Chapter 29

Chapter Twenty-Nine

" M iss Violet Crampton," Lord Redfield drawled, his eyes glittering as he bowed over Violet's hand.

Violet felt a deep rage that he was already addressing her as if she were no longer the Duchess of Attorton.

"It is a pleasure to see you again. It has been a long time since we last crossed paths, and I admit, I have thought of you often since then."

If Violet hadn't already been feeling sick by everything that was happening to her, this would have turned her stomach. The last time she'd seen Lord Redfield was when she was sixteen. Even then, he was in his sixties. Fifty years her senior, and he had been thinking of her often? A child? It was enough to make her want to spit in his face.

They were standing in the parlor of the inn they had arrived at half an hour ago. It was shabby, not at all the kind of place a peer might frequent, but she supposed that was why Redfield had chosen it—no one would look for them here.

For the past few minutes, he had been inspecting her like she was a prize mare, and her skin was crawling, fury pumping through her.

Think of Rosalie , she reminded herself for the hundredth time since the carriage had pulled to a halt in front of the inn. Better you marry this man than her.

Rosalie was strong, but she wasn't resilient like Violet and Iris. Marrying a man like Redfield would extinguish the fire inside of her. Violet… Well, Violet had learned to stamp down that fire a long time ago. She could do it again.

"Lord Redfield," she forced herself to say as politely as possible, "we meet under strange circumstances."

"Strange, are they?" Redfield raised an eyebrow.

His eyes were dull and lifeless, and Violet wondered if this was the result of his advanced age or if he had always had a dead look in his eyes. The rest of him was very old. His face was deeply wrinkled, and his skin was beginning to gray and spot. The hand holding hers shook slightly.

"I think not," he continued. "Marriage between a beautiful young woman and a wealthy gentleman is the most natural thing in the world."

Violet had to work to keep from rolling her eyes. The circumstances were strange, whatever Redfield said. Just earlier today, she was married. And now…

Redfield turned to Jebediah, who stood behind her, cold and alert.

"You have the document?" he asked, his voice considerably less warm now that he was speaking to her father.

"Yes." Jebediah produced the document that Mr. Cain had given him in Reading and handed it to Lord Redfield.

Lord Redfield held it close and began to read through it, his eyes flicking back and forth, his frown deepening.

"And this is legal?" he asked, staring up at her father. "This will hold up in a court of law? I can't have Attorton taking this to court in a few years and trying to declare my child a bastard, or to declare himself the father."

"It's legal," Jebediah assured him, his tone cold and a bit defensive.

Violet imagined that he wasn't used to having people question him. But he had fallen low in the last year, and men who formerly feared him, like Lord Redfield, could now be condescending to him. She might have felt sorry for him if she didn't hate him with every fiber of her being.

"The attorney owes me a great deal of money, and he will make sure that the annulment is backdated to yesterday, when it was signed. If Attorton has a problem with it, he will find himself tied up in court for years. Anyway, the girl swears to her husband's impotence in the document. So no child she bears by you can be said to be Attorton's."

"Ahh, she does, doesn't she?" Redfield looked pleased by this, and he looked back down at the document as if checking this fact.

Violet, meanwhile, thought she was going to be sick. She hadn't read through every sentence of the fine print—she'd assumed that an annulment was a standard document. But she never would have signed it if she'd known it had said that.

Yes, you would have . You would have done anything to save Rosalie.

Tears pricked her eyes, and she lowered them so that Redfield wouldn't see.

Oh, James. I'm so sorry…

"Very good, very good," Redfield murmured. "This will do. Now, both of you should get changed. The wedding will take place in a few hours."

At that, Violet looked up, and her heart felt as if it were going to burst out of her chest.

"Today?" Her father interrupted, looking confused. "I thought we were waiting until tomorrow to put another day between the annulment and the new marriage."

"I don't want to wait," Redfield said. "The Duke is a prideful man, and he will not let you go easily. It is best if we move quickly."

Violet was thinking hard, trying to buy herself more time. "He was happy to let me go, My Lord. He signed the papers without any fuss. Surely we should wait until tomorrow morning? Who ever heard of a night wedding!"

"No, it will be tonight," Redfield insisted. "I want this done and over with."

"But…" Violet cast around for any excuse that might give James more time to find her. "I am exhausted from the trip. I have not bathed. I am not fit for a ceremony!"

"That is why I'm giving you several hours," Redfield explained, looking displeased with her reaction. He turned to her father, scowling. "Is this the kind of wife I'll have? A girl who talks back and questions my decisions? You assured me she was docile, Crampton."

"She is docile," Jebediah snarled, giving Violet a malevolent look. "And I agree with you, My Lord. It's better if we move as quickly as possible. The Duke of Attorton may have signed the papers without any fuss, but I do not trust him. It is possible that he is on the way here even now."

"He doesn't know where we are," Violet hissed, her voice high-pitched with fear. "He suspected nothing when I asked for the annulment, and as far as he knows, I'm at my sister's house."

"Be silent," Redfield snapped. "This isn't your decision. We have everything we need, yes? You have procured the special license?"

"Yes." Jebediah nodded. "But before the wedding, I want assurance that you have the documents ready for me. I'd like to see them."

Redfield looked at him with surprise. "I said I'd have the documents ready. My word should be enough."

"I think you can understand why I'm eager to see them, Redfield. My future depends on them."

"You'll have them after the ceremony," Redfield snapped. "And now that you are no longer my equal, you will refer to me as My Lord . Or have you forgotten that you are no longer a peer of the realm?"

The look on Jebediah's face was so incensed that Violet couldn't help but feel a little awed by Redfield's audacity to stare back at her father without so much as blinking. The two of them seemed to be in some kind of power game, neither wanting to give in. But at last, her father's expression became neutral, and he nodded curtly.

"As you wish," he muttered.

"As you wish…?" Redfield waved his hand as if expecting more.

Jebediah gritted his teeth. "As you wish, My Lord . I will inform the vicar that the ceremony will be held in a few hours. He has already told me that he is at our disposal whenever we need him."

"Good," Redfield said, smiling silkily. "Now, I have rooms for you upstairs. Go, both of you, and bathe and change for the ceremony." He looked Violet up and down. "I will not have my bride smelling bad. I expect you to look magnificent, my dear. This may be a quick wedding, but I am still a viscount, and I expect my wife to look the part."

Violet said nothing. Without a word, she turned and followed her father out of the room. The moment the door was closed, he began to curse in a low voice.

"That weasel," he snarled. "He told me I would receive my payment ahead of the wedding and that I would be able to see the documents ahead of time."

"What is a few hours?" Violet snapped. "You will still have the money and the documents in a few hours."

"A few hours make all the difference to someone in my position," her father said. "The authorities are after me, unless you haven't noticed. Every hour, they get closer. I can feel them on my tail. And I want to begin making preparations for my trip. I can only do so once I have the money."

"Maybe Redfield hopes you'll get caught," she snorted without thinking as she began to climb up the stairs. "Perhaps he hopes you will be arrested so that he doesn't have to pay you the sum he promised."

Her father was quiet as he climbed up the stairs behind her. At the top, a maid showed them to their rooms—they were adjoining single rooms, small and almost empty except for rickety single beds.

"You brought a gown, I assume?" Jebediah asked as he looked around her tiny room.

"Of course, I did."

"Good. Because you heard Redfield—you need to look the part. Bathe and make sure you look presentable before you come back downstairs. I don't want to give him any excuse to double-cross me."

"How am I supposed to be presentable without a lady's maid to help me with my hair and to iron my gown?" she argued, her mind suddenly beginning to race.

"How am I supposed to know? I know nothing about how ladies beautify themselves."

"They do it with the help of maids!" Violet exclaimed. "And unless you want Redfield to say you sold him defunct goods, you better go and find me one who can make me look beautiful in the next few hours." She glared at him. "I don't want to give him any excuse to double-cross you either. The sooner you are gone from my life, the better."

"Fine," Jebediah snapped, and he slammed the door on his way out.

The moment he was gone, Violet took a deep, steadying breath.

Please, God, let this maid be a brave girl, someone who will help me, she silently prayed. And please, let James find me.