A Marquis for Mary by Jess Michaels

paper to the light. “Hmmm, there is a droplet of water here that dried. It could be a tear. She was obviously deeply upset when she wrote this.”
    Edward frowned. “I suppose that could be because she felt guilty for breaking off the engagement. Or fearful of what her father would do next.”
    “That is the oddest part, isn’t it?” Evan interjected as he leaned over the letter with his two brothers. “We’ve all met her father and he’s a lout. There is a sense of cruelty about him that I think proves true all her fears when it comes to her future if she’s returned to his care. If she knew about Alice already, had told you that it was not something that troubled her, why would she choose her father’s choices over her own? A man who could very well match her with someone far more terrible than you.”
    Edward shook his head. “She wouldn’t .”
    Gabriel straightened up and met his stare. “You are sure.”
    “Absolutely. She’s terrified of her father’s influence, of being marched back into his home and used for whatever purpose he would desire. I cannot picture anything that would make her believe that was a better option than carrying on with our wedding.”
    Gabriel frowned. “Then we must consider that Mary might have been coerced into writing this letter.”
    Edward’s heart shot into his throat. “I’m going to her.”
    Evan nodded. “You absolutely should do that. Great God, man, from what you described, you have already been through hell. And since you love this girl, I hope you’ll be willing to fight for her.”
    Edward grabbed the letter from the table and shoved it into his pocket. “I’m willing to die for her,” he declared, before waving to his brothers and darting out the door to call for his horse.
    For years he had accepted whatever version of fate life had laid out before him, too exhausted by his experiences to fight for something different or better. But now everything had changed. The past few weeks with Mary had shown him a path that was filled with light and joy.
    And he wasn’t going to lose that—or her—without a fight worthy of David facing Goliath.
     

Chapter Ten

     
     
    Mary lay in her bed, staring up at the canopy, but sleep would not come. She feared it might never come again, and that if it did, she would only be haunted by reminders of the living nightmare she currently inhabited.
    Every word she had exchanged with Isadora and Imogen, every sentence she had written to Edward in her letter…they rang in her head, taunting her.
    She slid the pillow from under her head and flopped it over her face, wishing that she could block out her thoughts as easily as she was able to block out the moonlight coming through the window or the sound of the crackling fire. She lay like that for a long few moments. Stifling in the quiet dark and yet her mind continued to race regardless.
    “What did I do?” she wailed into the pillow at last. “What did I do?”
    “You broke things off with me—quite foolishly, I might add.”
    Mary jolted at the sound of a voice in her room and threw the pillow away. She lurched to a seated position and her eyes flew to the window. Sitting on the ledge, arms folded and eyes locked on her, was Edward.
    His expression was one of anger, one of confusion, but she also saw a hint of desire there and looked down to realize she was in her nightshift, which had a very low neckline. She lifted her hands to cover herself.
    “Edward!” she cried. “What are you doing here? How did you get here?”
    He pressed his lips together. “I climbed up that tree.” He motioned behind him with a thumb. “And found your window happily unlatched. As for what I’m doing here, is that really a question you need to ask, my clever girl? My clever and oh-so-beautiful girl.”
    Everything in her wanted to close her eyes and savor the sound of his rough voice complimenting her. To rise up and go to him and make the last twelve hours go away.
    Instead, she