Page 31 of The Duke’s Hidden Runaway Bride

“Miss James has given me permission to tell you that Lord Markham is threatening legal action against her and her father concerning the broken engagement and the marriage articles.”

Fenwick’s expression hardened. “I had heard the gossip. I had not thought Markham would stoop to that.”

“May I ask,” Mrs. Horrocks said delicately, “if there was a particular reason you decided not to proceed with the wedding?”

“I discovered that his interest was only in my fortune,” Ophelia said baldly. “And while many a woman has been married for her fortune before and made the best of it, discovering that Markham actively despised me, when I overheard him gossiping with his friends, was the last straw.”

“I quite understand,” Mrs. Horrocks said kindly. “Markham is… well, Hugh has had some dealings with him, have you not, brother?”

Sir Hugh rose without a word, left the room, and returned several minutes later carrying some papers.

“Markham came to me in October,” he said. “He required a large sum and had no security worth the name. He brought a draft of his proposed marriage settlement and swore that the bride’s portion would clear the debt when they married.”

He laid a note and a folded document on the table.

“I was fool enough to lend him the money. He promised me the first claim upon the portion after the marriage. I have not seen a penny.”

Ophelia reached for the draft, then stopped.

“May I?”

Fenwick pushed it towards her. “It is yours to read, Miss James, in every sense that matters.”

She opened it.

At first glance, the draft resembled the articles her father had shown her before she signed. Then she began to see the differences.

“This is not the final settlement.”

“You are certain?” Adrian asked.

“Yes.”

The earlier draft placed a substantial part of her fortune at Markham’s disposal upon marriage. Her father’s lawyers had rejected that arrangement. Under the signed articles, the capital was to pass into trust, passing in full to Ophelia’s children when they reached their majorities. Markham would receive income and specified allowances, but he would never hold the principal outright.

She checked the date on Fenwick’s note.

“This was signed after the final articles.”

Fenwick leaned forward. “What does that mean?”

“It means Markham knew this draft no longer governed the marriage when he showed it to you. He promised you security from money he would never own.”

Adrian’s expression sharpened. “And if he made the same promise to others?”

“He may have pledged the same fortune several times. Perhaps as a first claim each time.” She looked again at the note. “That would depend upon what he represented and what the lenders relied upon. But if he borrowed upon a draft he knew had been rejected, he deceived Sir Hugh.”

Fenwick’s face darkened. “I was a fool.”

“No,” Ophelia said. “You trusted someone you believed was your friend. The shame is his.”

Fenwick looked at her for a moment, then nodded.

Mrs. Horrocks broke the silence.

“You need not go on to London tomorrow.”

The offer was made to Ophelia, not to Adrian or Elise.