Page 16 of An Accidental Elopement

“I knew that he wanted to marry...”

“But you were not in love,” he interrupted her.

Cecilia’s gray eyes shot to him. They were hard as granite, and he was quite certain that he could have cut himself on them.

“No, and neither are we,” she hissed.

No, they were not. He liked her company, yes, he desired her, most definitely, but love no. He doubted that he would ever fall in love with anyone.

“Is it because I’m not an earl then?” he demanded.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Cecilia all but growled, now crossing her arms as well.

Archie let out a frustrated sound along with a long exhale. He did not know how to argue with her. He had thought her reasonable and this was the rules of their society. What they had done meant that they had to marry.

“I will go find the innkeeper and secure rooms for the night,” he told her as he rose, not wanting to continue the fight tonight.

As he went in search of the innkeeper, he thought of how disappointed his parents would be that he had ruined Cecilia and would now have to marry her. They would be even more disappointed if he did not marry her. But that was not the sole reason that it was so important for him to do so. He wanted to as well for her sake. A ruined woman would live in the shadows for the rest of her life. He could not let such a fate fall on Cecilia.

***

Archie recognized the heavy steps of his father in the upstairs hallway of the inn, before the innkeeper had knocked on his door to announce the duke. Archie swirled the brandy in the tumbler and looked at how the fire reflected in the amber liquid and placed it on a side table.

As his father entered, Archie quickly rose from his chair and took in his father’s stern countenance. The white hair, the fierce blue eyes, the dark overcoat that rain drops rippled down over. He was holding his hat in his hand. But no one should mistake it for a humble or courteous gesture. Archie knew it to be merely a practical one. Neither of them spoke before the door was firmly closed from the outside by the innkeeper.

“You will have to marry her,” his father said without a greeting.

“I know, Father,” he said with a sigh. Problem was how to convince Cecilia of it. They had not spoken after he had secured them rooms. He had helped her up the stairs and into her room next to his. She had practically smacked the door in his face. He supposed that she was entitled to be a little on edge: in the span of a day, she had gone from being a future countess to having to wed a rakish second son. Granted he was the second son of a duke, but that did not seem to be of import to Cecilia.

“You have completely ruined this girl’s reputation,” his father continued. His face still unreadable.

“I know, Father,” Archie said, a bit more sternly now.

“After all the scandals you have created, for some reason, I never imagined that you would throw yourself at an innocent...”

“She is still innocent,” Archie interrupted him in a tense voice and pointed to the room next door. Despite the fact that they had to marry, he would never have thought of sharing her bed tonight, and not simply because they had argued.

His father’s lips thinned, and Archie braced himself for another stab. But all that came was:

“Good.”

His father walked to the other chair in front of the fire and sat down with a heavy sigh. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes for a moment. The wrinkles around his eyes and the lines around his mouth were enhanced by the light from the fire and in that moment, he looked... old and tired.

The thought was shocking since his father had always been the firm rock that was the foundation of their family. He was sixty-six, which for some was old, but to Archie, he had seemed immortal until that minute. In that moment his father opened his eyes and they seemed to pin Archie in place. He gulped and hoped that his father would not be able to tell what he had just been thinking.

“Sit,” his father commanded and gestured towards the other chair as if it was his room and not Archie’s. Archie obeyed without a word, nevertheless.

“Why, Archie?” his father then asked in a much gentler tone than Archie would have expected. His father did not have to elaborate on what he meant. For a moment Archie looked at him, trying to gather his thoughts.

“She saw Lord Lambourn and Hester together and wanted to leave. I... I wasn’t thinking. I just wanted to be a friend to her and help her. It only occurred to me after we left what it would actually mean for us,” Archie tried to explain. He reached for his brandy on the table and drank the last.

“I could use one of those as well,” his father told him with a sigh.

Archie immediately rose and refilled his own glass at a side table as well as pouring his father a generous amount of brandy. His father gave a curt nod before he took a sip of the brandy. Judging by his pinched facial expression it did not sit well with him. It was certainly not of the same quality as what was in stock at Great Farleigh Hall.

“How is Hester?” Archie asked as he sat down again.

“She and Lambourn will be married within a month.”