Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

E dward left the day after Violet disappeared, and with only himself for company on the slow journey back, it was impossible to avoid his thoughts. He alternated between hoping Violet was safe and cursing his decision to only interfere if she wasn’t. He wanted her to be unharmed and happy, and he also wanted a reason to contact her. The two did not coexist well.

His journey to London was rainy and wet. The dark gray skies were rather fitting for his mood. If the sun had shone even once, he might not have managed to remain so disgruntled. Because it didn’t, the dejection he had shed on his journey to the cottage returned with a vengeance.

The carriage rolled to a stop outside of the London townhouse as the pitter patter of rain became more of a deluge. Edward dashed up the stairs and into the house as quickly as he could, but he still got soaked. He was damp and cold when he entered the front hall and would have retired to his chamber immediately if Emmeline hadn’t appeared as he was removing his greatcoat.

Following a firm hug, she ushered him into the largest sitting room and installed him in a chair near the fireplace. The warmth of both her greeting and the roaring fire granted him the comfort he hadn’t known he needed, and for the first time in days, he felt the tension seep away.

Within minutes, Sebastian, Belinda, Jane, and Louisa all flooded into the room. Jane pulled him out of the chair to give him a hug, and then Louisa clung to him as if he’d been gone for years. Belinda offered a half smile and a shrug when she came close enough to squeeze his shoulder, and even Sebastian offered a brief hug and a casual, “It’s good to have you back.”

His family’s actions indicated that they had missed him, and their affection was so welcome that tears welled in his eyes. He countered the urge to cry by smiling with such conviction that the liquid had no choice but to retreat.

“We didn’t expect you to return so quickly,” Sebastian said, once the initial chatter and elaborate greetings had ceased.

“I intended to stay longer. The cottage is situated in such a lovely spot. I’m surprised you don’t visit more often.”

Sebastian shrugged. “It’s a long journey, and I have things to attend to here.”

Edward barely resisted the urge to argue. Marriage had softened his brother, but it hadn’t lessened his need to fulfill his role as earl to the best of his ability or his belief that he needed to actively control every aspect of the earldom. The mess their father had left behind when he died would likely always linger in Sebastian’s mind and force him to stay focused on his responsibilities.

“If you thought it was lovely, why did you return so quickly?” Belinda asked, settling into a nearby armchair.

“Well—” Abruptly cutting himself off, he debated what to say.

“Did you do something horrid? Did the villagers banish you?” Louisa asked breathlessly.

He shook his head. “What? No, of course not.”

His youngest sister’s imagination had run rampant since they had arrived in London. He blamed the steady stream of sensational novels she spent her pin money on.

“Was it haunted?” she asked, her voice lowering to a whisper.

He chuckled. “No. I did not encounter any ghosts.”

“What, then?” Belinda demanded impatiently.

Five sets of eyes waited for his answer, and he couldn’t stop himself from revealing part of the truth. “Two young ladies were living in the cottage, and they had been there for months.”

All five mouths dropped open.

“Who?” Louisa asked.

“Why?” Jane added.

“Are they still there?” Belinda demanded.

He held up his hand. “Allow me to explain. When I arrived, Mrs. Eggington informed me that our cousins, Miss Violet and Miss Isabelle, were staying in the back bedrooms. Both confused and intrigued, I did not correct her. Instead, I gathered what information I could from our conversation, and then I waited for them to return?—”

“We do not have cousins named Violet or Isabelle,” Belinda interrupted.

“Belinda,” Louisa snapped. “Hush. Let him tell the story.”

Belinda glared at their youngest sister but said nothing else, so he continued, “Not long after I arrived, they cornered me in my bedchamber but refused to tell me why they were there. I kept pressing, and eventually Violet revealed that she had fled London to avoid an unwelcome marriage and ended up in the village. When they learned that the cottage was empty, they somehow managed to convince everyone that they were our cousins and were supposed to stay there.”

“You simply left them there?” Emmeline asked.

He sighed and shook his head. “No. They slipped away during the night and didn’t leave their destination. I tried to discover where they might have gone, but the gossip in the village was not useful.”

“You must have frightened them away,” Belinda said. “What did you say to them?”

“I didn’t frighten them,” he snapped.

“Of course you did,” she replied. “They must have thought you’d force them to leave or something equally awful. What did you do?”

He did not appreciate Belinda’s lack of faith in him. He had never given her any reason to think he might have been anything but kind.

“Or they were lying to you,” Sebastian added. “An unwanted marriage? They were probably terrified they’d be charged with trespassing.”

“They were not lying.”

“This is just like one of my novels,” Louisa breathed. “Violet’s betrothed must be dreadful if she ran away from him. Do you think he’ll lock her in the dungeon when he finds her?” Her eyes widened. “He will, won’t he? We must find her first. We must save her.”

Dungeon? Seriously? Louisa’s imagination was out of control.

“I tried to save her. I offered to help. I told them they could stay in the cottage as long as they wished.” He swallowed, trying hard not to return Belinda’s glare and to ignore Sebastian’s skepticism. “I even told the eldest that I’d marry her.”

Jane’s hands flew to her cheeks. Louisa and Belinda gasped, and Sebastian froze, while Emmeline tipped her head to the side as if she was trying to understand what his offer meant.

“She declined?” Emmeline asked, after a beat of silence.

“Most decisively. She seems averse to marriage as a whole and was disinterested in entertaining me as a suitor.” He might have mistaken it at the time, but he now knew the kiss they’d shared had not been indicative of her interest in him as a spouse.

Sebastian shot to his feet. “Marriage? Are you daft? You don’t even know her. And you don’t seem bothered at all that she was living in the cottage without my knowledge.”

Why did everyone keep saying he was daft? “She…it isn’t…no, I’m not daft.” His brother ought to know better. He was exceedingly practical.

Most of the time, at least.

Sebastian frowned. “You offered to marry a woman who ran away from her betrothed, pretended to be our cousin, and lived in one of our homes without our permission. If that isn’t bad enough, you know nothing about her. She could have been lying for all you know.”

“She wasn’t lying. And I do not know nothing about her. We spent a day and a half together, and we conversed at length.” He didn’t mention that he’d done most of the talking, because although he didn’t know as many details about her as he’d like, he knew enough. He looked directly at Sebastian and dared his brother to continue doubting his sanity.

Their relationship had improved mightily since Sebastian’s marriage, but that did not mean Edward wanted to be judged for his decisions. Determined to manage his life himself, he would proceed as he saw fit, whether his brother liked it or not.

“Daft,” Sebastian mumbled as he rubbed his forehead. “Is it impossible for the members of this family to make appropriate, reasonable decisions? Or is impulsiveness hereditary?”

It seemed clear that he did not expect an answer, but Belinda must have thought he did, because she said, “It’s not hereditary. You rarely make impulsive decisions.” She tapped on her chin. “Although, come to think of it, marrying Emmeline was fairly rash, so I suppose even you are capable of being reckless.”

Sebastian almost smiled. “My wife is sensible and reasonable. Marrying her was an incredibly sound decision, and you know it.”

He exchanged a heated glance with Emmeline that was anything but sensible. Emmeline flushed as she always did when he looked at her like she was everything he never knew he wanted. It was rather nauseating to witness, but Edward imagined it was rather nice to experience. If Violet had agreed to his proposal, would he have given up his chance to find the same? Or would they have found happiness together?

“We have no way of knowing whether Violet is sensible or not. She could be the most levelheaded woman in all of London,” Edward declared.

“Or the least.” Sebastian raised his brow as he reached out and took Emmeline’s hand. Their clasped grip rested against the slight swelling of her abdomen. “Did you return so you could locate Violet?”

It was a logical question, and even though Edward didn’t particularly want to admit that he’d already begun looking for her, he had already revealed too much to stop now. “Sort of. I intend to assure myself that she is not locked in a dungeon somewhere, but I shall not approach her unless her safety is at stake. She made it abundantly clear she did not welcome my interference.”

“I would like to meet her,” Louisa said. “You should introduce us once you find her.”

He sighed. “I just told you I’m not going to approach her unless her safety is at stake.”

“Hmm.” Belinda tapped her chin. “Why does she not wish to marry her betrothed?”

“I’m not sure. She was not forthcoming about her reasons.”

“But you want to marry her anyway?” Jane asked. It was just like her to ask a simple question with a complicated answer. She had always been less boisterous than his other sisters. More thoughtful too.

He wasn’t certain he wanted to admit that when he’d first offered, he’d simply wanted to help. Once he’d walked with her through the rain, danced with her, and kissed her, his reasons for offering marriage had expanded. Because he’d discovered that he liked her, and in turn, had considered whether they had the potential to build a marriage not unlike Sebastian and Emmeline’s. Forged in practicalities but eventually resulting in love.

Before his mother had remarried and abandoned their family, she had been fond of revealing intimate details of her sexual exploits. He’d dismissed her words and assumed she was exaggerating. It hadn’t seemed possible that a simple kiss could render a person senseless.

Meeting Violet had taught him it was exceedingly possible. Did that make him daft?

And was he really listening to his mother’s guidance for the first time in his life? He’d discounted her and even judged her for shamelessly chasing pleasure at the expense of everything else. He still thought she ought to have been able to be a doting mother as well as a devoted wife, but for the first time, he could honestly say he understood that starved look he used to witness on her face.

“Edward,” Emmeline said his name softly, bringing him back to the conversation and Jane’s question.

He still didn’t have a straightforward answer to offer, and even if he did, he could hardly tell his sisters he had finally found merit in their mother’s advice. “It’s irrelevant whether I want to marry her, because she doesn’t want to marry me. And even if she did, she’s already pledged to someone else.”

“Marriage is only unavailable if you allow it to be. She isn’t married to someone else yet,” Jane reminded him. “You still have a chance.”

“Are you saying you think I should find her and convince her to marry me?”

Jane shrugged. “If it makes you happy, then obviously yes.”

“I hardly know her,” he argued, even though he had spurned Sebastian when he suggested the same.

“Our parents were practically strangers when they married,” Jane replied. “Sebastian and Emmeline too. And mother had not known Charles for long when she agreed to be his wife. The length of your acquaintance might not be a proper indication of future happiness. Mother always said she knew immediately that father was the one for her.”

“She never said that about Charles though, did she?” Louisa asked.

Edward’s gaze flew to Sebastian and then Belinda. Even though he’d just had similar thoughts to Jane, they appeared horrified that she was using their parents’ marriage as an example.

He couldn’t exactly blame them. His youngest sisters didn’t have a full picture of what their parents had been like together. Both Jane and Louisa had been too young to understand the full depth of their parents’ obsession with one another, and after their father’s death, he had allowed their mother to romanticize the relationship when she interacted with them.

He hadn’t considered what a mistake it might turn out to be. Nor had he realized how skewed their view of love had become. He winced internally. Perhaps he should have been a bit more honest about how neglectful and disinterested their father had been in anything other than his wife.

“Our mother shouldn’t have influence on any of your decisions,” Sebastian said to the group. “For now, I think Edward should proceed cautiously.” His gaze locked onto Edward. “I understand your desire to help Violet, but I should hate it if you pay a price for your kindness.”

Edward heard what Sebastian said and what he didn’t say.

His brother was telling him that he needed to be sure, because marriage was forever, and if he acted rashly, he would have ample time to regret it.