Page 39 of A Kiss to Stop a Wedding

F lora pummelled Matt’s his chest with her fists.

Hard. He caught her shoulders and held her off.

Farnleigh was staring in astonishment and Matt jerked his head towards the door.

He paused only long enough to see the man help his wife to her feet and lead her out of the room before addressing the termagant who was striving to attack him.

‘Flora, Flora, what have I done?’

‘Done? You odious, odious creature!’ she cried, struggling against his hold.

‘After weeks of silence, you arrive without a word of warning, denounce my fiancé and convince me you are here only to take back your precious statue! And if that was not enough, you h-have the audacity to call me l-love! ’

Matt almost laughed with relief. He pulled her into his arms, ignoring her half-hearted attempts to resist him, and after a few moments she collapsed against him, weeping into his shoulder .

‘And what should I call you?’ he murmured, resting his cheek against her hair.

‘W-we never s-spoke of love,’ she sobbed, her voice muffled against his coat.

He put his fingers beneath her chin and turned her face up towards him.

‘Ah. Well, that was a monstrous error, because you are my world. My life.’ He placed a gentle kiss on her lips. ‘My one and only love.’

For a moment she was motionless, then with a little cry she threw her arms around his neck.

‘Oh, Matt…’ She sighed, her eyes shining. ‘I do love you so!’

She stretched up, meeting his lips with her own in a kiss that expressed all the passion and pent-up emotions of the past few weeks.

* * *

‘So, do you believe now that I love you?’ asked Matt.

He was sitting on the settee with Flora on his lap. She was resting her head against his shoulder and gazing up at him with such a glowing look that he thought he might burst with happiness.

She gave an ecstatic sigh. ‘I do, my dearest darling. I should never have doubted you.’

He kissed her again, then settled her more comfortably against him.

‘I wish I could have told you, but there was no time to explain. Conham and I were obliged to find the survivors from Whilton’s troop, obtain their depositions and get back here in time to stop the wedding.

And even then, we did not know if we could pull this off.

If Whilton had called our bluff, we could not be sure the army would wish to prosecute after all this time. ’

She said in a small voice, ‘I thought I did not matter to you. I thought you had come back just for the Rysbrack.’

That was so far from the truth that a laugh escaped him.

‘Oh, sweetheart, how could you think I would prize a lump of stone above you?’ he said, hugging her closer.

‘But I confess that is what I wanted the Viscount to believe. I couldn’t look at you because I was afraid he would see how desperately I love you and decide that punishing us both was worth the risk. ’

‘Yes, I can believe he might well have done that,’ said Flora, shuddering.

For a few moments she remained silent, enjoying the comfort of Matt’s arms around her, then she raised her head to voice the question that could no longer be ignored.

‘Matt, how can you love me, knowing that my mother…?’

‘That your mother spied for the French? How can you love me , knowing my father was an inveterate gambler who left his family penniless?’

She shook her head. ‘That is not the same. And now you run a successful business, you should marry a woman with a good dowry.’

‘You have a dowry.’

‘A few hundred a year.’ She sighed. ‘My uncle told me it should have been more, but he was obliged to use most of the money my father left to hush up the scandal.’

‘Your money is not important to me, my love. I am not rich, but Bellemonte is flourishing and with your help I am sure we can make it even more successful.’ He took her face in his hands.

‘Neither of us can change our past, Flora. It is you I love, you I want by my side, now and in the future. As my wife, my partner. For ever.’

‘Oh, Matt!’

She slipped her arms about his neck and kissed him, giving herself up to the desire he was rousing in her, until they were interrupted by the sound of voices at the door. She quickly slipped off his lap as Lord Dallamire came in.

‘Where is Lord Whilton?’ she asked, as he closed the door behind him.

‘He has retired, leaving his man in the hall to see us out.’

‘But he has signed the deal for the Rysbrack, all right and tight?’ asked Matt.

‘Oh, yes. You can arrange for your men to collect it and take it back to Bellemonte whenever you wish.’ The Earl grinned.

‘He was most affronted when I informed him that duplicates of all those depositions against him are lodged with my lawyers, in case he should go back on his word. He had not thought to make copies of Mrs Warenne’s correspondence. ’

‘Yes, that would be why he wanted to delay handing them over,’ she said, nodding. ‘He wanted to do the same! Thank goodness Mrs Goole knew where to find them for you.’

Matt’s arm tightened around her. ‘Aye, she has proved herself very useful this evening.’

‘A woman scorned,’ murmured the Earl, ‘but possibly not for long. When I parted with the Viscount he went off in search of her. I am sorry to pain you, Miss Warenne, but I fear he is more enamoured of his housekeeper than he ever was of you.’

‘I cannot be sorry for that, my lord,’ she told him, ‘Although I am a little sorry for her, if she decides to stay with such a man.’

A sigh escaped her, and Matt kissed her cheek. ‘Enough of this. It is time I took you away from here.’

* * *

They collected their cloaks and coats and were soon seated in the Earl’s carriage and bowling along lanes illuminated by the moonlight. Flora sat in the corner, her hand held snug in Matt’s warm grasp.

She said, shyly, ‘You must be eager to return to Bellemonte, but I hope you will call on me before you leave.’

‘I am not leaving you at Birchwood House,’ Matt told her.

‘You are not spending another night without my protection. I have no intention of losing you now. We will call there to collect your maid, if she is willing to come with you. Then, my dear heart, you are coming to the Whilton Arms with Conham and me. From there we will make our way back to Dallamire where we will be married just as soon as it can be arranged.’

‘You must forgive my friend, Miss Warenne,’ murmured the Earl, the faintest trace of laughter in his voice. ‘He is behaving like a tyrant.’

‘Nothing of the sort,’ exclaimed Matt. ‘You don’t want to remain with your aunt and uncle, do you, Flora? They were prepared to let you marry that monster to secure their own comfort.’

‘No, I do not wish to stay with them indefinitely, after all that has happened. But to desert them, leave them to face all the gossip that is bound to erupt tomorrow, when it becomes known the wedding is cancelled—’

‘No one will be surprised to find you have accepted Lady Dallamire’s invitation to go and stay for a while, until the dust has settled,’ said the Earl.

‘However, what you do after that is entirely up to you. You must not let Talacre bully you into marrying him. He has very little to recommend him, you know. No fortune to speak of and a lifetime of hard work ahead of him.’

‘That sounds very much like you when Rosina took pity on you,’ retorted Matt.

‘Ah, but I had the advantage of a title.’

Flora laughed and threw up her hands.

‘Stop!’ she cried. ‘Stop funning, both of you! First of all, I would very much like to accept Lady Dallamire’s kind invitation, my lord, thank you. As for marrying Matt…’

‘Yes?’ he prompted, sitting tense and upright beside her.

Flora turned to look at him and said, softly, ‘There is nothing I would like more than to spend the rest of my life with him.’

‘Thank heaven for that!’ exclaimed Matt, taking her in his arms. ‘Oh, my dearest love, you have made me the happiest man in the world!’

The Earl watched as Flora melted against Matt and eagerly returned his kiss.

‘Well, there seems very little doubt about that,’ he muttered, settling himself into his corner and pulling his hat down over his eyes. ‘A wedding it is, then, and as soon as may be!’