"Take a good look. This is Finn Acevedo's own handwriting. If he refuses to acknowledge me as his wife, I'll take this certificate straight to the courthouse and beat the drum for justice."
The head steward, lurking in the shadows, caught a glimpse of the handwriting on the certificate from a distance. His brow furrowed.
He leaned toward the gate guard. "Stay here and watch her. I'm going in to inform the Marquess and the lady of the house."
I saw every bit of it.
Sure enough, before a quarter hour had passed, Finn Acevedo came striding out of the manor, and right behind him, draped in gold and silver, was Edith Henson.
The steward pointed at me. "My lord, this woman claims to be your wife. If she's a fraud, I'll have her thrown out at once."
Finn looked down at me from the top of the steps. "Lift your head."
I tilted my chin up slowly, the ghost of a smile on my lips.
The moment he saw my face, every drop of color drained from his.
"Narelle, is it really you? What are you doing here?"
He strode over and lowered his voice to a hiss.
"If you wanted to see me, you could have sent word through the servants. Why make a scene in front of everyone?"