Heirly Ever After by Vernon, Magan (best classic novels .TXT) 📕

them into the manor, Natalie spoke of the history of the different paintings we walked by. As if she had personally handled each one and knew all the facts. But she didn’t know the history like I did. The stories I’d been told of our English cousins living in luxury while we struggled some years to even keep our home.

“And this is the Thistle Room, where y’all will be staying.” We stopped in front of an oak door with carvings all along the molding. The thistle and the rose woven together. England and Scotland uniting.

As if England knew how sharp the thorns of the rose were and would attack the thistle to tear it apart. At least that’s what Great-Grandad always used to say.

“Oh, wow, this is way nicer than the motel we stayed in for cousin Becky’s wedding,” Madison said with a nervous laugh as we headed into the sitting room, where our bags were already placed on a Persian rug by the fire.

The room and manor were hundreds of years old, but every piece of furniture was meticulously kept, from the Tiffany lamps and floral settee, even down to the curtains, pulled aside with a gold rope to reveal large French doors leading to a balcony.

While Madison exchanged niceties with her sister and mother, I approached the glass doors, staring out into the rolling green hills. How long had it been since a Scottish MacWebley had peered at these views? Would this be the last time I’d see them or just the beginning?

“Hey.” A soft voice knocked me out of my own thoughts, and I found Madison looking up at me.

I hadn’t even noticed her family had left.

As I met her worried gaze, guilt riddled me again.

I let out a breath that felt like I was deflating a balloon.

“I know. It’s a lot. I don’t think I realized how much,” she said. “But we don’t have to do any of this. You can go to visit your family, wherever that is, and I can say you had to go. It’s fine.”

She waved her hand as if she could erase everything. As if I didn’t see the way she looked at the ground instead of me when she spoke. The little sag of her shoulders like she was waiting for a blow of disappointment.

In that instant, something took over me, and I blurted out, “I’m already here with my family.”

“What?” She gave a little laugh, but it tapered out when I didn’t join in. Her focus snapped up as she studied me, then her eyes widened, like she’d seen a ghost. “You’re serious. Are we…um…distantly related? Or is it…?”

Before I could answer, her hand shot out, grabbing the handkerchief from the front pocket of my blazer. Her wide eyes bounced from the family crest embroidered in the corner up to that same family crest hanging over the fireplace.

“Oh god. Jacob…a-are you…?” Her words stuttered as she gripped the handkerchief, her hands slightly shaking.

I shook my head with a sigh. Now that it was out there, it was time to come clean. Even if she hated me for not telling her the truth sooner.

“My full name is Laird Lachlan Jacob MacWebley the Third. My great-great-great-grandfather and his wife split up, but so she’d keep her title, he gave her Webley Manor in England, along with one of his twin sons. The descendants of her son Dom became the Webleys of England, with their beautiful manor and town. And the odd duck they pretended didn’t exist are the MacWebleys of Scotland.”

I rubbed the back of my neck, watching her blink. “I guess that is until now. Someone sent my great-grandfather a courtesy invitation to this wedding, so I came instead.”

Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she shook her head, finally looking up at me. “That sounds… That can’t be. It’s like a history lesson. My sister would have told me.”

I shrugged. “Maybe she doesn’t know the full story, either. Maybe she had no idea the invitation was sent out and it was something the family just had to do by noble law or something. It’s not like they’d recognize me anyway.”

She shook her head and paced as she ground her fist into her side. “This can’t be happening. This seriously can’t be for real.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I just…”

Madison let out a deep breath, all of the light and color seeming to drain from her face. “So…was that your plan then? Finding a random girl on the train and hoping she’d get you in or have you been stalking me for a while and planning this?”

My face heated like she’d just sucker punched me. Which was what her words felt like. “Absolutely not. What happened with us was happenstance. Well at first…” I trailed.

“At first?”

I swallowed hard before nodding. If she kicked me out and never wanted to see me again, at least she knew the truth. The whole truth. “I saw you needed help. I’d just gotten in myself and had no idea what the feck I was going to do when I arrived here. Just thought somehow I’d get here and tell the Webleys who I was. But they’ve always rejected and ignored the MacWebleys, so then…” I took a step forward, my heart pounding in my ears. “I saw a girl who needed assistance, and it took my mind off my own predicament long enough to help her. Then I realized she might be able to help me, too.”

“So, I was the key to the castle, so to speak?”

“Madison.” Her name cut through my mouth, sharply drawing her attention to me.

I took another step forward until we were toe-to-toe, gently putting my hands on her shoulders. When she jerked back from the touch, my heart sank into my stomach.

Feck. This girl probably thought I was a world-class scunner.

“I’ll leave if you want me to. But I saw an opportunity for us to help each other, and I took it. I’m sorry. I