Page 86 of Their Brazen Countess
Linc saw the horror he’d felt that day reflected in her eyes. He’d known, even then, that something terrible had happened to his sweet, sweet little sister. Later, of course, he understood the true magnitude of it all, but when he’d called out to the searchers and the first adults had arrived, he’d known immediately that it was bad. He had waded into the water to pull her out, but she was too heavy for him so he’d pulled off his coat and draped it over her floating form to hide the sheerness of her wet chemise from everyone that came.
Linc’s mother had arrived as one of the footmen carried her child out of the water, and the woman had collapsed in tears.
“As my mother lay weeping over Melanie’s body, my father looked at me where I still stood, knee deep in the water. He pointed his finger at me and bellowed that it was my fault—that if I had taken her with me that day, this wouldn’t have happened, that…that his baby girl would still be alive. And I knew it was true. If I hadn’t left her at home, she wouldn’t have tried to go swimming on her own. It was all my fault, because I hadn’t done what I knew I should have. Just like with Matthew.” Linc shrugged, his shoulders tight with tension.
“No! No, your father was wrong to say that. Wrong to blame you, Linc. Melanie’s death was nobody’s fault but the man who attacked her.” Theo’s words came out urgent but gentle.
“Regardless, my father held me responsible and shipped me off to boarding school in the autumn. It was the last time I was home until I became an adult. Even decades later I rarely go home and I certainly have no interest in carrying on the title.” Linc sighed. “But I did fail her. Just as I failed Matthew. And it will happen again. I refuse to inflict that on either Matthew or Jo. It is best if I pull away now.”
“No. You are absolutely wrong, Linc. They need you—all of them need you. More importantly, they miss you.” Theo turned and took the reins back into her hands. With a quick shake of the reins and click of the tongue, they lurched forward. “I’ll show you.”
A few moments later, as Linc collected himself, Theo pulled up near one of the ponds in Hyde Park. There he spotted Arthur and Jo sitting close together on a picnic blanket as Matthew ran about chasing the ducks.
“What do you see, Linc?” Theo asked, waiting for him to answer.
He grunted. A pain shot across his chest as he watched the cozy scene, a scene that felt so distant, so out of reach. “I see a man and a woman sharing an intimate moment as their son plays nearby.”
“Look again. What I see is a man consoling a woman because one of the men she loves, that they love, is not there. He is willfully absent from them. I see a boy who is chasing the ducks, but with a fraction of the gusto he is capable of because he misses his Uncle Linc, who is usually the one chasing the ducks with him.” Theo looked at him pointedly.
Linc watched them and he could see the sadness which hung over the little outing like a pall. But it changed nothing. He would do more harm than good if he were there.
“Linc, you were a boy. You were not responsible for Melanie’s death. That was a horrible thing your father said in a moment of grief—and what happened to Matthew the other night lies solely at the feet of Lady Downs. No one else is responsible, except perhaps her husband who pursued the issue to begin with. I would wager that if you walked over there, the three of them would welcome you with open arms. They love and miss you as much as you love and miss them. But I believe you owe Jo and Arthur an explanation for why you pulled away. Without that, they will never fully understand why—and who you are.”
Theo’s words settled in Linc’s gut and curled around his heart.
Perhaps…she was right? Intellectually, he knew there was little he could have done to stop what happened to his sister. He had been a boy who wanted to go off and be a boy. He hadn’t done anything more than be a child.
Could he just walk over there and apologize?
He wouldn’t know if he didn’t try.
Without a word, Linc climbed down out of the carriage and started over to where his family waited for him.
Chapter Forty
Arthurlookedupandstared for a moment. Then he blinked—but no, he was still there walking across the lawn in Hyde Park toward them.
Linc was there.
He leaned over to Jo. “He’s coming.”
She gasped softly and turned to look at him. Then she tugged on his arm to demand, “Help me up.”
Arthur did as she bade, rising to his feet and helping her to hers as Linc approached.
Before they could do more than wave tentatively, Matthew launched himself at Linc’s legs. “Uncle Linc! You came!”
Linc smiled softly at their boy, but there was a tinge of sadness to it and that sadness worried Arthur. Linc knelt down to talk to Matthew, though they could not hear what he said. Then he hugged the boy and sent him off. A delighted Matthew went back to chasing the ducks with a vigor which had been missing earlier.
Linc approached them with a curt nod. “Arthur, Jo.”
“Hello, Linc.” Jo smiled. “Please, sit down, join us.”
Linc nodded and lowered himself to the blanket they sat on. Arthur helped Jo sit so she wouldn’t put any strain on her side. It was healing well, but she was a few weeks away from being back to her normal, active self.
“Would you care for a glass of lemonade, or perhaps some wine?” Jo offered, gesturing to the picnic basket.
“Lemonade would be fine.”
