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Chapter 9
Lord Ashbury met Sam in the same place she’d met him the first time, where he’d fallen off his horse and where they’d raced. James trailed behind her, a discreet distance away. Discreet enough so that he could not overhear their conversation but not so discreet that he couldn’t still see them at all times. Sam had explained the predicament with Evie and that she needed to talk to her friend’s fiancé. James, ever a loyal servant, agreed to help out his mistress and keep their clandestine meeting a secret. No matter how understanding her siblings were, they wouldn’t allow her to meet a gentleman alone in the park. And she couldn’t very well call on him at his lodgings.
“I am so glad you agreed to meet me, My Lord,” she said as soon as she reached Ashbury’s side.
“It seems to me I did not have a choice. You did say it was urgent,” he answered. “And… can you—?” He broke off as if he thought better of his words. Sam looked at him inquiringly. “I just, I don’t quite like my title. Would it be all right with you if you called me John?”
Sam stared at him wide-eyed.
“At least when we are alone,” he added hastily.
Sam thought about refusing, but he looked so uncomfortable that she decided to humor him. “Certainly,” she paused uncomfortably, “John.”
He looked at her with a startled expression on his face, as if she’d surprised him. Surely not. He was the one who’d asked her to call him by his Christian name after all. She decided not to dwell on it. More important things were at stake.
“Let’s proceed toward the path.” She gestured with her hand and turned her mount in the direction of Rotten Row. There was little possibility that anyone would see them here in the dead of the morning, but on the off-chance that someone did, she wanted it to look like they’d come upon each other by accident. They followed the path for a little while before Sam finally spoke.
“When were you planning on speaking to Evie? You said you were going to insist on an answer last night, but you disappeared and—”
John cleared his throat, looking suddenly uncomfortable. She was being too blunt. That was not the way ladies behaved. Sam heaved a sigh.
“I apologize for my directness. It’s just that I spoke to Evie this morning, and she is desperate to be wed as soon as possible,” Sam continued.
Lord Ashbury turned to her sharply. “She is? Has something happened?”
Sam quickly relayed the problem with the Montbrooks and the need for Evie to elope and marry without her guardian’s knowledge.
John frowned in thought. “I didn’t think you thought me a suitable husband for your friend.”
“It’s true, I was against your suit.” Sam nodded as she collected her thoughts. “But that is not of any importance now, is it? I wish her only happiness, and I know she has a greater chance of acquiring it with you than with Lord Lansdowne.” Sam shuddered at the thought.
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” John muttered under his breath.
Sam expelled a breath, exasperated. “You have too low of an opinion of yourself,” she said, a bit sharply. “You are caring and responsible as well as intelligent and perhaps with more capacity for love than you give yourself credit for. Evie will be honored to call you her husband and I… I’d be honored to call you my friend.”
He gave her another of his queer looks. She was frustrated that she didn’t know what he was thinking. She didn’t think for a moment that he would refuse to help Evie, but something in her proposition had made him pause. Sam had no idea what that could have been. After all, he was the one who’d proposed marriage to Evie.
“I feel secure that you will take care of her. I trust you to keep her safe,” she continued after a short pause. “I don’t know much about you, but I believe in fate. Meeting you at the time she did… I can’t help but think that it was meant to be.”
She heard his muffled laughter, and she looked at him sharply. But he wasn’t laughing in mirth; he had a bitter look on his face. She decided to disregard his interruption and plunged ahead.
“You proposed to her at the exact moment she needed it most. You were honest about your intentions. Many of her suitors are after her inheritance, but they pretend they are not. If she can’t have love or mutual affection in marriage, she will at least settle for honesty. I think it an even trade,” she finished with a slight grimace.
“Miss Samantha—” he started.
“Sam,” she interrupted him hastily. “If I am to call you by your Christian name, it is only fair that you do the same.”
“Sam, then,” he continued with a nod. “I think both your friend and you give me too much credit where it is not due. You should not trust me that easily; you do not know me. I’ve spent a huge part of my life at war. My life up to this point has been devoid of beauty and peace. I saw things, I lived through things that are too gruesome to even speak about in front of a lady. When I came back, I brought all that ugliness with me. And you have no idea how it will affect a person who is going to share a life with me.”
“If that’s the case, then I stand by your marriage even more than before. I believe Evie can help you. She can bring beauty into any household,” she said with authority. “She is one of the most cheerful and optimistic people I know. Granted, she is going through a rough time now herself, but maybe you can heal each other.”
“It is not something that you can heal with smiles and laughter, even love,” he said a bit too sharply. “I don’t want you to have any false hopes regarding my union with the duchess. I do, however, intend to keep my end of the agreement. You don’t need to sell the idea of marriage to me. I proposed to Her Grace, and I have no intention of letting her go. As for the elopement… I shall take care of everything. I give you my word.”
Sam swallowed through a lump that suddenly formed in her throat. “That’s all I wanted to hear,” she said quietly, her throat suddenly dry. That was what she wanted, right? Then why did she feel so bereft?
They cantered on ahead for a while in silence. Then he rummaged for something behind his saddle and turned to her, a bundle of letters in his hands.
“I thought this was the reason for your note today,” he said and handed her the correspondence, his fingers brushing against hers, sending a shiver down her spine. Sam didn’t have time to contemplate the strange feelings his mere touch evoked in her. His next words cleared all thought out of her head. “These are all the letters I received by mistake in the army hospital. I believe that your brother and I were admitted at the same time and our identities got mixed up… I do not remember seeing him. I… I don’t even know his name.”
