She winced. “It’s what Cecelia doesn’t say that you have to pay attention to.”
“Why would she leave her things here?” he asked.
“That would only happen if there were an emergency and she had to leave,” Ainsley said.
“What could be such an emergency that she would leave without saying good-bye?”
“Only the worst kind,” Ainsley whispered.
“Tell me what you know, Ainsley,” he warned.
But she was already walking out the door. “It’s not my secret to tell.”
“Does she have a fiancé at home?” Marcus blurted out. Perhaps there really was someone in the land of the fae.
“No one at home has her attention the way you do, Marcus,” Ainsley said. She knew something. Marcus could tell.
“Please tell me what you know,” Marcus pleaded. Much more of this and he would be on his knees begging.
“They sent the wind for her.”
Marcus spun around quickly. “Last night?”
“Yes, late.”
The fae only sent the wind to and from the land of the fae in dire emergencies. “What was the emergency?”
“I don’t know,” Ainsley whispered, squeezing her eyes shut.
“But she, specifically, was needed.” It was like putting together the pieces of a puzzle. But too many pieces were missing.
Ainsley nodded. “Apparently.” She met his gaze. “Things have been different at home since her mother died.”
Cecelia’s mother had died? When?
He didn’t even get to ask the question before Ainsley said, “Right after you left six months ago.”
Marcus sank down onto the side of bed, afraid once again that his legs would not support him. Cecelia hadn’t told him that her mother had died. It had been more than six months, and he hadn’t even paid his respects. “How?”
“A carriage accident when she was on a mission in this world.”
“How is her father doing?”
“Poorly.”
“Is that why she had to go back? For him? He’s not ill, is he?”
“He has been ill for a while. But it’s not my story to tell.” She squeezed her lips shut and refused to say more.
“Can you tell me anything?” Marcus was desperate.
“Can you go to the land of the fae? Can you set all this to the side and go to her?”
“I can’t go until the moonful, if then.” He couldn’t walk away from his obligations to find a woman who might or might not want to see him. He had too much to learn here. And he wasn’t at all certain of Cecelia’s feelings toward him.
“Then you don’t deserve her,” Ainsley spit out.
Then she turned on her heel and quit the room.
“Good God,” Marcus breathed. He scrubbed a hand down his face. “What do I do now?”
***
Ainsley barreled directly into a hard chest and threw her hands out to catch herself. But strong arms wrapped tightly around her instead. “Ainsley?” the man asked. “What’s wrong?”
It wasn’t an aging butler who’d caught her. It wasn’t a startled maid. If anyone had to see her upset, she supposed it might as well be Allen. “Nothing,” she squeaked.
He set her back from him momentarily and looked down at her, his dark eyes piercing a little too deeply for comfort. “You lie poorly,” he warned. Then he pulled her back into his arms and didn’t insist she say a word. He didn’t try to coax any thoughts from her. He didn’t try to trick her into baring her soul. But that just made her want to do it more.
He inhaled deeply and held her tightly against him. She fit beneath his chin like he was made for her. Was he? She lifted her chin and looked up at him. “You want to kiss me, don’t you?” she teased.
“No,” he blurted out, setting her back from him. Ainsley felt the loss of him immediately.
“Yes, you do,” she teased.
“Where did you learn to do that?” he asked.
“Do what?” She had no idea to what he was referring.
“You shock people so that they’ll forget what they were trying to wheedle out of you.”
“You were trying to wheedle something out of me?”
“Not yet,” he said, a grin forming on his lips.
“You want to wheedle something out of me.”
He cocked his head to the side as his brows drew together sternly. “I want a lot of things from you,” he said. “But I intend for you to give them to me willingly. Otherwise, I don’t want them.”
Ainsley’s heart leaped. “You have a plan?”
“A rather decisive one,” he admitted.
“Tell me about it,” she whispered.
He lowered his voice, too. “If I did that, I wouldn’t have the element of surprise, would I?” He nodded toward Cecelia’s closed door. “Where were you rushing off from?”
“Marcus,” Ainsley said on a heavy sigh. “He’s a dolt.”
“I won’t argue that.” He grinned. “What did he do that was so doltish?”
“It’s what he won’t do.” She shook her head. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me,” he said.
“Well, Cecelia is gone. And I think he should rush off to find her. To help her.”
“Does she need help?”
“More than you could ever know,” Ainsley whispered.
“Is she in danger?” His face grew serious.
“I can’t tell her secrets.” She crossed her arms and glared at him. But he didn’t turn away from her, not like men usually did. He stood his ground.
“If that’s the best you can do, you don’t stand a chance in this relationship,” he warned.
“This is a relationship?” she squeaked.
“It will be,” he said.
Ainsley’s belly dipped into her drawers. “All right,” she replied.
“All right, you’ll tell me what’s wrong?”
“No. All right, this is a relationship.” A grin tugged at her lips. She’d never wanted anything more.
“Good,” he said, slinging an arm around her shoulders as he began to lead her down the corridor.
“Shouldn’t we kiss on it to make it official?” she asked, her cheeks burning.
“Later,” he said. “Right now, we need to help Marcus.”
“How do you propose we do that?”
“We don’t. But Mother and Father will know what to do.”
Allen stopped at the morning room and stuck his head inside. “Could we talk with you for a moment?” he asked his mother. She set her embroidery to the side and motioned for them to sit.
Allen looked at Ainsley quickly.
“First, I plan to court Miss Packard,” Allen said, looking his father in the eye.
Lady Ramsdale’s face glowed as she clasped her hands to her chest.
But he rushed on. “And Marcus is an idiot. He’s in need of an intervention.”
Lady Ramsdale was slightly taken aback. “I assumed he would rush off to the land of the fae to retrieve his lady.”
Allen shook his head. “No, he’s being a bit thickheaded.”
“What else is new?” his mother asked, pinching the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger.
“He needs steering.”
“His sisters are good at steering.”
“His sisters could wrap him up in spiderwebs and haul him back to the land of the fae,” Ainsley muttered.
Lady Ramsdale snickered and held up one finger. “I believe we can do better than that.”
“I’d kind of like to see him tied up in”—he looked at Ainsley—“spiderwebs, you say?”
Ainsley nodded. “They’re tremendously sticky.”
“I can imagine,” Allen said, visibly impressed with her knowledge.
She grinned.
“So, what would you like to do?” Lady Ramsdale asked her son.
“I have a plan,” Allen began slowly.
Eleven
Marcus had the weight of the world on his shoulders. He’d spent the morning with his father’s steward and the afternoon riding with the foreman in the fields, taking a look at the land. He’d met with his tenants and made a list of the things they needed. One needed another roof. And still another had a drainage problem, with standing water in his fields. He’d met their wives, and he’d given treats to their children. He was tired, yet now he had to dress for dinner with his family. At least he’d stayed busy. He hadn’t had more than a moment to worry about Cecelia or the fact that she’d returned home without him.
Marcus dressed for dinner and then stepped down the main staircase, but when he got to the bottom, he stopped, because milling about the front entryway was his entire family.
His mother supervised the stacking of trunks, and his sisters each held at least one of their offspring in their arms, or two in Claire’s case. At least the infants weren’t screaming at the moment.
Ainsley riffled through a trunk of her own and then tugged on her gloves.
The Duke of Robinsworth looked bored as his servants brought his trunks in through the front door, and Lord Phineas looked content as he kissed his wife on the forehead.
“Are you going somewhere?” Marcus asked.
His mother looked up. “Oh, yes, darling. We’ve planned an impromptu trip. We hope you don’t mind. Cook will serve dinner to you in your chambers, if you’ve need of it.”
Need of dinner? He hadn’t eaten all day. Of course he had need of dinner. “Where are you going?”
His mother smiled. “We’re going to the land of the fae for a bit. It’s of no importance. We won’t be gone long. You’ll barely miss us.”
“What’s the occasion?” Marcus asked.
“We just remembered it’s your grandmother’s birthday. And the only thing she wanted this year was to eat her birthday dinner at her own table.” His mother laughed. “Such a simple request, really. We couldn’t tell her no.”
He made a sweeping motion across the room. “You’re all going?”
His mother beamed. “I mentioned to your father that we should go, just the two of us, and then we sent word to Sophia and Claire about our proposed absences, and they sent word that they would like to go too. And we can’t leave the children behind.” She bent and placed a kiss to Lucius’s head.
“Will you take him?” Claire asked.
“Absolutely not,” Marcus said. With all the women in the room, certainly one of them could relieve Claire of some of her burden. The lad’s father took him instead, laying him upon his shoulder.
Lady Ramsdale bustled forward and kissed Marcus’s cheek quickly. “We’ll miss you, darling. But we’ll be back soon. You’ll be fine without us, won’t you?”
“Of course,” he said quietly. “But how do you plan to go to the land of the fae today? By way of the fish?”
“It was actually Claire’s idea.” His mother beamed. “We’d originally planned to go by way of the fish, since that’s how we went last time.”
“We’re going through one of my paintings,” Claire chirped. “Then we can return whenever we like.”
“Won’t the Trusted Few be angry?” Marcus asked. They liked nothing more than order. And this certainly wasn’t orderly.
“They’ll have no idea how we secured passage. We’ll just be there one day.”
Allen chimed in, “And I’ve never been, so I’m looking forward to it.”
What? “Allen’s going?”
“Yes,” his mother said with a smile.
“But he’s not fae.”
“Neither are Robinsworth, Lord Phineas, or Lady Anne.” Lady Anne, the Duke of Robinsworth’s daughter, poked her head out from behind Sophia.
“Hello,” she chirped.
Marcus’s mother’s brow furrowed. “You’ll be all right here by yourself, won’t you?” she asked.
“I suppose,” Marcus said quietly. They were all going to the land of the fae and leaving him behind?
“Excellent, darling. We’ll see you when we return. Do send word if you need anything.” She turned and motioned to a servant, who propped a floor-to-ceiling-sized painting against the wall. It was a painting of their manor house in the land of the fae. It was home. Claire went first, carrying one of the babies. Then she held her hand out and took the rest of them, one by one. They each called out salutations as they exited the world of the humans. The servants even bustled through with their trunks.
“I’m a little nervous,” Allen admitted when it was his turn. But Ainsley took his hand and smiled broadly at him. It appeared as though Allen would follow her anywhere, and then he did.
The room was quickly emptying of people, and Marcus felt nearly as empty as the room. They all were going home. They were going to the one place he dearly wanted to be.
Yet he had obligations here, didn’t he?
His dad looked at him and said, “The steward will be waiting for instructions from me and will take care of anything that comes up. But you can guide him if you feel the need to do so.”
Marcus nodded. “But…” he started.
Then it was his father’s turn. “I’ll see you when we return,” he said, and he clapped Marcus on the shoulder.
The room was empty. His entire family was gone. Even Ainsley and Allen were gone, along with his two younger sisters, who’d never been to the land of the fae. Good Lord, the fae didn’t know what they were up against. His family would wreak all sorts of havoc. Havoc of unmentionable proportions. Marcus scrubbed a hand down his face.
He turned in a circle, looking at the empty room. But that’s all this place was. An empty room. Suddenly, a hand appeared in the painting, reaching out. He knew it was Claire’s. Did she think they’d left someone behind? They hadn’t. They’d taken everyone. Except him.
Marcus steeled himself, adjusted his waistcoat, and reached for her hand. It was risky, he knew, but he dearly wanted to go. It was just for a short while, right? And they could come back as easily as they’d left. He clasped Claire’s hand in his and she gave it a gentle squeeze, and then he walked into the painting with his family. He left it all behind. He left this world, his obligations, and his destiny. And he went home.
When he stepped into the painting, he took a deep breath and came out on the other side. He looked up at the stately old mansion and took another, fuller breath. He could breathe again. He was home. He looked around. His mother laid a shocked hand upon her chest. “Marcus, what on earth are you doing here?” she asked.
“I thought I might join you,” he said.
His mother smiled broadly at him, took his face in her hands, and kissed his cheek. “I’m so glad. But won’t you be missed? All of your obligations?”
“It’s nothing that can’t keep,” he said. It was. Right?
***
Cecelia knew the moment the air shifted at the dinner table. Her father had gone beyond the point of abashedly tipsy. He was now obnoxiously foxed. It had started with a sherry before dinner. Then he moved on to whiskey, since sherry was a lad’s drink, he’d said. She’d tried to steer him toward something as innocuous as wine and had even asked the footman to make a pot of tea. But her father would have none of it.
“I can hold my spirits,” he slurred.
It had been the most trying of days. She’d battled with him at every turn and had to cajole even their most stalwart of servants to remain with the household. “This is the last time, miss,” they’d said. And it had been more than one. The butler met her eyes across the dining room. The pity she saw there shocked her. It was like a stab to the heart. This man they’d once revered, and her, their darling girl, the girl they’d all played a part in raising—the
y all pitied her now. And pity was something she simply could not tolerate.
“You should go to bed, Father,” she warned.
The butler stepped forward and raised his brows in question. She shook her head quickly in the negative. “Not yet,” she mouthed. He was one of the few people who could handle her father. But he was also much more likely to get punched than any of the others. Probably because he didn’t give up. If it took overpowering her father to get the job done, then that’s what he would do. He was a reed of an old man, but he was stalwart, and she had a feeling she would be in his debt before the night was out.
“I miss her,” her father said as he lifted his glass to his lips and tipped it back. It was empty, but that didn’t stop him from trying to drain the last drop.
He clunked the glass on the table, signaling for more in the rudest way possible. She shook her head at the butler.
“It’s time for bed, Father. Things will look brighter in the morning.” Cecelia pushed her uneaten food to the side and stood up.
“I’ll go to bed when I’m good and ready,” he said, getting to his feet. He nearly fell over, and the butler stepped forward to catch him. But her father was already belligerent, so he shoved the kind man to the side.
“Father,” she warned. She made her voice purposefully chipper. “Mother once told me a story about you taking her to the top of Mount Angel. Can you tell me the story while we walk?”
He scratched the top of his head, his eyes glassy and unfocused. But a smile broke across his lips. It was a watery smile, but a smile nonetheless.
“Can you tell me the story, Father?” she asked.
“I dragged your mother all the way to the top of that blasted mountain. She complained the whole way. But we got to the top, and the sun was setting, and the hues were all golden and yellow. Then they turned to purple, and we sat in the grass and planned our lives.”
He heaved the glass in his hand against the wall, and it shattered, the pieces falling like broken dreams to the Aubusson rug.
“Why did you do that?” Cecelia cried, covering her head with her hands. He didn’t have to be this way. He chose to be this way. He chose it every time he took a drink. Every time he let the memories overwhelm him.