If he did, he’d be dead. Oswald would shoot him first, then take care of her in whatever way he saw fit. And yet, what choice did Marcus have? If he refused, Oswald might shoot her right away, and she knew Marcus wouldn’t risk such an outcome.
She was right of course. Marcus stood and although he was just a blur, she knew he lowered his weapon because of the way he moved. A dull thud followed as he tossed it aside.
Oswald grinned. “Damn fool.” He moved his pistol away from Louise and started to aim at Marcus.
Without second guessing herself she acted on pure instinct, ramming her shoulder as hard as she could into Oswald while turning more fully toward him. Her right arm swung round, Oswald’s eyes widened with shock, and then she was pushing the metal rod into his body with all the might she possessed.
The pistol went off, Oswald fell back, and Louise followed him down in a heap of tangled limbs.
“No!” Marcus ran forward. His heart was in his throat, his brain unwilling to process the unfolding nightmare. Everything had happened so fast and all he could see now was blood. It stained both Louise and her captor. Neither moved and he didn’t know - had no desire to find out - which of them had been hurt.
Air scraped his lungs as he reached the bodies and tried to breathe. His hands shook in a way they’d never done before, the tremors vibrating up his arms and into his shoulders. Words crammed inside his throat, blocked by the knot that had formed there. If she died… God help him, his life would not be worth living.
Somehow, he managed to reach out, to place one hand on her shoulder. Someone groaned, and then he felt her shift, watched with a surge of relief as she placed her palm on the floor and attempted to push herself up. The man beneath her sputtered and when Marcus helped Louise rise, he saw the pistol-cleaning rod protruding from his belly.
“You…” the bastard wheezed.
“I… I had to,” Louise stammered while Marcus drew her into his arms. A sob shook her. “Oh God. What have I done? I can’t see!”
“Shh…. It’s all right, Louise. You saved my life. That’s what you did. And the blighter will live. There’s no need to worry. His death won’t be on your conscience.”
“They wanted to use me for ransom.”
“I know,” Marcus whispered while hugging her close. “It’s all right though. Everything will be fine.”
“I can’t believe you’re here,” she croaked while pressing her face against his chest as if she sought to escape what had happened.
“And I can’t believe I ever considered leaving you for any duration of time.” He kissed the top of her head. “Forgive me. Please.”
“I already have.”
His heart swelled. Lord help him but he wasn’t sure he deserved her kindness or her love. Drawing back, he met her gaze. “Let’s clean you up a bit and make sure that fellow there can’t run off. Then we’ll go and alert the constable so he can apprehend him. His companion will need to be picked up too.”
Ten minutes later, Marcus helped Louise mount his horse, then climbed up behind her.
“Ye can’t leave me ’ere like this,” the culprit they’d now restrained called from inside the cabin. “I’ll die!”
“If only that were true,” Marcus said as he kicked his horse into motion. Holding the reins with one hand, he held Louise against him with the other. “I was lucky to get delayed in London and meet Hannah at the inn. She told me everything.”
“Papa left me no choice,” Louise said, her voice bitter. “Running away became my only option if I was to make sure I would be free to marry you later.”
“I’m so sorry, Louise.” He hated himself for the pain he’d caused her, for what she’d been through because of him. God help him, she could have been killed. “It was wrong of me to insist on us being apart. I just wanted to make sure you didn’t rush into a marriage you’d later regret.”
A soft sigh escaped her as she leaned her head back against his shoulder. “Nothing in the world could ever make me regret marrying you, Marcus. I love you with all my heart.”
He closed his eyes briefly and absorbed the pure enormity of his good fortune while the horse plodded onward. Giving the reins a gentle pull, he drew them to a halt. “This isn’t how it was meant to be. My intention was to propose to you properly if you still wanted me once I returned. But fate has interfered and after everything you’ve just been through, I want to make sure you’ve no doubt in your mind regarding my intentions. So I ask you now, Louise, to bless my life with your beauty, your love, and your kindness, to be my dearest companion in sickness and in health, to walk by my side, and to give me the honor of having you as my wife.”
She turned just enough for him to see her eyes shimmer. “Yes.”
Marcus dipped his head and kissed her while joy poured through him. His soul felt lighter, the world around them more perfect than ever before. This was right, and he’d been a fool to try and ignore it, even though he’d done so for her.
“We’ll speak with the constable, then continue onward to Dover so we can reconvene with Hannah,” he said once they were on their way again. “I gave her my ticket so there’s a good chance we’ll arrive at the same time as she. Unfortunately, I fear your father will do what he can to prevent us from marrying, and with you still underage, we’ve few ways of seeing this through.”
“We can travel to Gretna Green, which is quite a ways from here, relocate to a parish and have the bans cried there for three successive weeks in the hope word doesn’t get back to Papa, or hide somewhere until November sixth when I reach my majority.”
“Which option do you favor?” he asked while steering them onto the main road leading back to the village. None seemed very appealing to him since each allowed for the possibility of Grasmere getting in the way of their plans. And now that he’d proposed and Louise had accepted, Marcus could no longer live with the idea of her not becoming his wife.
“A different one entirely,” she said after a moment’s reflection. “I still believe you should go to Berlin.”
