Authors: Nichole Matthews
Declan
swept the room with a wild gaze,
“Where’s that
bloody
doctor
?”
In his feverish state,
Gabriel
’s delirious
mumbl
ing
s
continu
ed
throughout the day
and each whimper and moan tore at Declan’s heart.
“
Sarah! Sarah!
W
here
have y
ou
hidden yourself
? Can you hear me?”
Moments of clar
i
ty mingled with incoherent
moan
s
,
“Where are you?
I know you are here somewhere.
”
Gabr
i
el
kicked off the covers
, his s
leeping gown twisted around his
legs
.
“I must
find her
.
She must be found immediately
.
”
Gabriel groaned
,
r
estlessly
thrash
ing
hi
s head back and forth.
“We must
search
more diligently
.
We must
continue the
search…”
His voice trailed off as his fever wor
s
ened
and he once more slipped
into
a
deeper
unconsciou
s
ness.
Declan staggered
forward
as Gabriel’s voice trailed off
, s
eizing
his
now listless
hand
,
crushing
it in his grasp
.
Archibald
continued
mopp
ing
the sweat from Gabriel’s body and appl
ied
cooling cloths
in an effort to
bring down the
raging
fever.
“He’
ll most likely awaken before long
,” he
told D
e
clan
, anxiously
glancing at his tight-lipped, wild
-eyed
appearance
.
Long moments of peace em
bedded themselves between Gabriel’s
feverish
rants and
Declan continued
diligently with his
pray
er
. “Please God
, please
God
, o
h, p
lease God
.
”
When he realized that tears were streaming down his cheeks, h
e
laid his head to rest on the side of
Gabriel’s
bed.
“I cannot do this again
.
God, w
hy would you do this to me again?”
He wished G
a
briel would stir, show some sign of life.
Declan
froze
when
the sound of
a
clear
familiar voice
interrupted his prayer
. “
Ah, there you are
Declan; I’ve been searching for you. Shall we saddle our mounts and
ride
?
The weat
h
er today is so f
i
ne
.
Would that not be excellent
fun?”
Declan raised his head, glancing into wha
t appeared to be the
clear gr
een eyes of his brother.
He cried out
, “
Oh praise God!
Gabriel you’re awake
.
”
His eyes sought out
Arch
i
bald
relief
evident
in their
depths that
quickly faded when
Gabriel continue
d as if Declan had not spoken; his e
x
pression turned stricken.
“You know how upset Mr. Beasley
becomes
when
our lessons are missed
.
”
A dreamy smile touched Gabriel’s lips.
“
Hurry, let us go b
e
fore he seeks
us
out
.
”
“Gabe! Gabe! Can
you hear me?” Declan cried
his face suddenly devoid of all color
. “
A ride sounds excellent
. T
hat
sounds
splendid
,
”
h
e
said
as Gabriel’s hand went
limp
in his grasp
and an
unnatural
quiet descended over the room
.
His wide eyes jerked towards Archie
. Jumping up he
grabbed
Gabriel’s
shoulders
sha
k
ing him
.
“
Gabriel
?
”
Declan blanched, s
haking him
again
.
“Gabe
!
”
“
Gabriel!”
Declan
cried
over and over
as t
ears f
ell
h
eavily from his eyes. “I’ll have the horses saddled,
Gabri
el. Wait
, d
on’t go
anywhere.
”
A choked sob escaped
.
“You
cannot
leave me here all alone
,
G
a
briel
!”
“Master Declan?” Archibald laid a hand on his back.
Declan
roughly
shook
Archibald’s hand
from his shoulder
, a
low keening cry e
scap
ed
his lips
. He buried
his face in the crook of his brother’s neck, his hands g
athering up his lost friend
holding him close.
“
I can
no
t make it without you
.
You
cannot leave me here by m
y
self.
”
He sobbed h
arder and harder
.
“Do
n’t
leave me.
Don’t you dare leave me Gabriel
.
Please Don‘t leave me!
”
He
cried
,
clutch
ing
his brother’s lifeless body to his heaving chest. “What am I
su
p
posed to
do without you?”
The last
words barely a w
hisper full of anguish and de
s
pair.
It took t
hree of Allingham Park
’
s brawniest footmen to pry him away from
his brother’s
lifeless
body.
The
grief-stricken
cries
of th
e
newest
Duke of Hawksley echoed
eerily throughout the hall
for days.
CHAPTER
ONE
Love sought is good, but
Given unsought is better.
Twelfth Night
*William Shakespeare
“
H
onestly Parker, you would even have me believe we’ve never entertained guests at Rosebr
i
ar before
.
” Poppy
’
s brow puckered
as
a mischievous glint
lit her bright blue
eyes.
“You have
be
come
such an ogre
in your dotage
.
”
Poppy Peregrine was the
youngest sister
and ce
r
tainly the most willful sibling of the latest
M
arquis of Ashford
.
“And you
, m’dear,
act as if
you have been denied
you
r every d
esire
,”
Parker
retorted
at the end of her
playful
rant
.
It ha
d
been
three and a half
years since Parker became the Marquis of Ashford.
For
Poppy who
ha
d
known
nothing but goodness the entirety of her
life
,
the loss of her dearly loved father
was the toughest lesson she ha
d
ever
had to
learn
.
One minute he
was there, and the next only a
bitter
sweet memory
.
I
n the blink of an
eye,
all of
their lives
changed.
“Well, perhaps I am la
ying it on a bit too thick.” Poppy
sighed. “But you mak
e it ever so much fun. Rather
difficult to resist.”
“Poppy, if you ha
ve
your say
,
the whole of England will
be taking advantage of the
seemingly endless
hospitality at Rosebriar
.
”
Parker drawled with a
good-humored
smile.
“What harm can there be in being hospitable?”
“Lud,
" Parker said calmly.
“
Have you apprised
A
unt Adele
of your schem
ing or are you intending
to spring
these plans
last minute
on her as well?
”
Parker was
t
he
sixth
Marquis of Ashford
, known
as
Ashford to
all of
his acquaintances
and
Ash
to all of his close acquaintances
and possibly
even
a few foes along the way.
Well over six foot, d
ark wavy brown hair,
piercing
blue eyes, young, titled and with an ample fortune
. W
omen practically swooned whe
n he walked in the room and
men turned green with envy. Pr
o
digious luck it seemed in all things.
E
nvied by
some
of the staunchest men of the peerage
,
who
by their own
admission
had taken
considerably
less care of their own inheritances
, s
quander
ing
their
wealth with no care for the
ir
future
s or for that of their
heirs
, they felt it
their right and priv
i
lege.
Though considered ruthless to some, Parker had increased
the Peregrine
wealth regula
r
ly by making wise investments and efficiently running the extensive prope
r
ties
entailed
him as the current m
arquis.
Taught to
be
a
lways the dutiful lord of the manor
by their father
, Parker
spent his life insu
r
ing the pro
sperity of the Peregrine family
for future generations
.