Merry Misrule - St. Clair, Ellie Page 0,47

believing us without actually seeing her. Then once he finally does we tell him that it’s been days and this has all occurred because he didn’t realize she had actually left Briercrest.”

“Alex,” Elijah said slowly, “now is not the time for games.”

“Oh, come, Eli,” Alex said with a wave of his hand. “It is not as though we can change any of this anyway. If this is what Caro chooses, then this is what Caro chooses. Why don’t we let her be?”

“Because,” he said, not knowing the answer but knowing that he had to make sure his sister was all right. “Because if anything goes wrong, we should be there for her. Because if she really does insist on marrying Thatcher, then she should have someone from her family there supporting her, and we should know just where she has gone to. And because—”

He didn’t want to say it. Not to Alex.

But Alex was intelligent enough to guess the truth.

“Because Joanna Merryton is likely with her,” Alex said with a knowing smirk.

“Yes,” Elijah said, his breath coming out on an exhale.

“I knew you cared about her,” Alex said, bringing up a finger and pointing it in his face.

“So?”

“So what? Do you think a seamstress is any better than a footman?”

“I don’t know Alex!” he burst out. “Maybe marrying a footman isn’t the worst of things either. Besides, I thought you were also showing some interest in Joanna.”

Alex shrugged. “Perhaps for a flirtation, maybe a fun night or two. Not anything serious.”

“She’s too good for that.”

“Oh, Eli,” Alex said with a sigh, shaking his head. “What did the war do to you?”

“Elijah, Alex?”

Baxter and Ophelia stepped out of the chamber down the hall, dressed for the day as they approached. “What’s all of the noise for?” Baxter asked, his round face wearing a frown.

“Nothing at all, just a friendly quarrel,” Elijah said with a tight smile.

“Well, keep it down,” Baxter said gruffly. “We don’t want our guests to know about any family quibbles.”

Elijah shot Alex a look to tell him that he was right in not wanting to share what had occurred with their brother or their parents.

When Baxter and Ophelia were out of earshot, Elijah leaned closer to Alex and lowered his voice.

“We have to go after them.”

“How?” Alex said. “We have no idea where they are.”

“No, we don’t,” Elijah agreed. “But we have to try. You go west while I’ll travel east. One of the two villages is their most likely destination.”

“Very well,” Alex said with a sigh, “although this is not at all how I envisioned spending today. I had a mind to organize a hunt, or, at the very least, sit by the fire with a good brandy.”

“Well, life isn’t always what we want, Alex,” Elijah burst out in frustration, and Alex raised an eyebrow.

“You’ve changed, Eli,” he said, his voice monotone.

“I know.”

When they finally reached Aylesbury, Joanna was so cold she didn’t think she could properly move. Her toes had frozen into such ice blocks that she bemoaned the thought of how it would feel when the blood began to rush back into them. She could already feel the pain of it. Her fingers had lost their circulation, turning into numb, motionless sticks, while she was shaking so fiercely that her teeth were rat-a-tat drumming their own beat.

Caroline and Thatcher were not immune to the cold, and yet, wrapped in each other, they seemed to be sharing enough body heat to help warm them.

If only Joanna could say the same, but the arms she wished were currently around her were back at Briercrest, likely now growing tense in anger at her departure. At their departure. Angry that no one had told him what was happening.

When they entered the small stone church, Joanna couldn’t even bring herself to stand in the cold foyer, instead sitting by the fire while Caroline and Thatcher spoke to the vicar.

They were too far away for her to properly see them, but she heard his answer. No banns, no special license, no marriage. At least not here.

The two of them came to join her, dejection on their faces.

“Well, Jo,” Caroline said with a brave smile, “this is it, then. We’re off to Scotland.”

“Are you sure, Caroline?” Joanna said, her teeth finally back under control. “It’s freezing out. Scotland is so far. And your family—”

“I’m sure,” Caroline said, her jaw set, and Joanna knew then that nothing was going to change her mind.

“Very well,” she said, with a warm smile — one she