Emilia jerked awake to the sound of the carriage door slamming. Her eyes blinked rapidly, trying to be rid of the heavy feeling. Emilia saw flashes of Trevor repositioning himself on the bench across from her through fluttering lids, but everything was a tad blurry.

"Goddammit," he muttered, his hands clenched tightly together. Emilia took in his appearance. Mud was caked nearly up to his knees, covering his usually neat attire. Brown hair was in disarray, likely from the wind and rain outside. "She's going to kill me," he said to himself, wrapping one clenched hand around his knee, white knuckles evident against black breeches. Trevor glanced tensely out the window.

Emilia opened her mouth to ask what, or rather who, he meant by that. However, she only produced a croak.

Trevor jerked his head toward her, almost as though he had forgotten Emilia was there.

Giving her a sympathetic look, his gaze softened. A flask sat on the bench next to him, and he reached over to grab it, holding it out for her.

"A drink for you, my lady. It is water." Emilia went to take it from him but then remembered she couldn't. Her arm caught against the binding, which was still wrapped tightly around her wrists.

"I will help you," Trevor said, noticing her frustrated expression. He raised the flask up to her mouth. Emilia eyed him carefully, and he smiled softly. She was having a hard time comprehending his courteous expression with the reality of being bound and drugged.

Though not convinced that she should trust Trevor, Emilia's parched throat wouldn't let her refuse the water. Hesitantly, she opened her mouth to allow for him to slowly tip the contents of the flask over her lips.

The water felt gloriously crisp as it cascaded down her throat, and Emilia gulped it readily. But then it began to flow too fast, and she sputtered. Trevor immediately pulled back, though not before Emilia spewed water all over herself as well as him.

Coughing, Emilia glanced down at her peach-colored morning dress, now splattered with the water. At some point, her cloak must have been removed. She couldn't recall whether it was off the first time she had opened her eyes. Her memories were foggy.

However, her appearance was the least of Emilia's worries. Water now dripped beneath her bodice. The droplets made a chilling path between her breasts, only adding to her discomfort. And despite being parched, Emilia was plagued with the pressure of an overfull bladder.

Shivering involuntarily, she cleared her throat. It took several times of doing so before she felt confident that she would be able to speak clearly. Finally, Emilia said hoarsely, "What the hell is going on?"

"Well," Trevor began with a languid wave of his hand, "the roads are nearly impassable with the mud. Unfortunately, we will likely not make it much farther before stopping. This rain is being most meddlesome. I would have postponed our journey until later this week, but I truly couldn't delay."

"That is not what I meant," Emilia said flatly.

He looked at her curiously. "Then what is it that you mean, my Lady Emilia?"

At that moment, Emilia thought him rather dense. "I mean," she said impatiently, "what the hell am I doing here?"

"I thought we went over that," Trevor replied simply. "We are eloping."

"I do not wish to elope," Emila said blandly, trying not to wince at the pain in her shoulders as she squared up against him. "But I know you are aware of that, so I'll ask again...what is going on?"

Trevor sighed. "Must we get into the details this moment?"

"Yes, naturally, we must." Emilia thought that Lord Trevor must be addlepated if he thought she was simply going to go along with this. She would not blindly accept that they were traveling to Gretna Green to elope merely because he told her it was so. "I wouldn't mind being untied, either," she added.

Her request was not even considered. "I'm afraid I cannot do that. You must understand that I am not inclined to believe you will be obedient if I were to untie you." He gave her a glance as if to dare her to disagree.

So she did.

"What would I do, my lord? Jump out of a moving vehicle into knee-deep mud?" Emilia questioned, her voice still scratching against her throat as she spoke. She gestured to Trevor's dirty books as if to make her point.

Trevor appeared to ponder her rebuttal for a moment. "I do not know what you would do," he admitted. "Which is exactly the problem. You are an unpredictable woman, Lady Emilia."

"Unpredictable, perhaps. But sensible." If she was honest, escape had crossed Emilia's mind. But she knew better than to simply abandon her only ride while in the middle of the countryside.

Lord Trevor laughed sharply, heartily. The skin near the corner of his eyes crinkled in amusement.

"You are decidedly not sensible, my lady. I wouldn't dream of describing you as such."

Emilia only scowled in response.

"Do you wish to know why?" Trevor asked, appearing to enjoy himself.

"You continue to hold out for a man who jilted you over two years ago. A man who, I might add, is being blackmailed into doing the king's bidding or else risk being hung for his family's foul move of aiding Napoleon in the Sixth Coalition. And despite him trying to warn you away from that messy situation, you refuse to listen time and time again."

"What?" Emilia croaked, her mind spinning. She wasn't sure what startled her more: how Trevor knew so much about Will's predicament or, well, Will's predicament.

Hung for treason?

She was having a hard time accessing the air in her lungs.

"Oh come now, Lady Emilia, it must not come as a complete shock." He paused for a moment, tapping his finger against his knee. "And mostly, you are not sensible because you turned me down."

Emilia shook her head, still thinking about what Trevor had said about Will. She's always assumed that Will was overreacting when he had said he was involved in something dangerous. But now...

Clearing her throat, she replied to Trevor. "I am sorry, but you cannot fault me for loving another man. I admit that I should not have led you on like I did, but—"

"I do not care about that," Trevor interrupted her, shrugging. "And I do not fault you for loving him. I fault you for giving up a marriage to a respectable man even though Trotten will never marry you. You might not have known all the details of his arrangement with the king, but you must have realized that it wouldn't work between you two, Emilia."

It was like he had punched her in the gut. Yes, she had always told herself that it was unlikely Will would change his mind about being with her, but then she would look in his eyes and be convinced otherwise.

Emilia realized now that even when she'd woken up alone this morning—naked in her bed, telling herself it would be fine without him—she still was secretly holding hope in her heart.

No, she was not a sensible woman.

"If you think so poorly of me, then why do you so desperately wish to marry me?" she finally shot out harshly.

Lord Trevor leaned forward, resting a hand on her knee. It was warm and soft, and as Emilia's body was beginning to feel like ice, she allowed it.

"My dear, I do not think poorly of you. Most ladies are a little foolish when it comes to matters of the heart, are they not?" He settled back again, throwing one arm casually across the back of the seat. "And in other matters, you are rich."

Emilia couldn't quite believe him. She couldn't quite believe any of this.

Trevor—sweet, harmless, likable Trevor—was only after her dowry. And to think, Emilia had tried to convince Theo otherwise.

"I am not rich," Emilia pointed out. "That wealth belongs entirely to my brother, as I am merely a woman. You think Theo will hand over my dowry after what you've done?"

"And do you think that he will leave you in a penniless marriage without it?" Trevor opened his mouth to say something else but then promptly shut it again, and Emilia heard his teeth click together.

She frowned, not understanding. "But your father is the Earl of Sommers. Is he not also a wealthy man? How could you be penniless?"

Trevor looked at her directly. "Unfortunately, your brother is wiser than you give him credit for. Indeed, I am broke from my gambling debts, and my father has cut me off."

The carriage lurched to a stop then, and Emilia almost flew across into Trevor. But he quickly put a hand up against her shoulder to stop her.

Their eyes met, and Emilia couldn't decide what she saw there. He looked somewhat resigned and perhaps a little remorseful. But mostly, Trevor looked determined.

"We will have to stay here for the night, or at least until the roads dry. I had hoped we wouldn't have to stop. Your brother is doubtless on our tail," he said.

"Theo?" Emilia croaked.

"Yes," Trevor sighed. "I left him a note. I did not wish for him to tear apart London looking for you. It would only create a larger scandal when we return, and honestly, I did not think that was fair to do that to him." He shrugged. When Emilia peered at him skeptically, he added, "I am not a bad man, Emilia. I shall be a good husband. And in the end, I think this will benefit us both. Once you get over Trotten, you'll see that."

He reached behind her, bringing their faces close as he did so, and pulled out her missing cloak. Carefully, he wrapped it around her, clasping it in the front. Then, he brushed an escaped lock of hair out of her face, gently tucking it behind her ears.

Emilia surveyed her appearance once the cloak was on. No one would be able to see her soaked bodice or the way her hands were tied behind her back. No one would see how she was there against her will. No one would notice anything odd about her at all.

"You really are lovely," he whispered, still mere inches from her.

Emilia was saved from responding by her stomach, which took that moment to grumble audibly.

"We'll get you some food," Trevor said with a slight smile. "It has been a long time since you've last eaten, but I wanted to let you sleep."

He stated it like he genuinely cared about her wellbeing, and yet, Emilia was sure he had only wanted a peaceful journey without any interference. For why else would he have drugged her in the first place?

"How long have we been traveling?" Emilia asked, squinting as he opened the door for her. Though it wasn't sunny outside, the sky was brighter than it had been in the carriage, and it took Emilia a moment for her eyes to adjust. She surveyed her surroundings. Dusk was settling on the dreary and soaked fields to the left of them. On the right, a weathered building stood next to a set of stables.

"It is certainly time for supper," he said.

"Supper?" Emilia repeated.

"Yes," Trevor said with a raise of his brow. "You slept the entire day."

Emilia's eyes widened as she realized he was right. Her eyes settled on the roadside inn, covered in green moss that glistened with dense dew. She read the sign above the door. The Copper Keg.

Immediately, she thought of the night she had spent with Will on the way to Rosecrest Manor. She longed for the safety of his arms and hoped that one day she would feel them again.

****

Unlike the Shepard siblings, Will was not much of a rider. And so, after a full day on horseback, his arse hurt like hell.

The roads were awful. The rain had reduced them to thick muck. Will and Theo had been able to ride, however slowly. But Will could not imagine how Trevor's carriage had been able to get even a mile out of London.

Will had half a mind to turn around and check Trevor's home instead. Perhaps he and Emilia had simply returned after they realized what the conditions were. But whether or not it was the right decision, Will and Theo plowed ahead, checking every roadside inn or tavern they passed for any sight of their elopers, convinced that they would have pulled over somewhere to wait for the roads to clear.

"I do not understand," Will finally said after they had left another inn, The Black Dog. "There's no way they could have traveled this far in all this mud."

Theo appeared to be thinking carefully. Their horses made their way slowly down the tree-covered path, back out to the main road leading north. It all looked the same to Will now that he had been staring at various patches of wet dirt all day. The English countryside reflected his mood.

Bleak.

"Perhaps they got ahead of it," Theo commented, "if they left before the rain had gotten too heavy. But even if that is the case, they must be just ahead of us. They would have had to stop somewhere around here; you can tell it has been raining for quite some time." Theo surveyed the deep puddles that scattered over the path.

Will groaned and let his head tip back to stare at the sky. The rain had been on and off since they had trudged out of London. One minute, Will thought that the roads might be able to harden enough for them to ride along faster, and then the next minute, the heavens would be crying on them once more.

He was disastrously cold, wet, and aching. But he did not care. How could he care when Emilia was still somewhere out there with Trevor?

The fates were punishing him.

They were punishing him for stealing Emilia's innocence and keeping it. All to himself, he had kept it.

They were punishing him for pledging himself to a man whom he despised, for fighting in favor of his inhumane bills and laws. For ignoring the plights of the helpless and the poor.

They were punishing him for defending his treasonous mother, or perhaps, for committing treason himself.

Will Graham, Viscount Trotten, was facing his reckoning.

Theo gave him a regretful look. "Regardless, it is getting dark, Will. We are going to have to stop and let the horses rest."

"But—"

"We will be no good to Emilia if we are stuck in some ditch, and if we run our horses into the ground, we will not make it to Scotland at all."

Though he didn't like it, Will knew that Theo was right. And admittedly, he was exhausted from the day. His body was fatigued with worry, and his mind sore with doubt.

"Alright," Will agreed, sighing. "The next inn, we can stop."

Theo nodded once, and then a tense silence came over them. Will knew that he wasn't the only one that was feeling sick with worry. Never having had a sibling, Will did not precisely know what it was like to have one go missing, but the look on Theo's face said it all.

Emilia was the only family Theo had, and Will knew they were exceedingly close in the bond they shared. When Will had still been courting Emilia, she had told him all about the passing of her parents and how Theo had practically raised her on his own, even though he'd still been a child himself.

"Here we are," Will said as they came upon the glowing lights of a traveling inn. "We can stop here for the night. The...what does it say?" He squinted, trying to catch the words on the swinging sign.

Theo swung his head around, inspecting it also. "I think it says The Copper Keg."