Page 108 of The Girl Out of Time
“If you’d spare me another minute, I have an important announcement.” He beckoned to somewhere in the crowd, and Cassiopeia wormed her way through and joined him.
“Of course, you all know my darling Cassie.” Lord Wescott took her hand. “The most wonderful daughter a father could ask for. But tonight, it’s time to introduce you to another member of my family. A distant relative he might be, but no less important—for he is about to become my heir.”
Murmurs and gasps rose in a gathered audience.
“Andthatis why I come,” Sebastian said. “The drama.”
“I thought Lord Wescott didn’t have a male heir,” Louisa whispered. “Not an illegitimate son, surely?” She sounded shocked, but also excited at the possible prospect.
Unlikely, but it would be quite fun. Oh, just like inThe Lord of Two Hearts!
“Mr. Royer, if you’d join us,” Wescott said toward the top of the staircase.
Emmeline was still musing about that potential story—imagine Lord Wescott had two sons, a legitimate and an illegitimate one, vying for the title, even calling a duel—and had been paying only partial attention to the black-clad figure descending the stairs until he came into the light of the chandelier, and the candles’ flames reflected in his silvery, starry eyes.
Theo.
Emmeline didn’t know what happened next. She could only stare at him. Louisa nudged her and said something to her; Sebastian might have whispered something to Louisa, and Wescott was talking—he was talking about him,Leon, but it was Theo. He was right there, standing next to the earl, looking as fine as Emmeline had ever seen him in a pure black, perfectly fitted cutaway and a gray silk waistcoat matching his eyes. Surely, they weren’t …
They weren’t sayingTheowas Lord Wescott’s heir, were they?
“You’ll have ample opportunities to get to know him,” Wescott said. “And of course, you are all invited to the event of this season. I’ll see you in St. George’s …” His eyes glittered again as he looked at his daughter, and he joined both hers and Theo’s hands.
Emmeline’s heart dropped into her stomach as the duchess’s voice from all those months ago echoed in her head.Wedding at St. George’s …
“Where, come June, Mr. Royer will take my daughter’s hand in holy matrimony.”
***
Theo had reduced Wescott’s ostentatious engagement reveal to a simple going-through-the-motions. He had to occupy his thoughts with something else, even if it was staring at that one lady’s turban and wondering if the feather on it was real. It wouldn’t get any better; there was no solution for his situation, but he at least tried to convince himself the reveal was the worst part.
When Wescott joined Theo’s hand with Cass, Theo’s face reflected in hers—a mask of politeness, a second away from breaking. But then applause rang out, reaching over Wescott’s words about moving on to dinner, and the tension released a fraction. Cass gave him a small smile—“Thank God it’s over,” it seemed to say. He still felt sick to his stomach when he thought of everything to follow, of having to converse with all these people tonight, of the months leading up to the wedding, of the years ahead of him.
Accepting his fate had been so much easier a few months ago. Or even weeks ago, before Emmeline came back, before she gave him hope he had no business having.
As the guests paired up and walked into the dining room, one of them broke from the crowd and slipped through the door into the sitting room. The woman was a blip on the periphery, but Theo instinctively looked, anyway—then did a double take.
Emmeline?
She’d disappeared through the door already, but he caught sight of those raven locks and the swishing of a pink skirt. Not enough to confirm, but even with his brain lacking more information, his heart recognized her.
She shouldn’t be here.
He made a step toward the sitting room, but Wescott stopped him. “Where are you going, boy?”
“I need to—uh—” Theo pulled on his cravat. “Change.”
“The dinner is about to start.”
“Papa, let him have his fashion disaster,” Cass said, her look letting Theo know she hadn’t quite fallen for it. “Or an avoidance of one, as it is.”
Wescott sighed. “Ten minutes.”
Theo nodded and made a few steps back as if preparing to return upstairs, but once Wescott and Cass left, he sped toward the sitting room.
It was empty, the lights turned down for the evening. He marched through it, throwing glances left and right to make sure the runaway wasn’t hiding behind a sofa. Into the hallway, next—in front of him lay the conservatory, also left in darkness, the luscious plants throwing jagged shadows on the moonlit tiles.
A sniffling sound came from it.
