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H arrington’s first stop was Latimer House.

The long-time family butler, Ellery, greeted him warmly but informed him that Diana was out.

“Do you know where she went?” Harrington asked.

“She said something about going to look at townhouses.” Ellery frowned, noticing Harrington’s drawn expression. “Is anything the matter, Lieutenant?”

“Yes. No.” He cleared his throat. “It’s nothing bad, but I do need to speak with her with some urgency.”

“Of course. She did not mention any specifics to me, but I will ask Lady Griselda and?—”

“Astley.” The sound of crisp footfalls echoed on the marble tiles as Marcus Latimer strode into the entry hall. “Good. You’re here.”

Harrington gave a nervous laugh. “I’m fairly certain those words have never before crossed your lips.”

The duke placed a hand on his shoulder, steering him toward the grand staircase. “Come. You can sign the annulment papers.”

Harrington jerked out of his grasp. He should have fucking known. “Now see here, Trevissick. I spoke with Diana last night?—”

“Last night?” The duke’s eyes narrowed. “What were you two doing last night ?”

Harrington dropped his voice to a hiss. “I kept my vow. A vow you should never have asked me to make. I won’t have you impugning my honor.”

Trevissick raised a haughty brow. “Then there should be no impediment to having the marriage annulled.”

“We don’t want to have the marriage annulled. Neither of us do. We want to make a proper go of it.”

The duke’s nostrils curled as if he had smelled something particularly foul. “No doubt you did not read the papers you signed prior to the ceremony. Diana’s fortune will remain in her own name. You cannot touch it.”

“Of course, I read them,” Harrington snapped.

He was hardly going to make the mistake of signing something without reading it again.

“I don’t care about her fortune. I want it to stay in her name.

I would never want her to think, even for a second, that I married her for her money.

And, in my line of work, I could get shot next month. I want her to be provided for!”

“Well,” the duke said tightly, “it happens that Diana has not signed the papers yet. If you’re so confident that she wants to remain married to you, why should you hesitate?”

Harrington rolled his eyes. “I don’t have time for this. I just received word that I’m being sent to Ireland?—”

“Ireland?” Lady Griselda asked, entering the room.

“That’s correct,” Harrington confirmed. “A town called Bandon, in County Cork. I’m going to be performing some training with the King’s German Legion.”

Lady Griselda smiled broadly. “Diana will love Ireland. She is so sick of London.” She held up a finger. “Wait right there. I have something for you.”

Trevissick grabbed him by the sleeve of his jacket and tried to drag him toward the stairs. “Come. This will only take a moment.”

“Will you stop that?” Harrington snapped, jerking his arm free. “I’m not going to sign your bloody papers.”

Trevissick glowered at him. “What if Diana does not wish to go to Ireland with you?”

The possibility sank like a cannonball into the bottom of his gut, but Harrington forcefully set it aside.

“Then we will cross that bridge when we come to it. But I’m going to ask her what she wants to do.

We’re going to have a conversation about it.

And when I say we , I mean she and I. You will not be involved. Until then, you can sod off!”

“Ah, good. You are still here.” Lady Griselda had returned. Harrington saw that she had one of her dogs with her.

She handed Harrington the lead. “Please consider her to be a wedding present.” She bent down and scratched the dog under the chin. “ Braver Hund . Oh, how I will miss you, my Inge! But you must be good for Lieutenant Astley, ja ?”

“This is Inge ?” Harrington couldn’t believe his ears. Inge was the best tracker Lady Griselda had ever trained. A few years ago, when his sister, Izzie, had been kidnapped, Inge had been the one to track her scent through the streets of London.

He dropped his voice low. “Lady Griselda, I couldn’t possibly take Inge. I know how special she is to you.”

“First of all, you must call me Aunt Griselda. You are family now.” She bent down and rubbed Inge behind her ears.

“Secondly, I want you to take Inge. I am not so spry as I used to be, but Inge? She is young and lively. London is no place for her. She wants to run through the woods, over the fields!” She met Harrington’s gaze, and he was surprised to see that the fierce woman’s eyes were bright with unshed tears.

“She is my most precious treasure, but the time has come for me to let her go. She needs to be happy, to be free, to live a life of her own making.” She pointed at him with a bony finger.

“That I am entrusting her to you is a great honor. You are not to let me down!”

Harrington blinked. “Are we still talking about the dog?”

Aunt Griselda laughed. “You always were more clever than you let on.”

Harrington bowed his head. “Well, thank you. I will take care of your precious treasures. Both of them.” A clock chimed somewhere down the hall, and he groaned. “I’ve got to go. The ship sails at high tide, and I need to see if I can secure a cabin for myself and Diana.”

Trevissick’s voice was snide. “Assuming she wants to go with you.”

Harrington gritted his teeth. “Yes. Assuming she wants to come with me.”

Aunt Griselda pressed the leash into his hands. “Here, take Inge with you. She will enjoy the sights and smells of the dock. Yes! Braver Hund ! Be good for Lieutenant Astley. I know you will be. You are the best of dogs.”

Harrington climbed back into his carriage and instructed the coachman to take him to the Royal Dockyard at Deptford.

Traffic was heavy and the journey took three-quarters of an hour.

He found that Inge made a pleasant companion.

He angled the windowpanes open for her, and she spent the journey sitting up on the seat, eagerly taking in the sights and scents of London as they flew by.

He found it soothed his strained nerves to stroke her silky fur.

She would occasionally turn and lick his face, and after his encounter with Diana’s brother, it was nice to be in the presence of someone who actually liked him.

He located the ship he was to sail on, the Mercury , without too much trouble.

Captain Bannister had a bit of good news for him, in that it would be no trouble for him to bring Inge on board.

But the news was mostly bad. All the cabins were spoken for.

There would be no possibility of bringing Diana along.

She would have to find her own passage to Ireland in the coming days.

Worse, the ship would be making sail earlier than Harrington had realized.

“You need to be back here with your things no later than six o’clock,” Captain Bannister informed him. “We make sail at seven.”

“Six o’clock?” Harrington checked his pocket watch. “But that’s in just four hours!”

The captain clasped his shoulder. “The tide waits for no man. Best hurry home and pack, Lieutenant.”

Harrington did just that. He lost almost an hour on the carriage ride back to Astley House. There, he learned that Lucy, Izzie, and Harrington’s mother had accompanied Diana on her townhouse hunting expedition.

Harrington explained his situation to the family butler, Yarwood. “When she comes by to return Lucy and Mother, make sure to detain her. It’s very important that I speak to her before I’m forced to sail.”

Yarwood bowed. “I will watch the door personally.”

Edward wandered into the foyer to see what the commotion was. Harrington explained about his hasty deployment. “Come,” Edward said, “I’ll have my valet assist with the packing of your trunks.”

“That would be appreciated,” Harrington said. “Actually, could you oversee the process?”

Edward frowned. “You’re going out?”

Harrington dropped his voice low. “I have to find Diana. Can you imagine how furious she’ll be if I board a ship bound for Ireland without even informing her?”

Edward’s eyes flared with understanding. “Furious.” He clapped Harrington on the shoulder. “Go. Find your bride. I’ll take care of your trunks.”

Harrington’s eyes were sincere. “Thank you.”

He ordered a saddle horse so he could weave in and out of traffic, making better time. He checked Izzie and Thorpe’s house on the north side of Mayfair, but she hadn’t been there in hours.

Mayfair, which would certainly be Diana’s first choice for their new residence, wasn’t all that large, so he rode around, hoping he might be able to spot the carriage Yarwood had informed him the ladies had taken—a glossy burgundy coach picked out in gold, bearing the crest of her brother the duke on the door. But he didn’t have any luck.

After an hour of riding around at loose ends, he stopped by Latimer House again. Ellery was apologetic. “Her ladyship has not returned, Lieutenant.”

“Do you have any idea where she might have gone?”

Ellery shook his head. “Apparently your mother had compiled a list of potential houses while the two of you were away at the house party. I believe Lady Diana put herself entirely at the countess’s disposal.”

Harrington nodded grimly. At least his mother had thought the marriage would stick. A comforting notion, but one he didn’t have time to contemplate at present.

Lady Griselda—no, Aunt Griselda—strode into the foyer. “Ah, you’re back! How is Inge?”

Harrington leaned down and patted the pointer’s neck. “Inge makes an admirable companion. Not that I am the least bit surprised.”

Aunt Griselda bent forward and rubbed the dog’s ears. “Good. Good!”

“Listen,” Harrington said, his gaze encompassing both Ellery and Aunt Griselda, “it turns out I have even less time than I thought. I have to be on that ship by six o’clock, and we make sail at seven.

If I don’t find Diana in time—” His voice cracked, and he had to take a moment to compose himself.

“She’s going to hate me,” he concluded quietly.

“She won’t,” Ellery insisted.

“Do not worry,” Aunt Griselda said. “I have her trunk packed and ready to go, in case she returns in time. And in case she does not, we will tell her how desperate you were. How distraught. How pathetic?—”

“Thank you, Aunt Griselda,” Harrington cut her off, not caring to see what adjectives she would come up with next. He shot Ellery a grateful look. “Tell her how sorry I am. How hard I tried to find her. That I…”

He trailed off. It was on the tip of his tongue to add, tell her that I love her .

But he wasn’t yet confident enough to speak those words aloud, not two and a half weeks after he’d stumbled back into her life, even if he knew they were true.

Besides, it wasn’t the sort of message you sent by proxy.

“Tell her,” he finally said, “that I will be miserable without her. And that if she will consent to join me in Ireland, that I will be the happiest man in all of Christendom.”

Ellery placed his hand over his heart. “We will.”

“Of course, we will,” Aunt Griselda added brightly.

“Thank you,” Harrington said simply. Down the hall, the clock struck half five. He had to hurry if he was going to catch his ship. “I’d best be?—”

“Astley,” a supercilious voice called. Harrington discerned the sharp click of footsteps on the marble tiles. “Good, you’re back. Now you can sign the?—”

“Fuck off,” Harrington called. “I haven’t got time for your nonsense.”

Ignoring the duke’s outraged sputtering, Harrington turned on his heel and walked out the door.