Amanda Quick - Ravished

"Good God." Fry was suddenly struck very nearly sober. "Are we talking about a duel here? I say, that's carrying matters a bit too far."

"What's this? A challenge?" Lady Youngstreet peered at Gideon. "Now, see here. There was no harm done. We were just trying to save the gel."

Applegate's expression was stoic. "I am not afraid of you, St. Justin."

"I am delighted to hear it," Gideon said. "Perhaps you will change your mind when we meet at dawn in a few days' time."

Harriet realized this nonsense was turning dangerous. She stepped forward quickly and put a restraining hand on Gideon's arm. "That is quite enough, St. Justin," she said crisply. "You are not to terrify my friends, do you understand?"

Gideon slanted a glance down at her. "Your friends?"

"Of course they are my friends. I would not be with them if they were not. They meant well. Now stop this silly talk of a challenge. There will be no duel over a matter that amounts to no more than a mere misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding, " Gideon rasped. "I would call a kidnapping something more than a misunderstanding."

"There was no kidnapping," Harriet told him. "And I will not countenance a duel, is that quite clear?"

Applegate lifted his chin. "It is all right, Miss Pomeroy. I do not mind dying on your behalf."

"Well, I mind," Harriet said. She smiled at him through the coach window. "You are very kind, Lord Applegate. And very brave. But I simply cannot allow anyone to engage in a duel over what amounted to nothing more than a ride in the country."

Lady Youngstreet perked up. "Exactly. Ride in the country. That's all it was."

Fry looked doubtful. "Trifle more than a jaunt, my dear. We were going to get the gel married, if you will recall."

Harriet paid no attention to Lord Fry. She looked up into Gideon's scowling face. "Let us be on our way, St. Justin. It is getting late. We must allow my friends to start back to town."

"Yes, indeed," Lady Youngstreet said quickly. "Must be off." She seized Fry's walking stick and rapped the roof of the coach. "Turn around," she called loudly. "And be quick about it."

The coachman, who had been listening to the proceedings with an air of boredom, took a last nip at his own bottle and picked up the reins. He guided the horses into a wide turn and the heavy coach moved ponderously off down the road toward London.

Applegate sat gazing wistfully through the window at Harriet until the vehicle rounded a curve and disappeared from sight.

"Well, then," Harriet said cheerfully as she straightened her bonnet. "That's over and done. We should no doubt be off ourselves, my lord. I vow it is going to be a long drive back to Town."

Gideon caught her chin between thumb and forefinger and tilted her face up so that she could not hide her eyes beneath the bonnet rim. It was almost dark, but Harriet could see his grim expression quite clearly.

"Harriet, do not for one minute allow yourself to believe that this matter is over and done," Gideon said.

She bit her lip. "Oh, dear. I had a feeling you would be somewhat annoyed."

"That is putting it mildly."

"The thing is," she assured him, "it really was nothing more than an inconvenience for all concerned. My friends meant no harm. I admit you have been put to a great deal of trouble and I am sorry for it, but nothing happened that required you to threaten Applegate in that odious fashion."

"Damnation, woman. He tried to run off with you."

"And he was very careful to bring along a pair of chaperones. You cannot fault him when it comes to observing the proprieties."

"Bloody hell, Harriet—"

"Even if he had succeeded in getting me all the way to Gretna Green, which is highly unlikely, nothing dreadful would have occurred. We would simply have turned around and come back again."

"I cannot believe I am standing around on the open road debating this with you." Gideon took Harriet's arm and drew her to the waiting phaeton. "The man had every intention of making a runaway marriage with you." He tossed Harriet lightly up onto the seat.

Harriet adjusted her skirts as Gideon vaulted up beside her and picked up the reins. "Surely, my lord, you do not believe I would have actually married Applegate. I am engaged to you."

Gideon gave her an oblique look as he turned his team back toward London, driving them rather slowly. "That fact did not deter your friends from trying to rescue you from my clutches."

"Yes, well, they simply do not understand that I am content to be in your clutches, my lord."

Gideon did not respond to that. He fell silent for a time, apparently lost in his own thoughts. Harriet took a deep breath of the chilled night air. The clouds had begun to clear and the stars were appearing.

There was something very romantic about the highway at night, she thought. Nothing seemed quite real. She felt as if she were caught up in a dream world with Gideon and the horses, racing into the night along a ribbon of mysterious road that might lead anywhere.

The phaeton rounded a bend and the lights of an inn appeared in the distance.

"Harriet?" Gideon said quietly.

"Yes, my lord?"

"I do not want to go through this sort of nonsense again."

"I understand, my lord. I know you were greatly inconvenienced."

"That is not quite what I meant." Gideon's eyes were on the inn lights up ahead. "I am trying to tell you that I would like to end the engagement."

Harriet went numb with shock. She could not believe what she was hearing. "End the engagement, my lord? Because I was foolish enough to get myself taken north?"

"No. Because I fear there will be more incidents such as this one. I grant you that this time no great harm was done, but who knows what will happen the next time?"

"But my lord—"

"It is possible one of your other admirers will try some more drastic means of saving you from the Beast of Blackthorne Hall," Gideon said. He was concentrating intently on his driving. He did not look at her.

Harriet glowered at his harsh profile. "You will not call yourself by that dreadful name again, St. Justin. Do you hear me?"

"Yes, Miss Pomeroy I hear you. Will you marry me as soon as I can get a special license?"

Harriet clutched her reticule. "Marry you? Immediately?"

"Yes."

Harriet felt dazed. "I thought you meant to end the engagement."

"I do. As soon as possible. With marriage."

Harriet swallowed as relief poured through her. She rallied her scattered wits. "I see. Well, as to marriage I had thought we would have more time to get to know each other, my lord."

"I know you did. But I cannot see that it makes all that much difference. You already know the worst and it does not appear to depress your spirits unduly. Your aunt says that after tonight's incident there will be more gossip than ever. Our marriage will squelch some of it."

"I see," Harriet said again, still unable to think clearly and logically. "Very well, my lord. If that is your wish."

"It is. It is settled, then. I believe it would be best if we stop here tonight rather than continue on to town. That way we can see to the business of getting married before we return to London."

Harriet stared at the inn. "We are stopping here tonight?"

"Yes." Gideon drew in the horses and turned them in to the inn yard. Their big hooves clattered on the cobblestones. "It will be more efficient this way. In the morning I shall secure the license. After we are wed I suppose I had better take you straight to Hardcastle House and introduce you to my parents. Some things are unavoidable."

The door of the inn burst open before Harriet could reply. A young boy dashed out to attend to the animals. Gideon stepped down from the phaeton.

Events were happening too quickly Harriet tried to keep her voice calm. "What about my family, sir? They will worry about me."

"We shall send word from this inn telling them that you are safe and that I am taking you to Hardcastle House. By the time we get back to Town, some of the furor will have died down. And I will have you securely in my clutches."

Gideon surveyed the small inn room. It was the best the innkeeper had to offer, but that was not saying much. There was only one bed, a rather small one.

"I trust you do not object too strongly to my telling the innkeeper that we are man and wife." Gideon went down on one knee to stir up the coals on the hearth. He did not look behind him, but he could sense Harriet's tension.

"No. I do not mind," Harriet said softly.

"It will soon be the truth."

"Yes."

Gideon was all too conscious of his own size tonight, for some reason. He felt awkward and clumsy in the small chamber. He was almost afraid to move about or touch anything for fear he would break something. Everything around him seemed small and fragile, including Harriet.

"I did not think it a wise idea for you to stay by yourself in a room down the hall tonight," he said, still not looking at her. "If you had your maid with you or your sister, that would have been one thing."

"I understand."

"A woman alone in an inn is always at risk. There are already several drunken louts downstairs in the taproom. There is no knowing when one of them might take a notion to come upstairs and start trying the doors."

"An unpleasant thought."

"And there is the awkward fact that people would speculate about your claim to being a lady if it got out that we were not man and wife." Gideon got to his feet as the fire took hold. He watched the flames flow together into a cheerful blaze. "Certain assumptions might be made."