The Wedding Pact (Marriage by Fairytale Book 3)

by Ruth Ann Nordin

  She glanced at the bed. Maybe she could hide under it. She knelt down, ready to do so, when she noticed that books—a lot of them—had been tucked under it. Given how dusty they were, she gathered Julian had forgotten all about them.

  There was a knock on the door, followed by Lord Wolfe saying, “Vicar Roskin, I have an urgent matter to discuss with you. Open at once.”

  Thank goodness Julian wasn’t here! Otherwise, she’d really be in trouble.

  Heart pounding in her chest, she waited for the sound of the carriage leaving. Such a sound didn’t happen. Instead, she heard the doorknob turn. Lord Wolfe couldn’t be serious. He couldn’t actually mean to come into the cottage without being invited inside.

  But she heard the front door open and Lord Wolfe asked, “Vicar Roskin? Where are you?”

  She had to do something. She must not—could not—let him find her! She saw the bowl by the bed and the blanket Julian had folded on the bed. An idea came to her.

  She slid the cane under the bed, grabbed the bowl, and got into the bed, gritting her teeth against the pain from her sudden movement. She pulled up the sheets to her neck. Then she threw the blanket around her head, making sure her face was hidden. She then put the bowl up to her mouth, and, as disgusting as it was, she forced her finger down her throat until she threw up.

  Lord Wolfe opened the bedroom door just at that moment. He waited until she was done vomiting before he said, “My apologies, Vicar. I had no idea you were sick. You seemed well yesterday when I talked to you about doing the wedding.”

  Julian was supposed to marry her and Lord Wolfe? Had she known that, she might have thrown up without the help of her finger.

  “I wouldn’t have barged into your parsonage except the matter is of great urgency,” Lord Wolfe continued.

  Since he seemed to expect a response, she let out a low-pitched grunt, making sure to keep her head lowered so he wouldn’t see her face.

  “Has a young lady been by?” Lord Wolfe asked. “She might have stopped by last night or even earlier this morning.”

  She shook her head and coughed so that she didn’t have to use her voice to answer him.

  He sighed. “She has to be somewhere in the area. She’s on horseback and alone. She couldn’t have gone too far. If she happens to come by, you must notify me at once. I’ll leave a note on your desk so you know where to contact me.”

  She grunted and nodded. Then she held her breath and waited for what he’d do next.

  Would he start to search the room? Her soiled clothes were at the bottom of the armoire. Julian hadn’t even closed the door all the way when he’d given her his old clothes to wear. It was open by a few inches. Was it open enough so that Lord Wolfe would notice? Or would he lift the blanket off her head and expose her? Would he make sure he was really talking with the vicar? Did he see right through her ploy?

  She glanced at the bowl in front of her and, as she hoped, the sight of her vomit made her throw up again, but this time, only clear fluid came out.

  Lord Wolfe stepped out of the room and shut the bedroom door. She put the bowl on the floor in front of the bed, but she remained still under the covers.

  She listened as he moved through the cottage. She closed her eyes and prayed she hadn’t left anything out there that would expose the truth. She didn’t think she had. She thought she’d been careful. But she hadn’t expected Lord Wolfe to show up.

  After a few minutes, she heard the front door close. She bit her lower lip and waited until she heard the carriage moving before she lowered the blanket from her head. Was that it? Was he really gone?

  She waited until the sound of the carriage grew faint before she pushed aside the blanket and gingerly got out of the bed. After retrieving the cane, she limped over to the small window in the room. She could barely make the carriage out from the angle she was at, but she was assured it was a good distance from the cottage.

  She collapsed against the wall and released her breath. That had been close. Much too close. Lord Wolfe knew she had run off, and worse, he was searching for her. There was no way she could leave this cottage now. Not until he gave up searching for her.

  She put her hand to her forehead. How was she to know her guardian had spent all of her life grooming her for marriage to him? No one had warned her. Nor had anyone told her he was the kind of gentleman who demanded he get what he wanted. She willed aside the reminder of his lips on her mouth and his hands on her body.

  No, she mustn’t think of that. She had other things to worry about. For one, she had to clean out the bowl before Julian found it. And two, she had to take it easy on her ankle. It was throbbing in pain. She glanced down at it. It didn’t seem any more bruised than before, but she did see blood soaking into a part of the trousers she was wearing. That wasn’t good. She’d just undone the progress Julian had made.

  A little blood is better than Lord Wolfe finding you.

  Yes, she was much better off aggravating her injuries than being hauled off to be with Lord Wolfe. She would rather bleed all over the place than be his wife.

  Once she gathered her bearings, she would clean out the bowl. Afterwards, she could deal with her wounds. Perhaps Julian would return with the doctor by then.

  ***

  “You need to stay off the ankle for one to two months,” the doctor told Ophelia as he finished putting a splint on her ankle. “The cut you have on the leg will be fully healed by then, but I have to warn you that you’ll have a nasty scar. There’s nothing anyone can do about that.”

  Julian left the window and went over to Ophelia and the doctor. “But she’ll be able to walk, won’t she?”

  “Yes,” the doctor said. “She’ll be just fine. Fortunately, she fell at the right angle. If she hadn’t, things would be different.”

  Julian was relieved to hear this. He’d hate to think the injury would be permanent. One could live just fine with a scar.

  The doctor smiled at Ophelia. “Take it easy. I know ladies have a tendency to want to work around the home, but you’ll be doing your husband a bigger favor by letting him do the tasks.”

  Ophelia’s eyebrows furrowed. “I’m not married.”

  The doctor frowned and glanced over at Julian.

  Catching the disapproving look in his eyes, Julian hurried to explain, “We only met last night.” At once, he realized that sounded worse. “She was traveling through the area, and she fell off her horse. I brought her in and took care of her.” He cleared his throat. “I put healing ointment on the cut and wrapped her leg in bandages. Then I let her sleep in the bedroom. I slept out here on the settee. Then when we woke up, we ate breakfast, and I went to get you. I swear, nothing inappropriate happened.”

  “He’s right,” Ophelia jumped in, probably to stop him from rambling. “Nothing happened.”

  The doctor’s expression relaxed, and Julian felt his heart rate go back to normal. He was a vicar. He had an example to live before others. He didn’t have the same liberties other gentlemen did. Had he been any of his brothers, the only thing the doctor would expect was that he be discreet.

  The doctor stood up and walked over to Julian. Keeping his voice low, the doctor said, “You need to take her to her family before the end of today. You can’t afford a scandal.”

  “I understand,” Julian replied.

  Julian paid the doctor and waited for the doctor to get on his horse before he directed his attention back to Ophelia. He recalled how adamant she was that she not return to the place she’d left. But certainly, there had to be someone she knew who would be willing to take her in.

  He cleared his throat. “The doctor made a good point. I’m a vicar. I can’t keep you here. Isn’t there someone I can take you to?”

  She shook her head. “I can’t leave. I must stay here.”

  “But we’re not married. It’s not right. I have an image to maintain.”

  “There’s no one I can trust.” When he indicated he didn’t believe her, she insisted, “It’
s true. If you send me away, my situation will be unbearable. I need to be here.”

  He had no doubt she believed it. And for all he knew, she might be right. But that was the problem, wasn’t it? He didn’t know what her situation was. “What were you running from last night? What was it that scared you so much?”

  “I don’t want to say. It’s not safe.”

  “I’m a vicar. I make it a point to keep people’s secrets.”

  “This is different,” she said.

  “Everybody thinks their situation is different,” he replied. When she didn’t relent, he sat in the chair in front of her. “I serve the Lord. Part of that service is to be a confidant to those who need help. I assure you that I take that service seriously.”

  “I believe you. You could have harmed me last night or even this morning, and you didn’t. I feel safe with you.”

  “Then why don’t you tell me what’s going on?”

  Something changed in her expression, and he expected her to confess what had happened to her. But instead of that, she asked, “Can’t you marry me? Then I can live here with you.”

  He stared at her in disbelief. Surely, he couldn’t have understood her right.

  “As you said, this cottage is a mess,” she continued. “You could use a wife’s help. I can keep this place clean. All that laundry on your bedroom floor will take a long time to wash if you do it by yourself. You have no servants. There’s no one to help you do anything.”

  “This is ridiculous,” he said. “We hardly know each other.”

  “What does that matter? There are other couples who marry without knowing much about each other. That happens often, doesn’t it?”

  “Yes, it’s not uncommon for couples to marry without knowing each other very well, but—”

  It was then that he recalled his conversation with Lord Wolfe yesterday morning. With a gasp, he jumped out of the chair and went to the clock. It was almost noon.

  “Did anyone stop here while I was gone?” he asked, his attention returning to her.

  She paled. “What?”

  “I’m supposed to marry this couple…” He went to his desk and opened the top drawer. He pulled out the book and opened it. Yes, there it was. “Lord Wolfe said he would come by this morning with a lady he’s betrothed to. I’m supposed to marry them. He said he should be here either around ten or eleven.”

  He glanced at the clock again. He couldn’t believe he’d forgotten all about the wedding he was supposed to perform. He ran his fingers through his hair. How could he have let such an important piece of information slip his mind? Even if he was busy taking care of Ophelia, he should have remembered something as important as a wedding.

  “No one’s been here,” she said. “It’s been quiet the entire time you were gone.”

  He thought he detected a hint of panic in her voice, but in the next moment, she was standing up, and he hurried to give her the cane so she wouldn’t put unnecessary pressure on her ankle.

  She took the opportunity to reach for his hand. “You’re the only one I have. If you don’t marry me, I’ll be forced to roam from one place to another in hopes that no one will hurt me.”

  Her situation couldn’t be that desperate. If it was, that would be too awful for him to wrap his mind around. He shoved the possibilities of what she might be running from aside. Some terrible things happened in the world. He wasn’t so naïve that he didn’t know this. Some of the people in his parish had suffered a great deal. The worst situation he’d heard involved the lady who’d had an affair with a prominent gentleman in London. When he found out she was expecting, he beat her until she miscarried. To this day, he didn’t know what was worse: the fact that he’d killed the child or the fact that she refused to stop having the affair.

  Ophelia squeezed his hand. “Please help me.”

  After a moment, he asked, “Can’t you give me some idea of what you’re going through?”

  “There’s a person who won’t take no for an answer. I’ve had to live my entire life doing everything this person wanted.”

  He frowned. “How old are you?”

  “Twenty-one.”

  “And this person never gave you a choice on doing anything?”

  “No. What this person wanted me to do was something I just couldn’t bear to go through. I can do many things, but I couldn’t do that.”

  “What is it that this person wanted you to do?”

  “I’d rather not say.” She squeezed his hand again, her expression imploring him to do what she wanted. “I don’t mean to deprive you of your own choices, but I’m desperate.”

  His gaze met hers, and he felt himself relenting. He wished he knew more about what this person had done to her. If he did, he’d be able to help her in the exact way she needed it. But he was given so few facts that he had to work around the holes in her situation.

  “You really are twenty-one?” he asked.

  Her eyes lit up with hope. “Yes. I turned twenty-one yesterday.”

  “And you’re not married? This person you’re leaving isn’t your husband?”

  “No. I have no husband. You will be the only one.”

  Well, those were the only two things he could think of that would disqualify him from marrying her. She had to be able to consent to a marriage without a guardian, and she had to be single. He sensed her situation was as bad as she claimed, so getting away from the person had been the best thing for her. And if she had nowhere else to go, then what else could she do but ask him to marry her in light of the fact that he was a vicar and people wouldn’t look favorably upon her staying in his home.

  He should say no. That was the smart thing to do. But a part of him didn’t want to say no. She had a sweet temperament and was very pleasant to look at. A gentleman would have to blind not to be attracted to her.

  Even as he realized he wasn’t making a rational decision, he said, “All right. We’ll marry. I can arrange for us to have a private ceremony with another vicar I know.”

  “Thank you.”

  Noting her relief, he added, “I can’t marry you today. I have to wait for Lord Wolfe to come by with his betrothed.”

  “What if Lord Wolfe doesn’t come?”

  He glanced at the clock. Given the lateness of the hour and the fact that the gentleman hadn’t already shown up, Julian realized that was a very real possibility. Who knew if something had happened to break the engagement at the last minute? Such things had been known to happen before. It didn’t make sense to wait here all day when there was the matter of getting a special license.

  Lord Wolfe had been insistent Julian be ready for him this morning. He had said he had somewhere important he needed to be before nightfall. If Lord Wolfe had to be somewhere by tonight, then it was safe to assume he wouldn’t come here after one.

  “I’ll make us something to eat, and if he hasn’t come here by the time we’re done eating, I’ll get the special license,” Julian finally said. “You’ll need to stay here and get as much rest as you can. The injury is more serious than I thought.”

  He started to walk to the kitchen when he realized she was following him.

  “I’ll help you cook the meal,” she said.

  “Didn’t you just hear the doctor saying you need to rest?”

  “But I need to learn how to cook. I can’t do that in the chair.”

  “You’re not supposed to cook anything for at least a few weeks,” he replied.

  “How can I prove my worth as a wife if I don’t learn how to cook?”

  “You’ll have plenty of time to learn.” Since she wasn’t making a move to go to the chair, he picked her up and carried her to it. Once she was sitting, he carefully placed her leg on the ottoman. “The sooner you heal, the sooner you can learn. I already agreed to marry you. Isn’t that good enough?”

  “You’re right. It is. But I want you to know I’ll be a good wife. I might not know how to cook, wash clothes, or read a book, but I can learn to do them.”

>   Surprised she should be so adamant about proving her worth, he chuckled. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were looking for a job. Being a wife isn’t something you have to prove you can do. I’m confident you’ll learn to cook, wash clothes, and read. For the time being, you’ll do both of us a favor if you stay in that chair and let your leg and ankle heal.”

  He worried she might argue with him, but she nodded and settled back into the chair. Relieved, he went to the kitchen and got started on their meal.

  Chapter Six

  Ophelia winced as Julian helped her into the carriage the next day.

  “I’m sorry,” Julian said. “This thing is old. It used to belong to the vicar who lived here before me. When he moved to a bigger parish, he left it here.”

  She hadn’t even stopped to consider the condition of the carriage. All through yesterday, she had worried Lord Wolfe would return. She’d been careful to hide the fact that Lord Wolfe had come looking for her. She’d retrieved the letter Lord Wolfe had left for Julian and had torn it up into a bunch of little pieces. Then she’d disposed of that with her vomit.

  Despite reopening her wound, it’d been worth it. Julian hadn’t known someone had come by looking for him. There was no need for Julian to know she’d been the betrothed that Lord Wolfe had planned to marry. If he knew, he’d probably insist she marry her guardian. She didn’t know him well enough to think otherwise.

  The condition of the carriage was the least of her concerns. She needed to get married to Julian in case Lord Wolfe returned. She might not know much about how people did things, but she knew Lord Wolfe couldn’t marry her if she was already married to someone else.

  Julian would treat her better than Lord Wolfe would. Julian had kept his word the entire time about not doing anything to hurt her. He never once laid a hand anywhere that made her uncomfortable, nor had he tried to kiss her. He’d been considerate of her the whole time, and since they’d been alone, there was no reason to think he’d suddenly become like Lord Wolfe after they married. She had no other choice than Julian anyway. It wasn’t like she had the opportunity to meet a group of gentlemen and pick one. She was just glad Julian seemed like a nice one. At the very least, she felt safe when she was with him.