“I’m marrying Lord James,” Isabella confessed, hating every word. “Martin agreed to an annulment.”
“But why?” Adelaide took her hand. Her sister’s skin was burning with fever.
“Lord James said he would take his vengeance on you if I didn’t convince Martin to let me go.” He’d said Martin wouldn’t agree if he thought she was asking because either of them was threatened. So he’d threatened her sister instead, the cold-hearted snake.
“I had to go through with it. I had to go down to the dungeon and put on the show of a lifetime, convincing Martin that I never cared for him and that it was all a ruse to goad Lord James into making a better offer. And God forgive me, it worked.”
“No,” Adelaide whispered, squeezing her hand.
“Yes. He said the words, and he meant them.” She’d done her very best to look cold and aloof. Did he know her heart was breaking beneath it all? Did he understand the pain each word had caused her?
“Then find a way to fix it.” Her sister’s earnest gaze broke Isabella’s heart all over again. The choices before her were impossible. Even Adelaide should be able to see that.
“If only I could.” More tears dripped down Isabella’s cheeks.
“You can,” Adelaide said, barely audible. “You’re my sister. You’re too strong and smart to let this happen. You’ll find a way. I know you will. Youmust.”
“Rest, my sweet. Don’t worry yourself about me. You just focus on getting better, all right?” Her sister’s blind faith in her abilities was almost as painful as Martin’s words in the dungeon. She’d let everyone down, and she couldn’t see a way out.
Adelaide nodded against the pillow and closed her eyes. Isabella smoothed her hair back and watched her breathing slow to a deep and regular cadence.
Exhaustion weighed Isabella down as the events of the day played over and over in her mind, but she knew there would be no sleep for her tonight. The horror of it all was too much, and she couldn’t let go of the tiny sliver of hope that maybe her sister was right. Maybe she could find a way out of this if she could only clear her mind enough to think.
Perhaps she didn’t need to come up with the entire plan on her own. If she could find a way to see Martin, they could think together. Surely between the two of them, they were clever enough to come up with a plan.
She got up and went over to her chest of clothing, pulling out her plainest woolen gown and an unadorned brown wool cloak with a deep hood. Quickly, she put them on, before she could reconsider this rash plan.
Slipping out the door, she snuck out into the hallway. Which door was Martin’s? He had to be here somewhere, but she couldn’t risk waking the wrong person. Then she spotted the room at the end with the dozing guard by the door. That had to be it.
Tiptoeing, she made her way down the hall. The guard was snoring and smelled of alcohol. She prayed he stayed unconscious. Reaching up, she began to unlatch the door, but the scrape of metal against metal made just enough sound that the guard was startled awake.
“Who are you?” the guard grumbled.
Isabella’s heart nearly stopped. “The healer sent me. I’m supposed to change Lord Martin’s bandages.”
The guard blinked at her. For a long moment, Isabella hardly dared breathe. If she was caught sneaking into Martin’s chamber, heaven only knows what Lord James would do.
At last, he said, “All right. Go in.” Leaning his head back, he closed his eyes.
She eased into the room as quietly as she could manage. And closed the door behind her.
“Who is it?” Lord Martin asked from across the pitch-black room. She heard the rustling of bedclothes and the rasp of a flint, and then the light of a candle filled the room with soft, flickering light. Martin was sitting up in bed, bare from the waist up, eyes wide and wary. Suddenly, she was far too warm, despite the chill of the night.
She threw back her hood, and he gasped. “What are you doing here?” he asked in a barely audible whisper.
Rushing to his side, she sat on the bed and lowered her lips to his ear. “Lord James made me say what I did by threatening Adelaide. I didn’t have any choice, I swear.”
“I believe you, my love,” he whispered back, caressing her cheek and kissing her ever so softly on the lips. The slow sweetness robbed her of any coherent thought. She felt the loss keenly when he pulled away. “I knew he had to be manipulating you somehow.”
He was so warm and close, and he smelled of the sea and sunshine. He must have washed himself because all traces ofthe dust, blood, and sweat from the fight earlier were gone. She wanted to drown herself in the comfort of his arms, but there was no time.
“I don’t know what to do. With Adelaide so ill and now in danger from Lord James, I can hardly think straight. I was hoping if we worked together, we might come up with a plan to escape this awful mess.”
“You mean to tell me you haven’t figured it all out with that magnificent mind of yours?” There was a playful look in his eye that reminded her of their first meeting. How could he tease at a time like this?
“Not yet,” she said, narrowing her eyes and pursing her lips.
A wicked half-smile curled his lips. “Then we’ll have to figure it out together because I cannot wait to escape this place and spend weeks on end worshipping you. You were very brave today. I can’t tell you what it meant that you stayed for the fight and cheered me on, even though you were surrounded by Lord James’s men. I’m starting to think you like me.”
