Smitten by the Spinster Read online

  “I have to go, Lew,” she said.

  “You’re upset. Stay and have some tea. Where do you have to be off to in such a hurry?”

  She turned and shook her head at him, heaving a sigh. “I have to keep one idiot from killing another idiot.”

  Chapter 22

  It didn’t take Lizzie long, and only the payment of a pair of gloves, to find out from a maid at Catie’s friend’s house where the meeting was to take place. Unsurprised that the gossip had spread that quickly, she hired the first hackney carriage she could find, promising extra payment if the driver hurried. She had him stop a block away from the secluded park and ran as stealthily as she could, sneaking up behind a hedge to where she could see Quinn pacing. One of the Amberly’s carriage horses was tethered a few feet away, looking uncomfortable in its saddle and disgruntled to be out at such an hour.

  Quinn was alone and she called softly to him before stepping out from behind the hedge, drinking him in as he turned. He gave her a delighted smile when he recognized her and her heart beat faster. She grabbed his hand and squeezed.

  “Any sign of them?” she asked.

  He shook his head, dropped her hand and resumed pacing. She pulled him from the grassy clearing to shield him with the tall hedge.

  “If they arrive and see you, they may be spooked,” she explained, pulling the horse out of sight and tying it to a branch of the shrub. It seemed so unhappy to be out of its cozy stall, she doubted it would do anything rash like try to bolt away.

  “Aye, that’s clever,” he said, heading for a small marble bench. She followed him and they sat down, peering through the shrubbery at the clearing. “Thank ye for coming,” he said a bit shyly and she nodded, feeling suddenly shy as well. “How did ye find the place?”

  “Bribed a maid. I’m afraid the gossip’s gone wide. It may be best just to let them be done with it.” When he scowled, she tried to explain. “Once they’re married, it won’t matter how they came to be.”

  “It matters to me,” he said darkly. “And it may matter to the wee lord as well. She has to be married properly to gain her inheritance.”

  Lizzie’s stomach rolled over. If there was no money to save the Hollingsborn properties, Catie would be ruined as well, and stuck in a miserable marriage. She didn’t think Edwin would be so kind and loving once he realized there was no money coming to him.

  Before she could answer, they both noticed movement from behind a copse of stubby trees that grew along a brick wall on the far side of the clearing. A man made his way around the wall into the park.

  “Ah, here he is,” Quinn said, his low voice laced with menace.

  When she looked at him his face had a wicked grin of anticipation that would have normally set a flock of butterflies fluttering in her stomach, but in this instance sent a shiver of dread down her spine. Quinn was going to beat the hell out of Edwin Hollingsborn, and from the look of it, quite gleefully.

  He stood up and charged around the hedge, and without knowing what else to do, she ran after him.

  “Wait, Quinn,” she said, grabbing the arm that was about to smash the kid into the dirt. She stepped forcefully in front of Quinn, realizing it wasn’t even Edwin who’d arrived.

  “Oliver? What are you doing here?” She looked back at Quinn, who still looked undecided about hitting him.

  Oliver stood his ground and kept his eyes on Quinn as he answered. “I heard about the dastardly plot to harm Catriona’s good name.” He glanced quickly from side to side and slid back the edge of his jacket to reveal a pistol strapped to his breeches. “I came to protect her honor.”

  Lizzie turned back around to see Quinn stomp off, pinching the bridge of his nose as a long string of oaths left his mouth.

  “Bloody, bloody, bleeding hell,” she said, stamping her foot.

  Quinn turned around, his jaw slack at her outburst. She shrugged at him and he clapped his hand over his mouth, probably to keep from laughing. The entire situation had gone well past ridiculous.

  He walked back to Oliver, making a courtly bow. “My thanks to ye, lad, for your service to my sister. I am in your debt.” He reached over and neatly grabbed away the pistol, examining it with a distasteful look before strapping it to his belt. “I dinna want ye to harm anyone,” he said apologetically. “Let that be upon me, aye?”

  Oliver slumped with apparent relief to be rid of the thing and nodded. “Where’s Catie?” he asked.

  “She hasna arrived,” Quinn said, pacing some more.

  “Or we’re too late,” Lizzie said glumly.

  “I dinna think so. Dahlia told me the time they were to meet. We’re actually a wee bit early.”

  “Early?” Lizzie asked, something not right about that. She had more questions but a carriage rounded the corner with the Hollingsborn crest on the side.

  “The daft walloper has come in his own carriage,” Quinn said incredulously.

  They stepped into the shadows and waited for it to pull to a stop. Edwin got out and whistled a bird call, then looked around expectantly.

  Lizzie tried to hold Quinn back, but he burst forward, followed by an eager Oliver. Edwin jumped half a foot in the air and made an undignified sound when he realized they were not Catie.

  “No, please, it’s all fine,” Lizzie cried, running to get in between them. “You’ve stopped the elopement. There’s no need for violence now.”

  “Yes, that’s so,” agreed Oliver.

  Lizzie had to admire his good sense and felt sorry she hadn’t thought him a serious suitor for Catie. One more thing she’d done terribly wrong.

  Quinn grumbled and shook his head, his deadly glare never leaving Edwin. “What about Catie’s reputation?” he asked.

  Edwin cleared his throat and drew himself up to his full height, still quite a ways below Quinn. “Her reputation wouldn’t be an issue if you’d only given your consent. She wants to marry me.”

  Lizzie sighed tiredly, not sure she could stop a fight if the idiot kept opening his mouth and letting such nonsense out. Why hadn’t he fled back to his carriage? Did he still think he’d be leaving with Catie when she showed up?

  “She doesna know what she wants now that ye’ve filled her full of lies,” Quinn said. “Ye may rest assured she shall be informed of your debts. Do ye know Catie may not even come into her inheritance if the terms of her marriage are disagreeable to her guardian?” He glanced sidelong at her and she swore she saw the hint of a wink, even in the dark. He resumed his serious look and took a warning step toward Edwin. “Ye are aware that I am her guardian, lad? I dinna appreciate being lied to or have someone try to steal my sister’s fortune.”

  Edwin took a step back, looking wildly from Quinn to her. “I didn’t want to.” He pointed at Lizzie and her blood froze. “It was my mother and her who planned it. She was going to get a tidy sum after the wedding took place.” He narrowed his eyes at her. Having tossed her into the hole he was currently trying to climb out of, he seemed to revel in throwing more dirt on her. “It’s not the first match she’s benefited from. That’s how my mother knew to approach her.”

  Quinn turned to her, his eyes begging her to tell him it wasn’t so. She choked back her useless excuses, knowing all he wanted to hear from her was that Edwin’s words weren’t true. And she couldn’t say that, so she kept quiet. She watched with agony as Quinn’s expression changed from hurt disbelief to intense disgust after she made no effort to dispute the accusation. Even sweet Oliver looked at her as if she was something unpleasant on the bottom of his shoe.

  It was all out now. She was ruined. No one would hire her, she’d have no place to go. None of that mattered if Quinn forgave her, if she could make him understand. She gasped and reached out to him, but he neatly sidestepped her.

  “Catie said her brother was taking her home tomorrow,” Edwin continued. “She was extremely specific about this time and date. But I learned he had no plans to leave tomorrow. Did you tell her that to force the match, when you knew he didn’t
approve?”

  Lizzie’s vision clouded. She shook her head, only registering that Catie had insisted on this particular date, and a time that would interfere with her getting to Belmary House and meeting Lord Ashford.

  Bits and pieces that hadn’t made sense on their own all dropped into place. The missing letter, Lew being called away. Quinn conveniently finding the note with more than enough time to race here and stop it. And the final, most telling thing of all, the thing that made her double over in shock. Catie still hadn’t arrived.

  Catie had taken her letter from Lord Ashford, Catie had sent Lew on a wild goose chase. She’d orchestrated this entire thing to get them to this spot at this time, so she could go to the future in Lizzie’s place. Lizzie sat down hard on the ground. Oliver glanced over at her stonily. Quinn didn’t even flinch.

  “Catie’s not coming,” she said. Where was she right now? How would she survive? A marrow deep cold settled over her as she realized everything was lost to her now. Quinn hated her. She’d never get home.

  “It seems she doesn’t love you after all, Hollingsborn,” Oliver sneered. “You may as well leave.”

  “Aye, ye’d be wise to go,” Quinn said.

  Edwin didn’t have to be told a third time, and slunk back to his carriage.

  Lizzie stood up, shaking all over, feeling as if she’d been wrung out. “Quinn,” she said. “I have to talk to you, alone.” She looked at Oliver, who shook his head at her sadly.

  “I have nothing to say to ye, Miss Burnet,” Quinn said icily. “Not after your part in all this.”

  “Please, I tried to stop it. I tried to warn you about his character.” She couldn’t believe she was defending herself. It seemed the least of her worries now that Catie was alone in who knew what time— Lord Ashford had warned it was a tricky portal— but she still stupidly wanted him to love her.

  “I dinna have time for this.” His sharp tone and hard eyes almost knocked her back to the ground. “I must find Catie.”

  “Please allow me to help you,” Oliver offered. Quinn nodded gratefully and made to follow him.

  “Quinn, stop,” she said as forcefully as she could muster, her voice only cracking a little. “You won’t find her.”

  He turned and covered the ground between them in two long strides. Clamping his hands onto her shoulders, he leaned down to look at her, his eyes blazing with anger. She didn’t cower, and tried to make him see how sorry she was, how much she loved him.

  “Tell me what ye know,” he growled and she saw the fear beneath the anger. Lizzie glanced over at Oliver, not wanting him to hear what would sound like outrageous gibberish. Quinn shook her. “Tell me.”

  “The story you told me about your brother,” she said, not knowing how to start. “I know it’s true.” He didn’t answer, but the fear flickered brighter in his eyes. She lowered her voice. “I’m not from here. I’m not from this time.”

  He dropped his hands from her shoulders as if she’d burned him and shook his head. “No, ye’re lying. I dinna know why ye’re lying, but ye must stop. This is worse than what ye did to Catie.”

  She waited for him to calm down, knowing he believed her, though he didn’t want to. “There’s a man,” she said, trying to take his hand to get him to focus on her. He took another step back. “I don’t know if he’s a witch or how he does it, but he’s from another time as well, and he was trying to get me home. That man who attacked me in the alley, he’s somehow linked to it all. He was trying to get information from me that night.” She took a breath, far off track, not sure how to get back to the point.

  “What’s any of this to do with my sister?” he asked.

  Lizzie wanted to hug him to take away the pain he must be feeling. Really she wanted him to hug her, feeling a good amount of pain herself. She didn’t deserve it, not now that he knew the truth about what she’d done. The steps she’d taken to make it right had been too few and too late.

  “The man was due to meet me this evening at Belmary House. He gave me a very specific time, and I was late, because Catie had Lew called away on a bogus errand, because I spent too much time saying goodbye to you.”

  He blinked slowly. “That was goodbye?” he asked. “Ye were leaving?” He looked at her long and hard before smiling sadly. “But ye chose to stay?”

  The next words she said would be the end for her, and she kept her eyes on his face. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she struggled to get a breath.

  “I was too late,” she said, finally dropping her chin to her chest and sobbing when the knowledge that she hadn’t chosen him registered in his eyes. She’d never be able to make him understand how sure she was now, how certain she was that this was where she wanted to be.

  “Ah,” he said softly. “But still, what’s that to do with Catie?”

  “I think she found the instructions and went in my place. I don’t know why. I’m so sorry.” She helplessly wiped at her tears and wrapped her arms around her middle.

  Quinn paced away, shaking his head and swearing. He turned back, distraught. “ Ye say she went through your things?”

  Lizzie nodded. “It’s the only way she could have known. But I have no idea why she’d want to go.”

  He grimaced. “She always was a wee sneak,” he said, almost to himself. He looked at her, glanced quickly at Oliver, who still stood by avidly listening, his mouth open in befuddlement. “She must have gone through my things as well.” He stepped closer to her and her heart leapt with joy, but it was only to speak so that Oliver couldn’t hear. “I had a letter from Lachlan, instructions he left me. She may have sussed out that he’d gone … and if she found something similar in your things— Ye say this man had a way to get ye back?”

  “Yes, the same way I got here,” she explained, glad he was close to her, had stopped looking at her as if she was the enemy. “It’s something to do with that house. It’s on a schedule or something, and he was meant to come back for me tonight.” She looked up at him, trying to make him understand at least a little why she’d done the things she’d done. “I didn’t choose it like your brother. I was ripped from my time. I didn’t know what to do, had no money or proper clothes. It’s nothing like when I came from.”

  His dark frown returned in force, obviously not buying her excuses. “It’s so verra different in your time?” She nodded and he looked over her head, deep in thought. “I shall have to go after her,” he said finally, not looking pleased. In fact, looking downright sick at the notion.

  Lizzie sobbed again and touched his arm, ignoring his icy cold demeanor. “He won’t be back for a year,” she said. She didn’t think it possible, but the look on his face grew harsher.

  “I know another way.”

  She barely heard the angrily muttered words as he jerked his arm away from her. She had to repeat them several times to herself before she comprehended them.

  “What other way?” she begged. He smiled down at her, a hateful smile, nothing like the ones she loved, and shook his head slowly. “Please, Quinn.” She couldn’t stay here without him. If her broken heart didn’t kill her, she’d die a pauper on the streets. “Whatever you think of me, if you know another way, you have to help me get home.” Lizzie refused to look away, trying to make him show that he still felt something for her beneath the sting of her betrayal.

  His eyes never showed the faintest flicker of the love that had been there just a few short hours ago. Only dark blue emptiness. He closed them briefly before answering.

  “We leave at dawn.”

  Before he could go, Oliver suddenly piped up, having been wholly forgotten by the both of them. “I’m going with you,” he said.

  Quinn stopped. “Like hell ye are.”

  “Wherever Catie is, I’m going with you to find her.” He wiped his hands on his coat and cleared his throat. “I’m in love with her.”

  “Holy Jesus,” Quinn said, raking his fingers through his hair. He stared at Oliver as if he was a new species, then chose to ignore his dec
laration altogether, turning back to Lizzie. “I shall be at the Fox Inn, ready to leave for Scotland at first light. Dinna be late.” He pointed a warning finger at Oliver. “If ye are there, I shall break your nose.” With a last glare at both of them, he stalked to his horse and gracefully mounted, thundering away into the night.

  Lizzie sighed. Quinn had barely been able to look at her, but he’d agreed to take her with him and help her get home. It wasn’t much. It could have been the same kindness he’d offer a stranger, but she had to have hope.

  She looked around, her eyes settling on Oliver, who chivalrously didn’t seem to want to leave her alone.

  “I’m going,” he said stubbornly. “I love Catie, and need to see she’s safe.”

  “I think he was serious about breaking your nose,” she said.

  Oliver traced his finger down the bridge of his aristocratic nose. “My mother always says I’m too handsome, anyway.”

  Lizzie shrugged and followed him to his carriage. “Then I guess you should be ready at dawn.”

  Epilogue

  Lizzie barely slept, just enough to keep from feeling sick on the journey. She didn’t know if they would travel by carriage or on horseback and she’d stuffed everything she owned, which wasn’t much, into a slightly larger bag than the one she’d taken with her on her failed attempt to get back to her own time.

  She snuck out of the Amberly townhouse, glad Lady Amberly was a late riser. She may not know about her niece’s disappearance and Lizzie’s own perfidy for several hours yet. Lizzie hoped to be miles away by then. She turned and took a last look at the place, not sure if she’d walk down this street and look for it in her own century. She wasn’t sure she remembered properly, but she thought it was all expensive gift shops in that time.

  More than she thought about getting back, she worried about Quinn. She wanted to fight for his forgiveness, and prove she was worthy of it, but didn’t know how. The fact of the matter was, she’d done every damn thing wrong, and had realized it all too late.