Bound By One Scandalous Night

‘Very certain,’ Edmund replied.

She nodded and Edmund opened the door. Marc and Tess immediately looked up and left their seats.

Tess walked up to Edmund and gave him a hug. ‘What are you about, Edmund?’ she asked at the same time.

‘Did Marc tell you why Edmund wished to see me?’ Amelie asked her.

Tess nodded. ‘Marc said... Well, it is nonsensical.’

‘I have accepted him,’ Amelie said. ‘We will marry as soon as possible.’

‘What?’ Marc’s voice grew louder.

‘You do not know each other!’ Tess cried.

Marc gripped Amelie’s arms. ‘Amelie, do not be so hasty—’

Edmund broke in. ‘I realise I am not the husband you would choose for her.’

‘I already told you it is not that,’ Marc insisted. ‘It is that you have no real acquaintance and—and our father is not likely to approve.’

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.’

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