Everything and the Moon (The Lyndon Sisters #1)(11)

“Robert?” She crawled down the bed and peered out.

“I need to talk with you. It's urgent.”

Victoria glanced around the room, quickly judged that the household was fast asleep, and said, “Very well. Come in.”

If Robert thought it was odd that she was inviting him into her room—something she had never before done—he did not mention it. He climbed through the window and sat down on her bed. Oddly he made no attempt to kiss her or pull her into his arms—his usual methods of greeting her when they were alone.

“Robert, what is wrong?”

He didn't say anything at first, just stared out the window at the north star.

She put her hand on his sleeve. “Robert?”

“We must elope,” he said baldly.

“What?”

“I have analyzed the situation from every direction. There is no other solution.”

Victoria touched his arm. He always approached life so scientifically, treating every decision as a problem to be solved. Falling in love with her was probably the only illogical thing he'd ever done in his life, and it made her love him all the more. “What is wrong, Robert?” she asked softly.

“My father has cut me off.”

“Are you certain?”

Robert looked into her eyes, stared into those fabulous blue depths, and then made a decision he wasn't proud of. “Yes,” he said, “I'm certain,” neglecting to mention that his father had only said, “Almost certainly.” But he had to be sure. He didn't think it was possible, but what if Victoria really was more dazzled by the possessions than she was by the man?

“Robert, that is unconscionable. How could a father do such a thing?”

“Victoria, you must listen to me.” He grabbed her hands in his, clutching them with a ferocious intensity. “It doesn't matter. You are more important to me than the money. You are everything.”

“But your birthright…How can I ask you to give that up?”

“It is my choice to make, not yours, and I choose you.”

Victoria felt tears stinging her eyes. She had never dreamed that she might cause Robert to lose so much. And she knew how important the respect of his father was to him. He had worked his whole life to impress him, always trying and always coming up just a little bit short. “You must promise me one thing,” she whispered.

“Anything, Torie. You know I would do anything for you.”

“You must promise me that you will try to make amends with your father after the marriage. I—” She swallowed, hardly able to believe that she was putting a condition on her acceptance of his proposal. “I won't marry you unless you do. I couldn't live with myself knowing that I was the cause of your rift.”

A strange expression crossed Robert's face. “Torie, he is most stubborn. He—”

“I didn't say you have to succeed,” she said quickly. “Just that you have to try.”

Robert lifted her hands to his lips. “Very well, my lady. I give you my vow.”

She offered him a smile that pretended to be stern. “I'm not ‘your lady’ yet.”

Robert only grinned and kissed her hand again. “I would leave with you tonight if I could,” he said, “but I will need a bit of time to amass some funds and supplies. I don't intend to drag you across the countryside with nothing but the clothes on our backs.”

She touched his cheek. “You're such a planner.”

“I don't like leaving anything to chance.”

“I know. It's one of the things I love best about you.” She smiled sheepishly. “I'm forever forgetting things. When my mother was alive she always said that I would forget my head if I weren't in possession of a neck.”

That prompted a smile. Robert said, “I'm glad you have a neck. I'm rather fond of it.”

“Don't be silly,” she said. “I was merely trying to say that it is nice to know that I'll have you to keep my life in order.”

He leaned forward and brushed the gentlest of kisses on her lips. “It's all I want to do. Just keep you happy.”

Victoria looked up at him with damp eyes and curled her face into the crook of his shoulder.

Robert let his chin rest on the top of her head. “Can you be ready in three days time?”

Victoria nodded, and they spent the next hour making plans.





Robert shivered against the night wind, checking his pocket watch for what must have been the twentieth time. Victoria was five minutes late. Nothing to be alarmed about; she was terribly disorganized and was frequently five or ten minutes late for their outings. But this was no ordinary outing.

Robert had planned their elopement to the last detail. He'd taken his curricle from his father's stables. He would have preferred a more practical vehicle for the long journey to Scotland, but the curricle belonged to him, not his father, and Robert didn't want to feel beholden.

Victoria was to meet him here, at the end of the road leading to her cottage. They had decided that she would have to slip out on her own. It would be far too noisy if Robert drove the curricle to her house, and he didn't want to leave it unattended. It would only take five minutes for Victoria to make her way to him, and the area had always been quite safe.