by Laura Landon
A flash of warning surged through him. “What is it, Farley?”
“It’s the bay mare, your lordship. She’s gone. I think her ladyship took the horse and left.”
Jonah bolted to his feet. “What? How?”
“I was in the back paddock cleaning the troughs. When I came back to the stable, the horse was gone. My son says she had him saddle the bay. I just had Mrs. Jefferies check on her ladyship and she came back down to tell me Lady Emma is gone. And her satchels, too.”
“Damnation!” Jonah muttered under his breath. “Saddle my horse. I’ll get my cloak. She shouldn’t be on the roads alone.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Jonah ran to the house to get anything he might need, including a pistol, then raced to the stable to get his horse. At least he knew what direction she’d gone. She was no doubt headed toward London.
He raced Jupiter over the road, hoping he’d see a sign of her up ahead. Surely she didn’t have that ample a lead over him. He prayed he could catch up with her soon.
Each pounding hoof beat drove home to Jonah what life was about to become once Emma left. There would no longer be a reason to make plans. No longer a reason to work at retrieving his home’s former glory. No longer a reason to smile.
Jonah pushed his mount. He could catch up with her and escort her on to London, but his solicitor was arriving that evening with the funds from selling his last bit of expendable property. It would allow him to give Emma enough to keep her comfortably in Virginia until she managed to get her own funds transferred.
He’d even arranged with his solicitor to handle that transfer for her, but she had to sign the documents first. And they were back at the manor on his desk.
He’d just have to force Emma to return with him. And when they reached Glassborough Manor, he’d lock her in her room until they were ready to leave for London.
Even as he formed the thought he dismissed it. He could never entrap her the way her brother wanted to. But he would distract her in every way possible. And if she still thought she might flee he’d take her to his bed.
Jonah urged his horse to travel faster. As tantalizing as the thought was, he knew it was a ploy he would never undertake. She was committed to her course, and he had promised to assist her in it. His own mounting need had no place in this unraveling plot. He may have behaved without honor in the past, but it would never happen again.
He pulled to a halt when he saw Emma sitting on the side of the road. The bay mare was grazing in the ditch.
Jonah dismounted and walked to where she sat. “Are you alright?” he asked when he reached her.
“Did you loosen this on purpose?”
She looked up as she tossed a horseshoe at his feet. Jonah bent to pick it up and saw the tears running down her cheeks. He turned the horseshoe over and over, at a loss for words in the face of her sadness.
“I shouldn’t have left.” A hiccup interrupted her words. “But I was so afraid. Twelve miles, Jonah! He’s so close I can feel his breath on the back of my neck. I can’t stand it. What will I do if Gerald finds me?”
“He won’t find you, Emma. I’m here. I’ll protect you.”
“But he’s so desperate there’s no telling what he’ll do.”
“Trust me, Emma. I won’t let anything happen to you. Now,” he said holding out his hand to help her to her feet. “Let’s go back to the manor. We’ll stay with our plan to get you to London and onto the ship that will take you to America.”
Emma took his hand and he tried to ignore the bolts of emotion that spiked through him.
Jonah brought her to her feet and she swayed enough that he gathered her to him to prevent her from falling. He held her for a few moments, then lowered his head. His gaze locked with hers, then lowered to her lips.
She was so beautiful. Her lips were made to be kissed and he couldn’t stop himself.
He should release her. He should put her on his horse and take her back to Glassborough, but he couldn’t. Not yet. He didn’t have the courage. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to experience the emotional upheaval that had consumed him the last time he’d kissed her. He was desperate to relive the mind-numbing turmoil kissing her caused.
He lowered his head until his lips touched hers. The feel of her lips pressed to his was pure heaven. Never before had he experienced anything so stirring. Not since the last time he’d kissed her. Not since the last time his lips had touched hers.
Jonah knew he should end their kiss, but he couldn’t. Any strength he might have had to control his emotions was gone. Especially when her hands slid up his coat and her arms wrapped around his neck.
Her fingers raked through his hair and pressed his head closer to take in more of his kisses.
Jonah deepened his kiss. He wanted her more than he’d ever wanted any woman in his life. He wanted to touch her. He wanted to take her as a man takes a woman he cherishes. Because he loved her. Loved her more than he thought it was possible to love anyone.
He was lost. He had to stop now or he wouldn’t have the strength to keep from taking her right here.
Jonah lifted his mouth from hers and pressed her head to rest beneath his chin.
She couldn’t catch her breath. It was as if her legs had lost the strength to support her troubled heart. Jonah wrapped his arms around her more securely.
“Are you alright?” he asked in a voice that sounded ragged and heavy.
She nodded her head.
“Oh, Emma. What power you have over me. Please, don’t leave me.”
“Don’t, Jonah. Don’t you understand? I don’t have a choice.”
“You do.”
“No. I’m not safe here. I’ll never be safe here.”
Then, she turned away from him. And Jonah feared he’d lost her forever.
~■~
Emma descended the stairs for breakfast. Her nervous hands smoothed her skirts as she went down to meet with Jonah at his request. He was there, but from the looks of him he hadn’t slept any better than she had. It had been late when the solicitor arrived to sort out the necessary papers for transferring her funds to a bank of her choosing when the time came. It took a good bit of creative legal language, but at last all three were satisfied that the transfer of her fortune would be done safely. And secretly.
Jonah rose and pulled out the chair to his right.
“Good morning, Emma. I trust you slept well.” He handed her a plate which Emma filled with more food than she’d probably be able to eat.
Emma was surprised to find that no footman was present to wait on them and there was a cup of coffee in front of her place that Jonah had undoubtedly filled while she was at the sideboard.
Emma sat and began to eat, hoping her unexpected appetite might banish the gloom from Jonah’s face. His features were set in a stern, determined expression—one that might intimidate her, but did not. Instead, it seemed to make him even more handsome. The scar down his cheek was as vivid as before, but she hardly noticed it any more. It was merely a part of him. The same as the color of his eyes and the waves of his thick dark hair were a part of him. His every feature was a unique part of him that she’d swiftly grown to love.
Emma concentrated on eating the food on her plate.
Jonah sat across the table from her while she ate, but didn’t speak. It was as if he was intentionally waiting for her to finish before he broached the subject he knew she intended to discuss.
“You’re a very patient man,” she said when she laid down her fork.
“Does that surprise you?”
Emma shook her head. “No. It suits you.”
He lifted his eyebrows in a querying expression.
“Are you finished?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Then, please. Come with me.”
Jonah helped her to her feet and escorted her from the breakfast room to his study. When there, he saw her to a cushioned chair before the fire. Emma welcomed the warmth.
“I’m gues
sing you have something to add to our plan.”
In response, Jonah went to his desk and opened the top drawer. He removed a folded piece of paper and handed it to her.
Emma slowly unfolded the heavy parchment and perused the writing. “What is this?”
“It’s a marriage license.”
Emma’s heart slammed against her ribs. Surely he didn’t intend for them to marry. “I can see that, but whose?”
“Mine. It’s the license the vicar brought with him when he came to perform my marriage to Lady Constance.”
“Oh,” Emma said, unsettled by the notion of handling the unused document.
“That was, of course, before Constance refused to marry me. Once the vicar realized there might not be a wedding, he spent all of his time consoling the bride’s mother, as well as trying to prevent the bride’s father from killing his spoiled daughter.”
“Could the mother not speak sense to her daughter? Or her husband, for that matter?”
The smile that lifted the corners of Jonah’s lips contorted into a malicious grin.
“In truth, I think Lady Westshield fueled the torment. I wouldn’t doubt that it was she who planted the idea in her daughter’s head that I was to be feared.”
Emma shook her head. “That can’t have been the reason, Jonah. You are not a monster. Your quiet nature might have put her off at first, but that’s only normal when two people first meet.”
Jonah contemplated her for a long moment.
“What a forgiving and understanding woman you are, Lady Emmaline. You always look at things in the best light. How did your father raise a stepson so totally the opposite of you?”
“My father had very little to do with the rearing of Gerald. He was already grown and beyond influence when Father married Gerald’s mother. She was a weak person who spoiled her son unmercifully. The damage was already done long before Father could influence Gerald.”
Emma noted the marriage certificate’s empty signature lines. It would be such a simple ruse to sign the paper so Gerald would believe that she and Jonah were legally wed.
“There had to be another reason Lady Constance objected to the marriage.”
Jonah shifted in his chair, showing her just how uncomfortable he was with the memory of that dreadful time.
“In one of her rants, I overheard her tell her mother that she was in love with someone else. From what she said, I believe the man with whom she was in love was married. Her mother told her she was a fool if she believed that man would leave his wife and family for her, but of course Constance refused to believe her mother.”
“It’s obvious the girl was spoiled as badly as my stepbrother.”
“I think perhaps she was not spoiled as much as she was desperate,” Jonah said.
“What makes you say that?”
“I overheard her tell her mother that she was with child.”
There was little Emma could do to hide her shock.
She refolded the unsigned certificate from the foiled marriage. Why had someone not counseled the young woman? Why had someone not spoken in defense of the good man who had been willing under the most dire circumstances to give her legitimacy?
But apparently nobody had. And a misguided young woman had died.
Emma looked at the Earl of Glassborough with heightened compassion. How gravely it had changed him. How thoroughly it had cut him off from the community that could easily have been his salvation.
And how deeply it had touched her heart.
Chapter 10
Emma sat behind Jonah’s desk and filled in the blank lines on the marriage license that would be their insurance against any claims on her estate. The small twinge of guilt that it was a sham license did not faze her in the least.
After she put in the bride’s name and Jonah signed as her husband, Jonah’s butler signed his name on the vicar’s line. Cook signed as one of the witnesses and Farley signed his name as a second witness. The finished product looked real. It looked legitimate.
That thought shocked her to her very core. And not for the first time she wondered what it would be like to be married to Jonah. She wondered what it would be like for Glassborough to be her home. What it would be like if Jonah were her husband and he’d given her enough children to fill their home with joy and laughter. She wondered what it would be like if they shared a marriage bed.
“It almost feels as if we’re really married,” she said softly, not really intending for him to hear her.
“We can make that happen,” he answered quietly.
“No, Jonah. We can’t. I’m not safe until I am so far from Gerald that he can never find me. You don’t know how his mind works. He’s absolutely diabolical!”
“You could trust me to keep you safe.”
“Or, Gerald could kill you and I would carry that burden of grief for the rest of my life.”
Jonah turned his back on her and Emma realized the sooner they were separated, the sooner she could put this behind her. And the safer Jonah would be.
“I need to speak with Farley to make sure he understands our plans.” Jonah walked to the door and left her.
Emma stared at his retreating back and knew she’d just lost a large part of her heart. She rose from behind Jonah’s desk and sat in a chair before the fire. She pulled her legs up close to her breast and rested her chin on her knees. Tears she could no longer hold back streamed down her cheeks. She’d managed to get so little sleep the night before. The lonely hours had stretched endlessly forward as they crawled toward dawn.
She had spent nearly the entire night evaluating her feelings for Jonah. From the day she’d first realized that no man’s word could be trusted, she’d lived with the knowledge that she would never give her heart away. But she’d done exactly that. Without even realizing what was happening, she’d given her heart to Jonah and it was too late to rescue it.
If only she hadn’t let him kiss her. If only she hadn’t experienced the passion he stirred within her. If only she hadn’t placed her trust in his words. And his kisses.
She saw now that he may very well be the man who would shatter all her notions about men.
But as long as she remained single, she kept control of her wealth. And, as long as she controlled her wealth, she was guaranteed her independence. She would only lose her freedom if she gave her heart away.
Emma clutched her hand to her breast. She’d never hurt so much in her life. How could she have done exactly what she swore she would never do? How could she have opened her heart to a destitute man? A man who admittedly had tried once before to marry simply for want of a dowry? In truth, she had not seen such a weakness in him, but history could not be denied.
She felt deeply that his show of affection was genuine. But would it stand the test of time? Once he was on a sound financial footing, would he still feel that affection for her? She scarcely knew him. How could she possibly answer that question?
She couldn’t have known it would hurt so much to give up Jonah. How was it that in just a few weeks’ time she’d grown so close to Jonah that now a part of her trembled every time she thought of a future without him in it?
How had she fallen in love with him? How had she allowed him to take possession of her heart? She let the tears fall from her eyes. She hurt more than she could stand. Her only hope was that once she was away from Jonah she could start healing. Maybe in time she wouldn’t hurt so much. Maybe in time her heart could begin the process of healing.
Emma rose from her chair and clamped her hands around her waist. The pain inside seemed to escalate. It could only mean that she loved him. She was coming to believe that she did, because life without him seemed a dismal prospect. Yet would her heart hurt any less if she trusted him with her love and he destroyed it? If he betrayed her love out of greed?
Emma left the room and went up to her bedroom. Tomorrow she would leave here and begin her new life. Tomorrow she could concentrate on mending her heart. There had to be a way to do that, and
she was determined to find it.
~■~
Jonah sat before the fire in his study that night and watched the embers in the grate slowly die. He reached for the brandy decanter and refilled his glass, then slowly lifted the tumbler to his mouth. His intention was to drink until he couldn’t remember the emotions that tortured him every time he thought of Emma and a life without her. But drinking wouldn’t erase the love he felt for her. Nothing could help him forget how indelibly she’d imprinted herself onto his heart. And deep into his soul.
It seemed ages since he’d last kissed her, but the feel of her lips against his refused to go away. The after effects of their kiss still burned deep in his heart until he thought it had just been a moment ago that he’d held her in his arms. And no amount of liquor could ease the pain of knowing how much he would miss her long after she was gone.
Jonah took a long swallow of the brandy in his glass, then turned his focus to the soft footfalls beyond the door where he found Emma standing in the shadows.
“Go back to bed, Emma,” he said, thinking he could stop her from entering. “It’s not safe for you to be here. Not tonight.”
“Gone a bit tiddly have you, my lord?”
Oh, how he loved her for endeavoring to make light of his inebriated circumstances.
“No,” Jonah said on a laugh. “But not for lack of trying.” He raised his glass to her and swallowed the last of his brandy.
As if she didn’t fear his words even a little, she walked into the room. She stopped in front of the cabinet where Jonah kept several crystal decanters of liquor and poured a small amount of wine into a glass. When she had her wine in hand she walked over to a second wing chair next to where he sat and joined him.
“Do you know if my stepbrother is still at the Pig and Ale?”
“Farley has a man watching who sent word that your stepbrother is still there. Evidently he’s conducting his searches in larger and larger circles, using the alehouse as his center.” Jonah shook his head sadly. “He’s caused a fight almost every night since he arrived and the owner and patrons of the inn are anxious to have him gone.”