Weddings of the Century: A Pair of Wedding Novellas(19)

She looked at her father and was sickened to see triumph in his eyes. He thought he'd won, and took more pleasure in defeating Dominick than he had ever shown in being a parent.

Which of the men had demonstrated love by his actions? Dominick, not her father, who had systematically undermined all her friendships until her life was as narrow as that of a nun. And which of the men did she truly love? Again, the answer was Dominick.

Wrenching away from her father, she said in a shaking voice, "I owe you a daughter's duty, Papa, but if you force me to choose between you, I choose Dominick!"

Unsteadily she turned to walk toward her lover. In two quick strides he closed the distance and swept her into his arms. "Dear God, Roxanne," he said hoarsely, his hand stroking her hair over and over. "I thought I'd lost you for good this time!"

"I'm sorry I doubted you," she whispered.

He hugged her more tightly. "Doubt is human. What matters is that you have the strength to follow your heart."

As she hid her face in his shoulder, she knew she had made the right choice.

But her father had not yet surrendered. “If you go with that man, you're no longer my daughter!" he shouted furiously. "I'll leave my fortune to the British Museum! See how long he stays once you're a pauper, and don't expect me to take you back."

"I don't want or need Roxanne's inheritance, Sir William,” Dominick snapped. "Frankly, 1 think she would be better off if she never saw you again, but I shan't forbid her to communicate with you. It's up to you whether you have a relationship with her and any future grandchildren."

Heart aching, Roxanne turned to look at her father. Though he'd not been the most affectionate of parents, he was all the family she had, and it would hurt bitterly if he refused to ever see her again.

His face bore a desperate expression she'd never seen before. In a voice of raw anguish, he hissed, "Damnation, Roxanne, this man's father eloped with your mother!"





Chapter 10





As Sir William's shattering words hung in empty air, Dominick gasped and his embrace turned rigid. “Dear God! But if that's true, why did no one ever tell us?"

Roxanne pulled away and pivoted to stare at her father, stammering, “It can’t, it can't, be true! My mother died when I was four. I scarcely remember her."

Her father snarled, "The bitch didn't die, she ran away with her lover! Haven't you ever wondered why there was no grave?"

"I... I never thought about it. I assumed Mama was buried in Buckinghamshire at her family's estate." Stunned, Roxanne searched her memory, trying to recall what had happened. She'd looked forward to the nursery visits of her mother, who had the same red hair she'd bequeathed to her daughter. Sometimes she was charming and playful. Other times she was sad, with reddened eyes she couldn't disguise.

Then her mother stopped visiting. After what seemed like forever, Roxanne timidly asked when her mama would next come. The nursemaid said repressively that Lady Mayfield has passed on. There had been a strong implication of death, though the word had never been used. Roxanne had been too young to question further. And because she had lived such an isolated life, she had never heard any gossip to make her wonder.

Turning to Dominick, she asked, "You didn't know either?"

"I swear to God that I had no idea." He felt numb, and sure to the bone that this time the baronet was telling the truth. "One day my mother announced that my father had left us and would not be coming back. I didn't dare ask questions since the subject upset her terribly. She never mentioned him again except to tell me several years later that he had died in Naples. By then I had learned from a servant that my father had run off with a married woman, but I never knew her name."

"Well, you know now!" Sir William spat out. “My wife died at the same time, of the same cholera that killed your father. Yes, I lied to both of you when I forced you to leave ten years ago, but breaking up the relationship spared your mother the horror I felt when you asked for Roxanne's hand. Your mother would have been as appalled by a marriage between you two as I was." His face worked. “I’ve done my best to protect my daughter. I'd rather die than lose her to another Chandler."

Dominick stared at Roxanne, wondering what she was thinking. When she slipped away from him, he had the sick feeling that this time the baronet had won.

But he misjudged her. Stopping in front of her father, she said quietly, "The only way you will lose me is if you refuse to accept Dominick as my husband. He is not his father any more than I am my mother, and he is just as much a victim of their selfishness as you and I. Now I understand why you tried to separate us, but we are not the same as our parents. Dominick and I are both single and free to love each other."

With unexpected compassion for the older man, Dominick added, "Trying to deny our love will not change the past, Sir William. I'm sorry for what happened for all of our sakes, but I'll be damned if I will walk away from the only woman I've ever loved to pay for my father's crime."

His breathing harsh, the baronet buried his face in his hands. Gently Roxanne said, "It can't be easy to stop feeling anger after so many years, but for my sake I hope you will try. I don't want to lose you, Papa." She gave Dominick a quick glance. "We'll be going on a long honeymoon. When we return, I hope you will receive us at Maybourne Towers."