Her Reluctant Groom (35 page)

“
Right now,” he clarified. “I don’t want to go another day without you.”

“
But we can’t marry today,” she objected. “We have to post the banns or at least get a special license.”

Marcus grinned. “No we don’t. We’ll just scratch Sir Wallace’s name off the license,” he teased.

“
We will do no such thing. It is bad enough we’ve humiliated him and made him the object of gossip, I’ll not go so far as to—to… I can’t even put voice to it.”

“
No matter,” Wallace said, coming up behind her. He handed Marcus a piece of parchment. “I already took care of it.”

“
You what?” Emma questioned, her voice squeaking a note.

“
I already scratched out my name and wrote his.”

“
Is that legal?”

“
Probably not,” Wallace confessed with a lopsided smile. “But you’ll always have this paper to show in the circumstance someone questions it.”

Marcus grinned and shoved the license in his breast pocket. “Thank you, Sir Wallace. Thank you for everything.”

“
No need to thank me. I truly never wanted to marry. I would have, of course, but my heart wasn’t in it, just like Emma’s wasn’t. As you’ve probably heard, I enjoy being a bachelor. That’s why my family paid Lady Silverton’s father so handsomely to convince her to jilt me all those years ago.”

Emma gaped at him. “Pardon?”

Sir Wallace shifted uncomfortably. “I didn’t really wish to marry her, but after I inadvertently ruined her reputation at a garden party, we quickly became betrothed. Fortunately, another man had an interest in her...”

Emma blinked at him. “You knew she was going to jilt you?”

“
Yes. It was planned,” he admitted with a simple nod. “She didn’t enjoy the company of the man who was pursuing her, so she found a way out by following me into Lord Flannigan’s back gardens.”

“
Oh.” Emma blushed. Lord Flannigan was rumored to have some very naughty statues hidden throughout that very overgrown garden behind his house. A young lady’s reputation could be ruined just by being seen stepping through the doors that led to that garden. No telling what would happen if she were caught, especially alone with a gentleman.

“
Indeed. Lord Silverton found us and threatened to expose her fall from grace if she didn’t accept his suit. She didn’t, of course. She would gladly accept mine, instead.” He shifted uncomfortably again, then rocked back on his heels. “I didn’t accept her suit though. Perhaps I should have, but I was far too interested in someone else at the time and I foolishly thought—” He broke off and waved his hand dismissively. “The details aren’t so important. I didn’t wish to marry her, so my family bribed her father to persuade her to marry Silverton instead. She didn’t want to, but her father’s lack of funds coupled with whatever he might have said to her in private changed her mind, and she followed through with the plan to leave me at the altar and marry Silverton instead.”

“
Then why did she—” Emma broke off abruptly and clapped a hand over her mouth. “Forgive me, it’s not my business.”

He waved her off. “She was just trying to bait you into saying something rash in an effort to rankle me. Lady Silverton and I shared no love for each other whatsoever, but if she could ensure I ended up in the parson’s mousetrap after all, she’d be satisfied.”

“
You’re truly not disappointed?”

He shook his head. “No. I know I must marry some day to procure an heir. I would have married you to do my duty, but I’m still young. Surely another will come along.” He shrugged carelessly again. “And if not, then I’ll continue to enjoy my bachelor freedom.”

“
One cannot be divided,” Emma quipped with a watery smile.

“
Well, actually it can,” Wallace corrected. “But I won’t bore you with decimal points or fractions. I know what you meant.”

“
Thank you,” Emma said.

Wallace tipped his hat and was gone.

“
We cannot marry here,” she said after Sir Wallace’s carriage rolled away. “That would be very awkward for me.”

“
It would be awkward for me, too.”

“
Emma!”

Emma jumped, and her hands fisted at the sound of Gregory’s roar.

“
You get out there and—”

Crack!

Emma’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped open in surprise, but she felt not a bit of sympathy. At least none for the vile man moaning in pain and spilling blood—and teeth—at her feet. Her eyes swung to Marcus. His knuckles were red with blood and his face hard as stone.

“
Hampton,” he barked.

Gregory moaned.

“
To your feet.”

Gregory groaned.

Marcus reached down and fisted his fingers in Gregory’s clothes, then jerked him to a standing position and pulled him close. “Don’t so much as
think
of her again, or I’ll kill you.” The rancor in his voice was so sharp everyone within earshot froze.

Except Gregory. He whimpered.

A second later, Marcus loosened his hold on Gregory’s clothes and brought his knee up just in time to connect with Gregory’s bloodied face once more on his fall to the floor.

Marcus turned back to Emma, his eyes growing warm yet again. He lowered his lashes and when he spoke again; his voice was thick and rough. “I should have come sooner.”

“
Yes, you should have,” Emma agreed.

“
I’m sorry. I can’t change the past, but I want to make a future with you. A future filled with love and happiness.”

“
And you doing everything I ask to make up for your stupidity?”

“
That, too.” He swallowed. “You never answered my question. Will you marry me?”

Emma smiled at him. “I’ll marry you, Marcus. Tonight even.” At his wide, broad grin, she amended, “But only if you can hunt down a special license. We’re not using that.” She patted the outside of his breast pocket so he couldn’t feign a misunderstanding later like she knew he would probably try to do.

“
All right, we won’t use that one,” he said with a chuckle. He reached into his other breast pocket. “What about this one? Will it suffice?”

With shaking fingers, Emma reached forward and plucked the paper from Marcus. Unfolding it, she gasped. “You…” Her voice faded as her eyes scanned the page.

“
I would have been here sooner, Emma,” Marcus said solemnly. “But I’ve spent the last week riding across the English countryside trying to hunt down the Archbishop of Canterbury to get this special license.”

A fresh wave of tears flowed from Emma’s eyes. “Why didn’t you send me a message?”

“
I did. It just didn’t reach you in time.”

“
No, but you did,” Emma said, leaning up to kiss him.

“
With a stroke of luck, I sure did. A moment later, and I’d have had one hell of a time trying to get Sir Wallace to agree to annul your marriage.”

Emma laughed and shook her head. “Good thing you made it here, then.”

“
Yes, it is. Now let’s get married.”

Chapter 26

Alex clapped Marcus on the back as he walked through the door of Watson Townhouse. It had been a long, long time since he’d been inside this house. If he remembered right, the events that led up to his coming to Watson Townhouse the last time were not nearly as favorable as they were just now. He cast a glance over at Caroline and smiled. Who knew the young girl with the bleak future would have ever found the type of love that lasted a lifetime?

“
This scene looks rather familiar,” Emma said lightly, allowing Marcus to intertwine his fingers with hers.

“
Yes, it does,” Marcus agreed with a chuckle as he looked around and noticed that with the exception of Alex’s mother and deceased father, this was the exact same group who had assembled last year for Alex’s wedding. Even Drake’s three little girls were present.

“
Come along, you two,” Mr. Grimes, the replacement vicar, called from the drawing room.

Marcus walked in and blinked. “It’s different.”

“
Thank heavens,” Brooke, Lady Townson, one of Alex’s cousins, said with a bright smile. “It seems Caroline actually has taste.”

Caroline smiled sadly. “I do miss Edward and his unusual ways. However, for as much as I miss him, I’m glad Alex allowed me to redecorate. I cannot imagine holding a wedding in this house if it had still been decorated so wildly.”

“
I can,” Paul and Liberty Grimes said in unison, eliciting several chuckles from the group.

“
Our wedding was held in the foyer just below the stairs,” Mrs. Grimes explained.

“
Gads,” Marcus said with a shudder.

“
Exactly,” Mr. Grimes commented.

“
Well, enough reminiscing,” Marcus said, hoping they’d all take the hint and Mr. Grimes would progress with the ceremony. He was ready to be married and carry Emma off to his freshly aired townhouse.

Mr. Grimes took his spot in front of Emma and Marcus and, without any further ado, began the ceremony.

Marcus barely paid attention to the vicar’s words. He just nodded and mumbled when he thought he was supposed to. The majority of his attention was focused on Emma. She was so beautiful, standing across from him as she recited her vows. He was mildly surprised she’d agreed to marry him today. But thankful, nonetheless. He’d made a terrible mistake sending her away, and he was more than prepared to spend the rest of his life making it up to her. Starting tonight.

He shifted and sent the vicar a pointed glance. He might have been displeased last year when Alex made a remark at his wedding to Caroline about what would be happening later that night, but now he knew the excitement of wanting everyone to vanish and leave him alone with his wife.

Mercifully, Mr. Grimes kept it short, and Marcus was able to think up an excuse to leave without staying for a meal. He’d wasted far too much time away from Emma; he didn’t want to wait another minute to have her in his arms again.

“
Someone’s awfully anxious for his wedding night,” Emma teased when he sat next to her inside the carriage.

Marcus grinned. “Yes, I am,” he stated proudly. He wondered if Caroline or Louise had spoken to her about what to expect. He frowned. Either source was likely to overwhelm her with information, Caroline’s information being too scientific, while Louise would probably make marital intimacies out to sound like something one would find in a brothel. “About tonight,” he began uneasily.

“
No need to discuss it,” she said. Her cheeks turned pink. “I know in detail what’ll happen. Or what you’d like to happen, rather.”

“
Pardon?” He wasn’t sure which part of her words he was responding to, the part about she already knew in detail what to expect, or the cryptic statement he took to mean they may not be sharing a bed tonight.

Tucking a tendril of her blonde hair behind her right ear, Emma licked her lips. “I…uh…I’ve been informed.”

“
Good,” he said slowly. “Do you have any questions?”

“
None,” she said pertly, not meeting his eyes.

He wanted to ask who’d informed her so he’d have an idea of what she might have been told, but didn’t want to press. He sighed. “Are you still angry with me?”

She met his eyes again, and in those emerald depths, he knew the truth: she wasn’t angry, she was furious.

It was a few minutes before he spoke again. “Why did you marry me today if you’re still angry with me?”

“
Because I love you, Marcus. I may not be overly thrilled with what you’ve done, but I do love you.”

“
We could have waited,” he told her softly, exhaling sharply.

She shrugged. “Today, tomorrow, it doesn’t matter. My feelings for you won’t change. I’ll still love you. I’m just hurt by what you did.” She turned her face away, but not before he glimpsed the tears shining in her eyes.

His heart clenched. He knew he’d have a lot to make up for, but he hadn’t realized just how much he’d hurt her. “Emma,” he whispered hoarsely. He gathered her into his arms and froze, unable to say another word as her body trembled and shook with sobs.

***

Trying in vain to stop her onslaught of tears and sobs, Emma sat on Marcus’ lap as the carriage rolled down the streets of London to his townhouse. She was just as ready to leave Caroline’s as Marcus had been, but she wasn’t ready to be alone with him. Not yet anyway.

This morning she was convinced he truly wanted nothing more to do with her, and then he had turned up, stopped the wedding, and married her all in one day. It was too much. Of course she still loved him. That was why she had married him right away. But it didn’t mean she wasn’t still hurting. For some reason, as soon as she’d climbed up into the carriage and looked at him, all the feelings of uncertainty, hurt, confusion, betrayal, and loss she’d dealt with for the past few weeks swamped her and threatened to choke her until he gave her some answers.

“
I’m sorry,” she murmured, trying to scoot off his lap.

He held her firmly on his lap. “Don’t be sorry for having emotions. I’m the one who ought to be sorry for being such a cad.”

Yes, he should. He could have spared them both a lot of heartache if he’d just accepted her love five weeks ago. Instead, they’d both suffered unnecessarily. “Why did you come back?” she whispered. He’d said something in the church, but she couldn’t really remember what it was. Now that they were alone, she’d get her answers. The real ones this time. The ones he’d be hesitant to voice in front of a large group of people.