Page 99 of Never Love a Lord
Piers continued. “Because of your support and generosity, Gillwick prospers. I owe you my life, and that of the family your sister and I will make together. You will always be part of that family.”
Then Oliver stepped forward, clearing his throat. “I guess I shall be next then. Right.” Oliver rubbed his palms together briskly and then grinned at Sybilla in his roguish way. “Well. We have known each other for quite some time, you and I. You’ve sheltered me in injury through my own idiocy. You looked out for my welfare even when I had no idea you did so. Sorry about that bit with the king, of course.” Everyone chuckled, including Sybilla. “You gave my brother a great deal of joy. You saved Cecily’s life. I suppose you were going to be my sister-in-law one way or the other, eh?”
Oliver looked down at the ground for a moment, and when his eyes met hers again, his face was completely solemn and he gave an affirmative nod. “I thank God for that.”
Sybilla had to close her eyes and turn her face away for a moment, and then she felt Oliver’s arms around her. She returned his embrace. He rejoined his wife.
“Sybilla,” Alys said next, “you were a terrible, horrid, wretched replacement for my mother. But you were the best sister, friend, and protector I could ever have asked for. It was because of your example that I could justify standing up against iniquities. I fought for what was right because I knew it was whatyouwould do. You were my guiding light, even when I denounced you for the harridan I thought you to be. I know that it was because of your deep love that you demanded so much of me. And I can only pray that I show my own husband and children such devotion and confidence in what they are capable of. I love you.”
Alys’s speech did not bring Sybilla to tears, and for that she was grateful, but at that moment, her youngest sister seemed so mature, Sybilla felt a pride that could only be described as maternal.
“My turn,” Cecily said, and stepped forward before Sybilla could respond. “Sybilla, you saved my life. Both literally and figuratively. You saw in me my deepest desires, desires I denied for too long. You encouraged me, pushed me into uncomfortable situations, made me look at myself and my actions and be accountable for my future. I suppose you rather pushed me from the nest, knowing before even I did that I could fly. You looked out for my safety, even as soldiers bore down on you alone. You gave no thought to your own happiness while those around you needed you. You are the greatest friend I have ever known, and I love you very much.”
Sybilla felt Julian’s hand on her lower back. Should she tell him now that it was her intention to marry him? That she had decided it a week ago in the solar? What he had done for her here, it was beyond her wildest imaginings of love. Her heart was so full, it felt as though it might burst if she did not tell him.
She turned to him. “Julian, I—”
But someone cleared his throat pointedly and Sybilla and Julian turned to see that Graves had stepped forward.
“Might I say something, Lord Griffin?”
Oliver quipped under his breath, “Don’t you mean, might you ask something?”
Graves’s head turned toward the young lord with a haughty stare.
“That’s not what I mean at all, Lord Oliver.”
Everyone within earshot gasped. Sybilla felt her mouth fall open.
“Go on, Graves. Please,” Julian encouraged him respectfully.
Graves stepped toward them and handed Lucy to Julian. Then he turned to Sybilla.
“Madam. The day you were born, there had never been such rejoicing at Fallstowe, in all my many days here since my own birth. Never has a child brought a man such joy as you did your father. He delighted in you beyond anything of this mortal world, and he and I spent many an hour discussing your future, your talents, your inevitable success. And your mother—” Graves paused for a moment and his thin, wrinkled lips pursed, twitched. “She perhaps made some missteps. But what she did, she did to protect your father, your sisters, and you. She tried to do it all on her own, until it became clear that she would not live long enough to see its end.
“Everything she ever told you is absolutely true,” Graves said in a voice just above a whisper. Then he stepped forward, grasped her shoulders with his bony hands and leaned his papery cheek against hers to speak in her ear. “And it does not . . . bloody . . . matter . . . anymore.”
He pressed his cool, dry lips to her cheek before he drew away and took a courteous step back.
“I long for your happiness above all else. Above even Fallstowe’s continuation. I can’t bear—” He broke off, and when he recovered, his haughty voice was choked, his rheumy eyes glistened. “I can’t bear the thought of you alone, when I am no longer here to look after you.”
Sybilla broke then, rushing to Graves and embracing him, her tears staining his shoulders as they clung to each other.
“I love you, Graves,” Sybilla said.
“And I you, Madam.”
At last they released each other, and then Sybilla turned to Julian once more, who now held a solemn-looking and wide-eyed Lucy, little dark shadows under her eyes from the late hour.
She still had no chance to speak, though.
“Now,” Julian said, “it’s my turn.”
Chapter 32
Julian looked down into Sybilla’s eyes as he held his daughter. He could see the overwhelming emotion on her face, how it had confused her, shaken her, and that was exactly what Julian had hoped for.
Sometimes the truth was a difficult thing to hear. And sometimes it was only difficult to accept.
