Heirly Ever After - Vernon, Magan (pdf ebook reader .txt) 📗

were baking?” Her mother’s meek voice carried across the table from her seat next to Natalie.

While everyone else was in their most regal attire, the down-to-earth mother of the bride wore a simple gray blouse with a string of pearls. Her short hair was swept to the side, the bangs pulled back with a tiny clip.

Madison cleared her throat, and I shifted in my seat, smiling as I waited for her reply.

“I, um, well, I found Jacob down in the kitchen and offered to help. Didn’t exactly go so well, though,” she muttered before picking up her glass, taking a large gulp.

“So you’re a trained pastry chef?” Lord Edwin asked with genuine interest, even a darn smile on his face. Or maybe he was hoping that it would be a sign I wasn’t there for anything more than to be helpful.

“Not professionally trained, Lord Edwin. But it’s a hobby. Something I like to do and with everything else going on, I thought I’d take a little bit of a break and help out with some of the sponges.”

“Oh, I can’t wait to try them. Tell me, did you add any of your family’s recipes into our course tonight? It’s been so long since I’ve had a good cranachan,” Lady Elizabeth gushed.

I couldn’t help but smile at the old lady, pushing down the twinge of guilt at betraying her trust. “No, not tonight, Lady Elizabeth. I kept with the pastry chef’s orders of fondant fancies and Victorian sponge.”

“Oh, darn, maybe next time.” She pouted.

“Maybe you can bring Madison with you again. If the messy state I found her in is any indication, she could use a little more practice,” Cecily piped up, and Madison stiffened next to me.

“If it’s what my damsel desires, then I’d be happy to indulge her,” I said, slinging my arm over the back of Madison’s chair. “Messy is fun.”

Cecily narrowed her eyes before taking a big gulp of her drink. Maybe no one ever talked back to her, but Madison didn’t deserve to be put on the spot like that. Especially not for the incredible and intimate time we’d had.

After a short pause, the conversation continued around the table. I wanted nothing more than to stay by Madison’s side, but the longer I did, the harder it was going to be to get away.

I had to find a way to get to the library. There had to be something in the texts that clearly showed what the MacWebleys owned of this manor and land. I’d then show it to Lord Gavin and Lord Edwin and be done with it all. Maybe there was a way we could work everything out that wouldn’t affect Madison and her family.

I just had to get away from the scent of Madison’s floral shampoo and the sight of her long red hair and plush lips long enough to think straight.

The whole dinner, while everyone made small talk, I kept trying to think of the easiest way to excuse myself. The proper thing to do was probably to wait until everyone was asleep and sneak down the hall. But the longer I put this off, the more others could get hurt.

I had to do this now.

As soon as dessert was served, I stood, dropping my napkin to my plate. “If you’ll excuse me. Normally I don’t eat my own delicacies, so I was going to retire to my room for a bit. It’s been a long day.”

Lord Edwin frowned, but Gavin’s eyes became steely as if he knew exactly what I was up to.

Before anyone could protest, I headed out of the doors of the dining room, making my way down the long hallways, racking my brain as I pictured the gilded doors that led to the library room we’d passed when we’d first got in. After one or two wrong turns, I found it.

The smell of old leather filled my nose as I took in floor-to-ceiling rows of mahogany bookshelves with ladders spread across the room to reach some of the higher tomes. Not a speck of dust covered any of the large wooden desks or the leather chaises that surrounded an oriental rug next to the fireplace.

I tried to imagine what it would have been like when the MacWebleys lived here. Whether my ancestors had used this same fireplace. Whether they’d always had this many books.

I had to find my family history, a definite proof of who I was and what this would mean for the MacWebleys.

I thumbed through the first collection of books closest to the door, noticing the alphabetical order of the fiction works. I scanned the rows, wondering how in the hell they had this all organized. Was there some sort of a Dewey Decimal system in place? Maybe a computer catalog?

Rounding the leather settee near the fireplace, I made my way to the large desk by one of the French windows. A gold magnifying glass sat on top of a stack of yellowing books, the writing handprint instead of the usual stamped method I’d seen in some of the older books that were still around our home.

Pushing aside the magnifying glass, I leaned closer, inspecting the words. It seemed I wouldn’t need to dig through the entire library to find what I was looking for.

On 1st of June, Lord Lachlan MacWebley asked for the hand of Mairi Cornish, daughter of high-ranking military official, Charles Cornish.

I read over the words again carefully. So, this was where Natalie had been getting her information about the wedding traditions.

This was also the first time I’d seen Mairi’s name, my great-great-great-grandmother, mentioned, since she hadn’t been brought up much outside of the scandal of her divorcing the MacWebley family.

In honor of their engagement, the MacWebleys have broken ground on Webley Manor, a wedding gift for the couple from the elder MacWebleys.

That part I didn’t know, but did that mean for my family?

Did this prove it did belong to the MacWebleys originally?

Maybe I needed someone to look over this. Or at least