She Fled Her Wedding — Then Found the Duke Escaping on the Same Train
Chapter 6
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"I am sorry," he said.His mother had dressed with particular care. Tiny pearls trembled against her gray hair. She had been ill during the winter, and the recovery had left her thinner, easily tired, fiercely resentful of being treated as an invalid. Her name was Eglantine, though almost nobody had called her that in 30 years."I was at the station to meet your godfather," she said. "I thought I saw you through a window. Then I thought I must have been mistaken."Piers lowered his eyes. "I saw your hat. I hid behind the newspaper."She looked at him for a long moment. "Did you quarrel?" she asked."No.""Then what happened?""I was going to marry a woman I scarcely know. I thought it would become easier if I went on arranging things. It became more frightening.""Marriage is frightening.""I know.""I should still have wanted this one."Annora stood in the doorway. Piers looked up at her, and for a moment she saw the effort it cost him to leave the sentence where it was.The Dowager drew her hand back. "I had hoped to see you settled.""I know, Mama."He did not offer her a new promise. Annora found herself loving him a little for that, though it was an inconvenient time to begin.Mr. Bramwell wanted an explanation that could be given to the guests. A sudden indisposition would do, an urgent family matter—anything that did not require him to tell people he had spent weeks inviting that the two principal participants had fled in opposite directions and landed on the same train.Piers would not claim illness. Annora would not let him take the whole blame. Eventually, they agreed that both had reconsidered, and that there would be no wedding. The words looked pathetically small when the butler wrote them down.Then came the practical work. A message went to the church. Carriages were sent to meet arriving guests. Rowena found Annora's aunt weeping in a corridor and gave her something to do. The cook, told that the meal could still be served to those who had traveled, announced that somebody would eat it even if she had to carry the dishes into the road herself.Annora went upstairs and let Nelly unfasten her dress. The girl was pale with anxiety. "Did he read it too soon, miss?""No. You did exactly as I asked.""I was afraid I had spoiled something."Annora caught her hand. "You did not spoil anything. I should have spoken to him myself."With the gown removed, her body seemed suddenly her own again. There were red marks at her waist. She had imagined keeping the dress for the rest of her life; now she could hardly bear to have it in the room.