He spotted the vicar standing by the doorway, bidding farewell to each parishioner as they left. “Have you seen your niece?”
“Isn’t she here?” the vicar replied, frowning. “Perhaps she is seeing to the dismantling of the stalls.”
Jonas shook his head. “She told me earlier that it would not be done until tomorrow. Nor is she among the ladies boxing up food for the families in attendance.”
“She might have run back to the rectory to fetch something or other,” the vicar said, not appearing particularly concerned.
“I’ll go look.” Jonas strode off to the vicar’s residence.
The door was unlocked, so he walked in and called Ailis’s name.
When she did not respond, he assumed she was in the kitchen and must not have heard him. But then a light stirring in the parlor caught his eye as he walked by, so he stopped to peer in and noticed a lone candle burning on a small table by the settee, its meager flame casting the room in a dim golden light.
He marched in. She was seated on the settee, turned away from him and crying.
“Ailis? What is the matter? Has something happened to overset you?”
Her response was an emphatic sob.
He knelt beside her and gently turned her to face him. “Why the tears, love?” He withdrew his handkerchief to dry them.
“Why did you come for me?” she asked, her breaths shallow and hitching. “Shouldn’t you be with Lady Viola?”
“Why would I be with her?”
She regarded him in confusion. “Aren’t you marrying her? You came to my uncle and obtained the license. She told me so herself, and my uncle confirmed it.”
Jonas groaned. “What did he confirm? That I obtained a license? Did you bother to ask why I wanted it?”
“I didn’t need to. Viola told me you had chosen her.”
“Blessed saints, and you believed that lying witch? Do you have so little faith in me, Ailis?”
She stared at him through her beautiful, sad eyes. “I dared not believe it, but then the other ladies confirmed it.”
“You mean Lady Willa and the Tenney sisters? And you believedthem?” he muttered, dabbing more tears off her cheeks.
“I am not that gullible, so I asked your mother and she confirmed it.”
“What?” He set aside his handkerchief. “Ailis, that doesn’t sound right at all. My mother would not lie to you.”
She nodded. “I know, which is why I believed her and finally accepted the painful truth.”
“What did she say, exactly?”
“She confirmed that it was still to be kept confidential until the terms were finalized, but Lady Viola was to marry.”
He let out a breath. “Yes, but her unfortunate groom will be Lord Pomeroy. Her father has given his consent. I expect poor Pomeroy will obtain the license once they return to London, since that is where they all reside.”
She said nothing for a long moment. “She is to marry Pomeroy? Not you? But my uncle saidyouobtained a marriage license.”
“I did.”
“Whom are you going to marry, then?”
He laughed softly. “Gad, do you really need to ask?”
“No. In fact, I do not want to know. But I wish you every happiness. I just hope you are in your right mind, if your choice is one of those diamonds.”
