Page 63 of Romancing the Rifleman
After an hour of riding around at loose ends, he stopped by Latimer House again.Ellery was apologetic.“Her ladyship has not returned, Lieutenant.”
“Do you have any idea where she might have gone?”
Ellery shook his head.“Apparently your mother had compiled a list of potential houses while the two of you were away at the house party.I believe Lady Diana put herself entirely at the countess’s disposal.”
Harrington nodded grimly.At least his mother had thought the marriage would stick.A comforting notion, but one he didn’t have time to contemplate at present.
Lady Griselda—no,AuntGriselda—strode into the foyer.“Ah, you’re back!How is Inge?”
Harrington leaned down and patted the pointer’s neck.“Inge makes an admirable companion.Not that I am the least bit surprised.”
Aunt Griselda bent forward and rubbed the dog’s ears.“Good.Good!”
“Listen,” Harrington said, his gaze encompassing both Ellery and Aunt Griselda, “it turns out I have even less time than I thought.I have to be on that ship by six o’clock, and we make sail at seven.If I don’t find Diana in time—” His voice cracked, and he had to take a moment to compose himself.“She’s going to hate me,” he concluded quietly.
“She won’t,” Ellery insisted.
“Do not worry,” Aunt Griselda said.“I have her trunk packed and ready to go, in case she returns in time.And in case she does not, we will tell her how desperate you were.How distraught.How pathetic?—”
“Thank you, Aunt Griselda,” Harrington cut her off, not caring to see what adjectives she would come up with next.He shot Ellery a grateful look.“Tell her how sorry I am.How hard I tried to find her.That I…”
He trailed off.It was on the tip of his tongue to add,tell her that I love her.But he wasn’t yet confident enough to speak those words aloud, not two and a half weeks after he’d stumbled back into her life, even if he knew they were true.Besides, it wasn’t the sort of message you sent by proxy.
“Tell her,” he finally said, “that I will be miserable without her.And that if she will consent to join me in Ireland, that I will be the happiest man in all of Christendom.”
Ellery placed his hand over his heart.“We will.”
“Of course, we will,” Aunt Griselda added brightly.
“Thank you,” Harrington said simply.Down the hall, the clock struck half five.He had to hurry if he was going to catch his ship.“I’d best be?—”
“Astley,” a supercilious voice called.Harrington discerned the sharp click of footsteps on the marble tiles.“Good, you’re back.Now you can sign the?—”
“Fuck off,” Harrington called.“I haven’t got time for your nonsense.”
Ignoring the duke’s outraged sputtering, Harrington turned on his heel and walked out the door.
Chapter33
Harrington left it as late as he possibly could.
But eventually, he could delay no longer.He gave Edward a hasty hug, pounding his brother on the back, then climbed into the carriage with Inge.
He was quiet during the drive to the Royal Dockyard.Not that there was anyone to talk to.Edward had offered to accompany him, but Harrington had asked him to stay behind and convey his regrets to Diana whenever she turned up.Which, knowing his luck, would be two bloody minutes after he left.
He blew out a petulant breath.Inge, seeming to sense his mood, left her perch before the window to lay her head in his lap.He stroked her head, grateful that he had her for company.
On board theMercury, Captain Bannister showed him his quarters.He had a bunk in a room with a handful of junior officers.Which was fine, as the voyage shouldn’t take more than a few days.He had certainly slept in worse conditions during the retreat from Hanover, when he got to sleep at all.He opened his trunk to see what Edward had packed for him.Right on top of a stack of clean shirts was a thick book.He peered at its spine.The Complete Works of Plutarch.Harrington groaned.This was what came of asking his bookish brother to pack for him.But, upon a cursory inspection, Plutarch aside, Edward and his valet had done an admirable job.There was plenty of clean linen, all his officer’s accoutrements—sword, pistols, canteen, that sort of thing—and a box of his favorite tea.There was even a miniature portrait of Diana that belonged to Lucy.It was a thoughtful thing to include, but seeing her cool gaze felt like a punch to the gut, and he closed the lid of his trunk with a snap.
He knew he should probably introduce himself to the officers of the King’s German Legion.This was usually a part of his job that he was actually good at—gladhanding with his fellow soldiers, making a friend of every man he met, whether he was a foot soldier or a field commander.But Harrington found himself in an uncharacteristically foul temper and thought it better that he keep to himself.If he spoke to anyone right now, he was going to put the wrong foot forward, and he bloody well knew it.
He wandered the ship until he found a relatively uncrowded spot at the bow, just behind the figurehead of a curly-haired god in a winged hat.
He sat cross-legged on the deck, rubbing Inge’s neck and feeling sorry for himself.As the sun sank low, the sailors untied the mooring lines and the ship drifted into the Thames.He hung his head.There was a certain finality about slipping away from the shore, an irrevocability.
Anirrevocability?What a bunch of tripe.When had he become so fucking overwrought?At this rate, he might as well go back to his bunk and read the Plutarch.
He should probably go and join the other officers.At least it would distract him from his melancholy.But he couldn’t seem to muster the will to move from his solitary perch, where the same set of miserable thoughts circled round and round inside his head.Diana was going to be furious with him, and who could blame her?He was abandoning her without a word just one week after their wedding!It was a despicable thing to do, no matter how you looked at it.And, now that he couldn’t do anything about it, he was starting to second-guess every bloody decision he’d made today.It wasn’t as if he could disobey an order from his commanding officers.But he might have asked for more time.Given his status as a newly married man, surely such a request was reasonable.God, he should have at least asked.The worst they could have said was no.
