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“I’m not going back. I’m not going to marry you.”
“I think we’ve come to the mutual agreement that we don’t want this, but it’s going to happen regardless.”
“It’s not happening. Not if I’m not there.”
“If you’re alive to actually make it up the aisle.”
“What are you talking about?”
Rafe had a feeling she did not possess her faculties completely. He had thought her an intelligent, albeit angry, young woman, but this was making him change his mind.
“Are you not aware of the footpads that skulk around at night on these roads? The smugglers who are transporting contraband back and forth along the coast? What would have happened if they had come upon you and not me?” Rafe sat forward. “Do you think they would have been nice to you and let you on your way? Because I don’t think that will happen.”
Now Victoria was looking unsure. Her defiance was faltering. Rafe could see it flickering behind her eyes in the dim moonlight.
He could understand why she was running away. He had wanted to do it himself. But Sebastien had made him promise, and Rafe couldn’t turn away from something his brother wanted. Victoria had to understand that. She might not have had the same mentality, but she had to realise that this wasn’t going to work if she simply ran.
Then her eyes narrowed, and she glared at him.
“What are you doing here, anyway? You live in Robin Hood’s Bay, and that’s further down the road.”
“I had business in Whitby in the morning, so I decided to spend the night in the town instead of making another journey in the day.” Rafe shook his head. “You were really lucky it was me that came along.”
“Lucky? You molested me!”
“And you are out in the middle of the night with no knowledge of the world. You have no one knowing where you’ve gone, either, I’m sure. What if you had been caught by someone less scrupulous and they ended up doing something to you? Like kill you?” Victoria flinched. “What do you think your parents would do then? Do you think they could have coped with having both of their children killed?”
Victoria’s mouth opened and closed. Now she was looking less sure of herself. Rafe felt a stab of sympathy for her. He understood what she was trying to do, but he couldn’t see how it was going to work. Especially if she didn’t have a plan. From what he could see, she had no plan.
“Where were you planning on going?” he asked. “Do you know where you’re going at all?”
“I….” Victoria lifted her chin. “I was going to make my way to York and see what happened. Maybe find somewhere on the way where I could get a job.”
“You were just going to head to York and see what happens or get a job with no experience?”
“You don’t have to say it like that! I would have figured it out!”
Rafe couldn’t believe what he was hearing. If he had heard a proper plan laid out and the steps Victoria was going to take, he would have let her go. Instead of finding a bed for the night, he would have turned the carriage around, taken her to where she wanted to go, and left her there. Rafe wasn’t about to get in the way if she had a proper plan.
But she was just playing by ear. Since she was sheltered and didn’t truly know how the world worked, her journey was just going to make it disastrous. There were a lot of dangerous, unscrupulous people out there, and they would be able to take advantage of someone like Victoria. Rafe wasn’t about to let that happen.
He sat back.
“I’m taking you home. And you’d better get inside before anyone notices that you’re gone.”
“What?” Victoria stared. “You’re actually going to send me back?”
“If you had a proper plan of action for yourself in place, I might have helped you. But there isn’t one, and I’m not about to let you go on like that. What if something happened to you?”
Victoria sneered at him.
“I’m not your responsibility. You don’t need to care.”
“I would be pretty cold-hearted if I didn’t care.”
“I’ve thought that about you for a long time.”
Rafe didn’t doubt that. He didn’t care what Victoria thought about him. But he wasn’t callous; he wouldn’t be leaving a defenceless woman on her own. If her parents found out he had come across her and let her carry on, and then something happened to her…
