I couldn’t stop myself. I stood up and hugged Wickham. He paused for a moment, then hugged me right back.
“Feel better?” I finally asked and stepped back to see his face. Whatever the problem was, we’d figure it out. Together.
“Yes, but we should be careful.” He nodded, and his grin made a brief appearance. “You know how to cheer a guy up, don't you?”
“You gonna tell me what Darcy said?”
“I don’t know if you want to hear about it.” Wickham’s voice was gruff, like his conversation with Darcy danced the line somewhere between a ridiculous joke and adeclaration of war. But there was a mysterious spark in his eye all the same.
“I know you want to tell me.” I flopped back down on the sofa.
Wickham paused, gulped, and took a slow breath. “You know how small towns are—gossipy, suspicious, old-fashioned. I’m not sure how Darcy caught wind of all this, but people are saying things.”
“Oh, Wickham. Don’t worry, I’m not worried about my reputation. It will be fine.” People sometimes. Seriously.
“Well, it's a bit more than our reputations at stake; he mentioned something about your sister's job. There are some who are insisting that we left town together because we killed Alex together—they’re blaming you now too. I don’t know why he cares so much. But... he’s presented me with a solution.”
My stomach turned. The idea of Wickham and me killing someone was ridiculous, but even false rumors did a lot of damage, and that could put Lizzy’s job in serious jeopardy. “What’s he going to do, bribe the police for us?”
“Not exactly.” Wickham took my hand like an old-fashioned gentleman. “He’s suggested thatif we had a really good and morally sound reason for running off, all would be forgiven and people’s attention would turn elsewhere to place blame.”
“I don’t understand.” Wasn’t trying to escape from a potential killer sufficient reason for ditching town?
Wickham took a steady breath. “He’s suggested that we elope.”
Chapter 8
“Darcy—ofallpeople—wantsusto get married?” I stared at Wickham as if he’d grown an extra eyeball on his forehead. “I don’t even know him. What a lunatic.”
“That was my initial response,” Wickham spoke quietly. “He also offered me a substantial sum of money. He says that if I ran off because I love you and had plenty of funds, the police would have no reason to suspect either of us. It’s fairly well known that I owed Alex some money. I can’t drag you into being accused of murder”
“Murder.” Though it seemed like a stretch, I realized it might not look the best for me or my family. “I can’t see what motive they think we would’ve had.”
“Of course not—neither of us would ever dream of such a thing.” Wickham still hadn’t said he found Darcy’s plan absurd.
My head spun, and my vision tunneled. “Wait a minute. You told him you’d give him your answer tomorrow.”
“I did, didn’t I?” Wickham nodded, staring off at nothing in particular.
“But, surely you don’t think...?” I wasn’t sure if I was a little giddy or wanted to throw up. The idea of eloping was so... so... stupid. Well, and super romantic. I kind of loved it.
“Perhaps I can do far worse things than marry the most beautiful, spontaneous, down-to-earth woman I’ve ever met. And if it prevents murder accusations...” He did that magic trick where he brushed my cheek with his fingertips again.
This guy—what on earth was I supposed to do with him? Now, I was in a serious predicament. That was pretty close to a marriage proposal.
Yes, I was romantic, spontaneous, and I had a tendency to be impulsive. But I wasn’t a fool. “Did he offer you an awful lot of money? Not that that would be a reason to marry someone. Sorry, I have to ask.”
Wickham looked wounded, and my gut told me to proceed with caution. “He did. And obviously, this might not be a real marriage. Since I borrowed a significant amount of money from Alex to pay some personal debts so I would be free to go on tour with the band. Alex hasmoney—mostly inherited—and was fine lending it to me if I paid interest.”
I stared out the colonial window. Golden sunlight danced on the snowy surfaces wherever it broke past cool-blue shadows. Of all the situations I’d expected to find myself in, this was not one of them. “You certainly are an adventure, Wickham. I don’t know what to make of all this.”
“Well, I hope it doesn’t make you dislike Darcy, but he wants to pad my bank account to make me look innocent. A lot of my ticket sales are in cash, so it wouldn’t be too strange for me to have a bunch of cash from the New Year’s Eve performance. It wouldn’t be too strange for me to deposit quite a bit—enough to show that I had no substantial reason to kill Alex.”
Heat rose to my face. “And what does this have to do with us eloping? Were you serious just now? You told Darcy you’d think about it. Did you mean the money or us?”
“The money’s a no brainer, Lydia. If he’s offering it, I’ll take it. At least for now. This is serious stuff.” He bit his lip and reached for my hand. “He didoffer to increase the amount if I married you.Thatwas the issue I said I’d discuss with you.”
I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to slap him or kiss him.
