Downstairs, Lord Chadwick was already pacing in Jason’s study, a sheaf of paper spread across the desk and a quill at the ready.
The negotiation was brief. Jason listed off a score of things he demanded in exchange for twenty-five thousand pounds to be paid upon mutual signature of the contract.
His demands included but were not limited to…Georgiana would not be leaving with her family, her family was not to contact her or visit her unless expressly invited by Georgiana herself, and her family was not to ever request or expect another farthing from either Jason or Georgiana.
They also agreed to a story to mitigate the gossip. One in which Jason would take the blame. He would tell everyone he was madly in love with Georgiana and had decided he could not live without her. She had merely been going to use the convenience at the church before her wedding to Henderville, and Jason had abducted her.
Of course he would have Henderville to contend with—and pay off as well, but that was Jason’s problem, not Chadwick’s.
Georgiana’s father, clearly eager to get his hands on the promised purse, eagerly scrawled his signature to the contract, and Jason followed suit.
“There,” Chadwick said with a satisfied sniff. “Done. She’s your problem now.”
Jason’s jaw tightened at the phrasing, but he said nothing. He simply took the folded paper, slipped it into his coat, stood, and turned to fetch the money.
But in his heart, he couldn’t help but think…yes, she’s mine now. And the thought filled him with something that felt suspiciously like…joy.
“You may wait in the foyer for your payment,” Jason intoned. He had no respect for this man, a man who would sell his only daughter for the largest purse. Jason had no doubts that had he been an ogre who promised to beat Georgiana nightly, the outcome here tonight would have been the same, given the amount of money involved.
“I will send a footman out to your coach with the money,” he told Chadwick. “And after the ceremony, I never want to see you again.”
Chadwick’s smile was cunning. “May I ask you one question?” the other man ventured.
Jason nodded, mostly because he was truly curious what this blackguard wanted to know.
“Why would you spend so much money on Georgiana of all people? She’s hardly the prettiest of the lot and far from the most well connected. If you were planning to steal a bride, the Winslow girl would have been a much better choice.”
Jason gave the man a wry smile. “That is none of your concern,” he said. “But suffice to say, I have my reasons. And you don’t deserve to know them.”
Lord Chadwick merely shrugged and left the room.
They arrived at the archbishop’s residence well after midnight. It had taken the rest of the day to arrange everything. A special license was in order, after all. And then there was the matter of planting the desired story about the wedding in the Times.
The archbishop—a family friend who had known Jason since he was a boy—greeted them at the door in his dressing gown, his expression equal parts surprise and amusement.
“You have a talent for choosing your moments, Pembroke,” he said mildly as he ushered them inside.
Jason managed the faintest of smiles. “I’ll owe you for this,” he murmured.
“You already do,” the archbishop replied, though he was already shuffling toward the study to gather what he needed.
The ceremony was brief, quiet, almost surreal.
Jason stood at Georgiana’s side as the words were spoken, watching the way her lashes lowered over her eyes, how her hands tightened and loosened in the folds of her gown.
She looked exhausted—bone-deep weary, her shoulders sagging as though the weight of everything had finally settled on her at once.
Her boorish family stood behind them, silent and brooding…her father with his arms crossed, her mother stiff with indignation, and Henry leaning heavily on his cane, looking bewildered and vaguely resentful.
When the archbishop declared them man and wife, Jason glanced down at Georgiana, half-expecting her to flinch or recoil.
But she didn’t.
She simply looked up at him, her eyes dark and unreadable, and gave the faintest of nods.
Jason felt utter and complete relief.
It was nearly three in the morning by the time they returned to his town house.
