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"After the incident with the brooch I a frohfare "The ap in their accounts of his whereabouts the evening of the betrothal ball, an hour of tih underlings could have perfor of this delicacy would be a task he would perforruffly St John was not averse to doing his own dirty work In fact, he seemed to prefer it

"There is one person who can help us," Avery suggested "The individual who scared away Lady Hawthorne’s attacker"

Marcus shook his head "No one came forward at the ball, and I certainly cannot interview everyone on the guest list without revealing the nature of e clasped his hands behind his back and rocked on his heels "Troubling to be sure I e understood the contents of that journal The key to this whole affair is locked away in there" He fell silent a moment and then, casually, he "

Marcus stifled a groan "I cannot say I’ for James"

Avery nodded "I will speak with him when he comes to me Hopefully, he will allow hed "Those Chesterfields are a stubborn lot I would not count on his easy complacency"

"He was a good agent," Eldridgehilance over his shoulder

"You once told ents are easy to acquire," Marcus reminded

"Ah, but there is no substitute for experience" Eldridge returned to his chair with a slight smile "But it’s just as well Emotional detachment is necessary to put the mission first Barclay would lack that As, I suspect, do you, Westfield It is extremely possible that your emotional involvement with Lady Hawthorne will jeopardize her life"

Avery shifted nervously in his seat

Marcus sain"

Eldridge’s gaze never wavered "You are certain about that, are you?"

"Yes" He’d forgotten, for a few brief weeks, how deeply she could hurt hiht himself beyond that Now he kneas not It was best, for both of them, that he keep his distance He refused to need her to survive She’d already proven she did not need hi their affair There was no doubt he was expendable to her

"All e said dryly "You are in great co off the line of discussion "I shall continue to work on the journal The wedding is only a fortnight hence, and then she’ll be in my home, where she’ll be far better protected"

Avery stood as well "I will speak with Lord Barclay and see what can be done to allay his concerns"

"Keep e ordered "As it stands, unless we learn more about the journal we can only wait, or use Lady Hawthorne to draw out her attacker It won’t be long before we ht sparkled in the puddles left by the early ht rain The day was , and Marcus turned fro He had ordered the creation of a jacket and breeches in a pearl grey with a silver waistcoat heavily eed head down to his diareat pains totook well over an hour

Once finished, he walked through the adjoining sitting room, then beyond into the lady’s chas had already arrived, and he’d scattered them about the room in an effort to s had seemed so intimate, he hadn’t allowed the servants to do it He would keep his ehts now and after all he’d been through for her, he would da around the roo here it should be His gaze came to rest on the escritoire, where a small likeness of Lord Hawthorne sat Marcus picked it up, the i him as it always did Not because of jealousy or e disturbed hi so

As often happened in recent days, his mood turned pensive How different his future would have been had the handsoht she would be forever out of his reach Seduction had crossed his ht of her as his, but when he’d returned to England she was already ed, negating that course of action

He returned the ie to the escritoire, where it joined likenesses of Williaone and best forgotten Today, a great injustice that had been done to hihted, and then his life would return to some se downstairs, Marcus collected his hat and gloves before vaulting into his coach He was one of the first people to arrive at the church and he breathed a sigh of relief to learn Elizabeth was already in the bride’s ready roo for the ceremony Truth was, he’d half feared she would fail to appear Until she spoke her vows, he couldn’t quite allow hi, he spoke with family, friends, and important ents were spread out liberally aether, he was unaware of who they were, he knew only that they were there

A curious sort by nature, he couldn’t help cataloging the personages in the peondering who aent’s life like he did He also noted the marked reticence between peers and their wives, and wished he also felt such detachment from Elizabeth

Would they have lost their minds, as he nearly had, if their spouses had been threatened? Was their every breath contingent upon the safety of their wives? He doubted it It was unnatural, this fascination Without its curse, his failure to protect Elizabeth would never have occurred, and he would not feel as restless as a caged ani peace was to wed himself to his torment For four years, the loss of Elizabeth had been the thorn in his side Now, he could pull it free Now, he would be rid of the ache that plagued him From this moment on, his mission and his own sanity could take precedence Elizabeth would be his, and the world would know it Those who thought to harm her would know it She would know it

There would be no , no more frustration He’d wanted closure

Today he would have it

Chapter 16

"You’re trearet ?"

Glaring, Elizabeth aze in the aret s her eyes, Elizabeth examined her appearance in the th sleeves,skirt and open overskirt The result was serene, an emotion she wished she felt at the ri sworn this day would never come, she was completely unprepared for the reality of it