Chapter Twenty
Geoffrey read the letter, growing angrier with his sister as he went along. Clearly she was taking advantage of her friendship with Diana to impose on her. His sister had even gone so far as to bring him into it with a not-so-subtle bribe to keep Diana quiet!
It wasn’t fair of Rosy in the least. And he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Diana had nothing to do with the elopement. He’d seen the shock and horror on her face as she was reading. No one could pretend that well, even his mindful-of-words Diana.
He shot up. “I have to go. I must at least try to catch them before they reach Scotland.”
She rose, too. “Geoffrey, I want you to know that I—”
“It doesn’t matter.”
She looked stricken. “Please, hear me out—”
Suddenly realizing how that must have sounded, he seized her hands and kissed both in turn. “It doesn’t matter because I know you had nothing to do with it, the same way I know that I love you.”
“You do? Truly?” she asked in a tremulous voice.
“I do, truly and until death do us part. Nor is that going to change simply because my sister is a fool and your cousin is apparently one also. But I still have to go.”
“Then I’m going with you.” She turned to Norris. “Please have Cook pack up whatever is left from breakfast. Tell her to use that picnic basket and include plenty of coffee. Then have her send it out to his lordship’s carriage. We’ll need to eat on the way. Oh, and if you could explain to my sisters where I’ve gone and why—”
“But . . . but, my lady, you can’t go with . . . with him. It’s improper and will quite possibly ruin you! If you insist on going, I can send for Mrs. Pierce to accompany you.”
Before Geoffrey could even protest, she said, “That would take too long. Besides, by the time the gossip has gotten around, we will already be engaged to be wed.” Then she paused, as if realizing he hadn’t actually proposed marriage to her yet. “Is that correct, Your Grace?”
“That is absolutely correct,” he said, unable to stop a silly grin from crossing his lips.
She gave Norris a hand motion that apparently meant Do as I say, because the butler gave no more protest and hurried off in the direction of the kitchen.
“Norris is right, you know,” Geoffrey said. “If you come with me, the gossip will be merciless.”
“Actually, if I come with you, we might save Rosy from that merciless gossip. Assuming we catch up to them before nightfall, we can always claim we went on a day trip as couples. It wouldn’t quite be acceptable, but he’s my cousin and she’s your sister, so in a way, we’re both chaperoning our relations. Whereas, if you just ride after them alone in your carriage, you lose that as an argument.”
“You really want to go, don’t you?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Why?”
“So I can help with Rosy and . . . well . . .”
“Keep me from murdering your cousin?”
“Precisely.”
He shook his head with a rueful smile. “And I don’t suppose my promise not to kill him will suffice, under the circumstances?”
“You might just maim him. Or worse, call him out, and then you could both end up killing each other.” She frowned. “And I refuse to go to your funeral if you do something that foolish.”
He chuckled. “Very well. How soon can you be ready?”
“In the time it takes for me to fetch my bag and put on my gloves and bonnet.”
That took him by surprise. “Well, then. Let’s go.”
A short while later, they were in his carriage, along with the picnic basket and Diana’s mysterious bag, which she seemed to carry everywhere. While she’d been getting ready, he had run after the servant who’d brought the note and threatened him with dismissal if the lad didn’t tell him everything he knew.
By the time he got back, Diana was in the carriage. He told his coachman where to go and climbed inside.