Free The Wagered Bride by Teresa McCarthy

of William Shelby's deep voice projecting from the
darkness. Within an instant, the portly silhouette emerged from behind the
wisteria.
    As
Shelby came into full view, the man's silent glare bored a hole through any hope
of Stephen extricating himself from this unseemly union. Whether his daughter
agreed to the marriage or not, Stephen knew without a doubt that Shelby would
make certain it went on as planned.
     
    "Papa!"
    Elizabeth
hurried toward her father, her heart jumping out of her chest. Milli stood
beside him, her eyes wide. Did their father know this man?
    Elizabeth
stiffened suddenly. The trunk? Could her papa see it in the shadows?
    Standing
beside her father, she tightened her hold on her cloak, trying to hide the rip
in her gown. If her father had any idea she was planning a trip to Gretna
Green, she would be locked away in the country for a year. Not that her papa
didn't love her, but he was as strict as Caesar when it came to disobedience.
    "Lizzie,
my love. Milli mentioned you were going for a walk to help your headache. But I
daresay it is too late for you to be out here alone without an escort, ball or
not. I know you were not feeling well, but how fortunate you have met up with
Lord Stephen Clearbrook. Has he told you the news?"
    Elizabeth's
brows furrowed in confusion when the lord purposely moved away from her trunk,
removing her father's gaze from the evidence of her elopement. What was this
man about now? He was not trying to save her from her father's wrath, was he?
    "What
news, Papa?" she asked, feeling oddly grateful to Lord Stephen Clearbrook.
    "You
tell her, your lordship?" William Shelby said, rubbing a hand over his
chin as Milli opened her mouth and closed it again.
    "No,"
was the curt reply as the lord crossed his arms over his chest, staring back at
Elizabeth.
    Elizabeth
looked from one man to another, an uneasy feeling settling in the pit of her
stomach. The icy brittleness hanging in the air had nothing to do with the
weather. Murmured voices from the ballroom floated to her ears, a dim reminder
of the party still taking place.
    William
Shelby stared hard at the hovering gentleman, and Lord Stephen glared back at
her father.
    A rush
of blood drummed through Elizabeth's veins. The two had obviously met before
and whatever had happened at their last meeting was not finished.
    "Tell
me what?" she asked hesitantly.
    William
Shelby's face instantly changed, his frown lifting, only to be replaced by a
tight smile. He stepped closer to Lord Stephen and had the effrontery to slap
the man on the shoulder as if his lordship were his long lost son.
    "Why,
Lizzie dear, his lordship here has asked for your hand in marriage. And I have
accepted."
    Elizabeth
felt the world tilt beneath her. "W-what?"
    Stephen
looked at this woman and for not the first time that evening felt a wave of
pity for her. She was as headstrong as a mule, but she had to be or her father
would have pushed her along life's path without a thought to what she wanted.
    But her
stubbornness didn't seem to be working for her now, for William Shelby had
decided his daughter's fate as much as the man had decided Stephen's. Well, not
precisely. Stephen had done it to himself. This girl was the man's daughter, a
circumstance she could never change.
    Shelby
cleared his throat, slipping a hand between the buttons of his snug waistcoat,
his militant stance more like that of Napoleon Bonaparte issuing an order than
that of a doting father. "I have accepted, Elizabeth."
    Stephen
frowned. No woman deserved such a cold introduction to her future, especially
one's own daughter.
    "I
see." Miss Shelby shifted a daring look in Stephen's direction, then
turned to Milli. "The spectacles, Milli."
    Milli
frowned and fished in her pocket for her sister's spectacles, giving them to
her. Anger flashed in Miss Shelby's blue eyes as she put on the ugly eyewear.
    Stephen
felt an instant warming toward the girl. Or was it respect? Dash it, but those
spectacles were