Page 105 of Foolish Bride
“Who could have told?”
Elinor shrugged. “A servant, the priest, or one of the officers who helped in my rescue could have been paid to tell. The story is vague, so it’s likely whoever it was did not really know all that had happened.”
“How can you be so calm? We’re ruined. No one will have you now!” Mother’s wailing was annoying.
“Well, there is no point in getting hysterical. It won’t help anything if we cannot keep our wits about us.”
“What should we do?” Dory asked.
“I will wait for Michael. He will come. You should go home so as not to be associated with me. We don’t want this to taint your reputation.” Elinor patted Dory’s shoulder.
Dory looked horrified. “I will not go. You are my oldest and dearest friend, Elinor. I will not abandon you when you need me most. If my friendship with you is not suited to some man who wishes to receive my dowry, then he can go to Hades.”
“Dorothea, language,” Mother scolded.
Elinor and Dory exchanged a private smile. “Thank you.”
Dory nodded.
They didn’t have to wait long. Michael’s arrival was announced only thirty minutes after the newspaper’s arrival.
Virginia didn’t even bother to hide her surprise. “I thought you would have left the continent by now, Kerburghe.”
He smiled crookedly. “I would be happy to leave England for a while, but my bride-to-be has insisted on Scotland for our honeymoon. It seems she worries over the state we left the property in the north. Though I have assured her I have sent a steward to see to the repairs.”
Elinor stood at his side and gazed at him.
He kissed her nose.
Pacing frantically, Mother said, “We shall cancel the wedding and you can elope. The scandal will be much lessened by your absence. I will go now and start writing letters.”
Holding up a hand, Michael stopped Mother’s exit. “No. We will go on with the wedding as planned. To run now would be an admission of guilt. We have done nothing wrong. Certainly Elinor is not culpable for the actions of a madman.”
“I do not know if society will see it that way, Michael,” Elinor said. “Perhaps Mother is right. We could disappear for a while, and the talk would eventually stop. The ton becomes bored with these things so easily. Once it has passed, we can come back to London.”
“Elinor, it is not fair for you to have your wedding spoiled by ignorance. You should not run. I do not like it one bit.” Stiff with rage, Dory walked across the room to the window.
“It really doesn’t matter, Dory.” As long as she ended up married to Michael, she didn’t care about the rest.Well, not much.
Michael took Elinor’s hand, and they sat as far away from the other two women as possible. “I do not want you to be disappointed, my love. I still think it’s better to stay and face the scandal. I am a duke, and that should be worth something to these people.”
“I just want to be with you. I do not care how we get married. The fact that you are here is the most important thing to me. The rest is trivial.”
He smiled. “I could be nowhere else.”
Voices raised and doors slammed in the foyer. It sounded like an invasion. A moment later, Sophia and Daniel burst in.
Kendall trailed behind and announced them. The stout little man rolled his eyes as he left.
Giving the butler’s back a stern look, Sophia slapped her gloves across her palm.
A deep frown marred Daniel’s handsome face.
Before the new arrivals could be informed of the couple’s decision, a footman appeared with a note.
Virginia made to take the note, but the footman turned and delivered the missive to Elinor.
She read the note, and the rest of the room stood in silence, watching. “It’s from Middleton.”
