Page 12 of The Earl's Reluctant Bride
“There is no need to trade insults Barlow for we are at this juncture,” the viscount replied smoothly.
Elizabeth felt lightheaded and she hoped she would not faint. Her gaze shifted between each of the gentlemen as they spoke. It was as if she was in a box at the theatre watching a performance, not sitting in a room watching her dream of happiness fall apart. Sadly, this was no theatrical performance. It was her life.
“Lady Elizabeth has been missing from Brampton for a day and it is now late in the evening. You have found her in my company in an inn. I do not need to explain the meaning of this, do I?” The viscount’s voice cut into the silence like steel. He stared pointedly at Barlow, “We must wed.”
“Over my dead body!” Barlow said with menace.
“Do you mean to issue a challenge?” The viscount scoffed. “I am sure you are aware that duels have been outlawed although I could oblige you.”
Elizabeth reeled in shock.A duel?Did her ears deceive her? She opened her mouth but no words came forth. She was stunned into silence.
“Gentlemen, please,” Lord Thornton said firmly.
Elizabeth appreciated that he was at least attempting to diffuse this insanity.
Lord Thornton gave the viscount a wilting stare. “How much are your gambling debts, Salisbury?”
The viscount’s head snapped back as though he received a hard slap. “That is none of your damned business.”
“You and I both know that you have taken advantage of an innocent, Salisbury. Do not pretend. How do you propose to care for Lady Elizabeth when you are all but destitute? Is it not with her inheritance?” Lord Thornton challenged.
“I love Lady Elizabeth,” the viscount professed, but it lacked the persuasion of his previous declarations.
Her heart squeezed painfully.
“Love,” Lord Thornton scoffed. “I am sure youloveher inheritance even more. Tell me, are you willing to marry Lady Elizabeth if she is disinherited, if she has no dowry?”
Elizabeth froze and held her breath. Lord Thornton and Barlow glowered. She glanced over at the viscount, waiting for him to say that he could provide for her, and he did not need her inheritance. She wanted him to say that it mattered not if she was penniless, for he could not imagine his life without her. She waited … but the words did not come. Instead, the viscount slumped his shoulders and lowered his head. He would not meet her eyes. Elizabeth felt a sense of alarm and foreboding, a sinking feeling that this would not end well for her, or for the viscount.
“I am waiting for your answer, Salisbury,” Lord Thornton pressed in icy tone without once removing his gaze from the viscount.
Silence filled the room and the tension could be cut with a knife. Lord Thornton turned to her brother. “It is as we thought, Barlow. The viscount will not have Lady Elizabeth without her inheritance.”
As if on cue Barlow reached into his satchel and removed a pouch. He opened the pouch to reveal banknotes and coins. “Now you listen to me Salisbury, take this and return to whatever hole you crawled from. You will never contact Lady Elizabeth again and if you breathe a word of this to anyone, I will demand satisfaction.”
Barlow pulled the pouches string and tossed it to the viscount who caught it with little effort.
Elizabeth’s blood pounded, her face hot with humiliation.
“You should leave while you are able, Salisbury.”
Lord Thornton’s voice provoked disquiet and a shiver ran down Elizabeth’s spine. The viscount stood and without as much as a glance in her direction, he departed closing the door softly. Elizabeth found she was appalled that he did not slam the door, at least then she would have known that he was even a tad upset by the turn of events. As soon as she formed the thought Elizabeth realized that she was not thinking rationally. Why should she be concerned with such minutiae when her entire world had just imploded?
A sudden coldness hit Elizabeth in the pit of her stomach. It was not long before the coldness morphed into anger and frustration. Elizabeth shot up from her chair, opened the door, and ran down the hallway in hot pursuit of the viscount. She did not care that she was still dressed in men’s garments, her raven locks bounding down her shoulder and back, as she dashed down the stairs. Elizabeth practically jumped to the landing her breathing labored but she was relieved to see Bertie ahead. The viscount did not see her approach for his back was turned and ramrod straight as he moved to depart the inn. She ran across the main floor and accosted the viscount just outside of the lounge.
“Bertie, wait!” Her cry was strangled with emotion, yet the viscount did not stop.
How could the Bertie she knew and loved become such an unpredictable man? Elizabeth finally caught up with him, grabbed his left arm and spun him around to face her. A suggestion of annoyance and irritation hovered in his eyes. Shock flew through her and her body stiffened.
“Bertie, why?” She had to know.
“Do not comport yourself with anything less than dignity, Lady Elizabeth.”
A cold slap across his cheek turned the viscount's head and echoed across the landing. Elizabeth gasped and reached up her hand to clasp her throat. She was caught off guard by the sudden hostility in his voice and she could not control her anger. The air was cold from the silence as they both stood frozen in a stunned tableau. She gazed at the viscount’s face, his red cheek and his astonishment was obviously genuine. It was only then that Elizabeth realized there was another stunned gasp that was not her own. She pulled her gaze from Bertie and looked behind him to find Lady Joanna Bonner. An acquaintance of her family.Good heavens!
Elizabeth could sense a presence behind her. She looked back over her shoulder to find Lord Thornton. He was standing with his gaze fixed on Lady Bonner.
Lord Thornton’s voice was barely above a whisper.
