Page 81 of Much Ado about a Widow

“All happily married except for you, Jane.” Smiling archly at her sister-in-law, Fanny settled herself deeper into the chaise. “But then you said from the beginning that you would not marry again.”

“As did you, my dear,” Jane shot back.

“Well, Matthew finally convinced me that life without him would be the poorer indeed.” Smiling widely and actually blushing, Fanny looked happier than Georgie had ever seen her. “He certainly was right, I must say.” She leaned over and grasped Georgie’s hand. “I’m confident you will find the same thing true with your Lord St. Just, Georgie.”

“I am already convinced of that.” Although she continued to smile, Georgie quieted as her thoughts flew back to the previous week, before her friends arrived, to the duel between Rob and Lord Travers.

They had believed all Travers’s talk of the duel was bluster only, until a note had arrived requesting Rob name his second so the duel could take place while the earl was in Cornwall. Reluctantly, Rob had asked Jemmy, who had then met with Travers’s second, a gentleman named Marsh, who had arrived recently from London at the request of the earl.

“I didn’t quite know what to make of his statement, although it was rather to the point,” Jemmy had told them that afternoon. “When I asked the usual question, ‘What will it take to appease the earl?,’ the man answered simply, ‘Death.’”

Georgie’s head had spun, and she’d slumped to the floor. When she’d awakened, she’d clung to Rob, begging him not to go through with the challenge.

“I must do it, my love, or be branded a coward. And that is something I cannot have, for it would circulate through the ton at an astonishing rate. My honor is above reproach and must remain so.” He’d kissed her and promised, “I will do my very best to return to you in one whole piece.”

Two days later Rob had met Travers on the front lawn of St. Just Castle. Georgie had refused to watch, instead sitting in her dressing room, holding Lulu and praying, awaiting the dreaded gunfire. First one shot resounded, and she’d clutched Lulu until she yelped. An aeon seemed to pass before a second report had rung out. She had buried her face in Lulu’s soft fur and cried, until Rob found her there.

“It’s all right, sweetheart. It’s all over, and I am none the worse for it.”

She had launched herself into his arms, crying harder as Lulu had yipped at being dropped to the floor. “Oh, my love.” She hugged him fiercely, never wanting to let him go. “I was so worried.” A sudden dread crossed her mind, and she looked up. “And Lord Travers?”

Shaking his head, Rob stepped back. “It was the strangest thing. Travers seemed sober for a change and very much to the purpose. He spoke not a word to me or even to his second, just stood ready, in his place. Jemmy was elected to drop the handkerchief, and, when he did, nothing happened.”

They had moved back into the marchioness’s apartment, and Georgie had sat on the chair, puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“I had raised my weapon, but Travers did nothing. So I hesitated, wondering what he was playing at. Finally, he raised his weapon slowly, until it was aimed squarely at me, and I started to pull the trigger of my pistol, when he continued to move his weapon, raising it to the sky. All the while he stared me in the eyes.”

“What was he doing?”

“I think he wanted me to kill him.” Rob’s gaze was distant. “Because he discharged his pistol into the air.”

“I heard it.” She had shuddered, knowing it could have been a deathblow to Rob.

“I waited a good long moment, contemplating doing exactly what I believed he wanted. You heard that he’s truly in the suds?”

Georgie had shaken her head. She’d hardly given Travers a second thought since her betrothal to Rob.

“Jemmy received a letter from a friend of his in London, warning him to persuade your father to break your betrothal to the earl because he was in such grave financial difficulties. Apparently there is talk he might have to break the entailment.” Rob looked away. “He might believe he’d be better off dead.”

With growing horror, Georgie had grasped Rob’s arm. “But you didn’t . . . ?”

“No, I didn’t.” He had covered her hand with his. “Even if it was what he wished, I could not, in honor, kill a defenseless man.”

Georgie had thrown herself into Rob’s arms at that.

“What are you smiling at, my dear?” Elizabeth broke in on her reverie. “The wedding night to come?” She laughed. “At least Jemmy can devil you no more. You are well and truly married.”

“Yes,” Georgie agreed, her gaze lighting on Rob, laughing with Jemmy, Matthew, and Nash across the room. “Very well and truly.”

Some time later, as the local guests were taking their leave, Rob snagged her hand and drew her up through the house toward her bedchamber.

“Are we beginning the honeymoon earlier than expected?” she asked, squeezing his hand. It could not be soon enough for her. She’d missed having him in her bed these long weeks.

“Not exactly.” He opened her door and whistled. Lulu barked and ran out into the corridor, panting excitedly. “This way.”

He led them down to the first floor, then to the steep steps that wound up to the parapet, awash in afternoon sunlight. As they surveyed their domain, Lulu sitting happily at their feet between them, a sense of peace settled over Georgie that she had not experienced since Isaac had been alive. Perhaps this was a benediction from him, urging her to be happy for the rest of her life in this beautiful, wild place. With her wonderful pirate of a husband.

As if hearing her unspoken thought, Rob slipped his arm around her shoulders. “All of this will shortly be ours alone.”