“I got the impression that the marriage would seal the deal between them,” she finished at last. “Or that my father had to marry me to the Marquess’ son as a show of good faith… I am not sure. I only overheard a little.”
She hung her head. “I feel so trapped. And it is leading me into sinful, disrespectful thoughts of dishonoring my father.”
Winston shook his head. He was angry now and ready to rush to give out more advice that was decidedly unpriestly, but before he could say anything else, she stood up.
“I am sorry,” she murmured. And, before he’d had a chance to collect himself, she pulled back the curtain and exited the confessional booth. He heard her footsteps patting quietly away across the nave and waited until the door to the church opened and closed before pulling aside his own curtain and stepping out of the confessional.
His heart was beating faster than usual. There was a strange, metallic taste in his mouth. Moving quickly, he crossed the nave as well and went to the door, opening it cautiously.
Outside, he saw a young woman being helped into a carriage by a footman. He waited until she was inside then opened the door and stepped outside, squinting at the carriage door.
The coat of arms on the door… It is familiar. Where have I seen it before?
The driver flicked the reins, and then the carriage lurched forward and disappeared around the corner. Winston watched it go, his mind whirring.
“Thornfield?”
Winston was wrenched out of his thoughts by the sound of his name, and he turned to see Leo hurrying along the street toward him.
“There you are!” Leo said, rushing up the steps of the church. “I was so worried. I lost them on the roofs, but then I came back to find you.”
“Do not worry, they did not find me,” Winston said, still staring after the carriage.
Leo frowned and put his hand on Winston’s arm, peering closely at him. “You look strange,” he said. “What happened?”
“What happened,” Winston said, “is that I am getting married.”
Chapter Two
“He was the strangest priest to whom I have ever spoken,” Lady Vanessa Langley said, watching her lady’s maid in the mirror as she pinned up Vanessa’s curls. “I almost thought he was trying to tell me I should tell my father I refuse to marry Lord Langdon.”
He did kind of say that,she added to herself. Even though Elaine, her lady’s maid, had always been a friend to her, she felt the words as forbidden.
“How very strange,” Elaine said, her brow furrowing. “And you are sure he actually was a priest?”
“Of course,” Vanessa said, frowning at herself in the mirror. “He was in the confessional at St. George’s.”
Elaine shook her head. “It was very early in the morning. Perhaps the night prior he had been… indulging.”
They looked at each other in the mirror then both began to giggle.
“You think he was drinking spirits?” Vanessa whispered. “That is very scandalous, Elaine!”
“No more scandalous than a young lady sneaking out of the house alone in the early morning,” Elaine said, shaking her head.
Vanessa sighed and looked down. “It did strike me halfway through the conversation that I had done something terribly foolish. If anyone had caught me, I could have ruined my entire family!”
“Although then you might not have had to marry Lord Langdon,” Elaine pointed out, making a face, but Vanessa shook her head.
“No, I could not do that to my family,” she murmured. “My worry is not worth their misery and ruination.”
Elaine pursed her lips together, as if she were trying to keep herself from retorting, but before she could say anything, there was a knock on the door, and Vanessa’s mother, The Countess of Forthwell, bustled in.
“Ahh, good, you are almost ready,” she said, looking approvingly over Vanessa’s hair and gown. “Good, good, because I have a very special surprise for you tonight at dinner.”
Vanessa’s heart sank. She could tell from the giddy smile on her mother’s face exactlywhothis surprise was.
“It is Lord Langdon!” Her mother cooed. “He is dining with us this evening, and, if everything goes well, I believe that he will officially ask you to marry him tonight.”
