are my best hope, angel. My only hope. One night. Can you give me that?”
She swallowed thickly.
“Must…I answer this moment?” she said at last. “The decision you are asking me to make is a profoundly serious one. I need time to consider.”
“Of course.” His gaze held sympathy. “But however much I dislike pressing you, perhaps I should remind you that time is running short.”
“I know.” Her tone was bleak.
She stepped back, out of his embrace, and was unsurprised to discover how feeble her knees were. She didn’t need Mr. Sabine to remind her of the urgency. He was to hang tomorrow—unless she consented to become his bride. Then his execution would be delayed long enough for them to wed.
Her eyes were burning as she gazed up at him, her throat tight. So tight that she couldn’t manage another word.
Turning blindly, she made her way outside the cell, where she leaned weakly against the stone wall. A shudder passed through her as she thought of him dying—
“Aurora, are you unwell?” Percy’s concerned voice asked. She had forgotten entirely that he was awaiting her in the corridor.
Unable to speak, she shook her head.
“Come, we must get you out of this dungeon and find some fresh air.”
She was grateful when her cousin took her arm and led her along the dim passageway and up a narrow flight of steps. When she reached the open air, she drew a deep breath, trying to contain the turmoil of emotions that were tearing at her inside.
Percy waited patiently while she struggled to regain her composure. “So,” he said finally, “I take it Sabine proposed?”
“Yes.” Her voice held an edge of bleakness she couldn’t hide.
“And did you give him an answer?”
“Not yet. I couldn’t…not so quickly. I told him…I needed time to consider such a drastic step.”
“Well, of course you do. I can only imagine what a difficult decision it must be for you—to defy your father and wed a stranger. Perhaps we should go home and discuss it with Jane.”
She gave him a forced smile. “Yes.”
Percy led her to the waiting carriage and handed her inside, then took his place beside her. Aurora sank back against the squabs and stared blindly out the window.
She shuddered to think how her father would react, the rages she would have to endure…Yet it wasn’t only withstanding her father’s inevitable explosion or marrying a stranger that made her decision so difficult.
She was being asked to wed a dead man.
Still, it was the thought of Nicholas Sabine dying that was breaking her heart.
Chapter Four
I cannot comprehend the power he holds over me. How is it possible when I have known him such a brief time?
“So he has proposed a marriage of convenience to safeguard his illegitimate sister’s future?” Jane asked thoughtfully when she’d heard the tale.
The three of them were in the drawing room—Percy on the settee beside Jane, relating the particulars of Sabine’s proposal, while Aurora stood at the window, too restless to be seated.
“Yes,” Percy replied. “Except the girl isn’t considered illegitimate, nor is her illicit conception common knowledge. The affair was hushed up long ago.”
Jane pursed her lips in contemplation. “I can understand the advantages to Mr. Sabine’s sister, but how would Aurora benefit by marrying a pirate?”
Percy answered readily. “Financially the marriage could be quite attractive for Aurora, since he means to settle a large jointure on her. His mother and two sisters in Virginia will inherit part of his fortune, and his shipping empire will go to an American male cousin. But Nicholas hopes to provide for his half sister without his mother ever learning of the girl’s existence—or of his father’s infidelity. Nick proposes to leave a substantial sum to Aurora, a portion of which she will hold in trust for Miss Kendrick. And he would ask Aurora to assume the wardship. If she’s his wife, such arrangements would be
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