The cool, salty breeze swept up off the water, caressing his tear-streaked cheeks, and tempering the heat that burned across his skin.
Against the odds, Hugh was still alive. Liam had run back into the warehouse not long after departing with Lord Dresday, dragging a rather startled looking sailor with him. The sailor, as it turned out, was actually a ship’s doctor, who had set to work on aiding Hugh upon the promise that he would be well-recompensed by Mark.
He has endured fight after fight after fight… I should have known he would not pass so easily from this Earth, and certainly not with so much left to live for.
Indeed, Mark had only come out because he could not stand the sight of the sawbones patching up his half-brother. He had never been able to bear the sight of blood, and fresh air was the only remedy for the nausea it had brought to his stomach.
I wish I had known you. I wish I had seen your other letters and replied to them. I wish… I wish… I wish…
But it did no good to wish, for it did not change anything. It could not reverse time and make Hugh’s childhood better, with a family around him. It could not save their mother from the pining misery that had killed her. It could not give the half-brothers a sibling relationship, bonded by skinned knees, mischievous antics, and the healthy competition that other brothers enjoyed.
“What are you doing out here?” Liam’s voice brought Mark out of his miserable reverie. “Is all well inside?”
