Page 42 of Daring the Forbidden Earl
Johanna got up and crossed to Miss Steele’s chaise, where she sat down beside the weeping girl. “Do you know what your father has done? Have you heard about the threats that have been made, to get Lord Sinclair to marry you?”
“What?” Miss Steele raised her head. “No, I did not.”
“He went to Lord Sinclair’s home and all but attacked him, and then sent a letter of warning,” Johanna explained. “You must tell your father the truth, Miss Steele. I know it will be difficult, but you must. I will be the first to acknowledge Lord Sinclair’s rather tawdry reputation, but he should not be punished for something he did not do.”
Miss Steele gawped at Johanna, her body rigid with apparent terror. But Johanna did not know if the terror stemmed from what her father had done, or what her father might do if Miss Steele tried to undo the lies she had told.
A few minutes later, Miss Steele’s face fell. “I cannot, My Lady. It is far more complicated than you realize.” Her hand shot out and grabbed Johanna’s, gripping it tight. “Please, ask the Countess to forgive me, and plead with her not to expose the truth about my lie. And you can even tell Lord Sinclair that he is in no danger of being made to marry me. I… have other arrangements already being prepared. Once they have come to pass, I will not cause any further trouble to anyone.”
“What do you mean?” Johanna had an inkling, but she wanted to hear it from the young lady.
She is making the mistakes that I made, I can sense it. Someone has promised her the world, and I fear it may be snatched from her.
Miss Steele peered up into Johanna’s eyes. “My lover is… a married gentleman, My Lady. I know it is despicable, but he cannot abide his wife, and she cannot bear him, either. They do not love one another, but he loves me, and I love him.” Her bottom lip trembled. “We are going to run away together soon, but he is making arrangements first. So, I implore you, just… help me gain some more time.”
As rain began to patter upon the windowpane, Johanna’s heart broke for the poor, naïve young girl before her. This could not, and likely would not, end well. Indeed, the speech was almost identical to the one Johanna’s lover had given to her before he disappeared, though at least he had not been married already.
“Do you believe he is sincere, this gentleman of yours?” A battle raged in Johanna’s mind, for though she was here to get Mark off the hook, she could not help but feel an empathetic duty toward this young lady.
Miss Steele nodded effusively. “He has even given me a ring, as a promise of his loyalty.” She tugged a long, thin chain out of the neckline of her plain, pale blue gown. At the end, a gold band with a large emerald, set in a circle of diamonds, glinted majestically.
Whoever this fellow is, he is wealthy!
Johanna could not believe the opulence of the item. Perhaps, this was not an echo of the same situation that she had been in. Perhaps, this fellow truly did mean to run away with Miss Steele, and live happily in some other place, where they could pretend to be man and wife.
Is that what Mark and I will have to do, as we cannot marry?
“Could you be truly happy, knowing you will never be his actual wife unless there is a divorce or a death?” Johanna sighed, asking a version of the question that she knew she would have to keep asking herself with Mark.
Miss Steele smiled wistfully. “As long as I have him, I do not mind.”
That is precisely what I was going to say… As long as we are together, I do not think I would mind being unmarried.
“And when do you intend to flee?” Johanna knew she would not be able to persuade Miss Steele that she was making a mistake. There was nothing so stubborn as a young lady in love.
Miss Steele lowered her voice to barely a whisper. “Three weeks’ time, though I dare not give the exact day.” Fear returned to her eyes. “You will not tell anyone, will you?”
“I will not… under one condition,” Johanna replied. In truth, she would have kept the secret anyway, but she had to remember why she had come here in the first place.
Miss Steele clenched Johanna’s hand tighter. “Name it.”
“Ensure your father does not leave these apartments on Friday evening. Do whatever you must to keep him here, even if you must feign a fainting fit,” Johanna urged. “I may return here, if your father sends any other letters that contain warnings and ask you to do something similar. This is the only way you can repent for the lie you have told.”
A wave of relief washed over Miss Steele’s face. “I will do that, My Lady. I will do that and anything else you might ask, if it means the truth will not be exposed. And, truly, you can tell Lord Sinclair that he has nothing to fear—he and I will not be marrying.”
“I am relying upon you, Miss Steele.” Johanna kept her tone soft, for she could understand why this young woman had acted in desperation. Fathers could be terrifying when they wanted to be.
Miss Steele smiled in earnest. “I will not disappoint you.”
I pray you do not, for if you cannot do this… I fear what your father’s next letter might say. Indeed, perhaps he will not even bother with a letter, and bring his dueling pistols to Mark’s home instead.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The following night at eleven o’clock, having paced the street outside Johanna’s lodgings for the better part of half an hour, Mark finally bounded up the inner staircase and up to her apartments. Upon reaching the front door, he raised his fist to knock upon the wood, only for the door to open of its own accord.
“I thought you would never come,” Johanna purred silkily, as she pulled him into the entrance annex. “I have been watching you walk up and down the street, waiting for you to appear at my door.”
Mark put his hands to her face, smiling with delight. Even with the threat of Lord Dresday weighing upon his shoulders, he had not been able to resist coming to visit Johanna, though they had not arranged such a meeting.
