He had a mind to put a stop to this and give her an alternative. She was marrying him for all the wrong reasons. But when he glanced over at her parents, he knew that was impossible. Their daughter Margaret had been abandoned on her wedding day, and David was not about to do the same thing to Amelia. It would be utterly cruel, no matter that it would give her other choices.
Right now, she looked as if she were standing before her execution.
“Wait,” he said to the clergyman, before the vows could be spoken. “I need a few minutes alone, to speak with my bride.”
The shocked silence that met his declaration made him add, “I don’t intend to stop the marriage—but we need to talk.”
Amelia gaped at him, but her natural curiosity seemed to stun her out of the cloud of misery and fear. “We could go into the hall,” she suggested.
He took her by the hand, and they walked past her family and a few servants, into the narrow corridor. It seemed that his actions had caught her completely by surprise.
David had a feeling that most of the family would be trying to eavesdrop if they stood too close to the parlor, so he took her to the farthest end, near a grandfather clock. Amelia looked uneasy about the conversation.
“You looked distraught at the idea of marrying me,” he began. “If this isn’t what you want—”
She took a deep breath and met his gaze. “I’m still worried about Margaret. I’m afraid she’s been killed or lost or…”
He knew it had been a week since her sister had gone missing. Despite the efforts to find her, both Margaret and the Highlanderhad disappeared. The only sign of either of them had been an overturned coach blackened from fire, and a bonnet belonging to Margaret. The ruined vehicle had been found on the road leading toward Scotland. There was no way of knowing if Margaret had been inside, but the shattered vehicle was on the road leading toward Scotland. “Could she have run away with Sinclair?” he questioned. “Or would he take her against her will?”
Amelia shook her head. “Cain’s in love with Margaret and has been for years. All of us know it. He’d die before hurting her.”
“Then you should have faith in that,” he assured her.
When she appeared unconvinced, he added, “Would you like me to hire men to help search, even beyond what your father has done?”
“Yes,” she agreed. “If I knew she was safe, I would feel better.”
“I’ll see to it.” It was a promise that he supposed was better than any wedding present.
Amelia reached for his hand and squeezed it. “Thank you.” He started to walk back with her, but she remained in place. “I never thought I’d get married without all of my sisters here. It seems wrong.”
“Would you rather wait until we’ve found Margaret?” Though it wasn’t the best solution, he would delay the wedding if that was what she wanted.
“No. We may as well see it done.”
She made it sound as if marriage to him was an awful prospect. “Do you still want to marry me?” He would let her out of the betrothal if she was having doubts.
“Yes,” she whispered. “But I wish you wanted to marry me. It’s disappointing to feel as if I’ve trapped you into marriage.”
“You haven’t trapped me into anything,” he said, though it might seem so to her. Amelia wasn’t the wife he would have chosenat first, but he wasn’t about to let her become Lisford’s victim of scandal. If he could protect her with his name, so be it.
A part of him warmed to the idea of spending each day with her.Because you want her, his body reminded him. The first taste of her kiss wasn’t enough to satiate the craving she’d ignited. And this marriage would bring him directly into the path of temptation.
Amelia’s face grew wistful. “I’ll admit that this isn’t the wedding I was dreaming of, as a little girl.”
He leaned up against the wall, watching her. “Whatdidyou dream of?” In the small space, she glanced behind her, as if worried about her family waiting. “Don’t worry about them.”
Amelia leaned back against the wall, staring at him. “I dreamed it would be a fairy tale—that I would marry a dashingly handsome man who adored me.”
“Am I not dashingly handsome?” he queried.
And there was her smile. The fear dissipated, and the inner light returned to her eyes. “In your own way,” she admitted. “For a wall-hedge.”
He tipped her chin up and regarded her. “I know I’m not the husband you wanted. But we can be friends.”
Amelia reached out to touch his cravat, and he flinched at the contact. Though she did nothing more than rest her hands upon his heart, the simple touch burned through him. “We can,” she agreed.
Her green eyes fixed upon him, and he was caught beneath her spell. He was conscious of her slender form and the gentle blush on her cheeks. Her hair was tightly bound up, and he wondered what it would be like to see it down around her shoulders.
