Page 3 of Beware A Wallflower's Wrath
Those three words sent her world spinning.
“Ye canna marry me.” She didn’t need to hear the words. They were already seared on her soul. “Why?”
“My father, unbeknownst to me, arranged my marriage to another.” Robert sat on the chaise longue looking up at her, his gaze glistening with emotion. “I have spent the last three months trying to find a way out of it. I cannot.”
He tried to pull her down to sit next to him, but she refused. She needed both feet on the ground, or she would swoon. “Why would he do that?” Her heart pounded in her ears.
“He gambled a fortune on a failed investment and needed a way to recoup his losses. A rich earl has a scandalous daughter who was caught in a compromising situation. She is now in need of a husband. They made an agreement which seems to solve both problems.” Robert stood now, pacing the floor as Annis had done earlier. “I’ve met the woman, and she’s quite?—”
“Yer betrothed? Yer second fiancée?” Relieved to feel her anger rise rather than tears, she whirled on him. “How dare ye speak of another woman to me.”
He froze, eyes closed, shoulders sagging. Lord Robert Harding played the part of a defeated man well. She watched as he ran a hand through his thick, blond waves. A memory flooded her, fingers clutching at those silky strands, kissing the chiseled lips, palms running over his bare skin. A tear slipped down her cheek.
“I cannot explain without mentioning her.” He drew in a long breath. “Father promises to cut off my monthly allowance if I do not marry her. I’ve been searching for a sponsor, but no one is willing to gainsay the Marquess of Huxford.”
“Do something else to earn a living.” Even as she spoke the words, Annis knew she couldn’t ask him to do it. He loved the law and all its dry, dusty tomes.
“What are my other choices? The military?—”
“NO!” He would die on a battlefield. There wasn’t a violent bone in that beautiful body. “Go into another kind of trade.”
“Without blunt? I need money to start any business. I’ve been raised as a gentleman with no practical skills.” He shook his head. “I even tried to convince my brother to take my place.”
“You would make a poor vicar in his stead.”
His laugh held no mirth. “I would. And he has a calling for it.”
“So why did ye come, Lord Robert?” A thin layer of ice formed around her heart. Stay strong. Ye’re a Craigg.
His ravaged face almost broke her resolve. But her pride pushed through, and her chin went up. She would survive this. For the bairn.
“I could not break off our betrothal by letter. You deserved an explanation in person.”
“How chivalrous.” Another layer of ice hardened in her chest. “Do ye have anything else to say? Or ask of me?”
“Just that I am so sorry to have caused you pain. I would rather die than hurt you.”
“Yet here ye stand, a fit and breathing mon.” She turned away from him, vowing not to let him see her tears. “Ye must go now. If ye try to touch me, I shall scream for Colin. Then ye’re talk of dying will come true.”
When the door softly closed, Annis crumpled to the ground, her arms cradling her stomach. She didn’t know how long she sat there, her face wet, nose running, head pounding.
“Lass, what’s happened?” Aunt Sorcha’s plump form stood in the doorway, her cheeks ruddy from drink, and her frizzy brown hair escaping its pins. Mrs. Douglas stood on tiptoe to peer over Sorcha’s shoulder. “Where’s Lord Robert?”
“Gone.” She held up a hand to stop the questions. “For good.”
And then the two older women descended upon her.
An hour and a pot of tea later, Annis took in a deep breath. “It’s a fine plan, but what do I tell the clan at home? I wrote to Da of my news.”
“Colin didna send yer letter. He said there’d be time enough for the news when the English dandy returned.”
Anger flared in her chest, then quickly died as relief flooded through her. “Then no one knows but us?”
“Ye’re secret is safe, but I must ask.” Mrs. Douglas’s kind brown eyes searched Annis’s face. Her dimple showed as she offered a sad smile. “Why did ye no’ tell him about the bairn?”
“It’s my first pregnancy, and Ma always said it’s no’ unusual to lose it.” Annis grimaced and rubbed her belly. “If he doesna have the courage to stand up to his father, why would I want him to be the father of my child?”
“Because he is the father, lass.” All three women looked up at Colin, filling the doorway. “I didna particularly like the mon, but he deserves to ken of the bairn and make his own choices. If that’s the bit that pushes him into doing what’s right, then so be it.”
