“Then you'll bring Ellie back?” She turned hopeful eyes to the judge.

“I shall make sure of it, miss.”

Not wanting to break down, she nodded solemnly to the Judge's words.

“My love?” Ethan's hands took captive of hers.

She wanted to melt in his arms, to drown in his love and forget this aching pain in her chest. She lifted her gaze to Ethan who watched her with compassion.

“I brought Lord Wellington with me because we need to get married, right now.”

“What?” Shocked, her eyelids widened. “Isn't that illegal, considering the fact that your missing wife just showed up?”

Ethan nodded once. “It would have been illegal if we had gotten married this morning.”

“What changed?” She asked.

“Lord Williams filed for divorce three months ago, citing desertion as the major reason.” Lord Wellington began.

“Mrs. Winston had paid me a visit, practically threatening me. She brought to my knowledge the fact that if I did go ahead with the wedding, it would be illegal.” Ethan sighed. “I didn't think much about her threat but I filed for divorce just in case. Remember the afternoon I went into town, the afternoon I bought you the engagement ring and asked you to marry me again?” He waited for her to nod her head. “Part of my reason for going into town was to file for divorce.”

“I needed to go on an urgent journey, forgetting to pass a ruling.” Lord Wellington said, nodding his head. “The papers had been on my desk until today. I officially ended Lord Williams' marriage to Lady Juliet Williams who shall now be known simply as Miss Juliet Winston, this morning.” The old man smiled for the first time that evening. “If you're willing Miss, I am here to officiate your marriage to Lord Williams.”

Chapter Twenty Eight

“I can't.”

It was a low whisper but from the stricken looks on their faces, they heard her loud and clear.

“Gretchen,” Ethan whispered, reaching for her.

With a shake of her head, she backed away. She couldn't get married right now, especially with everything that had happened in the past few hours and with Ellie gone, the only thing Gretchen could think about was getting her back, not getting married. How could Ethan even be thinking of getting married when Ellie was missing? How could he be thinking of anything other than bringing Ellie home?!

Tears welled up in her eyes again as she thought of Ellie. Why didn't anybody else feel the urgency to bring the child back, and why weren't they trying to figure out Juliet's reason for coming back? Surely Juliet had a reason for taking the child; perhaps she took Ellie to prevent Ethan and Gretchen from getting married? If that was the case, she couldn't imagine getting married to Ethan knowing that Ellie was being held hostage for the sole purpose of preventing their marriage. She would rather lose Ethan than lose Ellie—she'd give anything, everything to get Ellie back!