The Runaway Princess

Chapter 17

“All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride.” Sophocles, Antigone

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Chapter Seventeen

“Mama, for the last time, she has an obligation to her country,” David said exasperatedly.

David’s anger with Elena had passed. Of course, the fact that she had concealed the truth from him was still hurtful, but he was no longer angry with her.

David was now frustrated and angry with himself. He was angry that he could not simply walk up to Elena, drop down on one knee and ask her to spend the rest of her life with him.

Whether or not he liked it, she was not a simple, English lady. She was a Spanish princess, one with a fiancé and a country depending on her.

David had been tempted, so very tempted, to ride back to Ascot to steal Elena away. He wanted to take her to Gretna Green and be done with it. But he knew that was selfish. An elopement would only suit him. Elena’s elopement would bring upon her the wrath of her father and her country. David could not even begin to fathom the position of the fiancé. No matter how envious of him David was, no matter how jealous, he could not steal Elena. A gentleman did not covet or steal.

“David, please,” Bess begged. “They are leaving today! They may have already left. It is not too late. Ride after them!” she urged.

David had not returned to Ascot in that week because he knew if he saw her, he knew if had just that small glimpse of her, if he heard her words or if he saw her face, his determination to do the right thing would evaporate.

“Mama, I am doing this for her own good,” David murmured. What would a marriage to him give her? Yes, she would be a duchess, but she would be disgraced. How could he live with himself knowing that he had disgraced his wife? Elena did not deserve to be a disgraced duchess. She deserved to be a queen, no matter who her husband was.

His mother did not see it that way, though. She saw it as him giving up on Elena. She did not understand. While her marriage to his father had not had the easiest of beginnings, they still had a love match. She believed that everyone should marry their true love, despite the consequences. David believed that Bess did not understand the consequences. He knew what Elena’s father’s retaliation would be if David married her. David knew that her father would storm his household, annul their marriage under the Catholic Church, lash her within an inch of her life before marrying her off to a man he deemed appropriate.

A harrowing thought crossed his mind. Elena returning to Spain would be what her father wanted, but would he lash her for good measure regardless? David shook off the though. The man simply could not. He could not have his daughter scarred and bleeding on her wedding night.

He did not know which thought angered him more – the scars and bleeding or Elena’s wedding night.  

He sighed. Of course it was the lashing. He could live with her being married to another man. She would have children of her own and she would be happy. He could not live with her being subjected to that pain again.

“I am so disappointed in you, David,” Bess muttered.

Her words hurt him more than he had expected. His mother had only said those words to him once before after a particularly naughty incident at Eton. But she had not used the tone that she had just now. This was worse. “Mother, not everything ends in a perfect marriage with perfect children. I am sorry to disappoint you, but I am being realistic! You do not understand!” David snapped.