CHAPTER 9
CLIFTON
The statement was melodramatic, so I shouldn’t have been surprised when Diana laughed and shook her head.
“You’ve never played games at my expense, my lord. So unless you’ve taken up the habit of trying to terrify young women, I’m going to assume you believe what you’re saying.”
I’d given a great deal of thought as to how much of my suspicions to share.
After all, I had no proof that the Tuttlefords had been responsible for the accident that had taken her mother’s life.
And without evidence, I couldn’t run around making wild accusations.
But I wouldn’t ignore my instincts, which told me that I needed to get Diana away from her guardians as soon as possible.
“What did Caroline say when she called on you today?”
Diana smiled. “Not much. You know how my aunt feels about the Legends, and she is now tainted by association. I won’t deny that I was happy to see her, but you shouldn’t have asked her to call. She should be thinking only of spending time with her new husband.”
It was difficult to keep my tone even. “Can you tell me your aunt would have permitted me to call on you?”
Diana looked away. She didn’t need to answer the question. We both knew Lady Tuttleford wouldn’t have allowed me to speak to Diana. It was a miracle she’d left her niece’s side for as long as she did during the wedding breakfast yesterday.
“Caroline told me you won’t be returning to town next year.”
She faced me again, her chin lifted with an air of detachment I suspected she didn’t feel. “Are you surprised? My season has hardly been a rousing success. I doubt I need to go through another humiliating season next year.”
When I leaned forward, Diana became unnaturally still. I reached up to draw back her hood. Her hair was scraped back tightly. “Why do you wear your hair this way even when you’re at home?”
She took a deep breath, but didn’t speak until I dropped my hand. “My aunt prefers it this way. She doesn’t care for frivolous vanities.”
We both knew that was a lie. “I’ve seen the way your aunt dresses. We both know she has no problem with vanity when it comes to herself.”
Diana’s shoulders slumped. “She is my guardian. I must do as she says. But things are quieter in the country. Time will pass more quickly when I’m not being chaperoned all day. Soon enough, I’ll reach my age of majority, and I’ll be free to do whatever I wish.”
My protest was on the tip of my tongue, my fear that her uncle would never allow that to happen. That she, too, would suffer an accident that would ensure the fortune she was to inherit would pass to her aunt and, by default, to him.
I placed wagers every day of my life, usually small amounts at the card table or while playing billiards.
I won as often as I lost. But in that moment, I was about to place the largest bet of my life.
I needed Diana to come with me. I would take her if I had to, but it would be easier if she came willingly.
I reached for her hand. I’d surprised her, but she didn’t pull away. “What if you didn’t have to wait until you reached your majority?”
Her eyes were fixed on mine, and I could see that she didn’t understand what I was saying before she spoke. “I can’t just leave. I don’t have access to my inheritance, and I have no other family members.”
I tightened my hold on her hand. “Come with me.”
Her mouth dropped open in shock. “What are you saying, Clifton?”
“If I could, I would whisk you away from here and take you to stay with my mother. She would love to take care of you.”
Diana let out a soft sigh. “I do miss Lady Clifton. She was always so kind to me.”
“She always thought of you as a daughter.”
Heat colored Diana’s cheeks. “My aunt and uncle would never allow me to impose on someone who wasn’t family.”
“No,” I said. “They wouldn’t be able to control your fortune if someone else was your guardian.”
She didn’t deny the statement since we both knew it was true.
I held her gaze as I lifted her hand and placed a light kiss on the back. “Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
She froze, her mouth hanging open for a moment. Then she snatched her hand back. Two spots of color dotted her cheeks, and this time I knew it was from anger. “It appears my assessment of you was incorrect. You are cruel. Just tell me Caroline didn’t know you were going to do this.”
I moved to sit next to her, half afraid she was going to fling open the carriage door and run off into the night. “I am not having fun at your expense. I am in earnest.”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t believe you. This isn’t real. Why would you want to marry me? You don’t care about me that way. You don’t love me.”
I shook my head. “What does love have to do with it?”
She laughed. “I suppose that’s true enough. Why would anyone care for me in such a way? Still, I’d hoped to at least find friendship.”
“I can offer you that, Diana. I’ve always liked you.
True, it was something of a shock to realize the young girl I’d once known was now all grown up.
But from everything I’ve seen, and from what Kendrick and Caroline have told me, I know you have a level head on your shoulders.
Our families have known each other for at least a decade.
I respect you. And most importantly, I wouldn’t constrain you the way your aunt and uncle do. ”
She turned to look out the carriage window at the small scene that was illuminated under the lamp post. We’d stopped before a townhouse with darkened windows. I happened to know that no one was home. The occupants had long since left London.
I waited for what felt like an eternity before she twisted back to look at me again. “You want my money.”
I shrugged. “I assure you, I have no need of your money. I am quite wealthy in my own right. If you’d like, I will sign an agreement that allows you to keep ownership of your father’s business.”
She searched my face for several seconds, and then sighed. “I suppose it doesn’t matter. In the end, any man who marries me would do so for my fortune.”
Anger filled me and I wanted to shake her, tell her that her guardians had clearly poisoned her self-esteem. Taken away everything that had been joyful about the young Diana I’d once known.
I vowed that if nothing else, I would see to it that she came to realize she was so much more than what her aunt and uncle had made her believe. But I had more pressing concerns at that moment.
“I ask you again, Diana Atherton. Will you run away with me to Gretna Green?”
She didn’t hesitate. She lifted her chin, met my gaze, and said, “Yes, my lord. When do we leave?”
Relief poured through me. “Now is as good a time as any. Unless you need to sneak back into the house. Do you have anything you couldn’t bear to leave behind?”
She shook her head. “No. I have absolutely nothing there.”
“So we leave now.”
She nodded. “Take me, my lord.”
Awareness sizzled in the air between us. I wouldn’t just be taking Diana away from here to keep her safe. When she became my wife, she would well and truly become mine.
I wouldn’t marry her and then desert her for other women.
I hadn’t expected to marry yet, but a bone-deep certainty settled within me.
I couldn’t say how I knew it, but Diana would make a good wife.
And once we loosened her hair from that horrible hairstyle and dressed her properly, I had no doubt she would blossom into the woman she was always meant to be.
I rapped on the sliding panel that separated the interior of the carriage from the driver. Three sharp knocks, signalling to him that our voyage was underway.