Bound By One Scandalous Night

Amelie’s spirits dropped. ‘I had forgotten. Papa must approve who I marry until I come of age.’

‘I had not considered this,’ Edmund said. ‘How old are you?’

‘Edmund, you do not even know how old she is!’ Tess cried. ‘You know nothing of each other!’

‘I am nineteen,’ Amelie answered.

‘Good God,’ murmured Edmund, but as if to himself. ‘Nineteen. Same age as Genna.’

Marc looked from Edmund to Amelie. ‘Why do you not wait? What is the haste about marrying? You need time to know each other. And if you wait until you are twenty-one, it will not matter if Papa approves or not.’

Amelie glanced at Edmund. He raised his brows.

‘We do not have the luxury of time,’ Amelie said.

Edmund looked at her.

She met his eye. ‘I might as well tell them.’

‘Tell us what?’ Tess asked.

‘They will know soon enough,’ Amelie went on.

‘Know what?’ Tess’s voice turned impatient.

Amelie took a fortifying breath. ‘We cannot wait, because—’

‘Are you certain of this?’ Edmund asked her.

She nodded.

‘Certain of what?’ Tess’s voice grew shriller.

Amelie faced both her brother and sister-in-law. ‘I am certain we need to marry quickly, because I am carrying Edmund’s child.’

Her statement was met by a stunned silence.

‘No,’ Marc said in a low voice.

‘Edmund’s child?’ Tess shook her head at Edmund. ‘It cannot be. This is all a hum. You have not been together.’

Edmund spoke quietly. ‘We were together, Tess. Obviously. The night of the Duchess of Richmond’s ball.’

‘No,’ she insisted. ‘Amelie left the ball with Captain Fowler.’ She swung towards Amelie. ‘Is this Fowler’s baby?’

‘No!’ Amelie and Edmund cried in unison.

Amelie’s face flushed. ‘Fowler abandoned me that night, Tess. He left me alone on the streets of Brussels. I do not know what I would have done if your brother had not found me and escorted me back to the hotel.’

‘I dare say you would have been better off!’ Glenville’s nostrils flared as he turned towards Edmund. ‘You seduced my sister?’

Amelie stepped in front of Edmund. ‘He did not seduce me. It was my doing. All of it.’

Edmund pulled her back. ‘Do not try to put a better face on it, Amelie. I seduced you.’

‘No! Edmund!’ Tess cried again. ‘You would not do such a thing to an innocent girl. You would not!’

It pained Amelie to see Edmund lowered in Tess’s eyes.

‘I did do it, Tess,’ Edmund said. ‘I am responsible.’

Amelie broke in. ‘No. The fault is mine.’

But no one listened to her.

‘I do not know how he convinced you,’ her brother growled. ‘But he took advantage, of that I am certain.’

No. She had taken advantage!

Edmund looked Marc directly in the eye. ‘I accept my responsibility and my duty. For your sister’s sake, I will do the honourable thing.’

Marc’s eyes flashed. ‘Honourable. There is nothing honourable in what you have done. This will cause our family more scandal.’

‘I cannot change what happened,’ Edmund said. ‘But I can do what is right now.’

Marc swung to Amelie. ‘You still need Papa’s approval, you know. He will never give it.’

‘He will give permission,’ Tess said dispiritedly. ‘What other choice will he have? There will be a baby.’

‘I will speak to your father in person,’ Edmund said. ‘I will explain.’

Marc shook his head. ‘He will not believe you. He’ll toss you out. Your story is too far-fetched.’

‘But it is true!’ Amelie cried.

‘It sounds like a cock-and-bull story,’ Marc said, ‘even if it is true. Papa will never believe Edmund if he travels there alone with that tale.’

‘I do not believe it!’ cried Tess. ‘Not of Edmund.’

Edmund gave Tess a quelling look but glanced back at Marc. ‘Then come with me. He will believe you.’

‘Go with you?’ Marc still looked as if he’d rather accompany a pen of swine.

Why couldn’t her brother be on her side about this?

‘He will believe you.’ Edmund repeated, keeping his gaze steady.

Amelie interrupted. ‘Neither of you have to go. I will write Papa a letter.’

Edmund turned to her and gently touched her arm. ‘No letter, Amelie. I must face your father. It is the only way.’

It was good of Edmund to offer, but Amelie was certain he would be treated very ill.

Marc’s shoulders fell. ‘Edmund is right. This is not news for our parents to read in a letter. Papa is more likely to approve if Edmund tells him like a man.’

It pained Amelie that she’d caused her brother to be so angry at Edmund. Before this Marc had held him in high regard.

Her brother straightened. ‘It is but a six-hour ride. We can be at Northdon House before nightfall if we leave soon.’

‘I should accompany you,’ Amelie said.

‘No!’ Edmund cried.

‘Absolutely not!’ her brother added.

At least they agreed on that idea.

‘Not in your condition,’ Tess added. ‘You must take care, or you will endanger your health.’

Six hours on horseback could not be good for the baby.

Edmund turned back to Glenville. ‘I can ride the way I am dressed, and I do not need a change of clothing, but I need to hire a horse.’

Marc started for the door. ‘I’ll send Staines to the stables to tell them to saddle my horse and to hire one for you.’

Tess followed him. ‘I will tell Cook to pack you some food.’

Amelie and Edmund were alone in the room. Her insides were churning, not only from the morning sickness, but also from the stress of this encounter. The stress of everything.

She turned to Edmund. ‘My brother blames you. My father will blame you, too. It is I who should tell him what really happened.’

He looked down on her. ‘What really happened was I took advantage of you. Let it go at that, Amelie. That night in Brussels I should have seen you safely to the hotel and left you there. That fact cannot be disputed. I must accept their anger just as I must accept that our marrying is what we must do.’

‘But it is my fault,’ she said in a small voice.

He touched her arm and attempted a smile. ‘I have faced men in battle lunging at me with swords and shooting pistols. I’ve had cannon balls miss me by inches. Facing your father will not be so difficult nor so dangerous.’

She was not so certain.

She placed her palm on her abdomen to quiet her roiling stomach. ‘Marrying me changes things for you. I am so dreadfully sorry.’

His gaze seemed to harden. ‘We simply do what we must, Amelie. That is how we manage. One task at a time. The first task is your father’s permission.’

Chapter Six

It took no more than an hour before Edmund and Glenville were on the road to Hertfordshire, where the Northdon country estate was located. Glenville rode a few paces ahead of Edmund, clearly having no wish to converse with him. Glenville’s displeasure was palpable, and Edmund could not blame him. Edmund would react the same—worse, in fact—if a near stranger had violated any of his sisters.

Edmund let Glenville decide when to stop and rest the horses, when they should quicken the pace and when they should slow. Why quibble about such trifles? They rode past crumbling Roman ruins and pretty villages with houses all in a line next to the road. They passed through busy market towns and quiet villages where the few people in the street took notice and eyed them with curiosity.

Edmund had too much time to think, and that was not a pleasant circumstance. Turn off your thoughts, he told himself. Numb your mind as you used to on long marches in Spain.

* * *

The sun was very low in the sky when they rode through a pretty village that time appeared to have forgotten. The houses and shops looked as if the War of the Roses had been fought the day before. Edmund knew they must be close. The village was called Northdon.

Soon he spied a large Palladian house in the distance, its white stone gleaming in the waning light. Northdon House, no doubt. At its grand wrought-iron gate, Glenville dismounted and opened it.

As they approached the house, Glenville said, ‘Let me do the talking.’

‘No.’ This time Edmund must be in charge. ‘I tell him.’

‘Let me do the talking up to that point, then,’ Glenville said anxiously.

Glenville’s presence was greeted with happy excitement. Both his parents ran to greet him. There were hugs and kisses and exclamations of pleasure showered on him before Lord and Lady Northdon even seemed to notice Edmund, who was greeted with greater reserve but kind civility.

They all retired to a drawing room.

As soon as Lord and Lady Northdon were seated, Edmund faced them. ‘We have come because I have a very important matter to discuss.’

Lady Northdon looked worried, Lord Northdon apprehensive.

Edmund took a breath. ‘I will not mince words. Your daughter and I must marry. She is carrying my child.’

‘Mon Dieu!’ Lady Northdon cried.

Lord Northdon’s face grew red with rage. ‘You did what to my daughter?’ he said after.

‘She carries my child,’ Edmund repeated.

‘You ruddy bastard!’ Northdon charged at him.

Glenville held him back.

Edmund stood his ground. ‘I accept your anger, sir. I understand it. But what is important now is for us to marry quickly and avoid as much scandal as possible. To accomplish that we need your permission.’

‘No!’ Northdon cried, his son still holding his arm. Northdon shrugged him off but faced him. ‘Amelie does not wish this, does she, Marc?’

‘It is what she wants,’ Glenville answered.

‘It cannot be!’ his father cried.

‘Ma pauvre fille,’ whispered Lady Northdon. ‘Is she in good health?’

Edmund answered her. ‘She is sick in the mornings and greatly fatigued.’

‘You know this?’ Glenville looked surprised.

Edmund turned to him. ‘She told me.’ He faced Lord Northdon again. ‘Do we have your permission?’

‘I would rather kill you,’ Northdon snapped.

‘Then your daughter will have an illegitimate child.’ Edmund kept his voice as even as possible. He was used to people hating him because of his birth. This was not much different. ‘I wish to prevent that.’

‘You have to give permission, Papa,’ Glenville said. ‘It will be best for Amelie.’

‘Marriage to this—this bastard cannot be what is best for her.’ Northdon spat out the word bastard.

‘He is the child’s father,’ Glenville pressed. ‘You must allow them to marry.’

‘Give your permission, John!’ Lady Northdon became more agitated. ‘Remember Lucien! I will not lose my daughter the way we lost Lucien.’

Who was Lucien?

Lord Northdon’s shoulders slumped, and he suddenly looked old and feeble, which he was certainly not. ‘Yes, Ines,’ he said in a weak voice. ‘Not like Lucien.’

A pall came over the room, as thick as smoke.

When Lord Northdon finally raised his head, his eyes were filled with pain. ‘Please get him out of my sight before I change my mind and kill him.’

‘Come.’ Lady Northdon took Edmund by the arm. ‘You must be hungry.’

Lady Northdon was still a beautiful woman, although her features, so like Amelie’s, were pinched with stress and unhappiness. The crisp sunny September day had been rendered bleak—by Edmund. If only he could simply remount that horse and ride far away from all of them.

But that would not safeguard his future son or daughter.

Lady Northdon led him to a smaller drawing room, one with many windows and furnished with a table and chairs. The breakfast room, Edmund thought.

‘I will have Cook prepare some food. Someone will bring it in a moment. Please enjoy your repast and wait for me here. I will come back for you.’

It seemed expedient to agree. ‘As you wish it, madame.’

A few minutes later, a servant brought him a tray.

He ate the warm bread and cold meat, downed a cup of tea and waited. Finally Lady Northdon returned carrying a letter.

He stood.

‘It is the permission. Signed and sealed.’ She handed him the folded paper.

‘Merci, madame.’ He took the letter and slipped it into a pocket inside his coat.

She looked up at him. ‘Treat my daughter well, s’il vous plaît.’

He met her eyes. ‘You have my promise.’

She held his gaze for a moment before gesturing for him to follow her back to the hall. He assumed he was taking his leave. At least he was not leaving the house through the tradesmen’s door.

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