Free Sinful (Hot Regency Romance Novella) by Sharon Page Page A

heart. It took another half-hour of
threats, but Nick finally revealed the name of the small village
inn where he had found Lady Maryanne and Mr. Peabody.
    “Lyan—”
    He spun around. Estelle was alone. “Laura is
having a drink in the parlor, so I thought I would see what was
happening. A groom has been sent on horseback for the magistrate.”
She hesitated. “I should have told you. I am so very sorry…”
    He didn’t know what to say. He was still
angry over what she had done, but he loved her for how she had
taken care of Laura. He would always love her, and it would always
be hopeless, wouldn’t it? Curtly, he said, “Once he’s taken away,
I’ve got to see if I can find Lady Maryanne.”
    She nodded. “I will look after Laura.”
    “Thank you.” But it came out sharply. He
hadn’t meant it to. He was not angry at her over Laura. But he’d
called her a coward, She must have hated that. And she hadn’t been
able to trust him. If she couldn’t do that, if she couldn’t open
her heart to him, he would have to walk away from her forever.
     
    * * *
     
    The magistrate and several muscular village
men arrived to place Nick Swan under arrest. Once Swan had been
shackled in irons and taken to the gaol, Lyan, the magistrate, and
several of those men raced off in pursuit of Lady Maryanne. Estelle
stayed with Laura, who had finished her small glass of sherry and
broken down into sobs.
    But as dawn began to blush on the horizon,
Laura wiped at her eyes. “You had tea brought in, didn’t you?”
    “Yes.” Estelle poured the girl a cup. She
suspected Laura was, at her core, as strong and noble as Lyan. As
the girl sipped hot tea, Estelle stroked back her hair.
    “I’m crying at my stupidity,” Laura said.
“And at how close I came to losing my brother.” Wide green eyes
gazed up at Estelle. “You were correct. I see how important Lyan is
to me. I don’t want to lose him—in any way. When I marry, I want it
to bring happiness to our family. Not discord. And—” She ducked her
head. “He was right.”
    “Your brother is a very wise and wonderful
man.”
    The door burst open then, and Lyan strode in.
He gaped as he saw his sister drinking tea, wiping at her nose, but
also smiling.
    Estelle grasped Laura’s cup. Her heart felt
full to bursting as Laura flung herself into Lyan’s embrace. Over
his sister’s disordered curls, Lyan said, “We found Lady Maryanne
and Peabody. They had taken refuge in a barn. Peabody had lost
blood, but the village doctor believes he will survive. They have
many years of married life ahead of them.”
    Estelle could have kissed him, but Laura
deserved to have all her brother’s hugs. Then, to her surprise,
Laura looked up into Lyan’s face. “Are you going to marry Madame
Desjardins? You could keep traveling and marry her over the
anvil.”
    Estelle caught her breath. What if Lyan
thought she’d put Laura up to it? She had to clear the air. “No,
Laura, that was not our intention at all. I made a horrible
mistake. I decided not to tell Lyan that you planned to elope. I
was loyal to you, but it was the wrong thing to do.”
    Laura turned from Lyan’s chest. “But—”
    “Your brother is not some sort of heartless
man you should escape,” Estelle said firmly. “He is good, kind, and
loving. I should have told him the truth so that you and he could
speak together. Running away is never the solution. I’ve learned
that, and paid an enormous price for that knowledge. I am so very
sorry for what I did—for how I hurt your brother not once, but
twice. He deserved so much better than that.”
    She could not look at Lyan. She had never
given him an answer to his proposal. But after what she had done,
surely he wished he had never made it.
    Lyan’s deep, soft voice cut through the
sudden silence. “Laura, I have no intention of going to Gretna
Green.”
     
    * * *
     
    A fortnight had passed, and Estelle had
accepted the truth. Lyan could not forgive her. He would