Page 18 of Truly, Madly, Daring

Your loving daughter,

Emmeline.

“Eloped?” Cat whispered, hardly daring to comprehend what she’d just read.

“You really didn’t know?”

Cat shook her head. “No! She didn’t say a word to me, though she spent a lot of time with Torie whilst they were at Hart’s Folly. Perhaps she might know more, but I can’t begin to imagine why she eloped? And with the Marquess of Wrexham! Surely, she barely knows him. Does she?”

Helena shrugged and held out her hands, looking utterly bewildered. “I would have said not but… but now I come to think of it, he called on her and the two of them did appear rather…. Oh, what a fool I am! Why did I not see? But why? Why would she run away?”

“I don’t know, but the letter says they must marry before his family discover them. The duke is a horrid man, I know. He was vile to poor Cara.”

“Wrexham must believe his father will object to the match because of Gabe, the appalling old snob,” Helena said furiously. “No matter Emmeline’s grandfather was a duke, and her uncle, too.”

“What’s Wrexham like?” Cat asked anxiously.

Helena got to her feet and began pacing. “I don’t know. Before he lost his sight, he was a charming rogue. A devil with the ladies, but I would have said he was an honourable sort. A fearsome sportsman, too. Losing his sight must have been devastating to him. But he’s been such a recluse since it happened. He’s not been seen in society for years and I do not know what manner of man he is now, but we have all heard the rumours. They say he is bound to lose his mind with his sight, as his uncle did. Surely Emmeline would not have married him out of pity? I know she is tender-hearted, but she is not a fool, and pity is no basis for a marriage.”

Cat considered this. “I don’t know Wrexham at all, but I have seen him. He’s a very… romantic looking figure.”

Helena groaned. “Lord, yes. You’re quite right. Just the sort of tragic hero Emmeline would imagine herself in love with. Oh, the dreadful girl! What has she done? And her poor father…! He’s going to be beside himself when he comes back to discover this, after everything Evie put him through. Oh, this has been a Valentine’s Day to remember and no mistake. First you and now….” Helena collapsed into the nearest chair with none of her usual grace. “For the love of heaven, pour me a glass of brandy. A large one, and then fetch your mother, Harriet, and Prue. We must figure out how on earth to manage this before the Valentine’s Day Ball becomes the most scandalous event in history.”

By the time they made Gretna Green, everyone was ready to drop, and even the estimable Humboldt appeared to have reached the limits of his patience. It was close to midnight, and the famous, if unprepossessing, blacksmith’s shop was nothing but a dim shape in the moonlight. There were no signs of life.

“Well, I’m not spending another second in this bloody carriage,” Wrexham snapped irritably. “Wake them up, wake the damned village up for all I care, but someone had better marry us in the next ten minutes or you’re going to have the very devil on your hands, Humboldt.”

“Wrexham, I’m certain Mr Humboldt will do everything in his power, but I do not believe raging at him will make it happen any faster.”

Wrexham’s face darkened. Emmeline quailed but pressed on.

“And don’t even think about starting on me or I shall refuse to marry you until you are in a better temper,” she added, wondering how she dared… except she was also tired and fractious and, if she did not sleep soon, she would fall in a heap on the ground and sob like a baby.

His jaw worked for a moment but then he gave a sharp wave of his hand, dismissing Humboldt to go about his business. Emmeline watched as Wrexham sat back against the squabs, his fists clenched.

“We are here, my lord,” she said gently. “I feel confident my family cannot have discovered my absence before noon. I believe we have time. Do try not to worry so.”

He made a harsh sound and ran a hand through his hair. Emmeline studied him in the lamplight. Her husband-to-be looked thoroughly disreputable, unshaven, rumpled, and travel worn. Somehow, it only made her want him more. Her stomach clenched with longing and anticipation. Unless catastrophe struck, in a very short time she would be this man’s wife. In name only, she reminded herself with frustration. Well, not if she had anything to do with it.

“My lord,” she said, aware of how her voice trembled. “My lord, there is something I wish to discuss with you.”

“Very well,” he replied, still terse but calmer than he was.

Emmeline swallowed, wondering how on earth to put it into words. Her cheeks burned just thinking about saying it out loud.

“I am to be your w-wife,” she said, trying to ignore the way her heart was attempting to beat its way out from behind her ribs.

Wrexham’s lips quirked, and an image of herself pressing her own mouth against his filled her mind, stealing her breath.

“That was the general idea, pet,” he said dryly. “I should hate to think we’ve come all this way because of a misunderstanding.”

“There is no misunderstanding!” Emmeline bit her lip, irritated at herself for snapping at him, but her nerves were all on edge and the enormity of what she had done was becoming hard to ignore. If she was to go through with this, she must tell him she did not accept his ideas of what their marriage would be.

He sat up then, tension singing through his large frame. “You’ve not changed your mind?”

“No!” she retorted in frustration. “Quite the opposite.”

Wrexham frowned. “I don’t understand.”