The Ugly Duckling Debutante(63)

“Sir!” The footman hit the door, totally knocking Nicholas’s thoughts back into order.



“What is it?” he barked.



The carriage came to a stop, and the footman opened the door. “It seems that we need to stay the night at the inn on the border. One of the horses lost his shoe.”



“Very well,” Nicholas said dryly. The day couldn’t really get any worse.



And then…to Nicholas’s despair, it did.



The Horse and Hare was a popular stopping point, making it very likely to be seen by the entire ton on their way to the country. It was excruciating to see smirks from every person within the room. He grunted and took a seat, ordering as much tea and food he could consume in an hour’s time, then once the hour finished, he ordered more. He began to feel quite cheerfully full and miserable until…



“Renwick.”



He recognized the voice. “Ah Belverd. You’re here. Why am I not surprised?”



Belverd lifted one single eyebrow and sat. “You’re not going to get foxed are you?”



“Going to get foxed?” Nicholas mocked. “I want to get so foxed that I forget my name.” He let out a long sigh and pointed to the tea .“But to answer your original question, no I’m not going to get foxed.”



And it was true. His intent and his actions didn’t match up. His body screamed for spirits, yet all he had was tea. Logically speaking he was already well on his way to forgetting more than his name. But it wasn’t the drink that was causing memory loss. It was loss of sleep.



“I can’t let you do this,” Belverd said, pulling the tea directly from Nicholas’s hands. Nicholas pushed his chair away in preparation for a fight, but Belverd hadn’t been wallowing as much as he had. He knew the odds were against him, especially considering he had no real desire to fight anyone lest he win. The goal in a fight would be to lose and get put out of his misery.



He sank back into his chair and felt the room begin to spin. “What do you want?” The words he was thinking and what he was saying were very different.



“I want you to get your sorry self back to London and apologize to your wife!” Belverd’s voice raised to a tone Nicholas hardly recognized. “Confound it all! She is your wife, you idiot!” Belverd was positively raging at this point. Nicholas knew better than to laugh or speak for that matter. “Do you know how the ton found out about her little secret?”



Nicholas shook his head. He didn’t care how they’d found out. She had kept it from him.



“They found out because the people who raised her went to the local newspaper and sold the story for a small fortune! Everyone had been wondering the same thing. Who is this beautiful creature who has been living all this time in the countryside? Lady Fenton could have denied it, but she didn’t want to deny young Sara’s birthright. To have your foster parents sell you out, well, it’s nothing short of sinful, Renwick.”



He had sat back down but obviously wasn’t done speaking to Nicholas’s continued annoyance. “And you don’t even know the worst of it!” Belverd shouted. Confound it! Nicholas thought, strike me down now where I sit, my head can’t take anymore screaming!



“The man you killed all those years ago—“



“—I said never to discuss it!” Nicholas shouted, but Belverd kept going.



“That very man is Sara’s father.”



Nicholas felt ill. It wasn’t possible, it couldn’t be possible, and obviously there was some sort of mistake.



“It’s not a mistake,” Belverd said as if reading Nicholas’s mind. “Believe me, I talked with Lady Fenton herself. There was an affair before you came along, before the duke married, that is. I will let Lady Fenton tell the rest of her story.” Belverd got up to leave, but Nicholas pulled him back into his seat.



“I’m not going back. There is nothing for me in London.” Nicholas wanted desperately to believe the words coming out of his own mouth, but they lacked conviction.



“I know.” Belverd shook his head. “There is nothing for you anywhere until you deal with your own demons, my friend. And there isn’t enough ale in the world to rid you of those. Good day.” He tipped his hat and strolled out of the inn, leaving a very sick, yet sober, Nicholas Renwick behind.





***





Sara felt ill for the past month, had it really been that long since Nicholas left? In her heart it felt like years. Every day she woke up hoping for his return hoping for a chance to speak with him, yet every day she was met with the same thing. Disappointment. She continued to walk across the grounds of Renwick’s house in London. Hopefully, the air would do her some good.