The Wedding Escape Read Free Page A

she was.
    And suddenly he remembered with piercing clarity how it felt to be alone and terrified.
    â€œOliver,” he began, the steady calm of his voice belying the enormity of what he was about to do, “turn the carriage around and slowly drive away.”
    The driver’s aged eyes widened in disbelief. “With her?”
    Jack nodded.
    â€œBut—she’s the bride!” Oliver protested, as if he thought that Jack must have overlooked that particular detail.
    â€œI realize that.”
    â€œThey’ll come after us!”
    â€œOnly if they think that Miss Belford is hiding in the carriage,” Jack countered. “As long as we drive slowly and give no cause for suspicion, I believe they will continue to search the surrounding area and the remaining carriages.” His body tensed as Simon and Jamie drew near. “We have to go
now,
Oliver.”
    The old man hesitated barely a second, then obligingly snapped his whip lightly over the glossy black hindquarters of his horses. Jack leaned out the window as the carriage rolled forward, blocking his brothers’ view of the distraught, rumpled bride hidden within.
    â€œToo bad no one had the wit to check upon the bride earlier,” he complained irritably. “I could have left for Scotland an hour ago.” He pretended to stifle a yawn.
    â€œYou’re not going home now, are you?” Simon looked disappointed.
    â€œMiss Belford is certain to be found shortly,” Jamie added. “She’s probably just having an attack of nerves.”
    â€œI don’t really give a damn,” Jack replied, looking thoroughly bored. “I don’t have time to stay for the celebrations anyway. I’m heading back to Inverness, and then I’m sailing for Ceylon. If you don’t stay in England too long, I might see you before I leave. Tell Whitcliffe I’m sorry he lost his heiress,” he added, waving to the rest of his family. “Maybe next time he should try to find a bride who isn’t American—I understand they can be trouble.”
    With that he slouched wearily against his seat, folded his arms across his chest and closed his eyes. He didn’t so much as look out the window as the carriage ambled down the shaded laneway, leaving the others to frantically continue their search for the elusive Miss Amelia Belford.

Chapter Two
    T O LONDON,” AMELIA DIRECTED OLIVER, NERVOUSLY clutching at the tatters of her ruined gown. “Please.”
    â€œTo the train station, Oliver. We’re going to Inverness.”
    Amelia regarded Jack in confusion. “Isn’t Inverness in Scotland?”
    â€œUnless they have recently moved it.”
    â€œBut I can’t go to Scotland,” she protested. “I must get to London at once—that is where my betrothed is!”
    â€œYour betrothed is standing by the church seething with rage about a half mile back.” Jack suddenly wondered if perhaps Miss Belford was mentally unstable. “I am happy to have Oliver turn the carriage around and reunite you with him if you wish.”
    â€œNot Whitcliffe,” Amelia amended. “He was only my betrothed in the eyes of my mother and father, but he was never my true love. The truth of the matter is, Mr. Kent, I was secretly engaged at the time my parents arranged my betrothal to Lord Whitcliffe. Of course, he wasn’t a duke,” she quickly added.
    â€œOf course not.” He felt a stab of disappointment.
    Somehow he had thought there was more to Miss Belford’s gloriously capricious escape than the mundane desire to be with another man. For a brief moment he had imagined he had caught a glimpse of something wild and free within her, a flash of spirit and independence that set her apart from all the other sheltered, gently bred women he had known. She had talked of finding another life. He had assumed she meant breaking free of the fetters of her womanhood and forging a new