Una bobbed her head and left. He come forward quickly, obviously distressed to have frightened her. He reached for her hand.
“Hope, I didn’t mean to scare you.” His golden flax hair was perfectly fixed, his intent brown eyes showing worry. “Are you all right?”
“Jacob,” Hope said, lifting her hand to her throat. “What on earth are you doing here?”
“Well, after I read the announcement in theTimes, I was stunned, to tell you the truth. Knowing you as I do, I knew such a swift engagement must be at the behest of someone else. Over the past several weeks, I’ve grown more and more worried, and eventually I couldn’t help but to take the harrowing trip north to see you and make sure that you were all right. Tell me, has your aunt forced you into this? Has she compelled you to live here, in this remote part of the world?” He peered around her into the dining room, noticing that they weren’t alone. Still, he didn’t release his grip on her fingers and instead drew Hope back into the dining room. He bowed his head. “Miss Faith. Miss Grace.”
No, this was not good.
“Mr. Pennington,” Faith said, stalking down the room, her fists clenched at her side as she walked, followed closely by Grace. “What the devil—”
“Ah, Faith, perhaps we should leave Hope and Mr. Pennington alone,” Grace said quickly, encircling her arm around her sister’s elbow. She pulled her away towards the door. “I’m sure Aunt Belle or perhaps the staff might wish to be informed about our guest. Come along.”
“But—ow!”
Faith was practically pushed through the doorway. Grace’s mouth pulled up into a pained smile, her eyes lingering on Hope’s hand held by Jacob. With a nod, she was out of the room.
Turning back to face Jacob, Hope pulled her hand swiftly from his and moved carefully around him. The shock that fizzled through her veins at the sight of him was beginning to settle, but she still had questions. First and foremost: What on earth was he doing here?
“Jacob, what are you doing here?”
“To save you from what so obviously is some sort of hack marriage,” he said. “The Hope I know would never agree to such a quick wedding. Why, we weren’t even engaged and yet our courtship lasted well over two years.”
“Yes, because you wished for it to last so long,” she said. “What exactly do you intend to do here?”
“I’m here to save you.”
“Save me? From what?”
“From making a terrible mistake. I was positively flooded with worry when I read about your engagement and it’s tortured me these many weeks to think that our estrangement might have pushed you into an unwanted situation. I’ve wrestled with my better judgement, but in the end I lost. I realized that I love you, Hope Sharpe. And I intend to bring you back to London.”
Hope’s mouth fell open at his proclamation. Then, she sent up a silent prayer for strength before she spoke.
“Oh, Jacob, that is, er, generous of you and it was kind of you to come all this way just to check on me, but I’m afraid your journey has been for naught.”
“Because you’re being forced to do this?” he asked. Hope stared at him, bewildered. “The marriage, I mean.”
“No,” she said. “Jacob, no one is forcing me to marry anyone. Mr. MacKinnon and I have decided to wed because that isourwish, without any sort of pressure from anyone else.”
The word stuck in her throat as she remembered what Faith had said. Was she lying to herself? Did Graham truly wish to marry her—or was his only concern to inherit? Had Graham really ever been interested in her?
Jacob scoffed. Pity appeared on his face, annoying her. But she struggled to swallow that annoyance down. He had traveled so far to see her and offer his assistance, and she did not wish to be rude.
“Are you quite sure?” he asked, his tone doubtful. “There is no, well, underlining reasoning for you two to be forced into matrimony?”
Hope did not understand his question until she saw him examining her body as if he could see through her clothes. Mortified at the implication that a pregnancy had required her to marry immediately, Hope instinctively folded her arms around her body, as if to shield herself from his intrusive gaze. She held her chin up high.
“As I said, I amquitesure.”
“I see,” he said, frowning a bit, and Hope had the distinct desire to kick him.
She came up towards him and tried to shoo him from the room. But he didn’t move.
“I think it would be best if you left now,” she said.
“I’m not going anywhere until I know you are safe,” he said. “To think that when I ended our courtship that you would have to marry a Scot—”
“Really, it’s all right,” she said, waving her hands to get him to leave the room. “As I said, I am quite happy with the match.”
