“Oh, well, then,” he said dispiritedly, “it wouldn’t work.”
“But it will,” cried Isabel. “It doesn’t matter what they will think. Once we are married there is nothing Marc—they can do.” Her eyes fixed beseechingly on his, she said, “Oh, please, Hugh. I promise you I shall be a good wife. Please!”
Lost in her great golden eyes, Hugh’s good sense wavered. She was a fetching little thing…. He liked her….He pictured his empty bungalow in India and saw the years stretch out emptily before him with only hard work and plenty of it to give him satisfaction; Isabel could change all that…. There would be children….
His decision made, Hugh stood up and paced in front of her. “If your aunt and uncle disapprove, it will have to be a runaway match. We can be married in London by Special License before my ship sails.” He looked uneasily at her. “I don’t know if I can arrange passage for you, and I must be on that ship, the Company is expecting me back by a certain date—I cannot delay. You might,” he warned, “have to remain in London with your maid for several weeks before another ship will be sailing for India. You could stay at m’father’s townhouse; he keeps a small staff in residence, so they would see to your needs.” He paused. “That might not be a bad idea. I can sign the necessary papers and leave instructions with my solicitor to get your affairs in order. And you will have time to shop for necessities. I’ll prepare a list for you.” He looked down at her, doubt still lurking in his blue eyes. “I plan to leave tomorrow, just after daybreak. If this is really what you want, you must gather your things and slip out of the house; I will meet you at the gates of Denham Manor. By the time anyone knows you’re gone, we’ll be well on our way to London.”
Captured by the knowledge that in one fell swoop she’d be escaping from everything that made her unhappy, Isabel nodded. The sudden prospect of traveling to way-off India, of seeing live tigers, elephants, and who knew what other magical creatures dancing in her brain, took her breath away. She leaped to her feet and flung her arms around Hugh’s neck. “I promise I will be a good wife and never make you regret this moment,” she vowed passionately. Ignoring the tiny pang in the region of her heart when Marcus’s handsome face flashed before her gaze, she hugged Hugh even tighter, pushing the image away. “I promise.”
Hugh took a deep breath. “Well, then, my dear, it appears before we are much older, we shall be man and wife—and on our way to India!”
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Copyright © 2007, 2009 by Shirlee Busbee
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Scandal Becomes Her Page 40
