Page 47 of Daring the Forbidden Earl
Friday evening came in a blur of days that had all mangled into one. Now, the moment had come. Mark was finally going to face Lord Dresday again, with his friends at his side, and demand that this come to an end or Miss Steele would be made to answer for her lies.
Stretched taught with nerves, the rattle of the carriage against the cobblestones did little to make Mark feel more at ease, for the motion seemed to echo the rattle of his anxiety. Liam and Kenneth sat on the squabs opposite, and while Kenneth seemed as calm and collected as ever, Liam’s worried face reflected Mark’s.
“Are we almost there?” Liam peered out of the carriage window, while Mark opened the flap of his cloak to ensure he still had his pistol stowed away in the inside pocket.
Kenneth nodded. “It will not be long. Are we all prepared? Do we know what we are to do?”
“Allow me to approach first,” Mark answered, troubled by the weight of the pistol. Where weapons were concerned, things rarely ended well for him. He had the scars upon his body to prove it. “Then, when I give you my signal, you are both to join me.”
Kenneth cracked a smile. “There is nothing to be concerned about, Dear Boy. You will not be marched down any aisle. Indeed, if you choose to be with Mrs. Carlton, you will never have to march down an aisle.”
“Unless they go to Gretna Green,” Liam replied absently, his gaze still fixed upon the darkened landscape that rolled by the window.
Mark’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Pardon?”
“You could always travel to Gretna Green to marry.” Liam turned his attention back into the carriage. “It may not be legal for you and Johanna to marry in England, but it is perfectly legal there. Nora told me of it just yesterday, and I could not believe I had not thought of it.”
Guilt swelled in Mark’s chest as he thought of his beloved Johanna. He had not spoken to her in days, nor seen her beautiful face, nor had the opportunity to tell her how sorry he was for leaving her so abruptly. He had wanted to visit her but feared what she might say. And if she no longer wanted him, he felt certain that he would have lost his nerve for what he had to do this evening.
I will go to her directly afterward, and I will apologize for my conduct. If she no longer wishes to see me, in any capacity, I shall get upon my knees and beg until she forgives me.
Kenneth eyed him. “Do not tell me the two of you have parted ways already, Dear Boy? I have been spending great effort to come to terms with the notion, as I eventually came to terms with Nora and Westwood.”
“Why would you say that?” Mark’s cheeks warmed with shame.
Kenneth shrugged. “Well, you have spent your days with us, Chalke informed me that you have spent your evenings at home, and Nora has apparently not seen Johanna for several days due to an unknown ‘illness.’ Moreover, you seem decidedly glum. It is not hard to decipher the issue.”
“Johanna is unwell?” Mark gasped, glancing at Liam. “Is that true, Westwood?”
Liam scratched his chin awkwardly. “Nora mentioned something of that ilk, though… well… she said she thought it might be heartsickness.” He paused. “Have you quarreled with Johanna?”
“She wanted me to tell her about my uncle,” Mark replied quietly. “I could not do it, but we have not quarreled, per se.”
Even his two dearest friends did not know the full story, though he had told them snippets over the years. It was enough for them to garner the gist of the horror he had witnessed, and the torment his mother had suffered.
“Ah.” Kenneth gave a knowing nod.
Liam furrowed his brow. “Perhaps you should. It may help you to speak of it with someone. It helped me to speak with Nora about my past troubles, and I know it has helped her to speak of hers. There is nothing so healing as finally letting go of a weight you have been holding onto for so long.”
Fortunately, Mark was spared from answering by the halt of the carriage, as it came to the western entrance of Hyde Park. He had bigger concerns to worry about. If he survived this, perhaps he would contemplate telling Johanna. At the very least, he was determined to explain his behavior, and to fix what he hoped had not been broken forever.
“Are we all armed? Pistols loaded?” Kenneth asked, before anyone could get out of the carriage. “I know we do not intend to use them, but we ought to be fully prepared in case matters go awry.”
Liam and Mark nodded in unison.
“Thank you for coming with me,” Mark said. “I do not know that I could have done this without you.” He was trembling, sure, but he knew he would have been a quaking mess if his friends were not with him. Especially as Kenneth was an expert shot.
Though I do not want anyone injured… or worse.
Steeling himself, Mark got out of the carriage first, knowing he had to leave his friends temporarily. They would wait in the carriage for his call, and charge to his side if things became unpleasant.
He patted his pocket one last time, and felt the length and shape of the pistol, as he proceeded on toward the looming iron gates of Hyde Park’s western corner. They looked unsettling in the darkness, and he wished he might be here in the daylight, with Johanna, admiring the greenery instead.
Taking a few more steps, he scoured the nearby area for any sign of Lord Dresday, or a stray carriage that might belong to the man. He certainly had the money to afford such luxuries.
Having researched Lord Dresday in the past few days, he knew that the Baron was a gentleman of reasonable wealth, who had gained—and lost, often in quick succession—much of his additional fortune in the world of prizefighting. It all depended on the fighter he had chosen to be the benefactor for, but his fortunes seemed to be increasing of late. Though Mark had not been able to discover which prizefighter belonged to the Baron.
An uneasy thought suddenly dawned on him.
