The Accidental Elopement (Scandalous Miss Brightwells Book 4)

by Beverley Oakley

  In this genuinely sanguine mood, she dismissed Mary after she’d helped her off with her ballgown and into her night clothes. Taking a seat at her writing desk, she slit the envelope and pulled out the elegant piece of paper with its hastily scrawled message. And her heartbeat grew more rapid as her eyes scanned the following lines:

  * * *

  “Dearest Katherine,

  You said you loved adventure, and so I’m proposing the greatest adventure of both our lives.

  Run away with me! Tonight, when it’s possible, and I have a carriage awaiting! Let spontaneity and whatever is in your heart right now dictate your actions, for if you sleep on the idea, a more composed view of your future will ensure that you behave with a propriety that may be at odds with the future happiness of both of us.

  If you look outside your window, you’ll see a post-chaise. It’ll be there for the next three hours. Three hours to enable you to prepare; to take what you need to take, or as a potent symbol of possibility if it takes longer to persuade you of the merits of my proposal.

  Tonight, as I stared into the dark night and listened to the storm, my heart was full of—”

  * * *

  She broke off reading as the door opened and her mother entered the room, her night attire covered by a beautiful, blue-and-gold silk dressing gown. “Katherine, my love. I thought you’d be in bed by now.”

  Katherine tried to regulate the pounding of her heart. “I couldn’t sleep, Mama,” she lied, clasping her hands behind her back to hide the letter.

  “In that case, now would be a good time to have a little chat.” Her mother looked distracted as she moved forward, presumably to sit on the bed.

  “About what, Mama?”

  “About Mr Marwick.” Her mother held out her hand to take Katherine’s. Katherine crumpled the letter in her palm, but when she saw her mother was about to take that very hand, she unfurled it, letting the letter drop. A gust of wind through the partly open window rustled the several letters on Katherine’s writing desk, lifting one and sending it across the short distance towards the fireplace.

  “Quick! Catch it!” said her mother, taking a step towards Katherine, about to bend down, but not as quickly as Katherine who whisked up the letter she’d been writing to a school friend just as she saw flames lick the corner of the note she’d just received.

  “Katherine, there’s another one. Quickly!” Her mother reached across her to seize Jack’s note, but Katherine stayed her hand. “It was a discarded draft,” she said, looking at the crumpled parchment. She’d read all that was necessary, and so it was better that it be reduced to cinders.

  If Jack wanted Katherine to elope with him, Katherine didn’t need three hours to make up her mind. No, Katherine was prepared to cross stormy oceans to be with him because she loved him. Loved him too much to be a burden if he needed to do his adventuring alone, but enough to cross oceans to join him if that’s what he wanted.

  “Katherine, I’ve heard talk surrounding Mr Marwick that I think you should know.”

  “Please, Mama, I’m very tired.” Katherine sat heavily on the bed and rubbed her eyes. “Can we talk about this in the morning?”

  Lady Fenton looked troubled, then sighed. “I’m sure it can, my dear.” She wrapped her dressing gown more closely about her, rose, and walked to the door.

  “Mama…” Katherine hesitated, unsure how to progress but bolstered by her mother’s sympathetic and enquiring look when she turned. “How did you know you were in love with Papa? I mean, you surely had other suitors who were just as eligible.”

  Lady Fenton put her hand to her heart. “How did I know? I just did. Just as I knew no one else would do, now that I’d met him. Don’t worry, my dear. You have plenty of time. Be patient, and the same will happen to you.”

  Tentatively, Katherine asked, “Would you have crossed oceans to be with Papa? Even if he hadn’t been rich?”

  Her mother looked indecisive. “Fortunately, it didn’t come to that, my darling. Now, go to sleep. We’ll talk in the morning.”

  The door closed behind her and Katherine covered her face with her hands, joy and thrilling anticipation coursing through her. Jack wanted her as much as she wanted him.

  The storm which had stayed his progress, halted his spontaneity, and had him holed up in some tavern in Southampton, had given Jack enough time to realise he couldn’t live without Katherine.

  And Katherine had been granted a second chance to forge ahead and take a chance to be with the love of her life.

  Her mother knew how tumultuous and desperate true love could be. Surely she’d forgive Katherine?

  The moment her mother’s footsteps had died away, Katherine tore off her nightgown and changed into her most practical travelling dress. Then she seized the carpetbag beneath her bed, and began cramming into it everything she would need for the next three days as well as all her jewellery. This she could sell or pawn for the necessities to sustain her until they reached dry land.

  Jack hadn’t needed much and nor did Katherine. A week in London had buoyed her up with all the social excitement to last a lifetime. Jack had taught her what was important: true, honest feeling, and there was not much of that, she’d discovered, as she’d waltzed from one ball to another. Her time in the social sphere would come, and she’d embrace it when it did. Jack would go far; she knew he would. His adoptive parents had connections, and when Jack had proved himself and returned home with a fortune he’d earned by his own toil, he’d be given the appropriate welcome. Katherine would be forgiven, and her new life on English soil in a few years’ time would be all the richer for having followed a purer path when she’d been given the chance.

  It was squally and blustery as she tiptoed out of the house, giving the scullery maid who was half asleep on a pallet in front of the kitchen fire sixpence for keeping quiet until morning.

  Then, with her breath coming in short, jerky gasps, she dashed across the cobbled road and into the waiting carriage, the coachman jumping down from the box to help her in and to tuck a rug about her knees, saying, “Me master’ll be glad yer chose to come. Now, ‘ave some rest, fer it’ll be three hours on the road, I’m guessin’.”

  Yes, three hours to Southampton would be right, thought Katherine, putting her head against the soft cushion that had been provided for her comfort, and telling herself she should get the rest she needed while she could, because there’d be plenty of adventure ahead of her during the next phase of her life.

  But she knew she could not sleep a wink. Not with the knowledge that Jack would open the carriage door when she reached her destination, take her into his arms, and tell her how proud of her he was that she wanted to be an adventurer with him.

  But she did sleep. Although the rain was ulfaltering and the night was dark, the carriage rocked at a steady pace over the cobbled streets of London and then onto a good, flat road. The motion was calming and rhythmic, and since Katherine couldn’t see anything in the dark, her excitement was soon lulled into a state of happy calm, until her eyes closed and her mind took her to the faraway places she and Jack would explore.

  “Wake up, miss!”

  A rush of cold air swept into the carriage, together with the rough though not unfriendly rousing of the coachman.

  Rubbing her eyes and sitting up, Katherine saw she was in the stableyard of an inn. A lantern was raised to light her way, and she took the hand she was offered, struggling out onto the hay-strewn cobbles. She raised her face to the sky and tried to breathe in the smell of the sea, but the most prominent aroma was that of horse manure.

  “This way, miss.” The matronly voice identified herself as the tavern keeper’s wife before she led Katherine through the courtyard and up a short flight of stairs, and into the warm tavern. “Yer gennulman friend is waitin’ fer yer in the private parlour. Follow me.”

  Barely able to contain her excitement, Katherine hurried after the woman. By the time she’d reached the end of the corridor and the door was thrown
open, she thought she might collapse with it.

  Joyously, she burst into the room, ready to throw herself into the arms of her beloved Jack.

  But it was not Jack who stood by the fire, smiling his welcome.

  In shock, Katherine blinked several times, her mind trying to assimilate the strange reality that instead of Jack, striding towards her as if she’d made him the happiest man on Earth, it was Mr Marwick.

  “My dearest Katherine,” he cried, enfolding her in his arms. “I truly wasn’t sure if you’d come. In fact, it has been in the greatest trepidation that I’ve waited these past hours, wondering if you’d act on the daring note I sent you, or whether you’d simply crumple it up and consign it to the flames. But you have come!”

  The fire crackled; the lamp flickered in the dim, comfortably furnished room while outside the wind howled. Like Katherine felt like doing as her jaw dropped, and she allowed herself to be kissed on the head and finally on the lips, at which point she drew back her face.

  “Of course, you’re feeling vulnerable, and so I must assure you that until we are married, I shall behave in the most gentlemanly fashion.” He put his hand to his chest. “Upon my honour, I pledge that not until my ring is on your finger will I do anything unseemly. Have no fear that I will besmirch your reputation.”

  Except that Katherine knew it was besmirched already. The mere fact of being alone with any man overnight, regardless of where each slept, would damn her in the eyes of the world.

  Terror, uncertainty, and finally dumb grief gripped her as he led her to a blue-velvet sofa and handed her a brandy. Dear Lord, she needed that to dull her senses. So, Jack hadn’t written the note begging her to elope with him? Apparently not. Which meant he’d not thought of her at all with his new world taken up by excitement and adventure.

  Meanwhile, Katherine had behaved like the most foolish of impetuous misses who ever got hung out to dry. She hadn’t even got so far as to read who’d signed the note before she’d crumpled it in the fire and set off on this madcap fool’s errand.

  “Don’t look so fearful, my dear. Of course, you’ve had a long journey and clearly not enough sleep.” Mr Marwick seated himself next to her and patted her hand. “I promise to look after you, always, my dearest Katherine. I promise I’ll reward you forever for trusting in me like this.”

  Katherine considered how wise it was to confess her error. It was possible he’d not take kindly to learning that she’d intended eloping with another for, in truth, Katherine had no idea what kind of man Mr Marwick really was.

  She just knew that she had to keep the peace, keep her virtue, and hope that her family came to her rescue so that the whole affair could be hushed up and she’d not find herself bound to Mr Marwick for life.

  She was surprised when he laughed suddenly, a sound both full of glee but tinged with sympathy. “You poor child. You look quite dazed. I’ll have Mrs. Tate take you to your room for the night, and then we shall continue to Scotland where we can be married by the afternoon. Then you will be mine—forever!” He reached over and pressed his lips softly against hers.. “I knew from the first moment you agreed to kiss me with such touching alacrity that we were bound together forever.”

  Chapter 14

  “Antoinette! I can’t find Katherine! I’m sure she’s not slept in her bed, and Mary knows something—I can tell—but she won’t say.”

  A terrible dread washed over Antoinette, who guiltily put on her dressing gown and hurried to her niece’s bedchamber in Fanny’s wake. It was she who discovered Katherine’s note beneath the pillow, and tearing it open, read it quickly.

  She dropped the hastily scrawled missive and sat heavily on the bed. “She’s eloped!” She put her hands to her face and heaved in a breath while her sister gasped, stooping to snatch the discarded note, crying out as she read it, “She’s run away to be with the love of her life. That’s all she says! That, and that she’ll explain everything in a much longer, detailed letter when she reaches her destination.”

  “And where might that be? Oh, Fanny, she’s more like you were than either of us supposed!”

  “But I never eloped!” Fanny ran her fingers through her already disordered hair. “This is ruinous. It’s Mr Marwick, of course. She knew I was going to tell her of my concerns about him last night, but she didn’t want to listen.” Fanny began to cry and Antoinette, feeling a little spark of pride for Katherine’s boldness in following her heart, but also sympathy for her sister, for, in truth, she agreed nevertheless that Katherine could have done better, patted Fanny on the shoulder and bade her sit down on a chair by the fire.

  Antoinette sat on the arm of the chair. “Katherine suspected, perhaps, you’d not have sanctioned her marriage to Mr Marwick, and in a fit of adolescent bravado, she’s taken her future into her own hands. Please don’t cry, Fanny. I know how much she loves him and that’s all that counts, in my book.”

  “But I’m not convinced he’ll make her happy. He’s the first man who danced with her when she came to London, other than Jack. Why, I’d have preferred it if she’d married Jack instead of some man on the make as I know Mr Marwick is. He’s already run through one fortune. I don’t want her to align herself with some reprobate worse than our father.”

  “Come now, Fanny; your imagination is running away with you.” Antoinette tried to sound brighter than she felt. “There are few reprobates quite as bad as our father was. We came to London with no reputation to speak of, and we were very lucky to make the marriages we did. But Katherine will be protected by the Fenton name.”

  “And the Fenton fortune,” Fanny muttered, dabbing her eyes with her handkerchief.

  “Come now; Freddy Marwick is not a fortune hunter. Allow Katherine the latitude you took when you were her age. Katherine is in love. You’ve always said you’d never be like our mama when it came time to your daughters falling in love.”

  Fanny sat up, clutching the note to her chest, staring out of the window as if she hadn’t heard Antoinette. “Mary must be made to talk. She knows more than she’s saying, and if we set out, now, there may still be time to prevent this disastrous union. She’ll not have reached the border if she’s going by carriage. Fenton can go on horseback and bring her back.” Brightened by the fact she had a plan, Fanny rose and began to pace. “Poor Katherine has no idea what marriage is truly like. She’ll be horrified by what this man wants her to do with him. Childish, romantic love of the heart is one thing, but a lifetime of bedroom delights with Mr Marwick is another matter altogether. No, we have to bring her back! We can hush everything up.”

  Antoinette shook her head. She too was filled with sorrow, but she had to persuade her sister of the truth. “Do you think Katherine would have gone so far as to elope only to change her mind within a few hours? No, Katherine is in love. She confessed as much to me. In fact—” She stopped, reconsidering whether to continue.

  “What?”

  Tact was needed to divulge the extent of Katherine’s misdemeanours however, as it reinforced the fact that Katherine had truly lost her heart. Antoinette went on, “Katherine is a girl who falls fast and hard, like you, Fanny. She asked me to explain how love and families work, and I did, and so she decided it would be wise to see if she loved Mr Marwick in the…biblical sense before she said yes to being his wife.”

  “And what did you do, Antoinette?” Fanny’s eyes were wild in her pale, anxious face. “Oh, dear Lord, you encouraged her to lose her virtue?”

  “I gave her something to take as a precaution against the consequences of losing her virtue which, I might add, was only so she could see if Mr Marwick was the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.”

  Fanny dabbed her eyes and looked at her sister, shaking her head. “Katherine truly did that? She’s eloped with Mr Marwick after carrying on in this way for the past week?” She gave a little shuddering cry. “I never would have believed it of her. And I truly would not have picked Mr Marwick as the man to sweep her off her feet.”
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  “Well, he has,” Antoinette said decidedly. “And Katherine has sealed her own fate, but she’s happy I assure you. She was all aglow when she spoke about him. And if you’re going to be true to your word and not interfere when it comes to letting her follow her heart, then you must just wait for them to return after saying their vows upon the blacksmith’s anvil over the border, and then announce the happy news to all the world. I think you’ll be glad you listened to me, for once, Fanny. I am, as you know, rather adept at successfully navigating potentially ruinous romantic liaisons.”

  Fanny stood up and walked to the window. Antoinette had made some disastrous romantic decisions in her life. Perhaps the worst was when she’d allowed herself to be seduced by George Bramley, which had resulted in the birth of Young George. What should have been ruinous had instead been astonishingly fortuitous after Lord Quamby, needing an heir and happy to accept the bastard son of his nephew, had married the now-pregnant Antoinette.

  Although this had been more serendipitous than calculated good fortune, Antoinette did have a point in that Katherine had always known her own mind. Since coming to London, she’d been so happy, which suggested she’d fallen in love almost immediately.

  The last thing Fanny wanted was to estrange her daughter by being the coldhearted and manipulative creature her own mother had been.

  “I still can’t accept that this is the right decision for Katherine’s happiness, Antoinette,” she sighed, turning back to her sister. “But if it’s what Katherine wants, then I shan’t dispatch Fenton on a fleet-footed horse to drag my daughter home. If she wants to marry Freddy Marwick this badly, then I’ll accept her decision with good grace. The simple fact she’s eloped indicates the depth of her love for him, as she was clearly quite terrified that we’d not sanction his suit in view of the rumours flying around concerning his recent gaming losses. Perhaps Katherine will reform him.”