Page 99 of If the Slipper Fits
“I was nice to her. That is all,” Caden said.
The earl’s blue eyes twinkled. Abruptly the twinkle faded. “Are you saying she’s the one you plan to marry?”
“She is.”
“I see.”
The room went silent save for thetick-tick-tickof the clock on the mantle.
Caden cleared his throat. “I take it you saw the ad?”
“If you refer to the one placed by Lord Bolton in search of any information leading to the return of his missing bride, then, yes, I saw it.”
“Excellent. That saves a bit of time catching you up to Zeke.”
“Before youentered the room, Caden was about to explain how he and Mrs. Jones became engaged.”
Claybourne gave Zeke a perplexed look. “Who in blazes is Mrs. Jones?”
Caden glared at his brother. “That’s the name Anna—formerly Miss Gloriana Masters—was going by when our paths crossed several days ago. She’s been using the alias since escaping Bolton and her wicked step-mother—”
“Her step-mother?” Zeke interjected, looking well and truly intrigued.
Caden nodded once, anger over the position Angelique LeClerque Masters contrived to place Anna in boiling up inside him.
“Her late father’s second wife orchestrated the entire affair. She convinced Anna she needed to marry Bolton in order to save both of them from a life on the streets. Evidently, Masters died penniless.”
“I recall the physician being well-off, if not outright wealthy,” Claybourne said. “Granted, we knew the family years ago. Circumstances change.”
“As we experienced first-hand,” Zeke muttered under his breath.
Caden shrugged. “I can tell you Anna did not anticipate finding herself destitute at her father’s death. Thanks in no small part to the shock of it, she initially agreed to her step-mother’s suggestion to marry Bolton. Soon after, however, she decided against the marriage. When she informed her loving step-mother, she found herself imprisoned, drugged, and ultimately a coerced participant in a sham ceremony.”
The earl sipped from his snifter. “Poor girl.”
Zeke drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair. “I wish I could say I’m surprised Bolton would stoop to such a level. The perplexing thing is why he’d bother if she brings no money to the table.”
“Oh, there’s money involved,” Caden said. “I just don’t know how, where, or why. Yet.”
“How’d she manage to escape after the ceremony? Where did she go?” Zeke asked.
Pride welled up in Caden’s chest. “During her captivity, she forged several letters of recommendation for herself. Suffice it to say she fled the night of the wedding with the letters and a piece of her mother’s jewelry, which she hocked for cash. From there she landed herself in the role of companion to the Dowager Duchess of Wentworth. ”
Claybourne’s eyes sharpened. “Wentworth, you say? Of NorthUmberland? A guest at the Fenton’s party, I take it?”
“Yes,” Caden replied.
“I’ve seen neither hide nor hair of the lady in an age. She used to pay us a visit on occasion, en route to London. Always during the summer, never the spring. She didn’t move much in society, even when the duke lived. As I recall there was some sort of tragedy in the family. Can’t recall exactly what,” the earl mused.
“The Dowager is a distant relation to the Fenton’s. To Viscount Randall, as well. I assume that’s why she attended the festivities, which resulted in my path crossing with Anna’s after all this time.”
Zeke and the earl fixed Caden with matching, expectant looks.
“Yes?”
His grandfather gave an exasperated sigh. “You saw each other and, what? Professed your undying love for each other from childhood?”
Caden barked out a laugh. “Hardly. I recognized her, but couldn’t place her. She, on the other hand, denied having ever laid eyes on me and let me know in no uncertain terms she wanted nothing to do with me.”
