A few of the women sitting near the front eased the countess off the floor and helped her into the first pew, fanning her repeatedly.
“This is indecent! Stop this immediately!” Sarah’s father thundered.
Christian glanced over to Lucy, who gave him an encouraging nod as if to say,Go on.Finish what you started.
Christian grasped the lapels of his coat and straightened his shoulders. He met the bishop’s gaze. “It’s true. All of it.”
Branford spoke in a strangled, incensed, voice. “May I have a word with you,Berkeley?”
Lucy nodded to Christian. Christian leaned over to Claringdon. “If I don’t return in ten minutes, please come retrieve my dead body,” he whispered.
“I surely will,” Claringdon whispered back, still facing forward.
Christian proceeded to walk down the aisle and up to the altar, where he followed the bishop, Sarah’s father, Branford, and the Prince into the room off the back of the altar.
As soon as the door closed behind the men, Sarah’s furious father turned to Christian with a savage look in his eye. “What in the devil’s name is the meaning of this, Berkeley?”
The bishop held up his hands in a calming manner. “Kindly allow the man to speak, Lord Highfield.”
Branford stepped forward, a sneer on his face. He stood toe-to-toe with Christian. It was the first time Christian truly respected the marquess. “I have only one question for you, Berkeley.”
Christian nodded. “Yes?”
“Is it true?” Branford spit the words between clenched teeth.
Christian nodded again. “Yes. It’s true. She ran away. She ran away because she didn’t want this marriage. She became lost in Scotland and came upon my hunting lodge.” He turned to stare at her father. “Absolutelynothinguntoward happened, but it’s true that she was with me, alone, for several days.”
Branford’s entire face was a mottled shade of purple now. “Didn’t want the marriage?”
“Egad,” the Prince Regent said, pulling a bit of snuff from his lacy cuff and snorting it with great fervor.
“That’s preposterous,” Sarah’s father said. “Sarah wants the marriage. He’s obviously lying. He—”
“What reason would I have to lie?” Christian said calmly. “I wish only happiness for Lady Sarah.”
“Didn’t want the marriage?” Branford echoed, his voice a positive gurgle in this throat. “Didn’t want the marriage tome? Are you serious?”
“I am. You can ask Lady Sarah herself if you like,” Christian said.
“That will not be necessary,” Branford intoned. His nostrils flared with indignation. “Why, if that silly chit doesn’t want to be married tome,I certainly can find someone who does.” He turned away in a huff. “I’m leaving, Highfield. My solicitor will contact you immediately to have the marriage contracts destroyed. I rescind my offer. I’m not about to marry your ungrateful little daughter now.”
Christian watched the marquess leave, trying to squelch the smile that desperately wanted to pop to his lips.
As soon as the marquess was gone, Sarah’s father turned on Christian, pointing a finger in his face, spittle flying from his lips when he spoke. “I have two choices at the moment, Berkeley. I can either call you out, thereby exposing my family to even more shame and scandal, or I can demand that you marry Sarah immediately, thereby mitigating as much of this debacle as possible. That option will not erase the damage done, but it seems to me at the moment that it is the best of two impossible choices.”
“I firmly agree,” the bishop said, nodding his regal headdress.
“By all means,” Christian replied. This time he did allow the smile to appear.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
Sarah was sitting in her father’s coach when Hart and Meg found her. The two had apparently run after her. With the help of the footman who’d remained with the conveyance, she’d managed to climb into the luxurious sapphire velvet squabbed seats and pull her long train in behind her.
Hart helped Meg up first and then climbed up to sit next to Sarah’s friend in the seat opposite his sister.
Sarah had both hands braced against the seat next to her and was gasping. She couldn’t catch her breath.
Meg was the first to speak. “Are you all right, Sarah?”
