Page 73 of Rogue of the Greenwood
“Yes, yes it has,” Uncle Prinley agreed.
“The perfect weather for a wedding, one might say,” Aunt Regina said with a knowing smile for her daughter and Mr. Reeve. “I do love a warm day for a wedding.”
“I rather prefer the warm nights,” Mr. Gisborn said. The look he gave Marianne made her nearly retch.
Aunt Regina either did not hear it or chose to ignore his inappropriate comment. “I have ordered the prettiest gown for Meg to wear for her wedding. I only hope there is no rain. I would hate to see it soiled from mud.”
“We’ve had too much mud lately,” Marianne said, feeling quite muddied herself.
Mr. Gisborn boldly went on. “I doubt we’ll have to worry about mud for the wedding. It’s quite a good season for weddings, in fact. Don’t you agree, Miss Maidland? We should consider one of our own.”
She had just taken a bite of her fish. She instantly choked, then inhaled a bit as she tried to regain her composure. That naturally made everything worse and she was soon coughing and sputtering and creating a general fuss.
The servants standing over them rushed to her aid, and Meg began pounding her on the back. Marianne tried to wave everyone away, but that only caused her to nearly tumble from her chair. Oh, but this was horrible!
The worst part of it all was what she noticed in the distance.
While everyone in the room was focused on her distress, she glanced up to see a concerned face peering from a darkened doorway.Robert!Good heavens, but he was witnessing this mortifying display.
“Please… please, I am fine,” she gasped, fending off her caregivers.
Finally she was able to stop coughing and catch her wind again. Her face felt flushed and her eyes watered as if she’d been crying. The bit of fish that she’d choked on was long gone, but her whole system was in such disarray that she could hardly form words. She pushed her chair back from the table and a flustered footman helped her to stand.
“I’m so sorry… I don’t know what came over me…”
Meg started to rise beside her. “Perhaps you need some air. I’ll go out with you.”
“No,” Marianne said, sounding slightly more able. “I’m quite embarrassed enough. I just need a moment alone… please… I’ll be right back.”
The rest of the diners expressed concern, but her insistence on wishing to be alone was enough to put them off. Meg gave her a kindly smile and Aunt Regina encouraged her to tend to her personal needs, then hurry back. A separate room was set up to accommodate guests’ requirements, so Marianne rushed out in that direction.
It was not in the direction where Robert had been, though. She didn’t dare go that way! Once she was safely away from everyone’s view, though, then she could go off to search for him. But the house was ancient and huge. How on earth would she find him?
As it turned out, she did not need to. He found her. No sooner had she left the dining room and turned the corner into the designated guest room, than Robert was there. He pulled her into the dimly lit chamber and shut the door.
“Robert!” she gasped, forgetting herself and using his Christian name.
His arms wrapped around her and she gladly fell into them.
“Are you well?” he asked softly. “What on earth did that pig do to cause you such distress?”
“I… he asked me to marry him!” she said.
“From what I witnessed, he rathertoldyou to marry him,” he corrected. “There is a bit of a difference.”
“You were eavesdropping!”
“I was. And you handled the situation… creatively.”
She cringed. “I choked. Quite literally, I’m afraid. But Robert… I must tell you… there’s something awful!”
“What is it, Marianne?” he said, smoothing her hair and brushing the tears off her cheek.
“It’s that…” she paused, realizing that things between then had definitely changed. “Are we at first names now?”
“It appears that we are,” he said. “Do you feel the need to discuss this, or can you go back to this awful thing you were urgently about to tell me?”
“Er, yes… I should tell you straight away. Mr. Gisborn has some truly awful plans.”
