Before the Scarlet Dawn by RITA GERLACH Page A

mouth away from hers, she gazed up at him breathless, through a mist of tears. With the way he kissed, how could he not love her? His kiss spoke of love. It spoke of devotion.
    “You are unhappy, Eliza? Why the tears?”
    She shook her head. “Because I am happy.”
    Fiona stepped forward and looped her arm within Eliza’s. She looked at Hayward with the protective stare of a mother. “And see to it, sir, that she remains that way.”
    Hayward paid Paisley his fee, and he sat down and recorded the marriage. Outside came the pounding of hooves, and he hurried to finish. The door swung open with a crash. With a gait most urgent, a gentleman dressed in a dark brown overcoat and riding boots stormed forward. He stopped short and heaved his chest to catch his breath, then dragged off his hat.
    “Stop this at once. Proceed no further!” His stern eyes locked onto Hayward, then flashed over Eliza with a quiver of his mouth that showed disgust. “Tell me it isn’t so, that you have gone and married this girl.”
    Hayward drew Eliza close to his side. “I have, Father. I said I would if she’d have me.”
    “How can you be so foolish? What are you thinking?”
    “On my life, sir, wish us well. It is done. We are man and wife.”
    “Are you mad? You have deliberately defied me, and you have affronted your cousin, knowing full well he had an attachment to this girl.”
    Hayward sneered. “I apologize, Langbourne,” and he gave him a rude bow.
    “Mind your manners, boy,” his father warned. Eliza cringed from the way he spoke to Hayward. Why did Edward Morgan despise her?
    Hayward stiffened. “I have made my choice. So has Eliza. Do not hate us for it.”
    Purple with anger and almost choking with frustration, Morgan shook his fist. “How could you be so callous, so rebellious? You have broken Lilith’s heart by running off with this girl when it was understood you and she would wed.”
    A laugh slipped from Hayward on the last word. “Is that what she told you? If she did, she is a liar. I offered her marriage, but she did not like the conditions and refused me. I realized she is too spoiled to live the kind of life I would require. Eliza is far superior to Miss Marsden. What did you hope to gain by following us here, Father?”
    “I hoped to bring you to your senses, but I see I am too late.”
    Eliza followed Hayward’s stare, as he looked past his father to the dejected man standing in the doorway. She felt sorry for Langbourne, but what could she do? Hat in hand, Langbourne said nothing. Only his eyes showed emotion, and they were inflamed with unrelenting anger.
    “You there,” Edward Morgan addressed Paisley. “Undo this.”
    “What is done in the Lord’s name is binding. Leave them in peace.”
    “My son has rebelled against my wishes. Surely that should account for something in the Lord’s eyes.”
    “I believe your son is of an age where God honors his vow, even if you do not.”
    Morgan shifted his stare to his son. “You have no right, Hayward, to do as you please, no matter what this man says, or vows you have spoken.”
    Hayward approached him. “Eliza is my wife and now your daughter-in-law. She desires what I desire. A new life on my own land, built by my own hands through my own means. Wish us well, for I do not know when, or if, I shall ever see you again.”
    His father shook with unrestrained emotion. “I shall never speak your name again. I shall carry out my threat and cut you off from gaining anything from my estate. You are no longer my son.”
    Hayward made no reply, but Eliza could see how hurtful Morgan’s words were. When Morgan jerked away from his son and stormed out, Hayward turned away. Langbourne stood silent near the door. For a brief moment he and Eliza looked at one another—his stare fierce under the sting of her rejection.
    “You knew my mind,” she said to him. “But for hurting you as I have, I am sorry. Let us remain friends, you and I and Hayward, and please