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The church! If Augusta had spoken true about her husband’s brother having a tender place for her, then perhaps there was still hope. I wonder if he would actually consider me?
Squeezing her eyes shut, she shook her head to rid it of ridiculous thoughts. Marrying Saint Peter was not an option.
What am I to do?
She heard a noise behind her and turned, expecting to see one of the servants. It was Fairford. Squealing in alarm, she rose “What are you doing here?”
He held a finger to his lips. “There isn’t much time, so I shall come straight to the point. I know Falloure has abandoned you, Sabrina. And I know you think you’ve no other choice but to accept Montgomery. I’ve come to offer you an alternative.” With no warning, he knelt at her feet and pulled a ring from his coat pocket. “Come away with me, instead. We can flee to Scotland and—”
Her astonishment was complete. “You still want me? Even after—”
“I regret my harsh words,” he said. “My only excuse was a bruised heart. I beg you to reconsider.”
There was a God in heaven, and He’d just given her the answer to all of her problems.
“I will,” she whispered, her head reeling. “I will marry you, my lord.”
“I promise you’ll never regret it, my darling.”
Reaching down, he pulled Falloure’s ring from her finger and tossed it into the ashes in the hearth, replacing it with his own. He kissed her then, forcing his tongue deep into her mouth.
When he broke away, she just stood there with her eyes closed, gripping the back of the chair for support. No, she didn’t desire him. Just the opposite. And thus she would marry him.
“I’ll come for you tonight at the third hour,” he said, looking over his shoulder at the door with concern. “Meet me by the east gate, and bring only what you must, for we travel lightly. We’ll ride to the edge of the city and meet my carriage there.”
He ground his mouth hard against hers one last time before fleeing.
Forcing what she hoped passed for a happy smile, Sabrina waited until the door closed behind him before wiping her lips and giving in to the urge to shudder in disgust.
Pocketing Fairford’s ring, she knelt and picked Percy’s out of the ashes, looking at it with
regret. It would have been far better to marry him. She had at least enjoyed his company. But he’d given her little other choice.
Her course was clear. Wiping the ring clean with a corner of her underskirt, she put it back on her finger. Then she retired to her chambers and rang for her maid to come help her undress.
When her mother returned a few hours later, she came to her chambers. “I believe I understand now the source of your illness last night and this morning,” she said gently, coming to sit beside her on the bed. “Lady Brixton told me everything, my dear. I think that perhaps I might have been a bit more harsh with you than you deserved.”
Sabrina’s gut tightened painfully. Had someone else witnessed her humiliation last night?
“It is obvious to me now that for all of his seeming awkwardness, the man is a practiced seducer, a wolf in sheepskin,” continued her mother. “They will have to be married by special license at once, of course. The scandal of it has all but sent Lady Chatworth to her bed in hysterics.”
Her mind raced. Chatworth…
“And in the library, of all things! No one doubts that it was a deliberate slap at both you and Henry,” her mother added with heat.
Sabrina’s confusion evaporated, and she breathed again. Good heavens, she’d thought Mama was referring to her having been jilted by Percy. As her fear receded, happiness took its place. Chadwick had compromised Miss Chatworth! She put her head down to hide lips that twitched with the effort it took to keep a smile from forming on them. And, apparently, he’d done it in Henry’s library. A laugh tried to escape, but she choked it back.
Clearly mistaking her reaction for a show of grief, her mother looked at her with sympathetic eyes. “I’m so very sorry, my dear. It must have come as a great shock.”
“I shall recover in time, I’m sure,” Sabrina said, keeping her head down.
“That’s the spirit, dear. If it is a disappointment for you, think of poor Miss Chatworth. And her family, of course. Lady Chatworth thought to have the Earl of Scarborough for a son-in-law, for he’d just begun to pay court to Melissa. Now those plans are in ruins, along with her daughter’s reputation.”
“Yes, of course,” Sabrina mumbled. She did not like to think how her own family would react upon discovering her deception. Miss Chatworth’s scandal would pale in comparison to the uproar she was about to cause.
“Now then, we must maintain our dignity. A good beginning would be to show support for poor Melissa,” said her mother. “It isn’t her fault, after all—well, not entirely. She was duped by that trickster.” She hesitated, then: “Sabrina, I want you to know that henceforth I shall endeavor to be more civil toward Lord Falloure. Even if he is not my preference, he has at least behaved honorably. For that, at least, we may be grateful.”
Inside, Sabrina cringed.
