Page 61 of A Kiss to Stop a Wedding
Flora strained her eyes against the darkness but it was impossible to see his face clearly. She heard him drag in a breath and slid to her knees on the floor beside him.
‘Are you in pain?’ she asked softly.
‘My arm hurts like the devil, but that’s to be expected.’
‘And your leg, is that troubling you?’ She looked at his knees, which were bent up to fit him on the bench seat.
‘It’s not so bad. I shall be better once I can stretch out in a bed.’
She looked out of the window as the coach slowed a little.
‘We are turning off on to the road towards Banbury. It is the mail coach route, so the going should be a little smoother.’
‘With you beside me, I feel nothing.’
She chuckled, encouraged by his teasing.
‘You are clearly delirious, sir!’
‘Not so confused as to think you were on your wayto Birchwood House when you came upon me,’ he retorted. ‘Where were you going?’
She flushed a little. ‘To Whilton, to find you. I was so incensed at Quentin’s behaviour that I wanted to apologise.’
‘You have no need to apologise for the Viscount.’
‘But I do. Quentin tricked us both this evening. He behaved despicably. And then, to order Jepps to shoot you—I can never forgive him for that.’
‘Then why the devil are you marrying him?’ he demanded.
‘I must.’
‘But you don’t love him. You could not love such a man!’
‘No.’ There. She had admitted it, but could she tell him the rest of the sorry tale? She heard him sigh.
‘If you must sit on the floor, rest against me. This side of my body is unhurt.’
Flora, too tired to argue, relaxed against him. He was such a kind man. Honourable, too. That was what made it so hard to tell him the truth about her family. He might not hate her, but it was inconceivable that he would be able to forgive her mother’s traitorous actions.
‘Tell me.’ He reached out and put his good arm about her. ‘Tell me why you must marry him.’
She hesitated a moment longer, then, sitting in thedarkness on the floor of the rocking carriage, she told him all she had learned that day.
‘So, you see,’ she ended, ‘if I do not marry Quentin, he will make sure my mother’s treachery is made public, and my father’s, in carrying her out of the country. It would destroy the Farnleighs. They brought me to Whilton sixteen years ago and have made their home here. They would have to leave the town, their friends, the life they have made for themselves.’
‘But they must bear some of the blame,’ he said angrily. ‘They concealed the truth from you. They kept you here, virtually a prisoner, in this little town.’
‘The Farnleighs love me, they only wanted my happiness. They did what they thought was best.’
‘Benevolent gaolers.’ His arm tightened around her shoulders. ‘You should have had so much more, Flora! A London Season, a chance to meet a man who was worthy of you.’
‘No, no, that would never have happened. If I had known the truth, I should have had to divulge it to a suitor and who would want such a wife? Uncle Farnleigh admitted he had merelyhintedat my past to at least two of my admirers and they withdrew at once, despite the fact that I am not a pauper.’
‘Then they were fools not to see your true character!’
Flora sighed. If the matter could be kept a secret, if it was shared only with her immediate family, thenperhaps there might be a chance of happiness. But she knew if she did not marry Quentin he would divulge her past to the wider world and there would always be whispers, slights. Society would not readily forgive her for the sins of her parents.
She said, ‘If I refuse, Lord Whilton will destroy everyone I love. He has already tried to destroy you, merely to prevent you recovering your statue. By the bye, I know it is genuine. I saw the marks on Aphrodite when I was at Bellemonte and when I went back to Whilton Hall I compared them. They are an exact match.’
