Read Online His Jilted Bride (Historical Regency Romance) by Rose Gordon - Free Book Online

window under the cloak of darkness and
travel to a seedy part of town to do it—then she must
go.”
    The room grew quiet as everyone
exchanged looks—most notably expressions with raised eyebrows, but
nobody said anything directly to Carolina's strange
pronouncement.
    “ Just so,” Regina agreed at last. “It's just unfortunate that
we all missed out on the wedding.”
    No, they were quite
fortunate they had missed the wedding, but Amelia wasn't about to say that. “May
I ask how you knew of Gretna Green?” She hoped that sounded better
to their ears than it had to her own. But the truth was, she'd
never been to Gretna Green, and if there was a rumor going around
that she'd been there to marry Elijah, she would do well to know
what was being said about her before attempting to set things
straight.
    “ It was in Elijah's note,” Edwina said easily.
    “ His note?” Amelia repeated, her words more a statement than a
question.
    Edwina opened her reticule and pulled
out a note and handed it to Amelia.
     
    I have just learned of
Amelia's engagement to Lord Friar. A more mismatched pair, I
couldn't imagine. I'm off to Brighton to steal the bride and take
her to Gretna Green before the wedding. Wish me luck. I shall see
you soon.
    EJB
     
    Amelia stared at the note in
disbelief. It had to have been written by Henry. Did he write that
to spare her reputation or his family's honor? Or did it matter now
that they were one and the same? Either way, she certainly owed him
a debt of gratitude. And possibly a thump on the head for taking
such a risk. Had Elijah's aunt not said anything about Gretna Green
she could have very easily ruined the illusion he'd tried to
make.
    Regina exhaled. “Such a
pity Henry didn't see fit to show, the two-week old note, to any of
us until this morning. I knew they were staying in London and I
just saw your wedding announcement last week, but I had no idea
he'd hauled you off to elope!” She shook her head. “I have no idea
what I'm going to do with those two. Actually—” a hint of a smile
took her face— “Elijah is now yours, Amelia. As I once told
Caroline after she married Alex, I did the best I could and now
it's your turn to make something respectable of him. But I'm sure
that'll be an act of love, for you,” she added,
grinning.
    Was it so obvious she held the same
torch for Elijah as she had when she was a young girl or was this
inferred due to the Gretna Green story? She contemplated asking,
but dismissed the notion instantly.
    “ It seems like a difficult task, but I'll do my
best.”
    Carolina grinned. “And where the Banks
gentlemen—and young ladies,” she added casting her daughters a
sharp look, “are concerned, that's all you can do.”
     
     

Chapter Eight
     
     
    “ Alex, have you ever lied to Caroline?”
    Alex, his oldest brother, blinked his
brown eyes at him from behind his wire-rimmed spectacles. “No.
Why?”
    Elijah leaned back against the
cushions on the settee, refusing to meet either of his brothers'
curious gazes. “I just wondered.”
    “ A man doesn't just wonder that,” Alex commented.
    “ At least not if he knows what's best for him,” Henry
finished, an unspoken message meant for only Elijah in those
words.
    Elijah ran his hand through his thick
hair. “Forget I said anything.”
    “ We can't. You've already done said it,” John Banks, Elijah's
uncle, said plainly as he led a small group of gentlemen who
included Elijah's cousins' husbands and his brother-in-law, Sir
Wallace Benedict into the room. “Now we're all curious.”
    “ Just so,” Andrew Black, Earl of Townson, one of Alex's
closest friends and the husband of Elijah's outspoken cousin
Brooke, agreed as he found a seat on a nearby settee.
    Alex didn't seem to mind the intrusion
and Elijah didn't even want to venture a look at Henry. He already
knew Henry's reaction to being joined.
    “ Don't be shy to talk about your marital problems, now,” Paul,
another cousin's husband,