Alison DeLaine - A Wedding By Dawn

Those eyes were blue—real blue, not gray-blue like Clarissa’s. Nor was her hair the pale, flaxen shade of Clarissa’s. It was pure honey, alive with ten shades of gold.

Desire ripped through him. Devil take him, he was an idiot.

But those eyes had taken on a decidedly less bold light, so he let his lip curve. “Not so adventurous as you claim, I see.”

She laughed, and it transformed her face in a way that wasn’t helpful at all. “My, Mr. Warre, you do think highly of yourself. You’ve already seen my taste in men. You’re hardly exotic, and much too old. I could never bring myself to bed someone so ancient.”

Fifty thousand pounds. Cantwell suffered from a severely overinflated view of his daughter’s worth. Or, depending where one stood, a severely underinflated one. “Indeed. God knows how I manage to stay upright with thirty-four years behind me.”

“Thirty-four!”

“Fortunately, our relations will be more of the lying-down variety.”

“Thirty-four?”

“Shocking, isn’t it?”

“Ought you to remain standing? You mustn’t tax yourself on my account.” She gestured toward the sitting suite. “Please, do be seated.”

“I find that I am particularly fit for my age,” he said drily. If only someone were transcribing this priceless conversation. “As for exotic, if you like, I shall wear a turban when I ‘bed’ you.” He regretted the words the moment they left his tongue.

“What a generous offer, Mr. Warre. But I worry about engaging in anything so vigorous as bedding with a man of your age. My Auntie Phil once spoke of a Lord Garth who dropped stone dead in the middle of—”

“Lord Garth was two and eighty.” Something like a laugh escaped him, and he went to his portmanteau because it was too easy to imagine her splayed across that bed, and his dropping dead would not be part of the entertainment. Good God. Lady India’s Auntie Phil, the young and widowed Lady Pennington, should have a care what she discussed with impressionable minds.

“Regardless, one can’t be too careful when one gets up in one’s years,” she said. “I would hate for anything to befall you.”

His hands itched to open the door and toss her out. Let her go back to her stolen ship and her lusty sailors. Let Jaxbury deal with her, while Nick finally, blessedly got some sleep after the hellish weeks of sea travel.

But he was in too deep to turn back. Holliswell had granted him time to pursue Lady India and collect the money from her father, yes. But if Nick did not succeed by their agreed-upon date, Holliswell would take ownership of Taggart. It was either marry Lady India or lose Taggart.

And he’d be damned before he’d lose Taggart.

“I assure you I shall take the utmost care,” he told her. “At least we may content ourselves that the marriage will be short, as I have one foot in the grave already.”

“There will be no—”

“Marriage. Yes, I understand your position thoroughly. Unfortunately, you’ve got no say in the matter.”

“You cannot force me to say the vows,” she informed him.

With the right priest and enough money, she could recite bawdy tavern songs for all he cared. “I have a signed contract and assurances from your father that I may do whatever is necessary to carry it out.” He pulled Cantwell’s contract from inside his waistcoat and unfolded it. “You may read the contract if you like, but you will understand if I hold it for you while you do. I would hate for anything to happen to it.”

She wrinkled that shapely little nose that would have been perfect were it not dusted with a handful of freckles. “That contract means nothing to me.”

“Perhaps that will change when you read it.”

“I don’t need to read it, because I shan’t be agreeing to its terms.”

“Then it’s a good thing its terms don’t require your agreement,” he said, and tucked the contract away. Once again he checked his watch. For God’s sake, Jaxbury— Perhaps the man had gone to the church instead of coming back here.

He looked at Lady India.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “I will make you regret the hour you decided I was the answer to your problems, Mr. Warre.”

“Believe me when I say you already have.” Did he dare drag her through the streets again in the hope Jaxbury would be waiting at the church? He glanced irritably at the door. There wasn’t much choice. “I’ve waited long enough. Let us be off.”

“Off.” A spark of fear lit her eyes. “Where?”

“To see this business finished.” He walked toward her, and she backed away.

“We scarcely know each other, Mr. Warre. Certainly it would benefit us both if we had the opportunity to become better acquainted. For instance, how deeply in debt you are to a certain Mr. Holliswell.”

“I have all the information I require. And you may ask me anything you like on the way to the church.”

“You’re free to change your mind, you know.” He watched her struggle valiantly for composure. “Nobody would think less of you if you allowed me to escape. You could salvage your pride by saying how grateful you are that I did escape, as you realized your ill fortune the moment you set eyes upon me.”

For a moment she looked so young and frightened he almost felt sorry for her.

But she wasn’t an object to be pitied. She was a hoyden and a pirate and much too comfortable with a pistol.

“I realized my ill fortune long before that. But I have no intention of allowing you to escape.” He smiled tightly. “You, Lady India, are as good as a bank draft to me. And you can imagine how well I would safeguard one of those.”

* * *

IF IT WEREN’T for Nicholas Warre safeguarding her by the arm as he dragged her once again down the street, India wasn’t sure she’d be able to stand. Her knees trembled violently as she frantically tried to think of a way to stop him.

“This is not at all how I envisioned my wedding day,” she told him as they closed in on the shadowed hulk of a church at the end of the street. “Surely we have time to find some flowers. Or a gown—you can’t possibly imagine I could marry without a new gown. It’s a disgrace to both of us, and only imagine what the guests will think.”

He didn’t even bother to tell her to be quiet. She didn’t dare glance at his face and risk meeting those eyes, not after the way he’d—

She exhaled. After the way he’d looked at her. At the inn.

She’d come very close to pushing things too far. But now every step over the uneven cobblestones brought him closer to victory, while bringing her closer to—

“Devil!” She stopped short.

“Keep walking.”

“A moment—”

“Understand me well, Lady India,” he practically growled into her ear. “I’ll not fall for your tricks. You may either walk the rest of the way, or I shall carry you.”

“It seems only appropriate that you do carry me,” she managed, “being as this is our wedding day. One does expect one’s wedding to be romantic, and one does so bemoan the lack of chivalry displayed by the modern male in general. Although the older generations do seem to have a better grasp of the concept, so I suppose I may expect more from you than I might otherwise. Indeed, if I weren’t afraid you might come to harm I would insist that you carry me.”

He ignored her and kept walking, while she tried to slow their progress by taking the tiniest steps she could. If only he and William had arrived tomorrow, at this moment she would have been becoming intimately acquainted with that Egyptian sailor, and her tale of lost virtue would be fact and not fiction and Nicholas Warre would not want her as his wife.

They passed a narrow alley, a street that led to the harbor, another that led into shadows. Where had William taken Millie? There had to be an escape. It could not end this way—him forcing her into marriage, dragging her back to England, locking her away—