"If he tries, she will soon be a widow," Caleb said.

Cox cast him a warning glance. "Major Sutton will take a contingency of men to the chapel at Westminster Abbey and place Lord Nash under arrest."

"Yes, sir!" Sutton said.

"I'm going with you." Caleb had already risen from his chair. He leaned a little on his cane.

"I thought you had resigned your commission," Cox said.

"I did, sir. At four o'clock this afternoon."

Cox just smiled and nodded. "Be careful, gentlemen. I remind you the man is dangerous, responsible most likely for the deaths of at least two young women."

Sutton led the way out the door, Caleb close behind. "My carriage is out in front," Caleb said to the major. "I'll meet you at the church."

Sutton grabbed his arm. "If you get there first, wait for us before you go in."

Caleb gave him a look that said he would do whatever he had to, turned and limped off toward the coach.

26.

"Are you ready?" The Marquess of Kinleigh stood beside Lee in the doorway of the chapel, ready to escort her down the aisle to her waiting groom.

Lee nodded. "Yes, Father." In front of her, the small chapel held perhaps forty guests, mostly friends and acquaintances of her father or Jonathan Parker. But her aunt was there, she saw to her surprise and pleasure, seated next to the Earl of Claymont, who gave her a warm, encouraging smile. Two rows back, Lucas Tanner sat in a pew in the rear. He was dark and attractive and he reminded her so much of Caleb that for a moment she wished he hadn't come.

Lee took a deep breath and focused her attention on the altar, where Charles and Elizabeth Sorenson stood as witnesses to the event.

The organ music began to play. At the front of the chapel, rays of sunlight gleamed down through brightly colored stained-glass windows. Rows of candles had been lit and stands filled with pale cream roses clustered throughout the interior of the church.

"Have I told you how lovely you look?" her father said. "Have I said how proud I am that you are my daughter?"

The words filled her with love for him. She was so lucky to have found him. "Thank you, Father." If only the man waiting at the altar had been Caleb, this would be the happiest day of her life.

Lee fixed her attention on the man she would wed. In a dark gray tailcoat, silver waistcoat and black breeches, he was the epitome of an aristocratic male. Candlelight glinted on the few strands of gray in his dark hair and his mouth showed the hint of a smile. He was a handsome man, she saw, the sort any woman would be proud to marry.

She tried not to think of the wedding night that lay ahead, simply told herself she would get through it, just as she would have done had he become her protector.

"Who gives this woman to be wedded to this man?" The archbishop stood at the altar, a stately man in heavy satin robes. Lee hadn't realized they had already reached the front of the church.

"I do, her father, the Marquess of Kinleigh."

The ceremony began, the words and prayers swirling round and round in her head. When the moment came to repeat her vows, Jon gently nudged her or she might have missed what the archbishop said.

"Do you, Lee Montague, take this man, Jonathan Parker, Viscount Nash, as your lawfully wedded husband? Do you promise to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, cherish, and obey him till death do you part?"

She opened her mouth to answer, but the words caught in her throat. Jon cast her a look that held a note of warning and she started to speak again. "I-"

The door of the chapel slammed open. Every head in the room turned to look up the aisle. Caleb stood in the doorway, and her heart just seemed to stop. A thousand thoughts rushed into her head, foremost among them, Dear God, Caleb has come for me. He loves me, she thought wildly. He's come to rescue me. Secretly, she had prayed she would be saved from this loveless marriage and now he was here!

Her chest was aching. Her eyes filled with tears.

Caleb cast her a sideways glance as he strode forward down the aisle, fighting not to limp, his jaw granite-hard. But his gaze was fixed not on her but the man who would be her husband.

"What is the meaning of this, Tanner? You have no right to interrupt my wedding."

"There isn't going to be a wedding, Nash. You're under arrest in the name of the Crown-for treason against your country."

The guests erupted in a disbelieving roar. Lee looked at Caleb and with heartbreaking clarity, realized that he wasn't there for her at all. He hadn't come to rescue her, hadn't discovered that he loved her. He was there to finish the job he had started, and she simply wanted to lie down and die.

After that, everything happened at once. Lee's gaze swung to Nash, who still stood beside her. The viscount stepped closer, caught her around the neck, and jerked her back against his chest. The barrel of a tiny pistol appeared in his hand and he pressed it into the side of her head.

"Your timing is rotten," Nash said to Caleb. "Stand back. I wouldn't want anyone getting hurt."

"Let her go, Nash. There are twenty men outside this building. There isn't a chance in hell you're going to get away." From the corner of her eye, she saw Lucas Tanner ease out of his pew and flatten himself against the wall.

Nash grunted. "You don't think so? If someone shoots me, I'll pull the trigger. Which of those men outside is willing to cause the death of the Marquess of Kinleigh's daughter?"

Nash stepped backward toward a door at the rear of the chapel. Careful to stay in the shadows, Lucas crept forward. Then every door in the chapel burst open and a dozen uniformed soldiers rushed in. They took in the scene in an instant and fanned out around Jonathan Parker.

"Hold steady, lads." That from Major Sutton, the officer she had met at Parklands. "We wouldn't want Captain Tanner's lady getting caught in the crossfire."

At the mention of Caleb's name, her gaze swung to him. Captain Tanner's lady. Once she had been. Not anymore.

Caleb's face was slightly flushed, she saw, his strength not fully returned. But his jaw was set and when he looked at Jonathan Parker, the vengeance in his eyes was unmistakable.

"I'm warning you, Nash. You hurt her and I swear I will take you apart piece by piece."

Nash just laughed. "You've all been such fools. Why should that change? I'm leaving and Vermillion is going with me. Try to stop us and I'll kill her."

Nash's hold tightened around her neck and he started backing her toward the door. Her heart was racing, pounding painfully against her ribs. She had to do something. Sweet God, she refused to just go with him!

A candle flickered as he took another step back. She remembered there was a row of them in long wrought-iron candleholders along the pathway to the door.

"Let her go," Caleb repeated and she felt Nash's hold ease as he glanced behind him, gauging his route of escape.

Lee moved in that instant, turning and shoving with all her strength. Luc leapt forward and so did Caleb as Nash staggered, lost his balance, fell toward one of the candles, and the sleeve of his dove gray coat went up in flames. Nash screamed at the fire racing up his arm and a half dozen British soldiers rushed forward. Luc got there first and Nash went down beneath his weight.

In seconds the flames were out and Jonathan Parker lay immobile on the stone floor of the chapel.

Lee's gaze searched for Caleb and then she was in his arms, clinging to him and feeling such a surge of love and pain that even if she tried, she could not speak.

"It's all right, love, it's over."

For long moments, she clung to him. Dear God, she loved him so much. She closed her eyes and inhaled his scent, felt the fierce beating of his heart, and wondered how she ever could have thought she could be happy with any other man.

Caleb bent his head and very gently kissed her. "I didn't know about the wedding," he said, easing her a little away. "It's a long story." He handed her into the care of his brother, a bit reluctantly, she thought. "I'll be back in a minute." He flashed Luc a smile. "Don't let her out of your sight until I return."

Luc just grinned and she noticed there was a dimple in his cheek.

Lee watched Caleb walk over to her father, his limp a little more pronounced. She couldn't hear what was said, but her father was nodding and when Caleb finished, the marquess' face lit up in a smile.

While the troopers and Major Sutton escorted the viscount out of the church, Caleb made his way to her aunt. Aunt Gabby started nodding and smiling, took out a handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes. Lee watched Caleb's limping progression back to her side and her heart squeezed almost painfully.

Hope had started rising. Perhaps he had come for her, after all. It was madness to hope for such a thing, but there it was, blooming to life in her chest.

Caleb paused to speak to the archbishop, then returned to where she stood next to Luc. By now the guests in the church had all sat back down and were waiting for the drama to play out. Caleb dropped down on one knee in front of her and took hold of her trembling hand. He looked unbearably handsome and there was so much tenderness in his expression, her eyes filled with tears.

His hand tightened around her fingers. "My dear Miss Montague. I would have stopped this wedding sometime back if I had known about it. I love you, Lee. More than life itself. Will you marry me?"

The audience gave up a collective sigh.

The tears in Lee's eyes spilled over and ran down her cheeks. "Caleb... I love you so much."

He lifted her hand and pressed it against his lips. "If that is a yes, my love, please say it so the archbishop can finish this wedding-this time with the proper man."

She smiled at him and spoke around the tears in her throat. "I'll marry you. I would have married you when I thought you were a groom."

Caleb's expression softened and something tender flashed in his dark eyes. He drew her into his arms as he came to his feet and she clung to him.

"I love you," she said. "I love you so much."

A man cleared his throat and she realized the Earl of Selhurst had walked up beside them. "I believe a special license has been procured from the archbishop so that this wedding may proceed."

Caleb cast a look at his father. Clearly, he was surprised to see the smile the earl wore on his face.

Selhurst turned the warmth of that smile in her direction. "It is a pleasure, Miss Montague, to welcome you into the family."

Caleb gazed at his father and something passed between them, something that seemed to bridge the differences they had had.

"You heard the earl," Luc said, with a dimpled grin. "Let's get this wedding finished."

Caleb caught her hand and brought it to his lips. There was so much love in his eyes a lump formed in her throat.

The wedding went forward as if it had never been interrupted, and when the archbishop instructed the groom to kiss the bride, Caleb made certain she knew which man she had wed. She was Mrs. Caleb Tanner. And this was, indeed, the happiest day of her life.

Epilogue.

Riding over the green rolling fields of Shadow's Keep, the estate in Surrey that Caleb and Lee had bought just after their wedding, Caleb pulled rein on his tall black gelding, Solomon. The horse carried several battle scars from the awful fighting at Talavera, but like his owner, the animal had survived.

Caleb smiled as he surveyed his surroundings. The land was beautiful, verdant and rolling, more than a thousand acres of prim grasslands, perfect for raising horses. And the woman at his side was Lee.

Caleb was happy. So very happy.

Still, he had work to do in the stable, preparing it to receive the new batch of mares they had purchased at Tattersall's just last week. He should be there now, but his wife had shown up with an overflowing picnic basket that smelled so inviting he couldn't refuse her invitation to share it with him.

"What's the occasion?" he had asked. "I know I didn't forget your birthday." He grinned. "I doubt I ever will."

Lee laughed. He had always loved her soft, smoky laughter.

"I've a surprise for you. Come on-we'll picnic in the grove at the top of the hill."

He couldn't resist her, of course. He never could. They reached the rise and Caleb pulled rein on his horse.

"All right, you've kept me waiting long enough. What is the surprise?"

Lee just laughed. "Not yet. I'll not be hurried with news as important as this. I'm hungry. This is the perfect spot for a picnic. Let's eat first and then I shall be more than happy to tell you."

Caleb swung down from his horse. "You little vixen. I want to know what you're keeping from me. You're torturing me and enjoying every moment."

"Of course I am. One thing I learned as Vermillion was how to tease a man."

Caleb laughed. He reached up and lifted Lee down from her sidesaddle. "That teasing goes both ways, you know." And after a long, lingering kiss that left them both slightly breathless, he thought he had proved his point.

Lee just smiled. "As soon as we finish our picnic, not before."

He kissed her nearly senseless. "Tell me now."

"All right. Aunt Gabriella has agreed to marry Lord Claymont."

"God's breath-she is finally putting the old boy out of his misery."

She grinned. "Aunt Gabby says she loves him. She says that after watching us make cakes of ourselves these past eight months and knowing how happy Charles and Elizabeth have been, she has come to believe in happy endings."

Caleb nuzzled the side of her neck. "I'm really glad for them."

"Me, too." She went up on her toes and pressed a last kiss on his lips. "But that isn't the secret I came out here to tell you."

"What!"

She laughed and spun away from him. "This secret is a great deal bigger."

He started stalking her. With every step he took closer, Lee took a step away. "Give me a hint," he said. "I demand that right as your husband."