“You can hardly have two wives,” Hal pointed out reasonably.
“I know that, Hal, but Alys is the wife of my heart, and the child she carries means more to me than Marjorie’s child ever could. It’s a shameful thing to admit, I know, but that’s the truth of it.”
“A child conceived in love always means more than a child conceived out of duty, but you’re right, annulling the marriage would be dishonorable and cruel.”
“Then what do I do?” Jeremy asked miserably.
“You marry Alys to someone else,” Hal said.
Jeremy gaped at him. “I marry her to someone else?”
“At least on paper.”
Jeremy leaned against a tree and stared up at the colorless sky, considering Hal’s suggestion. Hal had always been the more imaginative of the two, and his ideas were simple yet clever. “How would that work?”
“I must go to Chesterfield tomorrow on estate business. I can procure a marriage license while I’m there. In a few weeks, Alys and her intended will travel to Chesterfield and marry there, at his parish church, or so everyone will be told.”
Jeremy turned to look at Hal, wondering if he’d understood him correctly. “You’re proposing that the actual wedding never take place?”
Hal shrugged. “No one will question the validity of the marriage once I procure the marriage license and everyone is told Alys is wed. Why would they? Most of these people have never been further than a few miles from the place of their birth. Alys and her child will have the legitimacy you want for them, but still be unencumbered.”
“Are you suggesting what I think you are?” Jeremy asked, his stomach clenching with fear and guilt. Hal’s mind had gone past the false marriage and was already onto the next step.
“Jemmy, women die in childbirth all the time. It’s God’s will. If Marjorie is taken, then Alys will still be free should you wish to marry her.”
“Hal, I don’t care for Marjorie, but I refuse to think that her life is the only thing standing between me and my own happiness and that her death will solve all my problems. What sort of monster would that make me?”
“If I suggested you help her along, then we’d both be monsters. But you know I speak the truth. If you marry Alys off legitimately, then she will be out of your reach should you get free.”
Jeremy nodded. Hal was simply stating the facts. It was his own guilt that was writhing and twisting in his gut, making him feel sick with shame. How had he come to this? He’d always considered himself an honorable man, but at the moment, he was no better than Satan in the Garden of Eden, resorting to false promises and deception to get his way. But what choice did he have? He’d given in to his desire for Alys, knowing all along that what he was doing was wrong and there’d come a reckoning. What he’d just told Hal was absolutely true. He loved Alys more than he’d ever loved anyone in his life. He would do anything to protect her and their child.
He’d been very careful, trying to protect her from this very misfortune by not spilling his seed inside her, but clearly he’d not diligent enough. Alys was pregnant and he had no choice but to act, and soon. He owed a duty of care to Marjorie and their child, but he’d willingly sell his soul to ensure Alys’s safety and the well-being of their baby.
Jeremy met Hal’s gaze and nodded his consent. “See it done.”
Hal clapped Jeremy’s shoulder, keenly aware of his emotional torment. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, Jem.”
“I’m a liar and sinner,” Jeremy replied, staring into the far distance rather than facing Hal. “And I will go to Hell.”
“You’re a man. You’re as fallible as the rest of us.”
“I doubt God would see it that way,” Jeremy said with a deep sigh.
“Now you sound just like your Puritan wife, carrying on like God has nothing better to do than watch your every move. If that’s the case, did you ever consider that God may have put Alys in your path? Maybe this was his plan all along,” Hal suggested, trying to tease Jeremy out of his foul mood as he had done when they were younger. He was highly skilled at playing Devil’s advocate.
“Somehow I doubt that, but I suppose every situation is a matter of perspective.”
“My point exactly,” Hal said. “Now, stop fretting and let me take care of the particulars. And don’t say anything to Alys until the deed is done.”
Chapter 54
Alys
It was three days later—three days that felt like three long, dark years—that Jeremy finally summoned Alys. He was dressed for the outdoors and bid her to come with him, right in front of Mistress Helmsley, whose incomprehension showed plainly on her face.
Alys followed Jeremy into the cold winter morning, wondering where he meant to go. Jeremy’s groom, Peter Warren, was outside with three horses, Alys’s cloak slung over his arm. He draped it over her shoulders and pulled up the hood in full view of Millie, who’d come outside to fetch some water, and Lady Marjorie, whose pale face Alys had glimpsed in an upstairs window.
Confused by Peter’s sudden familiarity, she turned to Jeremy. “Where are we going, my lord?” Alys asked.
“You’ll see,” Jeremy replied.
He seemed pensive and remained quiet for the duration of the ride, the forest eerily silent as they descended the hill toward Ashcombe. Instead
