Page 111

“Told my mother, and Magnus, I couldn’t possibly marry Lady Alison.”

Her eyes widened. “You did?”

“Of course I did,” he ground out.

“But what happened? What did they say?” She was so sure he would not fight for her. How could she have mistaken his intentions so badly?

“Does it matter?” Garrick turned to Geoffrey and spoke to him, ignoring her completely. “It seems we are done here. My apologies for having caused your family any distress.”

Then, without another word, he made for the door.

“Wait,” Sara called.

But he did not stop. Garrick moved past her without a glance, whisking so close she could almost feel his warmth, and walked away. It took her a moment to recover.

Emma looked around the room and then turned toward the door.

“Excuse me,” she mumbled. When a hand grabbed her from behind, she tried to shrug it off. “Nay, Sara. I must go to him.”

“Wait,” Sara repeated. The urgency in her voice stopped Emma from attempting to leave. “You may not be pledged to Graeme,” she said.

That got her attention.

“What?” both she and her brother asked at the same time.

Sara’s tiny shrug of her shoulders and tight-lipped grin could only mean one thing. She had done something she feared would displease Geoffrey.

Her brother folded his arms and waited.

“The messenger you sent,” she said to her husband. And then, more forcefully, “I stopped him.”

“What do you mean, you stopped him?” Emma asked, a spark of hope blooming in her chest.

“Just that,” Sara said. “I knew you”—she jutted her chin out to indicate Geoffrey—“were anxious to see the whole matter finished.” She turned to Emma. “Only because he loves you and despises seeing you in pain. But Sowlis was not the answer. At least, not so soon. When Geoffrey said he sent a message to the chief, I sent another to retrieve the messenger and am still waiting on word of his arrival.”

The look on her brother’s face should be one of shock. But it wasn’t. Instead, he appeared—

“Geoffrey?”

“You haven’t received word because your man will not be able to intercept the messenger.”

Emma was not the only one confused by her brother’s statement.

“I’ve already brought him back,” he continued.

She and Sara simply stared.

“I should not have pushed the match. But I hated seeing you like that, Emma,” he said. “I should have told you earlier today, but I wanted you to sort it out first before giving any definitive orders either way. But for now, the message to Graeme is safely within these walls.”

“Then why did you tell Garrick—”

“I said I couldn’t approve the match yet. I wanted to speak to you first. And,” her cheeky brother finished, “I thought he should know about Graeme.”

“You just wanted to see his reaction,” Sara accused.

“Perhaps.” He shrugged unapologetically. “This is my baby sister’s happiness at stake. I wanted to be sure he truly loves her.”

She couldn’t believe it. Geoffrey had stopped the messenger.