Abandoned to the Prodigal - Mary Lancaster Page 0,27
away from them twenty-eight years ago and never came back.”
“I didn’t run away from your insults, as you very well know,” Jenny said calmly. “They were merely water off a duck’s back. I ran away to marry John Stewart.”
He stared. “You still seem mighty proud of such a paltry match!”
“I am.”
The old man curled his lip and waved his hand toward Dan. “And see where it’s left you.”
“I am also proud of Dan.”
Lord Myerly pushed back against his pillows. “You’re much calmer than you used to be.”
“I hear you aren’t. How are you, Papa?”
The question seemed to take him by surprise. He dragged his gaze free and looked at his hands on the coverlet. “Weak as a kitten. I suppose that’s why you came. You want Myerly for your wastrel son.”
“Of course I do,” she replied. “But I know perfectly well that makes no difference to you. Tabby and Hetty also want it for their sons. You’ll give it where you like. If you want the truth, I came to see if there was any forgiveness in you.” She held his fierce old gaze as he glanced up. “For what it’s worth, I forgive you.”
He glared at his bedside table as if wondering what to seize and throw. “Forgive me? Am I supposed to be grateful? You have not even apologized for running away!”
“And I never will. I don’t regret it. Though I do regret it was necessary.”
“Shameless, disobedient, s—”
“Careful,” Dan warned.
“Bah!” his grandfather shouted.
Jenny took her father’s hand, an act that surprised him so much, he let it happen. She glanced up at Dan and, reluctantly, he walked out of the room and left them to it.
Chapter Seven
Later, Dan collected Gun and went for a walk with his mother. They headed westward and climbed the hill among some incurious sheep. Dan let Gun grow used to their presence, even sniff one or two before he let him off the leash. The dog bounded ahead, more interested in other smells.
From the summit, they could see over the lower slopes as far as Kidfield on one side and Hornby on the other. The beauty Dan had noticed yesterday struck him again, and although he didn’t really want to feel anything for this land, he found he did.
They didn’t speak. After a moment, his mother’s fingers curled around his, and he squeezed them in return. Because he knew she would prefer it, he pretended not to see the dampness on her face as they turned and began to descend the hill once more.
“I’ve waited a long time to come home,” she said. “I didn’t even know I missed it. I’m glad I came.”
“Will it be harder to leave again?”
“Not if your grandfather wills it to you,” she said lightly. “Because then, I can come back whenever you like.”
“He wants us to fight over it,” Dan said abruptly. “I’m pretty sure that’s what’s reviving him. He won’t will Myerly to me, because I won’t play.”
“That’s another reason I came,” she admitted. “To tell you that if you are doing this for me, you don’t need to. You don’t even need to do it for yourself. I have decided to marry Geoffrey.”
He made an involuntary movement of disgust.
She took his arm and shook it. “Don’t be like that, Dan. He is a good man, and he makes me laugh. And he will provide for us both.”
“Damn it, Mother,” he exploded. “If I want anything from my grandfather, it is so you don’t feel obliged to make such a choice!”
“Oh, I never feel obliged to do anything. And you should not feel obliged to toady your grandfather for me.”
He cast her a rueful smile. “I came with the intention of trying, but when I’m with them, all that flies out the window. Are you and he friends again?”
She considered. “I would not say friends. He is not a man who forgives easily. But he asked for me. Possibly to spite my sisters, but still, he did it. And I came. That has to mean something.”
“Do you think he is dying?”
“I think he could have died. Now…I don’t know, and according to Waits, neither does the doctor.”
“I think he might have been holding on for you,” Dan said. “I think he wanted one last fight, and you took the wind out of his sails.”
She sighed. “I was angry too long. It bores me now. I want to be happy and frivolous.”
“You are happy and frivolous. You don’t need Geoffrey Pilney to be more so. You don’t