“You could if you cared about Thaddeus.”
“I do. I love him. And he loves me. He has said so, often.”
“Well then, what is it that woman in Shakespeare said? ‘Screw your courage to the sticking point and you’ll not fail’?”
“Kill Mama?” Milly said, horrified. “I couldn’t possibly do such a wicked thing.”
“Who said anything about killing her?” Zoë said, bewildered.
“You did! That’s what that speech by Lady Macbeth is about—murder. Mama and I saw the play.”
Zoë shook her head. “I don’t know about that—it was just part of a speech that Lady Scattergood made me read to her one day—she’s taken to having improving pieces read to her. I just meant you should be brave and do what you really want to do—run off with your Thaddeus.”
“You mean to Gretna Green? Oh, I couldn’t. It would be a terrible scandal, and Mama would be—”
“Foaming at the mouth and trying to find a way to make the best of it. While you’ll be far away, blissfully married to your Thaddeus.” She could see the image appealed to Milly.
“Besides, it doesn’t have to be Gretna,” Izzy added, seeing Milly’s doubt. “Thaddeus could get a special license and marry you in a church, right here in London.”
Clarissa frowned. “But she won’t be old enough to marry without her mama’s permission, will she?”
Izzy turned back to Milly. “When do you turn one-and-twenty?”
“In three weeks.”
“That’s it, then. All you have to do is to wait three weeks and then you can marry whoever you want.”
Milly shook her head. “No, Mama wants me married quickly. She knows I don’t want to do it, so she’s making arrangements for the marquess to marry me in ten days’ time. The notice will be in the newspapers tomorrow.”
“Then you must elope,” Zoë said. “Tell this Thaddeus of yours to arrange it.”
Milly’s eyes widened in horror. “To Gretna Green? I won’t! I couldn’t! It would be too, too shameful.”
Zoë rolled her eyes, but Clarissa leaned forward excitedly. “No, no, of course you won’t need to flee to the border. We’ll hide you for the next three weeks, then, when you’re one-and-twenty, you can marry your Thaddeus.”
Milly blinked. “Hideme?”
Clarissa nodded. “That’s how Izzy and I defeated our horrid father when we were children. He didn’t want Izzy to live with me, but I hid her for, oh, weeks, until he eventually gave up.”
Izzy nodded. “It’s a good idea.”
Milly looked doubtfully around the summerhouse. “But where would I hide? Here? She’d find me for sure.”
“Not here. In one of our houses,” Izzy said, then grew thoughtful. “Leo would allow it, I’m sure, but he wouldn’t like it, and I wouldn’t ask him to compromise his principles.”
“She could stay with Race and me,” Clarissa said.
“No, her mother’s house is only a couple of doors away.It’s too risky,” Izzy said. “But you could stay with Zoë at Lady Scattergood’s. I’m sure she’d allow it.”
“With that crazy old lady?” Milly exclaimed.
“She’s not crazy, just slightly eccentric,” Zoë said crossly. “And she’s probably going to save you from marriage to the creepy old spider, so you’d better develop a little respect. And show some gratitude.”
“Yes, as soon as she finds out that you’re being forced into an unwilling marriage, she’s sure to agree,” Clarissa said.
“And your mother would never think of looking for you there,” Zoë said on a rallying note.
“So that’s settled,” Clarissa said brightly. “We’ll go and ask Lady Scattergood now.”
