Page 27 of The Secret of the Three Fates
“How long has it been?”
He wet his lips. “Over forty years. I still recall the first time I saw her. Truly saw her. She lived here at Manhurst and my family… we had some holdings nearby.”
I eyed the mostly empty bottle of Scotch on his table, the reason for his uncharacteristic honesty. I longed to ask more, but it was wise to hold my tongue when Mr. Owen was speaking candidly.
“Our families had always assumed that she would marry Malachi, as they were closer in age. Besides, I had no time for a country lass. Worldly git that I was. My head so far up my own arse…”
I laughed at the image and leaned across the table, setting down the half-eaten apple, and I patted his arm through the garish orange dressing gown sleeve. “I take it not much has changed?”
He gave me a soft wistful smile. “Oh, Ruby, you should have seen her that night. You’d have loved her too. I’d not so much as looked at the lass in probably five or six years. I’d been away in London leaving Malachi to handle things here. I only came back as he asked me to attend their engagement party, and as I was paying a fortune for the damned thing I thought I better show my face. He’s my only brother and I loved him then.”
“Do you love him now?”
“He’s kin, Ruby.” He covered my hand with his own and gave it a light squeeze. “Let me finish this sorry tale before I lose the courage to tell you. It’s important you know. I fear… I fear there is a connection between the two deaths but I cannot see it. I cannot fathom how or what I could have done to have caused this.”
I paused, not liking the tone in his voice. “What do you mean?”
He wet his lips. “I stole my brother’s intended.”
“Youwhat?”
He wrinkled his nose, white mustache twitching. “It was an accident.”
“Mr. Owen, one does not accidentally abscond with one’s brother’s fiancée. How exactly did youaccidentallymanage that?”
He leaned back in his chair, eyes taking on a wistful expression. “I was tired. My train had been delayed and then the bloody coach broke an axle and I was two hours late for the ball. I was supposed to have arrived here at Manhurst long before luncheon.”
Mr. Owen took a sip from his cup, running a finger along thelip. “I dressed myself for the evening but could not bring myself to make an appearance in the ballroom. Instead I took myself off to the orangery with a book. I thought if I had a few minutes’ peace I might work up the courage to face the gauntlet.” He winced at the memory.
I leaned forward, intrigued by Mr. Owen’s past. He’d never done more than crack open a window in the place, and this afternoon he’d opened the front door and let me come inside and I loved him all the more for it. “What happened then?”
He let out a soft laugh. “Shehappened. The foolish creature had the same thought at her very own engagement party. Book in hand, she’d found herself wandering the darkened glasshouse. She must have spied my lantern and came to see who else was hiding from the world.”
“Please tell me nothing untoward happened—because I am quite enjoying this story right now.”
He shook his head. “No. That was the most peculiar thing. I’d had more lovers by that time than I could count. You might not want to hear it, but I had a reputation as a bit of a rake as a young man. Until I found Mariah.” I could hear the tears behind his words. “She should have run away, left me to my work and my books. If she had, and married my brother, she would still be alive. Instead the foolish woman sat down on the bench beside me. I was…enchanted.She had a book of botanical cyanotypes—I’d not given much thought to photography at the time, but the way she spoke, the passion in her voice. It was—”
“A surprise?”
“Oh, don’t look at me like that, Ruby. I have always known women to be as clever as any man, but something about Mariah knocked me arse over teakettle and I haven’t come up for air in nearly fifty years.”
“And she chose you…”
He shrugged as if none of it mattered. “She threw him over that very night unbeknownst to me. If I’d known her intentions when we parted in the orangery then I might have talked her out of it. It was the worst of scandals, for after she called off the engagement it came out that we had been seen together. Oh I know I was a poor bargain for a husband, but when she told me she loved me—that she chose to be with me—I was helpless to say no.”
“I am sorry.”
His eyes met mine and he mustered a weak smile. “You remind me of her. Your spirit. Your clever mind. Mariah always wanted a child, but we never—we couldn’t—” He cupped my hand in his own. “You are the daughter I’d always hoped we’d have, Mariah and I.”
My eyes grew wet and I slipped my hand away, wiping away the irritating tears. “You should have told me about her.”
“Aye, my love, I should have. But after a while sometimes the lie becomes easier than the truth. I’ve not been that man in a very long time. Sometimes I think he disappeared alongside her that night.”
Something in his words gave me pause.My family had holdings near here.Dread climbed up my throat. “Mr. Owen…whatman do you mean?”
“You will not like me very much when I tell you this.”
My chest tightened.
