Shifting his focus to Graham, Matt spoke again. “Graham, you and I each need a gun.” He nodded toward the guns on Evan’s and Jude’s hips.
Diana was crying, and Graham attempted to calm her. “I don’t want you alone, darling. I’ll have a carriage readied for you.”
“Tabitha is at Sidmouth house with Marina’s mother. Send her there to await our return,” Evan said.
Graham nodded. He kissed Diana’s temple and asked his butler for the carriage before retreating to his study to grab guns for Matt and himself.
When Graham returned, he caught a footman. “I want you to personally see that my wife is brought to the Sidmouth townhome. Escort her inside and do not leave her until she is with the other ladies.” He shifted his focus back to Evan and Jude. “We’ll saddle the horses and meet you out front.”
Evan and Jude departed the townhouse and updated Arthur that Graham and Matt would join them. An extra man wouldn’t hurt. Evan would take all the help he could get to ensure that Marina returned safely and not married to that blackguard.
Once they cleared London and reached the road leading to Gretna, they followed Graham’s lead to push their horses as much as they could. Graham’s expertise from his days as a horse breeder would help to ensure that one of their horses didn’t go lame during the chase. They had to save Marina.
Evan would never forgive himself if anything happened to her.
Chapter Twenty-One
Marina
Marina remained quietas she sat across from the one person she would have removed from this earth if she could do so with the snap of her fingers. It took everything in her to keep from yelling at him and not engage the man, but she worried he would do something nefarious to her if she provoked him.
She kept her gaze focused on the window and watched the trees and fields on the way to Gretna. They moved faster than she would have expected the carriage to go, but hopefully, Tabitha would have alerted her family and Evan to what had occurred. Surely they would guess that Minto had taken her and would attempt to get her to Gretna Green.
She thought of Evan and how worried he must be right now. She longed to have his arms wrapped around her, to know that everything would be all right. He would come after her. He had to come after her. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes, and she tried to wipe them away without Minto seeing her.
“Are those tears for me? Are you upset about how hurt I was to find out you intended to marry someone else?”
“Never.”
“Oh, come now, surely you must realize how intent I am upon marrying you. I don’t know why you even bothered to fight me on this. You should know by now I always get what I want.”
“What’s to stop me from refusing to marry you or running from you when we arrive?”
“You won’t do either of those things.”
She stared at the man. “How can you be so sure?”
He let out a hearty, vile laugh. “Because I will murder your handsome viscount should you do so.”
Marina’s mouth dropped open, and the color drained from her face.
“That got your attention. You don’t think I failed to notice Ockham sniffing around your skirts? It didn’t take much to figure that one out. Plus, your father confirmed as much to me when he tried to convince me to give up my suit.”
“Why would Papa agree to let you marry me if he tried to convince you otherwise?” None of this made any sense. Her father was adamant that she had to marry Minto.
“Blackmail, my dear girl.”
“What did you have to blackmail my father about?”
“I might as well tell you. You’re about to be my wife and under my control. You won’t talk if you ever want to leave our house.” He chuckled and then continued. “He was having an affair with Ockham’s mother.”
Marina stopped him. “I already knew this. That isn’t reason enough to blackmail him. My mother knew about it, too.”
“Clever girl. And you’re right,” he said. “The murder of your viscount’s father has never been solved. Your father was afraid that if the magistrate found out about his affair, he would become the primary suspect for the murder. Or at least he was afraid once I told him, I would ensure it happened. That I had fabricated evidence that would guarantee that my version of events would appear true.”
She gasped. “You would let my father hang for a murder he didn’t commit?”
He shrugged. “Telling his wife about the affair wasn’t enough toget him to force your hand. I had to tighten his noose a bit, so to speak.”
