The priest frowned and consulted the certificate. “Er . . . ye are married tae the fair one, lad. Yes. And the dark-haired lass is married tae him.” The priest pointed to Jack.
Maddie glanced at Jack, who was staring at her, his face unreadable. He didn’t look away and his expression didn’t soften.
Her heart felt like it might burst from hammering so hard.
“But that’s not right,” Ashley said over the banging on the door and the pounding of Maddie’s heart. “You’ve married the wrong brides and grooms!”
The priest frowned. “Wha’ now?” He took another swig from his brandy jug and shrugged. “Ooh, weel, it’s a trifling mistake.”
“Trifling?” Nick hollered. “You’ve married the wrong couples. I’m stuck with her.”
Maddie glanced at Jack, who had still said nothing. Did he realize he was stuck with her now? Or perhaps the truth was that she was stuck with him.
Lord Blackthorne was her husband.
The room seemed to swim again, and she had to clutch Ashley to stay on her feet.
The priest waved all concern away. “Ah weel, juist sort yerselves oot.”
And then he lifted his jug high, tilted his head back, and toppled over.
Chapter Thirteen
Maddie looked like she might follow the priest’s example, and Jack reached out and grasped her shoulder to steady her. She jumped at his touch, and he quickly withdrew his hand.
My wife, he thought, staring at her. My wife. What the hell had he gone and done now?
“Open up this door before I kick it in!” Lord Castleigh’s voice was punctuated by three short thumps that sounded very much like kicks already.
His father-in-law.
“Let’s go,” Jack said, herding everyone toward the adjacent room. “Out the back.”
Nick grabbed Jack. “Wait. I’m not leaving until this is fixed.” He pointed to the crumpled marriage certificate in his hand. “I didn’t agree to marry her.” He pointed to Ashley.
“And I agreed to marry you?” Ashley said, stepping between the brothers. She poked Nick in the chest with one finger. “If I had the choice between marrying you and eating a three-course meal of horse feces, I’d grab a napkin and fork.”
“Is that so?” Nick looked down at her. “Well, if I had the choice between—”
“Do something!” Maddie hissed at Jack. “My father will be inside at any moment.”
Jack turned to look at his wife. She was staring up at him, expecting him to save her—save all of them. What a disappointment he was going to be.
“ . . . I’d drop my breeches,” Nick was saying, “and ask for the hot coals.”
“Enough,” Jack said firmly, stepping between the lovebirds. “Castleigh is coming in, and I for one don’t want to be on the other side of his pistol.”
“But we can’t leave,” Ashley protested. “We need the priest to correct the marriage certificate and then do the ceremony again and marry us to the right people.”
“You go try and rouse him,” Jack said, pushing past her and fumbling in the darkness for the back door. “I’m getting out of here.”
He found the latch, then pulled the door open and jumped back as Castleigh’s startled footmen leapt to attention.
“Oh, hell,” Nick said, and then he was beside Jack. The two brothers dispatched the footmen in a matter of moments, and then both couples were standing in the moonlit courtyard.
“I think we should split up,” Jack said. “If Sir Gareth is close behind Castleigh, we’ll make it harder for them to catch us if we aren’t all together.”
“But I don’t want to go with him,” Ashley complained.
