Montgomery Beauregard's Arc

Chapter 2 of 2

Montgomery meant to ride straight to the heiress's family and beg their pardon. But first he came here, to the sagging house where the swamp glowed at dusk. Fireflies drifted over the porch rail. He had one letter left unburned in his coat, and one man he had to face before he could face anyone else. Phineas Ashdown-Grey waited in the shadow of the porch. Montgomery knew him from boarding school, where they had shared a room and, later, far more than that. Phineas had the same fair hair, the same striking blue eyes. He was the heiress's brother. He was also the true owner of Montgomery's heart, and no one alive knew it. "You didn't send word," Phineas said. He kept his voice low. His eyes moved to the dark windows. "Does your grandmother know I'm here?" "No one knows," Montgomery said. He drew the bundle from his coat. Twine held the old letters tight. The top page showed Phineas's flowing hand. "You wrote these to me. If your family finds them, they'll ruin us both. I came to give them back." Phineas stared at the bundle. He did not take it. "You'd hand me proof and walk away? To marry my sister?" "To win her hand," Montgomery said. "It's the only way I keep my name. You know what I've lost." "I know what you're throwing off," Phineas said. His confidence cracked for a moment. "Which is me." Montgomery's grip tightened on the twine. He had rehearsed this on the road. Every word had felt right until now, with the fireflies lighting Phineas's face. "I can't tell my grandmother the truth," Montgomery said. "I can't tell your family. There's no door for us that doesn't end with both houses burning us out." He pressed the letters into Phineas's hands. "Take them. Marry your sister off to some safer man. Forget this." Phineas held the bundle. His jaw worked. Then he turned it over and pulled the twine loose. He drew out the topmost letter and held it to the firefly glow. "You keep this one," he said. He pushed the single page back at Montgomery's chest. "Burn the rest yourself, if you can. I won't do it for you." Montgomery took the page. His hand shook. "Phineas—" "You made your choice." Phineas stepped back off the porch. The rest of the letters stayed in his fist. "But I'm keeping mine. When you stand at my family's door and beg, I'll be standing behind them." He walked into the wet dark before Montgomery could answer. Montgomery stood alone with one love letter in his hand. He had come to end it cleanly. Instead he had made an enemy of the one person who could destroy him with a word. Now he had to face the heiress's family door knowing her brother waited on the other side, holding proof of everything.