Page 14 of An Accidental Elopement

“How long have you known?” she finally snapped.

His gaze immediately left hers. Cecilia felt her cheeks flush with indignation, and she rose slowly from her chair, careful not to put too much weight on her foot. Lord Archibald leaned back in his chair, an anxious look in his eyes as if she might leap over the table and go straight for his throat. Some part of her wanted to.

“How long, Archie?” she demanded, forgetting all about cursory titles, propriety, and whatnot.

“About a week,” was the meek answer.

“A week,” Cecilia squealed in a voice so high-pitched that she was uncertain whether he had understood her. “A week,” she repeated in a tone of voice that was closer to her normal register. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

He squirmed in his chair like her brothers when they were taken to task by their father.

“I wanted to give Lord Lambourn the chance to talk to you in person, but when he didn’t...” He had been looking at the table and not her as he spoke but now turned his gaze towards her. “There’s also Hester’s reputation to consider.”

Cecilia huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Yes, her reputation is of course important whereas mine...” She let her voice trail off, hugging herself and turning her back to him. She had once seen a giant balloon meant to carry people being filled with gas, it had been a marvelous sight. But she now felt as the balloon had looked when it was deflated afterward.

“Your reputation will not suffer from this,” Archie said behind her, and she could hear his chair scrape over the wooden floor.

“Of course, it will. Don’t be naïve. I was undesirable before my engagement to Flint and now that he has left me for another... I don’t think I can go through another season.” She hobbled to the window and leaned her forehead against the cool glass. It was rapidly growing dark outside and the small garden behind the inn was fast becoming obscured.

“I can’t imagine that anyone would find you undesirable,” Archie said behind her. Cecilia was startled when he placed his large hands on her shoulders. Besides helping her in and out of the phaeton, he had not touched her since they left Great Farleigh Hall.

“Oh, yes, I did everything a young lady is supposed to: singing, dancing, water coloring, my reputation was impeccable, and I’m not that atrocious to look at and yet... the only offers I received my first two season was from gentlemen who I had not even entertained the notion of marrying. And the ones where I tried to catch their eyes...” Her throat constricted at the thought of Mark Walfingham and his crude words. It took her at least a minute before she could go on. “And it was not that I strove for the unachievable or that he necessarily needed to hold a title. I just wanted someone I could like. Someone I could trust...”

Cecilia closed her eyes as she felt the sting of tears in her eyes and tried to force them back. She imagined how by pressing her eyelids firmly shut she was able to make the tears roll back into her skull.

Archie did not say anything but was merely standing behind her. A large warm soothing presence. It reminded her of how her old nanny could soothe her simply by taking her into her arms and stroking her hair over and over. The thought of Archie as a nurse maid was ridiculous and she felt the image tug on her lips.

It gave her the strength to lift her head from the window, confident now that she was not going to cry.

“We should head back,” she murmured.

“It’s too late. We will have to stay,” Archie muttered behind her.

Cecilia focused on the darkness outside and felt her eyes widen.

“No, but we can’t,” she breathed. “The scandal. And my parents.”

She had only left a note for her parents saying that she needed to leave. She could not even remember whether she had mentioned that Archie was with her or what had happened with Flint. Abruptly she turned towards him and almost bumped into him. She had not realized that he was this close. He steadied her with his hands on her shoulders, but she wrenched out of his grip and staggered past him to retrieve her shawl.

“If we leave now, we can be back in time for dinner. We have not been driving that far. Only a couple of hours...” she babbled frantically while tying the shawl around her head and shoulders once more.

“Cecilia,” was all Archie said. The calmness and decisiveness in his voice made her stop with her hands still holding the knot of the shawl. She could see it in his eyes, in his entire posture that what she said was nonsense.

“But if we spent the night together, even in separate rooms...” She did not need to finish. She could see that he already knew this. “Why didn’t you stop me?” she accused and rushed forward to slam her fists into his chest. Only to have her injured ankle give in and she fell against him with a subdued shriek.

He caught her effortlessly and held her by her upper arms. Cecilia could not bring herself to look at him but focused on one of the horn buttons of his waistcoat that was not buttoned properly. A corner of it was still under the fabric. She wondered whether it had happened when he dressed this morning, when he carried her away from Lady Hester’s study, or perhaps when he was helping her out of the carriage. Her hands itched to button it properly, but she could not touch him.

“Because you’re my friend and you said you needed to be anywhere else,” his voice came from several inches above her. Cecilia could feel his hot breath on her forehead as she tried to remember what they had been talking about. “And I felt certain that you would have gone with or without me. I thought it safer to go with you rather than let you leave on your own. Especially with your injury.”

Cecilia nodded. It all made sense and yet nothing made sense.

“But you know what will happen if we are gone an entire night?” She moved her head to be able to see his expression as she said this. She wanted to see the fear and trepidation on his face as realization dawned on him. But there was nothing. Just a stern determination.

“Yes,” was all he said.

Cecilia nodded and felt her eyes go wide. She wanted to say something, anything, but her mouth had gone completely dry.