Page 69 of Taken By the Broken Duke
“You are not. I am here!” Horatio exhaled in relief, “Now, please, step away from the door.”
He heard movement within the room and then stepped back, raised his foot, and kicked at the lock with all his strength. The door flew inward to slam against the wall. Wood splintered and the lock fell away with a heavy metallic clunk. Juliet stood on the other side of a small bed. She was clad in her nightgown and stockings. Horatio strode into the room and his knees losttheir strength. Juliet leaped past the bed and dashed for him. As Horatio fell to his knees, so did Juliet.
She fell into his arms and he held her tightly.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Juliet leaned against the shoulder of the man she had begun to believe had existed only in her dreams. She held onto his arm, feeling the power of his muscles there. His cheek rested atop her head and he breathed the deep, peaceful breaths of sleep. Juliet had been shocked by his weakness, and then furious at the Godwins when she learned the reason for it.
On her way out of Wetherby, she had seen Uncle Gilbert cowering under the stern gaze of Sir Nathan, Nigel's closest friend and confidante. The man who would have secretly shared Nigel's bed while Juliet helped conceal the fact through a marriage of convenience. It was a plan that had been waylaid by events at Ravenscourt and she felt guilty that her friends Nigel and Nathan were now unprotected.
Her thoughts went to Edith, the bookish, studious girl of seventeen who had shown so much courage and fortitude. Without her help, Juliet would have been carted off to an asylumand Horatio forced into a marriage with Frances Godwin for the sake of his name.
Nigel had offered Edith sanctuary at his home, fearing that the girl might face retribution from her father. Or rather, from her mother, once she returned from Ravenscourt. In his capacity as magistrate, he had drawn up a decree, signed and witnessed by Horatio, placing both Edith and Juliet under his guardianship. By law, they were now his wards. His next decisive act had been to issue a marriage license for Horatio and Juliet, granting his consent on Juliet’s behalf, ensuring she could wed without her uncle’s interference.
Presently, Juliet sat in a moving carriage. Her gaze fell on the slim leather satchel resting on the seat opposite. She reached for it and unfastened the clasp. Inside was a folder of stiff card, bound with ribbon. With deliberate care, she opened it too, revealing the documents within.
“You cannot stop looking at it, can you?” Horatio’s voice cut through the stillness, low and drowsy.
Juliet jumped, and then laughed at her own fright. “I thought you were sleeping,” she murmured.
“Iwas, but I don't think I shall sleep truly soundly until we are in the company of Doctor Carmichael.”
Juliet’s eyes returned to the marriage license. The document which would permit her to marry Horatio without the permission of her uncle, because it had been superseded byher new guardian-in-law, her good friend, Nigel Crickhallow of Hemsworth.
She nodded slowly. “I cannot stop looking at it because it is so…astonishingto me. To be so close to my heart's desire when I thought I would never reach it.”
“Hemsworth is a good man. Very perceptive and with a welcome disregard for the rules. I am also grateful Edith intervened as she did.”
“She will be safe and happy with Nigel and Sir Nathan before our grandfather returns from the Indies in a month to take up wardship of her,” Juliet replied, tracing her finger along the ornate script of the document. “Nigel takes his role as guardian most seriously.”
Horatio’s brow furrowed slightly. “They live together?”
“Yes,they live together,”Juliet replied with exaggerated patience.
She waited for the penny to drop. For Horatio's reaction. Men could be funny about such things.
“Oh.” His expression shifted, realization flickering in his eyes. “Well, Edith will certainly be safer there than in a household that condones drugging its own members. They seem good men.”
“They are. The very best of men,” Juliet murmured, reading over the ornate, legal language of the marriage license.
“I should put that to use at the earliest opportunity,” Horatio smirked, “I believe Gretna is not far from Carlisle and specializes in impromptu weddings, though with that paper, it shan’t be necessary I suppose.”
“Oncewe have seen Doctor Carmichael,” Juliet nodded.
She set the document aside with sudden weariness, resting her head on Horatio's shoulder once more. There was an irritation in her chest, an almost constant need to cough. Silently, Horatio handed her a ceramic bottle stoppered with a cork. She took it and drank gratefully, the cold apple cider soothing her chest.
“I can hear the wheeze,” Horatio whispered, “how long has it been like that?”
“It has been getting worse these last two weeks,” Juliet admitted.
“And this is the path your mother took?” Horatio asked, worry rife in his voice.
“It is.” Juliet would not hide from the fact, nor try to dress it up. “I fear that it is consuming me far quicker than it did her.”
“We will be in Carlisle by the day after tomorrow,” Horatio said with sudden determination, “and then we will know what can be done. You will live to be a mother and a grandmother yet.”
Juliet smiled at the thought of bearing Horatio's children. At the idea of such a long life together that she would see their grandchildren. It was a pleasant distraction, a daydream. In her heart, she knew that was all it was. She would not live to be a mother. Horatio would be her widower and live in grief.
