Page 98 of Marigold and the Marquess
Next, her cousins shot to their feet and did the same.
Syd and Gory put their fingers to their lips and whistled.
Lady Withnall pounded her cane. “Well done, Marigold. You shall be a sensation.”
Dillie’s smile faltered.
Marigold knew what her cousin was thinking.
Yes, she would be a sensation and Leo would not be there to see it.
Where was Leo now?
Was he thinking of her at all?
CHAPTER 17
LEO WAS ANhour west of Salisbury when he suddenly tugged on the reins and drew Archimedes to a halt. He wasn’t certain what made him pause, perhaps the brightness of the sun as its rays shone over the crest of a hill and turned everything golden. It might have been the sweep of orange wildflowers catching his eye in a nearby field. He had no idea what those flowers were precisely, only that marigolds were a similar reddish-orange color and he immediately thought of his wife.
“Marigold,” he muttered, his voice aching as he spoke her name.
What was he doing?
Why could he not leave well enough alone?
He had promised to give Ian and the Crown agents thirty days to investigate without his interference. Now that he and Homer Barrow had discovered Cummings was in London…or had been until a day ago, what more did he need to do? Homer would have reported this finding to Ian yesterday, and Ian would immediately send one of his best agents to track down Cummings and return him to London for questioning.
Whether his greedy wastrel of a cousin would lie and slip his way out of any criminal charges, Leo did not know. Was it not enough for now that the oaf would be returned to London and held for questioning?
Did any of this matter if his relentless determination to seek revenge cost him Marigold? He shook his head and groaned. “Archimedes, what have I done?”
His leaving Marigold days before she was to give her speech must have crushed her gentle heart. Her archeological findings meant the world to her. The skull she had unearthed in the Devonshire cave would now be the featured attraction in the Hall of Dragons. This new exhibit was going to be one of the most notable events of the Season.
Oh, he’d written her a letter meant to be supportive, for he was extremely proud of her accomplishment. But were not his actions more telling? By leaving, he was confirming her worst fears, that she was unimportant to him.
And yet, the opposite was true.
“Yes, I’m a fool.”
Leo laughed as his stallion snorted and shook his head. “No comment required, Archimedes.”
But even his horse understood that he was in the wrong.
Leo whirled him around and rode back toward London. This decision somehow unburdened his heart. Barring any catastrophic delays, he would make it back home in time to join Marigold at the Huntsford Academy for her big day.
He hoped she would forgive him.
He was a callous, inconsiderate dolt.
But Marigold was too softhearted to hold a grudge and would forgive him, no matter that he was undeserving.
Also, she loved him.
Beautiful souls like Marigold did not fall so easily out of love.
She had given him her heart and it was his for always…his to crush and break. Bollocks, he had to make things right.
Leo had been riding eastward for about two hours when he decided to stop at a nearby coaching inn to rest his mount and grab an ale for himself. He had just walked out of the stable when he recognized Lorcan Brayden striding toward him.
