And no one in the chapel would object to the ceremony continuing with the bride bound and gagged like a prisoner of war.
“Then I cannot allow Mr. Frampton to catch me,” Tabitha said.
Mary Frances looked even less convinced of this notion. “I don’t think he is the sort of man who… fails.”
No. Tabitha didn’t think so, either. She would have to move quickly.
“Change clothes with me,” she said urgently.
Mary Frances’s eyes widened in alarm. “What?”
“I need to wear something I can doff and don on my own. This gown is far too extravagant.”
“But I’m here to help you with it,” Mary Frances said with confusion. “I always help you with your clothing.”
“You shan’t for long,” said Tabitha. “I’m going to escape out through the retiring room window. If you came with me, you’d be dismissed from your post.”
“I’ll be dismissed for letting you leave! Not that you can make it through that window. It’s too small and five feet up.”
“You shan’t ‘allow’ me to leave. You couldn’t if you wished to. I’m the mistress and you’re the servant. Which means, you can’t order me about. No matter how erratic my actions or ridiculous my commands, your orders are to follow them. Blame my escape on me. Tell them you tried everything you could.”
Mary Frances bit her lip. “Where will you go?”
“I don’t know. Somewhere. Anywhere.”
Tabitha fumbled for the reticule in her hidden pocket. It didn’t contain all her pin money—the sum wouldn’t fit in such a small bag—but there was enough here to last for a year, if she were frugal. Not that she could be gone that long. She would never forgive herself if her father died whilst she was running away from her own future.
“Here.” She handed Mary Frances a trio of gold guineas.
Her maid’s jaw dropped with shock. “What’s this for?”
“In case you do lose your post. I plan to be gone for at least a week.”
“But this is more than I earn in a month!”
“And not nearly as much as you deserve. Leave an address behind if you are let go, and when I return, I’ll make things right. Now, help me out of this gown and into yours.”
Mary Frances sprang into action with alacrity. In no time, the two young women had exchanged dresses. Both looked decidedly uncomfortable in their new attire.
Before Tabitha could change her mind, she swung the stool beneath the window and climbed up.
“If you go out that window…” Mary Frances warned quietly.
Tabitha nodded with determination. “I know.”
She would ruin her reputation. Cause a scandal. Annoy the viscount. Disappoint her father.
But she couldn’t go through with the wedding. Not yet. If there was a second option, one in which she could make her father proud without marrying Lord Oldfield, then Tabitha needed time to think of it, and put those plans in motion.
She would not say her vows unless she meant them.
There had to be another way.
“Come closer,” she whispered urgently. “I need to hoist myself on your shoulder to wiggle through the window.”
Mary Frances approached dubiously. “If you rip that skirt, I haven’t anything else you can wear.”
Tabitha tamped down a hysterical laugh. She was climbing out of a retiring room window to avoid her own wedding, and her lady’s maid was worried about Tabitha looking bedraggled on the other side.
