Secrets of My Beloved: Linked Across Time Book Twelve Read online

  Secrets of My Beloved

  Linked Across Time Book Twelve

  Dawn Brower

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Epilogue

  Also by Dawn Brower

  About The Author

  Also by Dawn Brower

  Afterword

  Excerpt: Spying on My Scoundrel

  Dawn Brower

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Excerpt: The Vixen in Red

  Dawn Brower

  Chapter 1

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Secrets of My Beloved Copyright © 2020 Dawn Brower

  Cover art and edits by Victoria Miller

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  Acknowledgments

  This is where I thank my editor and cover artist, Victoria Miller profusely. She helps me more than I can ever say. I appreciate everything she does and that she pushes me to be better…do better. Thank you a thousand times over.

  Also to Elizabeth Evans. Thank you for always being there for me and being my friend. You mean so much to me. Thanks isn’t nearly enough, but it’s all I have, so thank you my friend for being you. Also, thank you Aletha Boyd for helping with the proofreading. I appreciate it

  For all my readers that love the Linked Across Time series. The last three books mean even more than I can say. I hope you enjoy them.

  Chapter 1

  Sunlight streamed through the window and filled the library in its golden rays. It was a beautiful day, and utterly dreary. A conundrum Lord Nicholas Kendall couldn’t shake. He should be happy. His life was an endless loop of revelry. At least that is what everyone seemed to imagine. He didn’t actually partake in all things roguish as his family was warranted to believe. Nicholas made a good show of it and went through the motions, but he hated every second of it. Nothing filled him with joy. Nothing gave him even a moment of peace. Nothing and no one inspired him. He needed…something. He didn’t know what, but he prayed, one day, it would present itself to him.

  Nicholas rubbed his hands over his face and sighed. He had to quit being so damned melancholy. This darkness inside of him…it wasn’t pretty. He walked away from the window and went over to the bar. Once there, he poured a glass of brandy and drained the contents, then refilled his glass. He was about to drink it when his older twin brother, Christian, the Marquess of Blackthorn, strolled into the library.

  “What has you drinking so early, brother,” Christian asked. He joined Nicholas at the bar and poured himself some of the brandy. “I suppose I’ll join you then.”

  Nicholas’s lips twitched upward. “Is this your way of making me seem a little less…scandalous?”

  “Not at all,” Christian said lightly. “It’s been a rather tedious day. I’ve had my head buried in books for most of the morning. I have numbers blurring before my eyes, torturing me. I cannot take any more. This business of running a dukedom is more than one man can handle.”

  Christian was identical in almost every way to Nicholas. His mirror twin…he had the same light brown hair and blue eyes, the same roguish smile, and a dimple in one cheek. Though their dimples were in the opposite cheek most people didn’t remember that. They had been able to pretend to be each other frequently over the years. Having a twin had its benefits.

  Nicholas tipped his glass toward Christian. “That’s the benefits of being the heir.” He lifted the glass upward and took a sip. “I’ve never been more glad you inherited that mantle. It’s a responsibility that would drive me mad.” That didn’t mean being the spare didn’t come with certain responsibilities either… His family still had expectations of him. All Nicholas wanted was to escape. The problem was he had nowhere to go.

  He walked over to one of the shelves and stopped. One of the tomes caught his attention, and he pulled it out. He flipped it open and scanned the pages. It was written in his mother’s handwriting. “Have you ever seen this?” He held it up so Christian could see it.

  “Mother’s little project?” He lifted a brow. “I admit I haven’t read any of it, but I know what it is. She writes things down she thinks will be important to future generations. Most of it is medical knowledge she learned from her time.”

  It was no secret to the family that their mother, the current Duchess of Weston, was from the future. She had studied to be a doctor in the twenty-first century. Through some quirk of fate that Nicholas didn’t quite understand she had fallen through time to be saved by their father. It was a little nauseating and stupidly romantic. And he envied it. What must that have been like? To travel two hundred years into the past to find love… Nicholas often had trouble comprehending it. “You’ve never been curious? It’s sitting here for anyone to read. Why have we always ignored it?” He flipped open to the center of the book. There was an entry in it his mother hadn’t made. This one was from his sister, Elizabeth. Something about the library mirror. He whipped around and glanced at the floor length mirror and considered what he’d read. “When will Elizabeth and her wayward husband arrive?” He had a few questions for his dear sister.

  Christian walked over and plucked the book from Nicholas’s hands. “What do you find so interesting in there?”

  “All of it,” he admitted. “Though I haven’t exactly read more than a paragraph or two. I think I’ll give it more attention.” It might be the answer to his ennui. It might be time to discern the workings of time travel. Maybe, if he could unravel the details, he could do a little bit of traveling of his own. He had the urge to discover the unknown. “Now, about our sister…”

  “Mother said she’d arrive today. She might already be here.” Christian finished his brandy and set his glass on a nearby table. “I didn’t realize you were so interested in speaking to her. What, pray tell, do you have to discuss with her?” He lifted a questioning brow. “I doubt Elizabeth has anything titillating to entertain you with. She’s living a dullard life with her ex-pirate husband.”

  Nicholas laughed. “I doubt Jack considers himself in quite those terms. Not the pirate part, of course. He is quite the rapscallion, but the dullard part he’ll definitely object to.”

  Christian waved his hand flippantly. “Jack won’t bother either way. He’s too in love with Elizabeth to maim any of her family.”

  It didn’t matter to Nicholas if Jack hated all of them. As long as he loved Elizabeth, he’d respect him. Some things were more important, and his sister’s happiness was one of the biggest. “I’m sure you’re correct in your assessment.” He snatched the book back from Christian. “If you’ll pardon me, I’m going to see if they have arrived. It’s nice of you to keep me company, but I have other things to occupy my time with.” He walked out of the room, leaving Christian alone before his brother started asking questions he didn’t wish to answer. He’d already side stepped his inquisitive nature regarding why he’d wanted to speak with Elizabeth. If Christian realized why he wanted to, he wouldn’t like it. He would probably do his best to convince him to alter his plans, but N
icholas wouldn’t. He’d rather avoid that particular argument. It was far better to ask for forgiveness than permission…

  Nicholas roamed down the hallway until he entered the foyer. So far, there was no sign of his sister. He was growing restless. Besides his parents, his sister was the only other person he could ask about time travel. Her entry in mother’s journal suggested she had experienced it on some level.

  Surely Elizabeth would arrive soon... Perhaps he should go for a ride or walk down the cliff path to stroll along the beach. He didn’t think either of those would help though. Still, he went out the door to do one of them. He had to do something to pass the time until Elizabeth arrived.

  Nicholas sauntered out and let out a sigh of relief. A carriage was coming down the long drive. His sister would be at the front entrance soon, and he could finally ask her all of his questions. He could sit on the steps and wait for the curricle, or he could go inside and wait for her. He wasn’t certain what the best option would be. Instead of doing either, he walked down the stairs and headed toward the cliffs. Elizabeth would want to greet the whole family, and she probably wouldn’t be able to sit still long enough for him to interrogate her.

  He fairly itched with frustration. Nicholas’s pace quickened as he closed the distance between the house and the cliffs. He stopped when he reached the edge and stared at the waves as they crashed to the shore. It was a beautiful and majestic view. He’d never tire of it. This was his home and always would be, but did it matter if he observed it in the nineteenth century or the twenty-first? Did he dare leave his family?

  “What are you doing out here?” a woman asked.

  He’d been so lost in his own thoughts he hadn’t heard anyone approach. Nicholas glanced over his shoulder and met his mother’s gaze. “Do you ever regret it?”

  “Regret what?” Alys, The Duchess of Weston, tilted her head to the side. Sunlight made her blonde hair even more golden.

  “Leaving your family and never seeing them again. To come here…to be with father.”

  “My darling boy,” she said softly and stepped toward him. She placed her hand on his cheek. “No. I don’t regret a thing. This is where I belong. Besides, if I never met your father, I wouldn’t have you or your brother and sister. How could I possibly regret that?”

  He nodded. “I suppose that is one way of looking at it all.”

  “Where is this coming from?”

  Nicholas shrugged. “Nowhere, everywhere…I’m a little lost and uncertain where I’m going or what I want out of life.”

  “I believe that’s normal. If one doesn’t question their choices at least once in their lifetime, they’re not really living.” She brushed her fingers through his hair. “Do not worry. After a while, you will find your own path. We all do when the time is right.”

  Nicholas smiled. His mother could be profound every now and then. He wasn’t certain if that was because of who she was or where she came from. It didn’t really matter. To him, she’d always be wise. Still, he didn’t tell her why he really asked her those questions. If he told her that he was considering his own time travel jaunt, she’d get overly emotional. He’d never be able to leave then. Nicholas had always hated disappointing his mother. She meant too much to him. His mother was one of the reasons he wasn’t sure he could go through with it. “I suppose you’re right.”

  “I’m always right,” his mother said. “Now, come with me. I noticed your sister’s carriage arriving a little while ago. I was heading back to the house when I saw you over here. Stroll with me so we can greet her and Jack.”

  He looped his arm with his mother’s and they started toward the house. Elizabeth and Jack would already be in the house. Hopefully, Elizabeth would be amiable to a little chat. He wanted to know more about the mirror and how it could be used to time travel. Perhaps it was reckless, but he was tired of being the good son.

  They reached the house and entered through the garden. The sounds of laughter greeted them as they strode into the main salon. Elizabeth sat on the settee next to her husband. His father, James, the Duke of Weston was standing in the far back of the room. Christian sat on the chair near the settee.

  “There you are,” Elizabeth said and stood. She hugged their mother first, and then him. “What took you so long?”

  “I needed to walk,” Nicholas said. “Mother must have too since she found me along the path around the cliff.” He stepped out of her embrace. “You took forever yourself. I thought you be here much sooner than this.”

  “We made a few extra stops along the way. Why, did you miss me?” Her lips tilted upward into an errant smile. “You could always have visited me, you know.”

  “I did miss you,” he admitted. “And you’re correct. I could visit you. Perhaps I’ll do that next time.”

  Nicholas doubted he should ask his sister any pertinent questions right then. He would have to wait until they were alone. In the meantime, he’d read more of his mother’s journal. He’d stopped by his room and left it on his bed. Hopefully, his mother wouldn’t go looking for it to add another entry. He wanted to peruse it uninterrupted. For now, he’d enjoy some quality time with his family. There would be ample opportunities to worry about his future later.

  Chapter 2

  Nicholas had taken time to read through his mother’s journal in length. It had taken almost the entire night to read everything she had written. He should sleep, but the servants would be about soon, and he had far too much on his mind to even attempt resting. His sister would probably sleep for another hour at least. He could go for an early morning ride, and by the time he returned, she might be willing to have a coherent conversation with him. If Nicholas tried to speak to her before she had an ample amount of time to wake, she might attempt bodily harm. As he liked all of his appendages, he would refrain from doing something he might come to regret.

  With a decision made, he dressed without the assistance of his valet and headed down the stairs. When he reached the bottom, he almost ran into his father. Nicholas took a step back before they collided. “Pardon me,” Nicholas said. “I’m clearly distracted. What has you up so early?”

  His father, James, the Duke of Weston grinned. His father’s blue eyes were bright and clear of sleep. He must have been up a while. Even his dark hair was perfectly groomed without a strand out of place. His valet must have been up for hours now. “I should be asking you that. You’re never up so early. Where are you headed?”

  “I thought I’d go for a ride.” He hoped his father didn’t interrogate him too much. Nicholas had no desire to explain his restlessness. “It’s been a while since I’ve had the opportunity to do so as the sun rises.”

  The duke lifted a brow. “I cannot honestly say I recall a time when you did ride so early. Confess, dear boy, what is really going on? Do you have an early morning assignation you’re heading off to?”

  That would be far more believable and acceptable to his father than what he was actually planning. If he told his father he hoped to time jump, he’d have heart palpations. Something he had learned about in depth from his mother’s journal. Christian had been right though. Most of the information she had described was regarding medicine. It was all still quite fascinating to read. “Please be reassured,” he began. “I have no scheduled meeting with anyone. This is purely happenstance.” He lifted his lips into his most heartening smile. At least, he hoped it was… “I am going riding. You never did say where you were off to?” Maybe, if he changed the direction of their conversation, his father would let go of his suspicions.

  “I am touring some of the farms on our estate today. Since you planned a ride, perhaps you would like to accompany me.”

  He scrunched up his nose. “Isn’t that more Christian’s purview?” Since his twin was going to be the next duke, he often accompanied his father on excursions such as this one. Nicholas always refrained from following along. He wouldn’t be the duke. Ever. So why learn all the ins and outs of running the Weston estate? He was the sp
are, and his options were more…open. He could join the military as his father had—he had been the spare too. If his older brother, Edward, hadn’t died he wouldn’t be the duke now. Some would argue that something could happen to Christian, but Nicholas refused to believe his brother would have such a fate. Mainly because he had no desire to be a duke and all the responsibility it entailed. However, joining the clergy was also out of the question. Nicholas would never be pure enough to even pretend to be devout. Which was why he was so bored. He had no purpose.

  “Christian has other tasks today. Forget I suggested it. I thought it might be nice to spend the morning with my son. If you’d rather be alone, I understand.”

  Nicholas almost groaned. His father was a master at making Nicholas feel guilty. Though his mother was sneakier about it. Subtly was not his father’s forte. If he really intended to travel through time, perhaps he should accompany his father. There was a chance he might not be able to return. If that were the case, he’d remember this day fondly as the last day he spent with him. He should also have a nice visit with his mother and siblings. A little goodbye without actually saying the words… He’d leave a letter in his room for them to find later. He’d hate for them to think something dastardly had happened.

  “You’re right. It would be splendid to ride along with you today. I might actually learn something.” He’d actually find it all bloody tedious, but his father didn’t need to know that. “Lead the way.” He held his hand out toward the foyer.