“That would suit me, had I a choice,” Alex responded,
staring out over the wharf. “But I cannot keep the news of your arrival from
her. She’s expecting me to arrive with guests. You will be an unpleasant
surprise.”
Cranville chuckled. “You made light of the forced betrothal.
Do not tell me you have truly been trapped into marriage with one of these
impudent Yankees?”
Alex grimaced and continued to stare out over the city.
Smoke rose from hundreds of chimneys, smudging the colors of the setting sun.
The odors of whale oil and fish had become familiar. Cranville would see a
quaint village with ill-mannered, argumentative inhabitants. He wanted his
cousin to like these people as he did, and he braced himself for the interview
to come.
“I have trapped myself,” Alex answered. “The final banns
will be read next week. The wedding will need to take place immediately so I
can sail Evelyn out of here. The Admiralty intends to make an example of her,
but their timing is inflammatory. If they try imprisoning her on the same day
they begin enforcing the Stamp Act, that mob you saw out there today is quite
likely to start a rebellion that will spread like wildfire throughout the
colonies. See that peaceful village?” Alex gestured toward the panorama of
Boston. “It’s a veritable powder keg. I intend to remove Evelyn and the
Neptune
before the keg explodes.”
“You are marrying to protect the crown’s interests? How
noble of you.”
Alex didn’t miss the sarcasm. “You will see her in a few
minutes. I’ll not influence your opinion. Come, they’re ready to lower the
plank.”
***
When Alex arrived with an earl in tow, Evelyn could have
kicked him thrice over for not sending a warning. Rebelling against his
peremptory orders, she had not changed into a dinner gown. She merely wore a
modest high-necked indigo day gown, so as not to appear too ostentatious to sailors
long from home.
Fortunately, she had warned the maid to use the best plate
and silver so Alex would not be shamed by their hospitality, but even their
best wasn’t enough for an earl. They should have sent to Uncle George’s for his
silver service and porcelain.
Evelyn glared at Alex as the earl bent over her mother’s
hand. Cranville’s weathered face showed lines about his eyes, and his hair was
more silver than gold, but he was a young-looking man still, slender and
graceful. Evelyn wanted to like him, but this man had the power to hurt her and
her family.
Dinner conversation leaned toward discussion of all that was
new in London and comparing family and acquaintance. The earl believed he might
have been in school with Mrs. Wellington’s elder brother, and of course he knew
her brother-in-law, Adrian Wellington, who held a very prominent position in
the Commons now.
Amanda knew little of the earl’s world, but she believed her
grandmother was related to his mother’s sister through marriage, although she was
unclear as to the ties. They had such a merry time comparing anecdotes that
they failed to notice the general silence at the other end of the table where
Evelyn did her best to pretend Alex didn’t exist.
After dinner, the men lingered over their port while the
ladies helped clear the dishes. Jacob disappeared about his own business,
leaving Alex to hold his own against the earl.
“She seems a quiet, modest sort, not at all your type, I
must say,” Cranville mused once the women had retired to the kitchen.
Alex made an inelegant sound and sipped his drink. “You have
not met the real Evelyn. I don’t think she was even with us tonight. I suspect
she was plotting some hair-raising plan to indict the entire Admiralty Court
and me with it on charges ranging from abduction to . . .” He
pondered a moment. “What crime begins with Z? Surely there must be one.
Whatever it is, she’ll think of it. She is my counterpart in everything, and
therein lies the rub.”
“By Jove, the thought curdles the mind.” The earl shuddered.
“You need a steadying influence, someone who can keep the title from total
disgrace. A woman who has already been found guilty of smuggling and is
evidently involved in worse is not the choice I would make. Perhaps I should
speak to the young lady alone. I have some experience in these matters.”
Alex leaned over the table and pierced his relative with a
fierce gaze. “You do not understand, Everett. I
want
to marry her. I’m
not leaving here without her.”
Cranville merely touched his napkin to his lips. “I would
speak with her just the same. I believe I saw a study down the hall. Send her
to me there.”
Alex cursed, threw down his napkin, and glared at the earl’s
back as he departed. He liked and admired the older man, but at times Everett
could be damned arrogant and opinionated.
Evelyn entered the small, stuffy room with trepidation. Her
father had never got around to building enough shelves for his rampant
collection. Pamphlets and newspapers spilled from every available surface, held
only by the teetering mountains of books stacked on top of them. Many of the
volumes were still open to the pages he had last read, and Evelyn herself was
guilty of leaving several of them about. She had always meant to return the
room to order, but she hadn’t been able to part with these reminders quite yet.
She reverently brushed a volume of Shakespeare of which her father had been
particularly fond. She drew strength from feeling her father’s closeness as she
faced the most honorable Earl of Cranville.
The earl turned from unabashedly perusing an old copy of the
Boston Gazette
. He indicated the editor’s rather vehement diatribe against
Parliament as he gestured for Evelyn to take a chair. “Are all your newspapers
over here quite so openly seditious?”
Evelyn removed a precious copy of Johnson’s
Dictionary
,
two old ledgers, and a pamphlet by James Otis and stacked them on the floor
before sitting down. Twining her fingers together, she tried to reply sensibly,
although her knees quaked. “Sedition incites the overthrow of government. Ben
Edes asks that our government’s constitution be upheld instead of ignored. Can
that be a crime?”
“Wilkes went to the Tower for it. This constitution he rants
about is a rather nebulous document, is it not?”
“We have centuries of law to support the rights of British
citizens. Was the Magna Carta nebulous?”
“Seditious, certainly, but not nebulous. I have not come to
argue politics or law. I only wish to know you better. Apparently much has
happened since those first letters I received from Alex. They were sufficient
to drag me from my home to save his thick hide from whatever trouble he had
invoked now, but it seems you are the one in trouble, not he. I believe your
uncle accused my heir of smuggling contraband. What has happened to those
charges?”
Evelyn spread her hands in a gesture of appeal. “My uncle
was satisfied once Alex declared his intentions toward me. He would never have
actually charged him with anything. He just has a bad temper and speaks out of
turn. There was no need for Alex to offer for me.” She hesitated, gauging the
earl’s reaction before saying more. He seemed a reasonable man, and he would
not have come all this way if he were not concerned for Alex. Gambling on this
little bit of knowledge, she continued, “I would ask your aid in this matter,
if I could.”
The earl looked up with interest. He had settled himself in
the desk chair and now drew the remains of an old quill between his fingers. He
nodded. “I am at your service, Miss Wellington.”
His quiet confidence restored hers, and she formed her words
with care. “I would like you to tell Alex you would have to disinherit him if
he insists on marrying me. He places much store in you and in his work and is
not likely to give them up just to satisfy his sense of honor. You must see
that this marriage is unsuitable for both of us, and it could only do him harm
to persist in it.”
Cranville smoothed the feather between his fingers. “You
would cry off because you feel your reputation would harm his?” he asked.
She heard his disbelief and gave him a wry look. “I am not
so besotted as to think Alex possesses a sterling reputation with his peers or
that it is his sense of honor entirely that compels him to marry me. I just
know that I cannot be the lady he deserves, and in time he will learn to resent
me for holding him back. I am accustomed to life here and cannot change my ways
to suit London. The only harm done will be to Alex’s pride, and that will not
be so damaging as a lifetime of marriage with a woman he feels obligated to
wed.”
Raising his eyebrows, Cranville answered cautiously. “You
are aware that Alex expected to inherit my father’s title and wealth upon his
death five years ago? My untimely return from Barbados cost him a great deal.
To deny him his expectations again is a cruel thing to do.”
Evelyn had known nothing of the sort, but the knowledge only
reinforced her beliefs. Alex would not sacrifice fortune and title for lust and
honor. “I have no desire to deny him his expectations. I wish Alex’s happiness
as much as you do. Forcing him to make this choice will make it clear to him
that I am just a passing fancy. You need not fear you will lose your heir.”
“I can’t wait to hear Alex’s opinion,” the earl said with a
chuckle. “But if that is the way you feel, Miss Wellington, I shall give it a
try. I only wish Alex happiness, as you say. If you think he will truly be
unhappy with this marriage, then I shall do what I can to prevent it.”
Feeling her heart turn to lead as she sealed her fate,
Evelyn nodded her gratitude and prepared to rise. To her surprise, the earl
waved her back to her seat.
“I would have this done at once. I’ll call Alex in here now.”
Evelyn kept her head bowed when Alex entered. She could not
meet his eyes. She loved him too much to wish to see him harmed. What they were
about to do would cause him anguish, but not as much as a lifetime of misery.
The passion they shared would not weigh heavily enough against their irreconcilable
differences.
“Why do I get the feeling you are not about to give me your
blessing?” Alex demanded.
Cranville twisted the feather as he leaned back in his
chair. “Probably because you are already aware that I am right. This marriage
is not suitable for a future Earl of Cranville. If you persist in it, then I
have the power to disinherit you of all but the title and the estate in
Cornwall. You already know how worthless an empty title can be. I could have
the family tree searched to see if there is not another cousin equally
deserving of even that. I’m sorry, but since Miss Wellington agrees with me, I
feel no harm will be done if the betrothal is broken now.”
Alex’s strode across the room to Evelyn, gripping her
shoulder in a gesture of protection. “I am sorry you feel that way, sir, but
you make my decision easier,” he answered without hesitation. “I have known
that Evelyn is reluctant to leave home and family for a strange land and new
life. Now I do not have to ask that of her. You can have your title and estate.
I will stay here.”
Evelyn’s head shot up with amazement, dismay, and relief.
Alex studied her expression before tilting her chin and sealing his promise
with a kiss.
His announcement left Evelyn too breathless to object.
Despite his cynical attitude, she knew that Alex enjoyed the challenge of his
position and power. She also knew his talents would be wasted in so small a
world as this. As much as she longed for his vision of the future, she could
not let him ruin his life for her. She shook her head free from his caress.
“You can’t do that, Alex. I won’t let you. How do you think
I’d feel knowing I’d robbed you of your life?”
Alex’s dark gaze continued to rest on her, and his hand
refused to surrender possession of her shoulder. Before he could reply, his
cousin intruded.
“If he is willing to sacrifice his life for you, Miss Wellington,
perhaps you could see your way clear to do the same. I’m not comfortable with
sacrifices of any sort, but I’m willing to rescind my decree if you are willing
to bend a little in yours.”
Alex sent the earl an enigmatic glance but his attention on
her was unrelenting. “You can fling all the obstacles you can find in my way,
but I won’t change my mind, Evelyn. If your objection is to England, then we’ll
stay here. If your objection is to London, we’ll stay in Cornwall. If your
objection is to titles, you have little to worry about. Everett’s good for
another hundred years, as you can easily see. Name me some others, tyrant.”
Alex hovered so close that she could not think. She tore
from his grip to stand by the mantel and stare at the miniatures of her family
in the frame resting there. Joy warred with disbelief at his words. He had said
he would never marry. He had sworn never to curtail his freedom for wife and
children. Yet here he was offering to give up everything for her.
Why? Why would Alex do that? She could not believe he felt
honor-bound to keep his promises in the face of everything that had been thrown
at him this day. He was a man of enough experience to find other outlets for
his lust. So why did he insist on going through with this marriage?
“You leave me little choice,” she murmured to the mantel. “I
cannot ask you to leave your family in England when I know my own will eagerly
accompany me. I cannot ask you to give up all you possess for what little I
will have left. I’d be a fool to refuse you, and I am no fool. I just cannot
believe this is what you want or what is right for you.”
“Dammit, Evelyn! Let me decide what I want! Don’t you think
I have the wit to know what is right for me?”
His anger she understood better than his earlier
acquiescence. She spun around to face him. “You are the one who swore not two
months ago that you would never wed! How am I to know if you will not change
your mind again two months hence?”