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Amelia collapsed onto the settee. “It isn’t fair,” she murmured.
“They’ve failed, haven’t they?” Justine asked the earl. “If they had been successful, we would know, wouldn’t we?”
“Darling! Don’t say it,” Amelia begged her.
But Lord Iddesleigh winced. “My advice to you, ma’am, is not to give up hope. I learned long ago that it is better not to assume the worst until there is proof. It only makes for sleepless nights, and despair tends to feed on itself. Think good thoughts.” He smiled.
She smiled sadly. “It’s too late for that, I’m afraid.”
Lord Iddesleigh sighed. “I have come to bid you adieu. My wife desires to spend her confinement in the country at our seat. Unfortunately, there are times in an earl’s life when he must be about the business of earling, and at the same time, make his wife happy.” He wrinkled his nose. “I can’t imagine why she wants it, as there is hardly a thing there but a crumbling old castle.”
“Thank you for your hospitality, my lord,” Justine said. “We are sailing for home on Friday.”
“Oh.” Iddesleigh frowned. “So soon? We will all of us be sorry to see you go. I wish only the best for you and your sister.”
It was too late for that, too. The best had come and gone.
After Lord Iddesleigh left, Amelia resumed the packing. She seemed to understand that Justine didn’t want to talk. It wasn’t until much later that afternoon that Justine managed to pull herself together.
Her father had once told her that disappointments are like waves—they carry you down to the lowest of lows, but at the end of the wave is another peak, and that she should always look forward. Head up, chin up, do not let disappointment sink her.
Justine had no choice. She would be queen soon enough and would always have the good of Wesloria to tend to before herself. That was the devil’s bargain for a life of privilege.
There was much to do before they left. She would pack her love for William in the softest of silk and tuck it in a corner of her heart. But she did not have the luxury of time to mourn him.
It was dusk, and she had refused tea and asked them not to make her supper. She would do her duty, but she would not force herself to eat when her appetite had been smashed. She was lost in thought, carefully wrapping her books, when she heard a commotion on the drive below.
Her heart quickened. She slowly got up and went to the window, afraid of more disappointment, another hope soundly dashed. But a dusty carriage with the Duke of Hamilton’s crest had pulled into the drive. As she watched, Lady Aleksander emerged.
“Who is it?” Amelia asked, bursting into the room. She crowded into the window beside Justine.
Justine held her breath. Lord Aleksander came next. And then a man Justine did not recognize. He stood back and looked into the interior of the coach.
One long, booted leg appeared. And then another. “Oh, dear God,” she said and grabbed Amelia’s hand.
“It’s him, Jussie,” Amelia whispered. “It’s really him.”
Justine whirled around and ran, leaping over the piles of things to be packed. She flung open the door and picked up her skirts, running down the stairs, nearly colliding with Lord Bardaline below when he wandered out of the study. “What the devil?”
She pushed past him and raced onto the drive and to William. She didn’t stop running, didn’t take a moment to collect herself and greet the travelers. She threw herself into his arms and he caught her, his arms going tightly around her, squeezing her to him. He kissed her cheek, her neck.
And then everyone was talking at once.
“What took you so long?” she asked him.
“An unplanned trip to Gretna Green.”
“Where?”
William laughed. His face was free of worry, his eyes dancing in the low light of a sinking sun. “Let’s go in and I’ll tell you everything.”
“Wait, William...is it over?”
“Aye. It’s over, lass.”
INTHEGRANDSALON,as the footmen bustled around serving wine and whisky, Justine learned that the scheme, as ridiculous as it had been, had actuallyworked. She was giddy with disbelief and happiness, and laughed louder than anyone. “But how?” she demanded to know.
“It was remarkable,” Lord Aleksander said. “My wife has performed a bit of a miracle. Not only has Lord Douglas shed the rumor, he somehow emerged the hero of this tale. I thought the entire village of Hamilton would lift him to their shoulders and carry him off.”
