Page 57 of Captivating the Earl (Lords and Ladies in Love 5)

“Exactly.”

Cam gulped the last of his drink, stood, and walked over to his desk. He opened the center desk drawer and withdrew a paper. “As you requested.” He handed it to Hawk and took his seat.

“What is that?” Lizzie frowned as she looked at the paper Cam had handed him.

“A special license. We are to be married tomorrow.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Lizzie’s jaw dropped as she moved from Hawk’s side and regarded him. “Tomorrow?”

“Do not be shocked, my dear. We already discussed this. We must marry as quickly as possible.” He turned to Cam. “Please notify the vicar to attend us first thing in the morning.”

Giving Hawk a curt nod, Cam wished them good night and left the room.

Lizzie immediately rounded on Hawk. “Am I to have no say in my own wedding? I know you mentioned a special license and a small ceremony, but can I not even recover from my gunshot wound before I marry? What will I even wear?”

This was all moving so fast, and she was so very weary. A woman had only one wedding, if she was fortunate to have her husband live for many years. She had always imagined a lovely gown, bonnet, flowers, friends and relatives smiling as she and her betrothed exchanged their vows. Now she was to be married in a borrowed gown, altered by Lady Honora’s seamstress.

Of course, there were no relatives of hers left to attend a wedding, and all the so-called friends she’d had had turned their backs on her after her father’s disgrace.

Hawk pulled her close, careful not to touch her wound, which was throbbing from the unending day and lengthy carriage ride. “Please calm yourself, sweetheart. Let us take a seat.”

They settled on the sofa, and he shifted so he was facing her, his bent knee resting in the space between them. “I want you to think on this. We have been intimate.” He held up his hand as she opened her mouth to speak. “As an innocent, that automatically requires a swift marriage.”

“And I told you I don’t want to be your duty.”

He reached out and ran his finger down her cheek, leaving a wake of goose flesh that traveled right to her nipples and the space between her legs. Just what she didn’t want to deal with right now. “Believe me, Lizzie, it will be no duty to marry you.”

What was he saying? That he was in love with her? Her insides fluttered at the thought, since she had already admitted her own feelings toward Hawk—at least to herself.

“Additionally, as my countess, you will be further from the Home Office’s reach. It is an easy matter to force the daughter of a disgraced lord into the Home Office for questioning, and possibly a stint in Newgate. It is an entirely different matter to demand the presence of the Earl of Hawkins’s countess.”

The image he’d portrayed of her being dragged off to Newgate and left there to rot sent shivers down her spine.

“You would have the protection of my name, which would give you rights and privileges you do not now possess.”

The Earl of Hawkins’s countess. Yes, she would be a bit more untouchable than treasonous Lord Loverly’s daughter. She glanced at him sideways. He watched her with lust, surely, but also with something she could not identify. Hope? Was he genuinely happy to marry her?

“Very well. I certainly can see the logic in your argument.”

Hawk nodded. “Since you’ve no male relatives to look out for your interests, I shall have Cam’s man of business represent you in the marriage settlements. However, as soon as the vicar arrives tomorrow, we will be married. The marriage settlements can be done afterward.”

Although this had all been discussed at Hawkins Manor, she was now taken up as if in a whirlwind. Since she’d laid eyes on Lord Hawkins she’d been forced to escape the comfortable home she’d lived in for two years, had three attempts made on her life, and now she was to marry post-haste.

In a made-over gown.

Days before she would break the law by entering her father’s townhouse.

She felt as though she were in the middle of a terrible dream, unable to wake up.

“This will also ward off any gossip from our stopovers at the various inns where we shared a room. Even though we did not meet anyone of our acquaintance, these things have a way of following one, no matter how careful one is.”

“Yes. I see.”

He studied her. “What is it, sweeting? I can see you are upset.”

She drew in a breath. “I have nothing to wear!” She hated the tears that filled her eyes and felt stupid. Like a spoiled child. Perhaps all the distress and fatigue were catching up with her, and she was clinging to something superfluous to anchor herself.