Wedding Wagers(50)

"Of course you'd be pleased," Sherborne said. "Her dowry would be a fortune to someone like you."

"There will be no dowry if you marry Mr. Linfield," the baron said to  Emily. Then to Sherborne, "And don't think you'll be getting one with  Sophia either. She's had hers already." He leveled a heavy gaze on  Sherborne, then Eli, then back again. "Neither of you are getting one  cent. What you can have is a taste of what I've dealt with all these  years, in a household of females."

"That does not change my position on the matter," Eli said. What did he want with money when he might have Emily?

The baron sighed, almost as if he had expected such an answer. "As much  as I like you, Mr. Linfield, I cannot condone your lower social  standing. As the daughter of a baron, Emily has certain expectations  regarding marriage."

"I expected to be happy about it," Emily said. "To feel as if the one I was marrying was my friend."

Sherborne stepped forward. "I'm your-"

"A friend does not do what you were about tonight." Emily fixed  Sherborne with a look Eli had never seen from her before. Though her  voice remained calm, it was apparent she felt anything but.

"If Miss Montgomery and I marry, it would not be for hope of any dowry,"  Eli reiterated. "I have no expectation of financial support of any  kind. I would ask only that you attend our wedding. Beyond that, your  correspondence with her will be entirely at your-and her-disposal. You  would always be welcome to visit at our home, and I would hope that your  daughter would always be welcome in yours. It would be understandable  if I am not, but I would certainly never prohibit her from visiting."

"Well said, Mr. Linfield." Sophia clapped her hands. "It's a perfectly  marvelous solution, Papa. Both of your daughters will be wed and past  your concern within a fortnight."

"That would require a special license," Sherborne reminded her. "Those are expensive."

The baron shook his head. "And the alternative-posting banns, announcing  that our daughter is to marry a groomsman-would kill your mother. She'd  never be able to go out again."

Her choice, Eli thought with little sympathy. But he would do anything  he could to make this happen. It was an opportunity he'd never thought  to have, and he wasn't about to let Emily slip through his fingers.

"I will pay for the license. I'll go the day after tomorrow, after I'm  assured Fortune and her colt are both well. It would not be a very  fitting wedding gift to my wife to allow her horse to fall ill." He  looked down at Emily, still pale, her eyes wide and stricken by the  night's events.

"You cannot obtain a special license," Sherborne said. "Even had you the  £5. Only a member of the peerage is able to meet with the Archbishop."

"Let me worry about that," Eli said. Then ignoring the others, he took Emily's hand and led her a short distance away.

"Is this truly what you want?" he asked.

"Yes," she whispered, not meeting his gaze. "I wanted to remain at home,  unwed, but if I now must marry … " Her voice trailed off just as her  tears began to fall. "I'm so sorry." She looked up at him. "It was  selfish of me to drag you into this. You don't have to do this. I'm-"

"Don't be sorry." Eli brought her hand to his lips and placed a gentle  kiss over the finger that would soon wear his ring. "Don't be sorry," he  whispered again. "I'm not."





Eli raised his hand and, for the first time ever, lifted one of the  brass door knockers on Baron Montgomery's front double doors. Three  times he let it fall, the heavy metal thuds coinciding with the  hammering of his heart.

Lowering his hand, Eli glanced down, checking his attire once  more-clean, white muslin shirt, smartly tied cravat, trousers that were  not buckskin, a newer pair of suspenders, and a borrowed waist coat. He  had no jacket, or one he wished to wear anyway, in this heat. Comfort  over propriety. His boots were scuffed, but also clean, having taken him  a good hour to get that way, sitting on an overturned bucket in the  stable and scrubbing with the stiffest brush he could find. His  responsibilities were not kind to his footwear.         

     



 

No doubt the Lady Montgomery-if she saw him today-would take notice of  that and his simple clothing. He would remedy his shortcomings there  before the wedding but had no time for that now. He intended to be off  this morning to obtain a license to marry. While he was confident that  the Archbishop would meet with him, locating the man could take days.

After what seemed an inordinate amount of time, the door was opened by  the baron's capable butler, Benson. Eli had taken dinner with him a time  or two below stairs and also at the local pub.

"Good day, Benson." Eli paused, discomfited by the unusual circumstance  before him. Servants did not call at their employer's front door-ever.  Nor do they marry their employer's daughter. He ignored the disapproval  in Benson's knowing eyes and downturned mouth, and plunged ahead. "Is  Miss Montgomery at home? I am here to see her briefly about a matter of  importance."

Benson said nothing but stepped back into the foyer, pulling one of the massive doors with him so that Eli might follow.

"Wait here." Benson left Eli to take in the foyer with its circular  staircase, immense portraits, polished floors, and vases of fresh  flowers.

I cannot give Emily anything this grand. Eli studied the painting  closest to him, a Montgomery ancestor looking down upon him with a  severe expression. Instead of feeling disturbed or discouraged by the  wealth surrounding him, Eli felt a thrill of excitement at the challenge  ahead. He could not give Emily anything this fine, but he could give  her much more of importance and show her how freeing and grand life  could truly be.

"Mr. Linfield." The female voice did not belong to Emily, but her  mother, who had always been polite, if not quite cordial, to him before.

"Lady Montgomery." Eli gave a slight bow.

"Emily is presently being fitted for her wedding gown. Is there something I can help you with?"

Lady Montgomery spoke almost as if Emily was to be married to someone other than himself.

"I came to inquire of her the date and time she wishes to wed. I intend to stop at the church on my way to obtain the license."

Lady Montogmery's lips pressed into a thin line. "You intend to go through with this, then?"

Eli nodded. "Unless or until the time your daughter tells me she does not wish to."

"If you care for Emily at all-and it appears you must somewhat, as my  husband has made it clear there will be no financial gain for you,  should you marry-then it would seem in her best interest for you to bow  out and leave her to restore her engagement to the Earl of Shrewsbury."

"I do not wish to restore that engagement, Mother." Emily descended from the top stair, her pale pink gown trailing behind.

Eli had hardly ever seen her dressed in anything other than a riding  habit, and this morning found she took his breath away, with her curls  bouncing and the feminine drape of her gown.

Her mother moved toward the stairway, as if to intercept Emily before she could reach her destination. "We have discussed-"

"-Even if Mr. Linfield has come to tell me he has changed his mind, I  will not marry the earl." Emily sidestepped her mother, then slowed her  steps until she stood before Eli. "Have you come to withdraw your  offer?"

He smiled. "I believe you were the one who offered for me, but no. I have not changed my mind about accepting."

As Eli wondered at his audacity to tease her, the color in her cheeks  rose, surpassing the pink of her gown while still complimenting it  nicely.

"Have you second thoughts, Miss Montgomery?"

She shook her head and met his gaze only briefly.

"In that case, there are a few matters of business we must attend to. I  shall be leaving today to obtain our license to marry. Is Saturday next  at ten o'clock in the morning agreeable to you?"

"Saturday next," Lady Montgomery exclaimed. "It is preposterous to think of planning a wedding so quickly."

"Make that two weddings, Mother." Lady Grayson entered the room from a  side door. "Sherborne has already left to obtain our license. We are to  be married on Friday." She sashayed past her mother and gave Emily a  quick hug. "Isn't it splendid, sister?"

Emily nodded but did not say anything.

"I've also brought a bit of string-" Eli felt his own face warm as they  stared at him. He wished he was out of this house, away from so many  females, or away from two of them, at least. Emily did not seem like her  mother and sister. "-to measure your finger for a ring. May I?"

Emily hesitated, glanced at her mother and received a disapproving  frown, then held her hand out to him anyway. With great care he wound  the string once around the third finger of her left hand, holding the  measured piece between his thumb and forefinger when done. Emily lowered  her hand, and he pulled out a knife and cut the string where he held  it, then tucked the piece carefully into his pocket.