“You will,” Duncan said. “Malcolm.”
Malcolm stepped forward and handed over a folded paper. The constable read it, and his face changed.
“It’s signed,” he said quietly. “It mentions henbane.”
“He paid that doctor,” Edward’s face tightened.
“You are making this worse for yourself,” Duncan said. “No one believes anything that you’re saying.”
The constable turned to Edward.
“Sir,” he said, firmer now, “did you give your niece anything that could have harmed her?”
“No,” Edward said sharply.
“Then you won’t object to us looking into it,” the constable replied.
“I object to all of it,” Edward said. “I am being framed!”
Duncan had heard enough of it by now. Edward was only being a nuisance now, and he was never going to admit his fault.
“Remove him from this chapel,” he said to the constables.
CHAPTER 20
“Do something, Robert,” Edward called out to his son as the constables moved forward to arrest him. There was a desperation in his voice, but the younger gentleman did not return the same sense of urgency.
“Robert!” Edward shouted again, so furious that the veins in his face began to bulge. “What are you doing just standing there? Do something!”
Robert let out a long sigh, as though he had finally reached his breaking point. He stepped forward once, and Duncan wondered if he was going to try to intervene.
It would be a useless thing,Duncan thought to himself. Edward had gotten himself into a terrible situation, and there was little chance of him walking away from it untouched. He anticipated Robert trying to play the hero, but to his surprise, the man just shot Charity a final glance and then began to retreat with his hands in the air.
“Robert.Robert!”his father called out behind him, his anger giving way to surprise and then horror that he was going to have to face the consequences of his own actions, as no one was coming to save him now.
“Sir,” the first constable said, “you are under arrest for disturbance, threats, and refusal to cooperate while we investigate a serious allegation. You will come quietly, or you will be carried.”
The constables began to move Edward towards the door now, “Come with us, sir. There is little use in resisting your arrest.”
Edward shouted, and struggled as he was dragged away. But finally, the door closed behind him and there was finally a sense of relief in the chapel. The guests, who had been watching on with great anticipation, finally let out a sigh of relief. But more importantly, Charity came running towards Duncan, and at once, she wrapped herself around him in an embrace.
It was rare for her to act this way, let alone in the presence of others. Duncan could not hide his surprise but at the same time, he could not help but embrace her back.
The softness of her skin and the manner in which she had leapt towards him made something inside of him unravel. It was as though a dam had broken, and emotions that he had long tried to suppress were now pouring out of him without him having any sort of control over them.
“Breathe,” Duncan said to her, holding her close. He could feel other people’s gazes on him, but propriety was the least of his concerns at the moment. All he wanted was to ensure that Charity was fine.
I love her.
The realization struck him like a thunderbolt, and he held her closer to him.
“Charity…” he said, putting his fingers on her chin to make her look up at him. The difference in their heights was about a footlong, and it was the ideal distance where he could just swoop down and…
Kiss her.
Duncan acted before he could stop himself. A moment later, his lips were on Charity. Thankfully, they were hidden behind one of the chapel columns, and the guests had congregated on the other side of the room so their moment was not immediately on display, unless someone peered behind the column. But it shocked Duncan that even if someone were to see them, he did not care.
The only thing that he cared about right now was just how good she felt in his hands and how she was kissing him back. Their kiss was chaste, though it was not without passion. For Duncan, it was confirmation that whatever he had felt for her was real.
