Falling for the Marquess - Julianne MacLean Page 0,68
and white flowers and combs that sparkled.
He saw the apprehensive expression on her face, watched her wring her hands together in front of her, and regretted coming there unexpectedly and in a panic. He was surely causing her great distress. She probably feared he was about to call everything off.
“You look lovely,” he said, crossing the room to take her hands in his, kissing them and hopefully easing her mind.
She spoke with uncertainty. “Thank you. Why are you here?”
He tried to convey warmth with his voice and expression, for he did not wish to cause her any further anxiety. Surely a woman’s wedding day was filled with enough anxiety as it was, without the groom barging into the bride’s house two hours before the ceremony to ask accusing questions. He would try not to let it sound that way, at least until he knew the particulars.
“I received a telegram this morning from someone in America, but it was anonymous. I wanted to ask you about it. The sender mentioned an embezzlement. He suggested you were not being entirely honest with me.”
Clara felt her heart go thump inside her chest. All she could do was stare bewildered at her fiancé and wonder how and why this telegram had come to him today at the worst possible time.
She had told Seger about Gordon proposing to her, but she had not told him everything. She had not explained all the details and complexities. Now she wished she had.
Looking back on it, however, there had never been an opportunity to bring it up. After Seger proposed, she thought she could tell him later, when it would hardly matter.
It hardly mattered now, she tried to tell herself. The embezzlement had nothing to do with her. She had known nothing about it. She was merely an innocent bystander.
She would tell Seger that.
Clara sat down on the sofa. “You remember the man I told you about? The man who proposed to me two years ago?”
Seger remained standing. His expression was calm. “Yes.”
Clara’s heart began to pound faster. “Well, the reason I didn’t marry him was because…he was arrested for theft and embezzlement.”
Seger stood motionless, staring down at her. She gazed into his eyes. He didn’t seem angry. He didn’t seem anything.
“It’s a rather strange story, actually,” she said with a smile, trying to keep things light.
She hoped he would be understanding about this. He, of all people in the world, should be. He—the king of scarlet pasts....
“Tell me.”
She nodded and complied. “His name was Gordon Tucker, and when he proposed, my father refused to let me marry him. I told Gordon I would marry him anyway, despite my parents’ wishes, but he knew he could never afford to take me away, so he stole from his employer. I assure you, I knew nothing about that. All I knew was that he had somehow managed to pay for our passage to Europe. He told me he was in possession of enough savings to tide us over until he could find work when we got there. We were going to get married on board the ship. I suppose he thought that once we were married, Father would have no choice but to provide us with an allowance.”
Seger’s eyebrows drew together, and for the first time, she saw mild anger in his face. “Did you love this man? You must have felt very passionate if you were willing to run off with him.”
She bowed her head and paused a moment before answering. She had been enamored with Gordon, certainly. He was handsome and he knew how to charm her, how to manipulate her, but she had never been in love with him. Not in the deeper sense. “No,” she answered at last.
“How can I be sure you are telling me the truth? The telegram warned me that you could be….”
Clara looked up. “That I could be what?”
He paused a moment before speaking candidly. “It said you were a liar.”
A lump rose up in Clara’s throat. “No, that’s not true. Please, Seger. You need to believe me when I tell you that I was terrified getting on the ship with him, and I wept with relief when my father came to take me home. When I said yes to Gordon’s proposal, I only wanted to escape the pressure.”
“The pressure to marry well,” Seger said, needing clarification.
“Yes.”
He took a moment to consider this, while she sat helplessly, not knowing what to say, wishing she knew what was going on inside his head.