The Wary Widow (27 page)

“Louis,” she said quietly, taking a step towards him, “you know I will always think of you as a dear, dear friend.”
“Stop, Chloe. You can’t do this to me.”

Oh, dear. He was not going to give up very easily, was he?

“But I must.”

“No.” His voice turned desperate, insistent. “I have waited years for you, Chloe. Through Sam, and then Eleanor...I used to pretend she was you, you know?”

Chloe’s heart stopped and she thought she might be ill. He didn’t mean—no, he couldn’t. That would be far too perverse. Besides, it didn’t matter. She was going to marry Andrew and nothing he said could make her change her mind.

“Louis, I think you should-
²

“He doesn’t love you, Chloe,” he interrupted. “He could never love you like I do.”

“Just the same,” she replied, her tone becoming clipped with agitation, “I think it’s time for you to leave, Louis.”

He opened his mouth to protest again, but Andrew cut him off. He stood just behind Chloe. She could feel his warmth and welcomed the comfort it offered. Rarely had she been so unnerved in her entire life. Desperation obviously did odd things to a person, and she wasn't entirely comfortable with what it had done to her childhood friend.

“You heard what she said, Mr.
Maltby
,” came Andrew’s low, threatening tones. “It’s time for you to go.”

With one last dejected look at Chloe, Louis flung open the door, stepped through it and slammed it behind him.

Twenty-Seven

Once they were alone, Chloe tipped her face up to Andrew, reveling in his presence. Lord, how lonely she had been. How utterly frightened and confused she’d been even just that morning. But in an instant, her life had changed, and for the better, no less. She would finally get the happy ending she’d always dreamed of.

Andrew brought his hand to her face and leaned down to kiss her again. His lips were firm and coaxing, and the pain in her jaw seemed to melt away with every stroke of his tongue.

“Ahem!”

“Oh, goodness,” she said, pulling away from Andrew and turning to his brother. “Sorry, Michael.”

“No bother,” he replied lightly. “However, we do have a slight crisis on our hands. If you can pull yourselves apart for a moment, perhaps we can come to some kind of conclusion?”

“Of course.” Andrew pulled away and led Chloe to the kitchen table. The three of them sat and began to work out their plan. Her stomach coiled into a tight knot at the thought of telling Lizzie the truth. She had done unspeakable things to her cousin, and now she would have to come clean.

How careless she had been!
Deceptive and wanton.
Goodness, how she hoped Lizzie would somehow find it in her heart to forgive her and give her blessing on their union.

“What say you, Chloe?”

Chloe looked up and realized they’d been plotting without her. “Sorry, what was that?”

“Will you come? I’m afraid we have to get going as soon as possible-
²

“No,” she said, making up her mind. “This is what we should do. Michael, Andrew, you need to confess all to Lizzie without my being there. I know I should face up to my cousin, but not now. Not when the entire
ton
is looking on. It cannot seem that I’ve anything to do with this.”

“What do you mean?” Andrew wondered, leaning across the table.

“What I mean is that if I’m there, pregnant, and Michael is suddenly marrying Lizzie...I don’t know, I just think that it will be easier on everyone if I’m not there. Then, Andrew, you can go to their wedding, offer your support, and let everyone know that you stepped down in the name of love.”
The brothers exchanged a glance and then looked back to her. “And then what?” Michael asked.

“And then,” Chloe began, “you bring Lizzie here and I will beg her forgiveness, I suppose.”

“What if she doesn’t give it? What then?”

Chloe looked up at Andrew and swallowed. “Then we will have to live with that.” She took his hand and squeezed. “I’m not going to let you go again. Not ever.”

Andrew squeezed back and then lifted her fingers to his lips. “Good,” he replied. “You would have a devil of a time getting rid of me anyway.”

After a few minutes more of discussion, the men stood to depart. Chloe watched from the doorway as they darted back through the rain to the waiting carriage and drove down the lane.

Please let Lizzie forgive me,
she prayed, and then turned back inside to tell her family the good news.

***

Andrew and Michael rode through the rain in silence. Thankfully the main roads were not yet flooded, and they made it back to London before nightfall. Andrew instructed the driver to take them straight to Elizabeth’s townhouse. It was best to get it over with as soon as possible. The wedding was in less than fourteen hours, after all.

The butler begrudgingly let them in and bid them wait in the foyer until he could speak with Elizabeth and fetch them towels. The rain was so fierce that they had gotten drenched in the short walk from the carriage. No doubt, the butler was not pleased that they were dripping on the tile floor of the entryway. Or that they smelled like wet dogs.

After several minutes, he reappeared with the promised towels and waited while they dried themselves sufficiently. Then he led them to the drawing room.

“Lady Elizabeth will be along momentarily,” he assured them before closing the door behind him.

Silence ensued. Clearly Michael was as nervous as he was, if not more. He had a great deal to lose in this situation. If Elizabeth did not accept him, he would be heartbroken, Andrew was sure of it. Though she had just as much to lose in not accepting him, for Andrew had no other choice but to break the engagement now. Chloe carried his child, and he was determined to marry her no matter what.

The door creaked open then and Elizabeth stepped through, her brow etched with concern.

“Andrew?” she said tentatively. “What is the matter?”

She stepped further into the room as he and Michael stood and then gestured that they should all sit. Once they’d settled, she asked again, “Has something happened?”

Andrew nodded. “Indeed, it has,” he said gravely. “We’ve just been to Essex. We paid a visit to your kin there.”

“Chloe?” She reached out and grabbed Andrew’s hand. “Oh, dear, has something happened? Is it the baby?”

“No, no, nothing like that,” he assured her. “Everyone is fine and in good health. But there is another matter we must discuss.”
Andrew tossed a glance to his brother and Elizabeth followed with her gaze.

“You see, Elizabeth,” Andrew said, drawing her attention back to him, “Michael and I have been masquerading as something other than we are.”

Elizabeth’s brow furrowed once more with confusion. Damn, but this was hard to say. He supposed he ought to just come right out and say it, rather than try to circumvent the issue.

“We’ve been switching places...often.”

No one made a sound as they waited for the implication of his words to sink in. But after nearly a minute of silence Andrew couldn’t take it anymore.

“Aren’t you going to say something?”

“I...I’m not sure what to say. I don’t know that I understand.”

“It was me,” Michael finally spoke. “It was me who kissed you in the garden at the masquerade ball. And it was Andrew who was in the country with your cousin.”

“You?” Elizabeth looked at Michael, seemingly unable to comprehend what he had said. “You were the one who kissed me? Who...” A blush came to her cheeks. “Good Lord,” she whispered.

A few more moments of silence passed before Andrew spoke again. “Elizabeth, it was me in the country. With your cousin.”

“With my...” Realization seemed to dawn and her mouth gaped open. “Oh, Lord,” she said again. “The baby...it’s not...Lord, have mercy.”

Panic settled on Elizabeth’s features and Andrew cast a glance at his brother. What were they to do now? She was about to dissolve into hysterics.

“But the wedding!” she shrieked all of a sudden. “What about the wedding?” She glanced at the clock. “Oh, Lord, thirteen hours! In thirteen hours three hundred guests will arrive at St. George’s to find that I’ve been jilted!”

Andrew and Michael both leapt from their seats and crossed to where Elizabeth had begun to pace in front of the fireplace.

“Not at all,” Andrew said. “I never planned to jilt you and if there were not a perfectly acceptable solution, I would never have even broached the subject.”

Elizabeth turned her gaze on him, an incredulous frown in her blue eyes. “Really? So you would have married me, knowing my cousin’s child was yours, and lived unhappily ever after with me? Well, thank you, but I would never want that. And you’re a fool-
²
she poked his chest with one bony finger “
—
if you think
—
” she poked again “
—
that I would ever want that!” Poke, poke,
poke
.

He fought the urge to grab her wrists. He deserved whatever derision she threw his way, but her finger was bloody bony!

“Elizabeth,” Michael said, drawing her attention away from Andrew. “I know you’re angry, and you have every right to be, but if you will just hear us out...”

She seemed to calm somewhat at Michael’s request, but that didn’t stop her pouting.

“Fine,” she said, sticking out her bottom lip. “Go ahead.”

Michael gestured to the seating area once again. He needed to sit for this. Once they settled though, he jumped from his chair, unable to keep still.

He paced in much the same manner as Elizabeth had as he started to speak. “I know that this all comes as quite a shock, but well...I am willing to take my brother’s place and marry you in the morning.”

There. He’d said it. He breathed a sigh of relief, feeling better already.

“Why?”

“
Why?
” He turned an incredulous gaze on Elizabeth. “To preserve your reputation of course!”

She shook her head and Michael’s blood began to boil. Was she really going to question him at a time like this? She should be bloody grateful for his offer, not make inane inquiries.

“That can’t be all, Michael. I mean, you do realize what marriage means, don’t you? It is for life. This is not just some game-
²

“Game?” His temper snapped. He stalked to her chair and glowered down at her. “Do you think I was playing a game when I kissed you in the garden?”
“Yes!” she cried, coming out of her seat. “What else am I to think? You were parading about as your brother, kissing me at liberty, lying to me about your identity so that he could have an affair with my cousin. If it wasn’t a game, then what, pray tell, would you call it?”

Michael seethed in silence. She had a point. It had certainly started out as a game, but it didn’t feel like one anymore. Games were fun, and this was anything but.

Perhaps he should take a different approach—tell her that he’d developed feelings for her and that he truly
wanted
to marry her. That he wasn’t just doing it for his brother’s sake. But he wasn’t about to reveal his true motives. Not with Andrew looking on, and not until he was sure she reciprocated.

And what if she never reciprocates?
He tamped down the little voice in his head that drove doubts into his thoughts. He couldn’t think about that right now. She simply needed time. At least that’s what he hoped.

 
Resigned, he sat down and rubbed his thumb and forefinger along his brows to relieve the tension that had built there.

“I don’t think this is a game,” he finally answered. “But the truth is, had my brother not offered for you when he did, I would have. I care about you as a friend, and I care about your reputation. Furthermore, I think
,
if nothing else, we could have a peaceful marriage, based on our long-standing friendship.”

Elizabeth listened intently, and it appeared she might soften and accept his suit, but when she opened her mouth, her words were cold as ice.

“How do you plan to pull this off? What of the marriage license? And how will we trick the
ton
into thinking this is what we wanted, and not something that was forced upon us?”

Michael procured the piece of parchment from his breast pocket and held it out for Elizabeth. She took it and read it.

“What if I say no?” she wondered as she stared at the special license.