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Lady Catherine leveled an angry, confused glare at him as he swept by, but kept her mouth shut until they were inside Percy’s carriage—he’d insisted they travel together—at which point Sir Geoffrey informed his wife of their new circumstances.
Percy sat, unmoved, as in the wake of her husband’s explanation the woman vented her outrage over his mismanagement of the situation.
“Woman, be silent!” Sir Geoffrey thundered, apparently beginning to recover from his shock. “This entire
debacle is due largely to your meddling. Tavistoke tried to ask me for Eden’s hand at the outset, but you interfered the way you always do. I’ll have no more of it.”
“You cannot lay the blame for this entirely on me,” squawked Lady Catherine. “I would not have had to act if you had not squandered away every—”
“Don’t tell me what—”
“Stop it, both of you,” snapped Eden, cutting off their respective tirades. “What is done is done. I am getting married. Now. Tomorrow I may be widowed, but tonight is my wedding night, and I will not spend it like this.”
Percy wrapped an arm about her shoulders and pulled her close, not giving a damn what they thought. It wasn’t long before the carriage pulled up in front of St James’s. Though it was just after ten o’ clock, the rectory windows were still lit. Going to the door, he pounded on it until it opened. “It is imperative we are married at once,” he told the man peering through the crack at him. “I’ve procured a special license, and I am accompanied by the bride’s parents.”
When it looked like the annoyed man was about to shut the door in his face, Percy stuck his booted foot in and forced the man back. Entering, he stepped into the light and drew himself up. “I am Lord Percival Falloure, Marquess of Tavistoke. Tell your master I require his services at once and am prepared to make a handsome donation in return for inconveniencing him at such an hour.”
Confronted with an insistent gentleman of such rank, the servant nodded and scurried off.
Twenty minutes later, Percy slipped his signet ring onto Eden’s trembling hand. Loose though it was, it meant they were now married, and that was all that mattered. “I’ll replace it with a proper ring later,” he promised as he bent to kiss his wife. Though he faced the prospect of death tomorrow, he knew only the fierce joy of attaining his heart’s desire.
Once the license was signed and all was declared in order, the wedding party departed the church for the bride’s former residence.
Lady Catherine spoke into the darkness as the carriage pulled away. “Eden, I know you won’t speak to me, but I would have you hear me. I did what I thought best for us all. Yes, we needed the money, but I honestly thought Ravenwood could make you happy. He seemed so genial, so genuinely interested in—”
“Catherine, don’t,” interrupted Sir Geoffrey. “You’ll only make matters worse.”
“No, Geoffrey,” said Lady Catherine. “I cannot part ways like this. Eden, I know it is unlikely I shall receive it, but I must still ask your forgiveness. I deeply regret my part in how events have unfolded.”
In the darkness, Percy felt Eden’s hand slip into his palm. He gave it a gentle squeeze, hoping to impart some small comfort.
“You have it,” she said, much to his surprise. “Bitterness is an unpleasant stone, and I have no wish to harbor it in my heart.”
“I’m glad for it,” said Lady Catherine, sounding as if on the verge of tears. “I hope we can one day again look upon each other as friends.”
“I cannot now speak as to whether or not we will ever be friends,” said Eden. “I should like things to be as they once were; however, if I am tomorrow forever parted from my husband, do not hold to hope.”
“Entirely understandable,” agreed Lady Catherine, her voice clogged. “Thank you, my dear.” Silence reigned for a long moment before the woman spoke again. “Lord Tavistoke, in addition to informing me of your claim on Eden, you spoke of something…else the last time you called. Tell me, might not what you hinted at be used to sway Ravenwood to leave off seeking vengeance?”
Wary of Eden’s presence beside him, Percy answered with caution. “That is my intent, provided I have an opportunity to converse with him prior to our crossing blades.” He was not yet ready to tell his bride how close she’d come to enduring Hell on earth. He might not ever tell her. “But that is a matter for later discussion. Of greater import is that you understand why Ravenwood sought to marry Eden in the first place.”
He could almost feel curiosity thicken the air in the carriage. “Lord Wells put him up to it.” His wife stiffened, and he gave her hand another light squeeze. “At the start of the Season he tried to persuade me to seduce Eden with the aim of then jilting her—his revenge, I suppose, for her having rejected him. I confess that I, thinking only to reestablish my unsavory reputation and gain a bit of peace, at first pursued her with this in mind.”
The startled exclamations of dismay that followed were only to be expected. Even so, he felt his face grow hot with chagrin. “I’m not proud of my original motive for seeking out your daughter’s company, but as you can see, my plan underwent significant alteration. I did not expect to fall in love with her. Wells clearly also did not expect it. He looked rather peeved with me tonight when he answered Ravenwood’s request to second him tomorrow morning.”
Chapter Seventeen
He loves me.
He’d said it. Not that she held his heart, not that he prized her regard above all others or any other such similitude. He’d said he was in love with her. Tears seeped out from beneath Eden’s eyelids in spite of her effort to hold them back. No matter what happened tomorrow, she would know it, and she would hold that knowledge forever.
Despite her tears, a smile threatened to break across her face as Percy continued to converse with her father as though nothing momentous had just occurred. It struck her then that he didn’t even realize what he’d said. Nevertheless, it had altered everything.
By the time the carriage stopped in front of her house, she’d managed to regain a modicum of composure.
“Pack only what you require for tonight and tomorrow,” Percy said as they disembarked. “The rest can be sent for later.”
For a moment, she just stared at him in confusion.
