by Dawn Brower
Maybe she should read the novel Emilia recommended. She certainly wasn’t going to find any happiness in the real world. “I believe I shall get both.” Maybe she needed some changes in her life, and both books were written in different style.
“It’s lovely you’re reading something different,” Emilia said with a little excitement in her voice. “When you’re done with both books, please let me borrow them.” She held up a different novel. “I’ve decided to purchase this. The Man of Property—I heard that it is about a man’s belief that he owns his wife and what he does to control her. I think it’ll be a fascinating read. It’s a subject we all hold an interest in don’t we?” She lifted a brow. “Women should be more than a man’s property and I’m curious about this author’s take on the issue.”
Angeline froze in place. The very premise of that book seemed like a horrible reminder of what her life was becoming. Perhaps it was a sign of some sort, and she should listen to it. “Let’s purchase our books,” she announced and then turned toward Lady Hannah, “And I think I will join you at that meeting.”
“What meeting?” Emilia asked. Her tone filled with curiosity. “Can I join you?”
They all went to the clerk to purchase their selections. Angeline wanted to tell Emilia it was a bad idea for her to attend the Pankhursts’s meetings, but maybe she should accompany them. She seemed interested in the idea of women’s rights, and she’d chosen a book that depicted the awful side of marriage. It might be enlightening for her to see what the movement intended for all women. “Absolutely,” Angeline told her. “It’ll be even more wonderful if you’re along with us.”
After they were finished, they carried their packages out of the store and walked in the direction of the Pankhursts’s house. Angeline felt good about her decision. She wouldn’t abandon her cause just because Lucian ordered her to. This was the right choice for her. He could go to the devil. Angeline had a mind of her own and she was going to follow what she believed in.
Lucian strolled along the sidewalk, heading toward his tailor. He’d left his club and decided to walk instead of taking his carriage. The exercise would do him good and give him time to think. Angeline had done her best to ignore him and made no decisions concerning their upcoming wedding. If not for their respective mothers, nothing would have been completed.
He wanted to understand why she was so dead set against the wedding, but he couldn’t figure it out. They were a good match and had always had an amicable relationship. Many marriages were based on less… If she stopped being so bloody stubborn, they could build on the relationship that already existed between them, but no, she had to be her usual difficult self. Why he expected any differently from her, he’d never know.
As he crossed the street, he caught a glimpse of a green skirt and dark hair. The image of Angeline’s lovely face immediately floated through his mind. It couldn’t be her and was probably only his imagination. He narrowed his gaze and brought the lady into focus. As he did, he realized two things: yes, it was indeed Angeline, and his little sister was with her. He didn’t recognize the third lady, but he could discern one fact. Angeline was near, and it gave him the perfect opportunity to spend at least a few moments in her company.
With a decision made, he quickened his pace to catch up to them. They were walking at a rapid pace, making it difficult to close the distance. They turned a corner and headed in the opposite direction of home. Huntly Manor wasn’t too far from the Marsdens’s, and both were located near Mayfair. He had no idea where they were actually going, but he didn’t like it. Emilia would have an earful when he finally reached them. Perhaps he should run… No, that would only startle them, and now he was curious to what they had planned. It would be far better to sneak upon them and catch them doing something disreputable instead. It would give him the higher ground to preach them the error of their ways.
The ladies’ laugher echoed on the wind. At least they were having a spot of fun now because later they wouldn’t be able to do much in the way of entertainment. He didn’t know why he believed they were up to nothing good, but he felt it deep inside. An instinct he’d honed since childhood regarding Angeline and his sister reared its ugly head and screamed at him.
They stopped outside a townhouse. One he recognized immediately as the Pankhursts’s residence. He’d looked into them after Angeline’s ill-fated attempt at becoming a suffragette. Lucian had wanted all the information regarding them if she should ever try to participate again. Now that he realized her destination, he was glad he’d done so. Especially since she’d been so thoughtless as to drag his sister along with her this time.
Lucian couldn’t believe how foolish Angeline was acting. Surely, she must realize that continuing her involvement with the suffragette group was a horrible idea. He was done playing the spy and following at a safe distance. This had to end now. Lucian rushed forward and stepped behind Angeline. The lady he hadn’t recognized earlier widened her eyes at his approach and her mouth fell open. “Lord Severn,” she nearly stammered the words. Angeline and Emilia froze as she said his name. Good, they realized they’d made a mistake.
He nodded. “Lady…” Bloody hell, he couldn’t place her.
“Hannah,” she supplied. It was more a mumble than anything else. He barely made out the name she’d voiced.’
“Lady Hannah,” he started again. Lucian had almost no control left and was hanging on by a very thin thread. “If you’ll excuse my sister and my fiancée, we are needed back at home.”
“Of course, my lord,” she readily agreed. “Have a good afternoon.” Then she spun on her heels and headed away from Pankhurst House. Well, maybe he’d done her a good turn too. None of the ladies should have even attempted to take part in the suffragette group. Their safety couldn’t be guaranteed behind those walls, and they would likely do something that could end up in a disaster. Hadn’t Angeline already learned that lesson the hard way?
“Have you two lost your minds?” He wanted to roar at them, but kept his voice down to a harsh whisper. “Do you not have a care for your reputations?”
“Why should I?” Angeline turned to him and asked belligerently. “You have enough for all of us combined.” She glared up at him with flushed cheeks. She was angry too. Good. He wanted to have it out with her and settle this between them. “We may have been born female, but that doesn’t mean we’ve lost all our faculties. Emilia and I are both intelligent enough to make a decision without a man interjecting.”
“Clearly not,” he disagreed. “Because I found you both about to enter a den of iniquity. There is nothing good happening behind those walls.” He pointed to the Pankhursts’s residence. “They may believe they are working toward the betterment of all women, but the only thing they are accomplishing is ensuring women will be hurt or worse.”
His blood turned cold at the idea of losing either Angeline or his sister. He hated the idea that they put themselves in danger. Somehow, he had to make them see reason. If they kept attending those meetings, they might become embroiled in a problem he wouldn’t be able to extricate them from. Lucian had gotten lucky when Angeline had been arrested. He doubted that any of them would be so fortunate a second time.
“There is only one person here doing any harm,” Angeline said scathingly. “And that is you. No one has ever been hurt attending a meeting. There are no raids or people being trampled on. They talk, they plan, and then they act.” She placed her hand on her hip. “Maybe you can understand that process. Isn’t it how most of government works?” Angeline lifted a brow mockingly. “Do they all get hurt talking in parliament? Or is it just a bunch of bruised egos.”
Emilia remained quiet through their whole exchange. Later, Lucian would have a discussion with her in the privacy of Huntly Manor. “Let’s go. I’ll see you both away from here and safely back home.” Emilia complied immediately, and then Angeline fell in step beside her.
Huntly was the closer of the two townhouses. They stopped there first and stayed outsid
e until Lucian was certain Emilia had gone inside. Then they continued their trek to Marsden House. “Are you going to stay silent the entire way?”
“There’s nothing to discuss,” she said. “At least not now. Maybe after I’ve had some time to calm down, maybe then we can have a rational conversation.”
The hell with that… Angeline was never rational. She was far more likely to act out and do something she might come to regret later. They had to find a way to settle this before she did something even more foolish than attend a Pankhurst meeting. They reached the Marsden townhouse, and he halted in front. He should go inside with her, but maybe there was a better way to handle the situation.
“Perhaps you’re right,” he began. “We have both said some things, and we need some time to consider everything before we have a real discussion.” What he really needed was to give her something else to occupy her time with other than the damn suffragette movement. Something else to dwell on…
“I’m glad you’re seeing reason.” She still had a petulant tone to her voice. “And perhaps you’re starting to realize exactly how unsuited we both are to marriage.”
He wouldn’t go that far. The wedding would happen sooner rather than later if he could manage it somehow. No, her attitude wouldn’t do at all. He didn’t bother responding to her statement. That would stir her misgivings even more. What he needed to do was show her what they had.
Lucian leaned down and pressed his lips to her cheek and then trailed light kisses to her mouth and softly pressed his lips against hers. She stood completely still, allowing him to kiss her in front of her parents’s house for all the world to see. She tasted sweet and spicy, and he was lost in it for a brief moment. He had to remain in control or things might go too far. Luckily, their betrothal had already been announced or the ton would have been scandalized by their blatant disregard for propriety. She hadn’t moved one inch the entire time. He’d stunned her silent. Finally, something was working in his favor. “Go inside, love. I’ll pay a call on you in a couple of days, and we’ll discuss the wedding.”
Silently, she turned and did as he directed. He never thought he’d see the day Angeline Marsden was at a loss for words… Lucian chuckled lightly and walked away, a little lighter than he’d been before. Now he could woo her properly as he should have all along, and he couldn’t wait to kiss her again. Maybe a little more passionately next time…
Chapter 8
November 1906
A week after the announcement in The Times, Angeline’s mother had decided there was no reason to postpone the reading of the banns. It had been read the first Sunday after that during the church service. The next one would happen soon. It would give her a month to find a way out of marrying Lucian before the final reading. The wedding would happen the second week in December. Angeline was growing desperate. The girl who’d fallen in love with Lucian was ecstatic at the prospect of being his wife; however, the woman who had accepted the truth realized they had no real future.
He’d kissed her…the wicked bastard. He probably thought he had the upper hand now. She couldn’t let him have control over her life. If she gave in now what would happen to her? Would she become a bitter old woman who hated the world? Without love that was a very real possibility. She might adore Lucian, but at the moment it skated a fine line toward hate. If she wanted to have any chance at happiness she would have to take action. Lucian had made his feelings clear, and then tried to manipulate her with a few soft kisses to muddle her mind. She would not be his fool. Angeline deserved more than he’d offered her, and a marriage of convenience was the last thing she desired for herself.
That left her one choice.
She hadn’t been serious about running away. In her mind, it had been a joke of sorts. The option had never fully seemed real to her. The wedding wouldn’t happen—at least that’s what she kept telling herself. As days went by and the warm weather disappeared for good, she’d finally had to accept it. She was marrying Lucian, and if she didn’t want to be tied to him forever she’d have to disappear. At least until he gave up on this ridiculous notion. He had betrothed himself to her out of a sense of duty. Lucian had wanted to protect her, but a marriage without love would kill her. She’d grown up with two parents totally devoted to each other, and she wanted nothing less for herself than a true commitment.
Angeline pulled her trunk out from underneath her bed and opened it up. She went over to her armoire and pulled out her dresses, then tossed them on the bed. She yanked open her drawers and tossed her delicates there as well. Carefully, she folded them to prevent wrinkles. She had most of her dresses neatly folded when her door swung open.
“What the…” Emilia lifted her hand to her chest. “Are you taking a trip I didn’t know about?”
“Yes,” Angeline answered as she folded another dress carefully. “I’m leaving England.”
“Where, pray tell, are you traveling to?” She lifted a brow then gently closed the door. “And why?”
Emilia wouldn’t understand. Angeline adored her; however, her attachment to her brother blinded her. She wouldn’t see how a cold marriage would destroy her soul. In order to successfully disappear, she would need Emilia’s help. So, somehow, she’d have to convince her of the wisdom of her plan. She didn’t doubt she could do it though. Emilia had always supported her and been a good friend.
“I can’t get married.” She started folding her intimates, then placed them neatly in the trunk. After she finished, she’d need a few more personal items and then she could leave. “Lucian doesn’t understand.”
She turned, walked to her vanity, and started grabbing things to put inside her trunk. Her brush, mirror, and hair pins… She was forgetting something, but couldn’t pinpoint what. It didn’t matter. Angeline placed the items she’d gathered and added them.
Emilia came over to her side and set her hand on Angeline’s arm. “Have you tried talking to him?”
Angeline rolled her eyes. “It’s all I’ve tried to do since he rescued me from that jail cell. He thinks he knows best.” Emilia didn’t want to see Lucian’s faults. She couldn’t really blame her, and she didn’t want to disillusion her from the type of man he was. Deep down, Emilia understood Lucian could be ruthless and stubborn.
“I know you think he doesn’t love you…”
“There’s no ifs, ands, or buts Emilia.” She shook her head. “You want to believe his feelings are grander than protecting my name and reputation. Trust me, there isn’t anything else there. If there was, he’d have at least tried to spend time in my company, but he hasn’t. He is dutiful, and nothing more. There’s no feelings to build on.” He had kissed her once, but she didn’t say that aloud. It had been to stun her into silence nothing more. He wanted to control her.
She bit her lip. “But where will you go, and will you ever come back?”
That was the hard part. She didn’t know if she would be able to return to England. Once the wedding didn’t happen, her reputation would be in tatters. The irony of her situation wasn’t lost on her. She’d been marching for women to have equal rights and now she was faced with a forced marriage to save her reputation. It was the very thing she was fighting against and she had been given no say in the matter. Angeline had few choices left to her. This seemed to be the best one for her given the situation. She might be able to come back someday in the distant future, but she couldn’t hold on to that hope. Angeline would have to go on with her life and do the best she could with it. That left one place she could go. “I’m going to Aunt Lily’s.”
“Isn’t she traveling here soon?” Emilia tilted her head. “Your mother was excited for her return and couldn’t wait for them to cross over.”
That was what made her plan brilliant. As they traveled to England, Angeline would be heading to South Carolina. They wouldn’t turn her away from the plantation, and she could safely hide without anyone the wiser. Once there, she could make other plans on what to do with her life. Either way, it was a better opt
ion than marrying Lucian and being miserable. “It’ll work. Trust me,” Angeline said, then smiled. “Mother will be happy to see her. They are as close as sisters.” Which they were by marriage, but they were friends first. “William and Brianne are coming too. They’re to stay until after Christmas.” They were coming a little earlier because of her impending nuptials.
“Everyone will be so upset once they realize you’ve gone. Are you certain this is the only way?” Emilia fidgeted her voice shook a little as she spoke. “Do you even know when a ship is leaving for America?”
“I do,” she answered. Angeline had purchased a ticket on a passenger steamer leaving that afternoon. That was why she was rapidly packing and hoping she remembered everything she wanted to take with her—it might seem last minute, but she couldn’t have done it any sooner. Her maid would have noticed and told her parents. Then she’d never have been able to make her escape. “Will you help me make it to the docks?”
“How are you going to get that trunk there without anyone noticing?” Her voice was hesitant and slightly skeptical as she spoke—apparently she hadn’t been convinced Angeline could runaway properly.
Luckily, Angeline had considered all the possibilities already. Now she had to convey all the particulars to Emilia to ease her concern. “My parents are gone until this evening. Father went to his club and mother is making calls. This is the one time I can do it.” She met Emilia’s gaze. “Will you please help me?”
The silence in the room after her question was almost deafening. Emilia glanced away from Angeline and stared at the window. She clearly didn’t like the plan. Hopefully, she wouldn’t balk at assisting her. If she had to, Angeline could do it on her own, but she’d prefer it if her friend came with her. At least part of the way… She didn’t know when she’d see her again, and she wanted to savor whatever time they had left. Finally, Emilia turned back to her and said, “All right, I’ll do it. Someone has to ensure you don’t make things worse. But whatever will I tell my brother and your parents?”