Page 13 of Much Ado about a Widow

“I do know of such, however, I do not think it wise for you to go there either.”

Georgie’s mouth dropped open. “Why not? Why should we all not go to an inn?”

“Because—again—your kidnappers will be looking for you in all the inns. There are not many a lady would go to by herself with her maid. And even a small number of men could search thoroughly throughout the night and find you.” He glanced at Lulu, who had nestled at Georgie’s feet. The dog raised her head, bared her teeth at him, then settled back down. “It would be more than easy to ask for a woman, her maid, and such a distinguishable dog.”

Again, Georgie wanted to argue, but St. Just’s logic simply got the better of her. If the kidnappers were still looking for her, they likely would find her. And take her to their “Master.”

“I must say, Lady Georgina, even if it seemed safe to send you back to Blackham Castle, I am not convinced such a journey would be in your best interests.”

That took her aback. She cocked her head. “Why?”

“The kidnappers must guess that is where you will try to go when you leave Portsmouth. It will be child’s play for them to lie in wait along the post road for you and simply capture you again.”

Drat! She might not like the man, but she had to admit he had some wits about him. Odd Fellow would take her easily if she headed for home. But where else could she go to put them off the scent? She could go to Jemmy and Elizabeth in London, except that they would not be there for likely another week. She had no other friends or relatives in Town this time of year. They were all on their estates, waiting for the beginning of Parliament and the Season. All of her Widows’ Club friends were still at Hunter’s Cross. There was no one she could turn to. She raised her head. “Do you have another suggestion, my lord? I seem to have no safe harbor to turn to at the moment.”

An eager light gleamed in his eyes. “I believe I do, Lady Georgina. An idea that will confound the kidnappers and take care of your other problem as well.”

“My other problem?” She had no other problem, save to avoid capture again by the plaguey kidnappers.

“I am referring to your unwanted marriage to Lord Travers.”

Stunned, Georgie stared at him until her vision almost went dark. Finally, she took a breath. “You know about that?”

“Yes.” He grinned like an idiot. “Your brother wrote me about the situation, asking if I could come up with a plan to save you from it. And I believe I have done. Two birds with one stone, so to speak.”

The last thing Georgie wanted was for this wild young buck to be meddling in her personal affairs. She should plant Jemmy a facer for involving him at all. “What plan is that, my lord?”

“Sail to Cornwall with me.”

Chapter Five

A fierce excitement coursed through Rob’s veins as he made that pronouncement. Ever since Brack had written him about his sister’s predicament, Rob had wracked his brain for some way to help prevent the marriage of Lady Georgina to the odious Travers. With this God-given opportunity before him, how could he resist? “Will you come with me?”

Aghast, Lady Georgina stared at him, mouth slightly agape. “I most certainly will not go with you.” She darted her wide-eyed gaze toward her maid, as if to ask if he’d run mad. “As I have already informed you, Lord St. Just, I must go to my father’s estate at Blackham Castle in East Sussex. One does not make that journey by way of Cornwall unless someone has a very odd sense of direction indeed.” The lady puckered her brows. “Well, I suppose it could be done, but it would take a frightfully long time. Weeks and weeks in a carriage. And I am to be married within the month, so you see that suggestion will simply not do.”

“Do you truly wish to marry Lord Travers then?” Perhaps Brack had been mistaken about his sister’s affection for the man. The fire in the lady’s eyes when she spoke of her wedding had been truly fierce. Although hard to imagine, considering Travers’s reputation, he supposed Lady Georgina could hold some regard for the fellow. Or wished to make an advantageous match. Travers was rumored to be fairly flush in the pockets, although Rob’s own wealth was as substantial, certainly. As was that of dozens of other more reputable gentlemen of the ton.

“You are impertinent, my lord.” Lady Georgina’s cheeks were tinged with pink, making her whole countenance glow. She turned abruptly on her heel and stalked over to the stove. Holding her hands out to the warmth pouring off the cast iron, she rubbed and chaffed them. Still, she could not disguise that they were shaking. He doubted it was from the cold.

“I may be at that.” With measured steps, he came to stand beside her and held his hands out to the blaze as well. “But I would like to know the answer all the same.”

The petite woman—the top of her head scarcely reached his chest—glanced at her maid, who shrugged. That must have been the deciding vote because Lady Georgina brought her gaze back to him, pinning him with a heated glare. “Of course I do not wish to marry Lord Travers. He is without a doubt the most loathsome creature to whom I have ever been introduced, and that includes Lord Fernley, who is loathsome, but who does seem to have a few redeeming qualities. He plays whist very well. Anyway”—Lady Georgina shook her head and her straggling curls bobbed—“Lord Travers has made me uncomfortable ever since I met him.” She looked Rob squarely in the face. “That does not, however, mean that I will not marry him.”

Hmm. A far cry from the answer he’d expected. Lady Georgina was not a predictable lady at all. “But if you have no affection for him, why marry him? Surely there are other gentlemen of the ton who are just as eligible and not as disagreeable as Travers.”

“You know Lord Travers then, my lord?”

“I do, although mostly by reputation. I do not run in the same circles as he.” Rob wouldn’t give a hot ha’penny for Travers’s usual companions. Not since the Hellfire Club had a more profligate group of gentlemen assembled. “I daresay he would not have been the choice most fathers would arrange for their daughters.”

“My father is definitely not as most fathers are.” The lady bit her lips, then shrugged. “I have no idea why he chose Lord Travers as my favored suitor, but I do know how incensed he was when I instead married Mr. Kirkpatrick. Had my husband not died, my lord”—she paused and swallowed hard—“I should have been the happiest woman in all of England at this moment. Possibly in all the world. Because I would have had my dearest companion by my side. But when I married against Father’s wishes he cast me out of the family, withdrew all of my financial support, and even forbade all my brothers and sisters from so much as speaking to me on the street if I happened to pass them by. After my husband’s death, that decree remained until a month or so ago, when he suddenly sent for me and announced my betrothal to Lord Travers.” Lady Georgina dropped her hands and backed away. “If I refuse to marry him, my father will cast me off again, and for good this time.”

“I am certain there are other gentlemen of good character and sufficient wealth who would gladly offer for your hand, my lady.” While perhaps of a rather unusual disposition, Lady Georgina was, nevertheless, a beautiful woman. Her auburn hair complemented her jade-green eyes and creamy white skin to perfection. Even the generous sprinkling of freckles across her nose only made her look more charming. And although she was of rather shorter stature than most women, she moved with an easy grace that would do credit to any gentleman wise enough to wed her.

“Without a dowry or any monetary or landed gain whatsoever?” A sad smile tinged her lips. “Most gentlemen of the ton would not make such a foolhardy decision. Only a vicar’s son who held love above any other type of gain.” She shook her head, tears glistening in her eyes. “If you told the ton gentlemen that their bride would bring nothing but the clothes she stood up in, one King Charles spaniel, and the animosity of the Marquess of Blackham, I do not think you would find them so disposed as to ask for my hand.”

All Rob could do was bite his tongue to keep from shouting a resounding “no” at her. Every inch of him wanted to take her by the arms and shake her until she understood that she herself had value beyond any price her father might have set for her. “I think you would be surprised at the number of young gentlemen who would thumb their nose at your father and his money and beg for your hand.”

She cocked her head, a smile turning up one side of her mouth in a most charming manner. “Are you perhaps one of those young gentlemen, my lord?”