“Shewhat?”
“Did she just say she ventured to the Lyon’s Den? Alone?”
Georgina heard the murmurs coming from all around her, but continued on. “And asked if she had any information about him. She told me Teddy’s father was sending him to a madhouse…”
“A madhouse?” Amelia sounded shocked and appalled.
“What sort of father would do that?” Gwen seconded.
Georgina soldiered on. “Mrs. Dove-Lyon suggested only a wife could countermand his parent’s decree, and asked if I wanted to…to…marry him.”
Abruptly, the room fell silent.
Georgina drew a bracing breath. “I said no. Because”—she swallowed—“because he has always had an intended of sorts, the very beautiful, very elegant Lady Catherine, herself a daughter of an earl. However, after deciding to collect him, I forged a document attesting to our having eloped to Gretna Green before the war.” Her words came very fast, now.
“I only intended to use the paper to free him, if he so desired, only he had—has—amnesia, and as the doctor informed me he had need of a particular medicine which he detests and was refusing to take, I decided to allow the ruse to stand.”
She paused to allow her words to sink in.
“To…stand, dearest?” Gwen asked.
“I let him believe we had, in fact, married.”
She chanced a glance to her right. Both Gwen and Amelia gazed ather with wide, unblinking eyes.
“I also told him I was seeking an annulment, because I didn’t wish to entrap him should anything of a physical nature occur.
“Only, he kept pressing forwhyI wished to end our marriage, and, when he suggested he’d done something dishonorable to earn my disdain, I had to assure him that was not the case. I said…” She ducked her head and studied her hands, clasped in her lap. “I said I didn’t feel married because he could not remember speaking our vows.”
Gwen reached a hand to cover hers. “Let me guess, Georgina. He arranged a ceremony.”
Georgina’s gazed darted to Gwen. “How did you…?”
She opened her arms wide. “That is what Mr. Devereux would have done.”
Amelia smiled her beatific smile. “As would Lord Culver.”
Georgina nodded. Here came the awful part.
“The thing is, all along, I told myself the end justified the means. The lies I told him were all meant to keep him safe, to aid his recovery and, if things went a little too far, well, I had to make it believable, didn’t I? So, I told him we were married, then I fed him stories about us from my novels, and I…even went along with the pretend ceremony and…” she swallowed and it sounded very loud to her own ears, especially as the women had all gone very quiet “…and all that you can imagine that entailed, following. And then, last night, I learned he had not been taking the medicine as I thought.”
“I…don’t follow,” Gwen said.
“Oh, dear,” Lady Harriet murmured.
“It turned out my butler, Mr. Danvers”—she turned to Amelia—“you know, the veteran Lord Culver recommended.”
“Of course,” Amelia said.
“Mr. Danvers told me he and Teddy had worked out a way not to take the tisane as it contained a known poison, which, in sufficient doses could kill him.” Tears began to spill down her cheeks, andspeaking became difficult as a hard lump formed in her throat. Still, she did not attempt to staunch her grief. Not this time.
“I lied to him, and have basically entrapped him into a marriage not of his choosing, and all for nothing. He never needed the medicine.” She covered her face with both hands. “I fear he will never forgive me and I love him so very much. I do not know what on earth to do.”
One by one, beginning with Gwen, the ladies moved to surround Georgina from all sides, wrapping their arms around her and murmuring words of encouragement.
And then Gwen grasped one of her hands. “Now, dear, dry your tears. No one has died in this scenario, and, in truth, I do not believe things are as bad as all that.”
“Indeed, neither do I,” Amelia seconded.
