“Talk to!” He snorted. “I’m sure.”
“Of course talk,” she said, frowning. “What else?”
And she looked so genuinely confused that it made him wonder if perhaps she was telling the truth.She is clearly an innocent. That is something her parents assured me of. They have kept her under lock and key her whole life--which was rather extreme, if you ask me.
“Well, even if that is true,” he snapped, “you should have known better. If anyone were to find you in Henry’s room, and especially mine, it would be a scandal that would be incredibly difficult to explain. Your behavior tonight has been reckless,foolish, and selfish. I have half a mind to call off this wedding right now, as I believe my brother deserves a wife with far more foresight into the consequences of her actions than you clearly possess!”
Lucien wouldn’t have been surprised to see more anger, and perhaps even hurt, cross her face at these words. What he wasn’t prepared to see was excitement. He frowned again, unsure of how to follow this up. She was watching him now with bright, hopeful eyes, and he felt uncomfortable. That was not the look a young lady was supposed to be wearing when he threatened to break off her engagement to the son of a former duke and heir to the current one.
He cleared his throat, unsure what to say next. As he did, it occurred to him again how very pretty Lady Emery looked, with the moonlight reflecting off her pale skin and her dark hair swirling lightly down her shoulders and back. This thought also made him angry, and he took a step toward her.
“Do you have anything to say for yourself?” he demanded.
“Er…” She looked up into his eyes, and all the fight seemed to drain out of her. Lowering her eyes again, she shook her head. “No, Your Grace,” she murmured. “I don’t.”
He could smell the alcohol on her breath now, and this roused another suspicion: she had been drinking. Perhaps that was why she had done something so foolish.
Taking a deep breath, he told himself that perhaps this was merely the result of her first experience getting drunk.Perhaps my brother isn’t about to marry a reckless, wanton woman after all.
“It’s time you leave,” he said, very coolly. “Before someone finds us, or your friend outside in the corridor, and we all get into trouble.” When she didn’t move, he narrowed his eyes. “NOW!” he barked, and she jumped and then turned and fled from the room, a look of pure terror on her face.
As she opened the door, he heard another lady whisper something, and then two pairs of footsteps scurrying away down the hall.
Very slowly, Lucien let out a long, deep breath, then sank down onto his bed. So… Lady Emery had been drunk the night before her wedding. And trying to sneak into either his bedroom or the bedroom of his brother. Either way, it looked bad.
He sighed as he pulled off his dressing gown and got back under the covers. It was a problem for tomorrow. Although he couldn’t shake the feeling that tomorrow, this wedding was not going to go as smoothly as he had hoped.
Chapter Three
“Stop fidgeting,” Lady Hillsborough said, glaring down at her daughter where the two of them waited in the entrance hall of the chapel.
“I’m not fidgeting,” Emery snapped back. “I’m standing as still as possible.”
“You’re fidgeting as if you’re nervous,” her mother lectured. “But there’s nothing to be nervous about! Everything is perfect.”
About that, she wasn’t wrong. Inside the chapel, the organ had already begun to play, and the few guests that had been invited had taken their seats. Out in the hall, Emery was wearing the beautiful gown of silk and chiffon that her parents had splurged on-- “As if your dowry isn’t enough of an expense!” her father had huffed--her hair was done up into a tight, elaborate coiffure she didn’t think suited her at all, her cheeks and eyes were made up with rouge and kohl, and she was trying very hard to stand asstill as possible in order not to ruin everything by tripping over her gown and landing flat on her face.
Although maybe that would lead to them calling the whole thing off, she thought hopefully, desperately. But no. The Earl and Countess of Hillsborough wouldn’t call off this wedding even if the sky descended upon them. This was the moment they’d dreamed of for years, and nothing was going to stop it.
Nothing, except…
Emery’s eyes scanned the hall, looking for Georgina. After last night’s disaster, Emery could only hope that her best friend had come through for her in her last, desperate attempt to stop this wedding.
If she hadn’t, then Emery didn’t know what she was going to do. The only thing giving her any sort of hope was that her bridegroom was late. He was supposed to have arrived at the chapel ten minutes previously, but so far, he hadn’t yet shown up. His brother was also nowhere to be seen, so it was possible Henry was delayed simply because his older brother was giving him a piece of mind about how “reckless, foolish, and selfish” Emery was.
Perhaps he is even warning him off marrying me…
“Stop fidgeting!” her mother exclaimed again, and Emery grew still again, sighing warily. “There’s no reason to be nervous,” her mother continued. “Lord Henry will be here any moment. There must be some sort of problem with his wardrobe, or perhaps he’sstill a little under the weather from the brandy last night. You know how men sometimes imbibe too much before a big event.”
“Women, too,” Emery muttered to herself, although too quietly for her mother to hear.
At that moment, Georgina appeared in the doorway of the chapel, and Emery’s heart leapt. She excused herself from her mother’s side and hurried over to her friend.
“Well?” she demanded, taking Georgina’s hand in her own and peering into her eyes. “Did you give him the letter?”
“Yes, I hand-delivered it to him just as his valet was tying his cravat. I must say, they were both shocked to see a woman enter his bedchamber, unchaperoned. It’s lucky there are not many people around to gossip. But he looked very well, you know, even if he was a touch nervous, very handsome in his wedding attire.”
“And??” Emery didn’t have time to hear about Henry’s wedding attire or how scandalous it was that Georgina had entered his bedroom alone. “What did he think of the letter?”
