By the time David returned to London, he’d had ample time to come up with a plan to liberate his beloved from the tyranny of her brother. But it disappointed him that he did not see much chance of success in any of the ideas he’d had so far. He had not expected the Duke to find them so quickly the last time. If there had ever been an element of surprise to their elopement, it was gone now that she had been dragged home from the road to Scotland.
It occurred to him that they might have better luck if he did something completely unexpected and acted like a gentleman. At the very least, it would remove any doubts from Peg and her brother as to the seriousness of his intentions, if he made an effort to get the Duke’s permission before they ran off again.
So, the next day, he shaved close, put on his best coat, and went to the front door of the Scofield town house, announcing his desire to see the Duke.
He was, of course, refused.
In response, he waited outside, leaning against a tree on the opposite side of the street. The girls might be kept locked in the house, but the Duke could not remain inside for ever. When Scofield appeared, David hurried across to him, shouting, ‘Your Grace, a moment of your time.’
The Duke gave him a look that was almost as deadly as the crimes David had recently accused him of. ‘Castell. Why are you still here?’
‘I have come to offer my apologies,’ David said with his most winning smile. ‘I have uncovered enough of the truth in regards to the murder of your father and my friend Dick Sterling. I know you are not guilty of either of them. I thought you would like to know that I will not be publishing anything about you or any members of your family.’
‘I do not remember asking for your absolution,’ the Duke replied, ready to push past him to get to his waiting carriage. ‘And if you mean to apologise, you are guilty of crimes far worse than your pathetic scribblings.’
‘You mean my trip north with Peg,’ he said, smiling as the Duke flinched. ‘I am sorry but I cannot apologise for that. I feel no regrets at all, other than that it was cut short before we’d reached our objective.’
‘After two days on the road,’ the Duke replied, giving him a look that consigned him to the lowest circle of hell.
David shrugged it off and continued. ‘There is little that I can do to make Scotland come any closer. But there are many fine churches, right here in London. It might prevent an unfortunate delay in the future if you would do me the honour of granting me your sister’s hand, so we might marry in the conventional way.’
At this, the Duke released an explosive laugh. ‘Certainly not.’ Then, he added, ‘If and when my younger sister marries, she will be able to do far better than the likes of you.’
‘And yet it is me she has chosen,’ David said, still surprised at the fact. ‘I am only asking for your permission because I am sure Peg would want me to consult you. Despite what it may seem, she respects your guidance and loves you quite outside of reason. You might like to know that her faith in your innocence never wavered, nor did her desire to follow me around, contradicting all I thought I knew until she had proved me wrong.’
What he had said was close enough to the truth. Even a girl as loyal as Peg had been to the Duke was to be allowed a few hiccups in her convictions. The information had the desired effect for he was sure that, for a moment at least, he saw the Duke’s face soften into something closer to brotherly fondness. ‘She is a good girl, for all the trouble she causes me.’
‘And I can see why you want to keep her home,’ David replied. ‘But she is old enough to know her mind and decide her own future. I have offered and she has accepted. It only leaves your assent to make things proper.’ When an answer did not immediately come, he added, ‘We will be married, in any case. We are in love and meant to be together. But it would be better if you—’
The punch landed a moment after the words were out of his mouth. It was a single blow to the belly, probably delivered by one of the guards, since Scofield was still standing in front of him raising a hand to stop further violence. ‘You already have my answer,’ the Duke said in a soft voice. ‘When you were last in my house, I told you to leave and not return. Do not make this more difficult than it needs to be.’
As David climbed to his knees, one of the guards was reaching for him, ready to strike him down again. But the Duke put a stop to it with another wave of his hand. ‘Leave him. He is not worth the effort.’ Then he continued his walk to the waiting coach and was gone.
When David was able to regain his wind and look up, he was embarrassed to see Peg looking out of one of the ground-floor windows. She had witnessed the whole exchange and was staring in horror, her hand over her mouth. It was not as he wanted her to see him, for he hardly looked like the gallant rescuer she needed him to be.
‘No matter what His Grace has said, if you so much as wave, it will not go well for you,’ said one of the guards before lifting him by the armpits and dragging him away from the house.
When they reached the end of the street, they set him on his feet and the second guard gave him a gentle shove to start him walking away. ‘Goodbye, Mr Castell.’
‘Au revoir,’ he said, managing a smile before continuing on his way.
‘Well, one good thing has come of this debacle,’ Liv said, staring across the morning room at Peg.
‘And what might that be?’ she asked, glancing dejectedly out the window. She did not really want to see David again, if it meant seeing him manhandled by her brother’s men and thrown from the property. But she could not seem to help looking for him.
‘You are officially the black sheep of the family,’ Liv said triumphantly. ‘You were gone for days before they could find you and bring you back. That is far more daring than any of my brief liaisons with Alister.’
‘I am glad to be of service,’ Peg said with a sigh.
‘Gone for days,’ Liv repeated. ‘Anything could have happened in that time.’
Could and did, Peg thought. It was too early to know whether she was going to miss her monthly courses. But if she did, she might finally have the leverage needed to force Hugh to allow a marriage. Though it was clear from the last unfortunate and very public meeting that he did not want to accept David’s suit, there were some scandals that were impossible to hide. Surely it would be better to have a badly married pregnant sister than one that had not bothered to marry at all.
‘Did anything happen?’
‘What?’ Peg’s mind returned from the ether and she looked at her sister in surprise.
‘Did something happen?’ Liv said, glancing at the door to be sure no one was listening before leaning forward in her chair to hear the answer.
‘Yes,’ Peg said at last. There was no reason to keep a secret that everyone must have guessed anyway.
‘Was it...nice?’ her sister said, trying not to sound curious and failing. ‘Did you like it?’
Now, it was Peg’s turn to be surprised. ‘You don’t know? I thought, after all this time with Alister...’
Liv shook her head. ‘We have never... But I do wonder...’
Peg smiled. ‘It is very nice. It is quite wonderful, actually. But if Hugh will not allow us to marry, even after what we have done, I doubt I will ever do it again. What I did, I did for love and not some foolish quest for adventure.’
‘You really want to marry Mr Castell,’ Liv said, surprised.
‘I would like nothing more in the world,’ Peg said, glancing out the window again.
‘He is not really our sort,’ Liv reminded her, as if she had not already noticed the fact.
‘It does not matter. I love him and he loves me.’ She glanced at Liv again. ‘You must understand. You love Alister, after all.’
There was a surprisingly long pause before Liv replied. ‘Of course.’
‘If you are not sure, then I recommend you wait for the physical aspects of love,’ Peg said, feeling odd for offering advice to her older sister. ‘I would never have done it, if I was not sure.’ And even then, it had netted her nothing. She glanced at her sister and added, ‘Do not forget that our brother is not forgiving of mistakes.’
It might have been unfair of her to say such a thing, for Hugh had been surprisingly gentle with her since her return. There had been no shouting or lectures. And, contrary to his earlier threats, he had not locked her on the wrong side of her bedroom door. He had merely sighed and announced that they would be leaving for the country in a few weeks, where there would be fewer distractions. It was hardly necessary. Since neither of the girls had been brave enough to attempt another shopping trip, it was more than quiet enough where they were.
Perhaps that was why the sound of Caesar barking in the backyard seemed so loud and frenzied. Whatever had set him off had him so unsettled that he could be heard all the way to the front of the house. The sisters glanced at each other, then hurried to the study window to see what had upset the dog.
‘Do you think Mr Castell has come for you?’ Liv whispered with a romantic sigh.
‘If so, he is doing a very bad job of sneaking up on us,’ Peg said. ‘I do not see anyone there, in any case. Let us go to the kitchen door to get a better look.’ When they did, there was still nothing out of the ordinary to see. But as the door opened, the dog shot between their feet and into the house, showing more life than he had in years.
‘Come back here, you miserable beast,’ Liv called, chasing him down the hall as frightened maids dodged clear of his crooked teeth like falling nine pins. ‘Catch him,’ she called to the footman by the front door.
Unfortunately for Liv, the boy had already met Caesar and stepped clear, opening the front door to allow him to escape. The pug disappeared through the opening and down the street as fast as his bandy legs would carry him.
‘Get him!’ shrieked Liv in a volume that roused the whole house and guards, front and back. ‘Get him before he is run over by a carriage.’ She raced out of the house after the dog, who had just taken a bite out of a passing under-butler before speeding across the street and into some bushes.
There was another, higher-pitched bark as a second pug crossed back in front of the house and Caesar reappeared, in pursuit and gaining, servants and guards following in an ever-increasing line.
‘Dog fight,’ Peg whispered in horror. ‘Woe to that poor creature if Caesar gets hold of him.’
‘Her,’ said a quiet voice behind her. ‘Her name is Cleopatra. If Caesar catches her, they will be occupied for some time and any gentlemen chasing will have to stop and shield the eyes of the maids.’
‘And of my sister,’ Peg said with a horrified grin, as she was jerked away from the front door and towards the back of the house. ‘She had questions earlier about...’
‘Let us talk as we walk,’ David said, picking up the pace. ‘We do not know how long the lovebirds will be busy.’
‘Can there be such a thing as canine lovebirds?’ she said as they hurried out the kitchen door.
‘In a month, maybe two, you may write home and ask,’ he said, pointing to a carriage waiting beyond the garden gate. ‘I suspect your sister will have two dogs by the end of the day and several more in a few months.’ He hurried her the last few feet and into it, pausing only for a moment to say, ‘I apologise for the brevity of this proposal, but, Lady Margaret, will you marry me?’
‘Of course,’ she said, hopping past him up into the carriage. He joined her and shut the door, signalling the driver so they could be on their way before they were missed.
‘Where are we going?’ she said, breathless.
‘Gretna is north. So we are going south,’ he said, smiling. ‘And then, east. Or perhaps west. I have not decided.’
‘You do not know?’ she said, surprised.
‘We will get to Gretna eventually,’ he said with a serene smile. ‘And we will be married, just as I promised, though you will be well and properly ruined before then. For quite some time we will navigate by flipping a coin if we do not want to see you dragged home again, as we did the last time.’
She stared at the coin in his hand. ‘We might see all of England, before we get to Scotland.’
‘Wales and Cornwall, as well,’ he said. ‘Let us see your brother’s men follow that.’
She smiled. ‘I have always wanted to travel.’
He smiled back and pulled the ring out of his pocket that he had been trying to give her on their last trip. ‘Now, where were we when we were so rudely interrupted?’
She leaned into him, nestling herself under his arm as he took her hand, slipping the ring on her finger and holding it out so they could both admire it.
‘You were telling me you wanted to hold my hand ’til your last breath,’ she said, with a happy sigh.
‘Which I hope is still quite distant,’ he said, glancing out of the carriage window to be sure they were not being followed. When he was satisfied, he turned back to her, smiling. ‘Although I am reasonably sure your brother is not a murderer, I do not want to give him incentive to change for the worse. When he realises you are gone, he will be angry.’
‘But after several months without a sight of me, he will calm down again,’ she replied, surprised to find that she did not really care.
‘Coming away with me might mean permanent estrangement from your family,’ he said, suddenly serious. ‘But I will do everything in my power to make it right, once we are properly married.’
‘It is not the sort of loss I feared when I thought you were going to write about them,’ she said. ‘That would have destroyed them. But this way, they will still be happy and healthy and out of the grip of the gallows. And, if I am honest, they do not need my help to be any of those things.’ She smiled at the man next to her. ‘I can live my life as I wish and I wish to live it with you.’
The arm that rested on her shoulder tightened to draw her even closer to his side. ‘That is just what I hoped to hear.’ He reached into his pocket for a coin. ‘Let us see where chance takes us, my love.’