“But I left London.”
“Yes. And when Father could not find you, when he failed to deliver the bride, Dewberry challenged him to a duel.”
“But Father isn’t the sort to duel. He’s never...” And yet, if Dewberry was dead…
“That part is unclear. No one will admit that there was a duel that morning. People are saying a stray bullet took Dewberry down while he was taking a morning stroll. It’s officially been ruled an accident.”
“I cannot imagine Father would duel anyone,” Nia said. “But a stray bullet? In Hyde Park?”
Goldie nodded. “It’s not allowed, but apparently some gentlemen, on occasion, practice there anyway. Standish believes Father accepted the challenge, but someone else shot the duke before the duel even began. But that’s just speculation. No one is talking.”
Both of them fell silent until Nia shook her head. “Father must have forged my signature on a marriage certificate.” But the man she’d supposedly married was… “Dewberry is really dead?”
“Yes,” Goldie answered. “Making you a widow.”
“So…”
“Father relinquished his claim to you when you married. You can live with Standish and me. You don’t have to marry Lord Westcott. Nia, you are free!”
Free.
But if she was free, so was Jasper.
Unless, that was, he didn’t want to be…
Choices
“Malum had nothing to do with it, then?” Jasper asked after hearing his old friend’s take on all that happened after he’d fled from London with Nia.
“It appears to have been all Crossings’ doing,” Standish answered.
After delivering Nia upstairs, Jasper and Standish had located a private table in the taproom where Standish then explained as much as he knew regarding the situation.
Jasper tapped his fingers on the well-worn surface of the table and tried to make sense of Crossings’ actions. “One of Crossings’ ships sank off the coast of India a few months ago. That would have been the Neptune. Helton said Dewberry invested in Crossings’ company. And if Crossings couldn’t pay out as promised, he would have…”
“Used his daughter’s dowry to make good on his debt to Dewberry,” Standish finished. “Since the cargo was illegal goods, he couldn’t very well turn to a bank.”
“And when Lady Gardenia jilted Dewberry, she blew up the entire deal,” Jasper concluded. “And that explains why Crossings went so far as to forge a marriage certificate.”
“When no bride was forthcoming, Dewberry spooked. Crossings’ reputation doesn’t breed an abundance of confidence.” Standish met Jasper’s stare. “And now Lady Gardenia legally is Dewberry’s widow, and you, my friend, don’t need to marry her in order to protect her from her father.”
But that wasn’t at all true. Because Jasper did have to marry her. They’d made that choice two nights ago…
When both of them believed there was no choice to make.
Only Nia was, in fact, being presented with a choice.
“I need to speak with her,” Jasper said, abruptly pushing himself away from the table. Because he’d been thoroughly prepared to marry her. Hell, he’d been more than happy to marry her. And he still was.
But he needed to know.
Given a choice, did she still feel the same?
“You can come live with Reed and me at Seabridge Manor. We can leave whenever you’d like.” Goldie meandered around the chamber, examining Nia’s gowns and a small painting hanging on the wall. “And while we’re traveling, I want to hear every last detail of your adventure—from the moment you ran out of the church, how you escaped Father’s house later that afternoon, to how you convinced Lord Westcott to marry you.” She grinned. “Standish says the baron has gone to great lengths to maintain his bachelorhood.”
And that was the real problem. Nia forced a weak smile.
From the outset of their journey from London, Nia had been concerned that she’d be forcing Jasper into marrying her—if only by allowing him to do so for the sake of honor.
