“Do youhaveto go abroad?” she asked. “Sometimes the courts will acquit a gentleman of the charges, assuming the duel was a just one.”
“It was.” His expression grew shuttered. “But I can’t risk defending myself in court.”
“Why not?”
“I can’t say. It’s . . . complicated.”
“It can’t be more complicated than running away to the Continent, for goodness’ sake.”
A muscle worked in his jaw. “Look, I’ve made a vow to keep the reasons for the duel quiet. And I have to keep that vow.”
“Even from me?” She couldn’t hide the hurt in her voice. “Why? Who demanded such a thing of you?”
“I can’t say, damn it!” When she flinched, he said, “It isn’t important.”
“It certainly is tome. You want me to run off with you, but you won’t even explain why you fought or even with whom you dueled?”
Letting out an oath, he stared past her into the woods. “I suppose I can reveal the other party in the duel, since that will get around soon enough. The man’s name is Joseph Whiting.”
She didn’t know any Joseph Whiting, so that information wasn’t terribly helpful.
“But that’s all I can reveal.” He fixed her with a hard look. “You’ll simply have to trust me. Come with me, and I will take care of you.”
“What about passports? How can you even be sure we can marry in Spain?”
“There’s no reason we can’t. And I have a passport—we’ll arrange for yours once we arrive.”
She didn’t know anything about international travel, but his plan sounded awfully havey-cavey. “If you’re wanted for murder here, surely no British consulate—”
“I promise you, it will all turn out well in the end.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“Deuce take it, Iloveyou,” he said, desperation in his tone. “Isn’t that enough?”
“No! You’re asking me to risk my entire future to go with you. To leave my family and my home, possibly never to see either again. So, no, it isnotenough, drat you!”
He squeezed her hands. “Are you saying you don’t share my feelings?”
“You know I do.” Her heart lurched in her chest. “I’d follow you to the ends of the earth if I could, but I can’t right now.” Certainly not without some assurance that he truly meant to marry her and not just . . . carry her off to have his way with her.
Oh, Lord, that was absurd. Just because he was heir to an earl and she the daughter of an impoverished knight didn’t mean that Niall would stoop so low. She was sure of it. She’d heard of women being fooled into thinking they were eloping when really they weren’t, women who were discarded after they’d served their usefulness to some randy lord. But Niall would never do such a thing. He was an honorable man.
Except for the fact that he fought a duel for reasons he won’t reveal.
She winced. It didn’t matter. He would never hurt her that way. She couldn’t believe it. And for a moment, the idea of being his forever, of traveling abroad and seeing the world without their families to make trouble—
Families. That brought reality crashing in. “You know I can’t leave Mama.” Regretfully, she tugged her hands from his. “She needs me.”
“Ineed you.” His lovely eyes were dark with entreaty. “Your mother has your father.”
“The man who spends every waking moment at his club or in the hells, gambling away my future and Mama’s,” she said bitterly. “She could die, and he wouldn’t even notice.”
Papa had never met a card game he didn’t like. Unfortunately, he’d never met one he could win, either. But he spent all his time and money trying to find one.
Consequently, Mama spent much ofhertime alone with Brilliana or servants. Brilliana had hoped that when—if—Niall proposed marriage, she could persuade him to let her take Mama to live with them. But that was impossible if he meant to carry her off to the Continent.
“What aboutyourfamily?” she asked.
