Page 109 of If the Slipper Fits
***
Caden met Zeke and the earl in the family parlor. The three had agreed to convene slightly ahead of the appointed hour when the ladies were due to arrive.
A fire crackled merrily in the hearth. The earl lounged in his usual armchair, while Zeke, decanter in hand, splashed ruby-red liquid into three of the six glasses set out on the credenza.
“Ah, Caden, just in time.” Zeke held out a glass to Caden before delivering the earl’s wine and taking the seat beside his.
Caden joined them, lowering himself onto the adjacent sofa.
“It’s good to have both my boys home,” the earl said, raising his glass in a toast.
Caden lifted his glass to the earl then sipped. How things had changed from the last time he was home. Instead of chomping at the bit to be away from his older brother, he felt settled. Instead of alienation, he felt camaraderie. A clear sense of purpose and resolve replaced the usual restless, aimless energy that plagued him in recent years.
Thanks to Anna. She’d changed everything. She’d changed him. He liked the changes if he was being honest.
“You’ll both be pleased to know Carson Hallis responded to the telegram we sent out today,” the earl said.
Far from seeming annoyed by the potential difficulty posed by theBolton complication, as the earl deemed it, Caden’s grandfather appeared energized. His and Anna’s future wedding plans likely played a part in the old man’s attitude.
Unfortunately, Anna had denied their engagement during hertète-á-tètewith Kitty.Who knew what she’d say to the earl when they met. By the end of the evening, would they or would they not be engaged in the eyes of his family? More importantly, would Anna ever agree to the engagement?
“What did Hallis have to say?” Zeke asked.
Caden eyed the earl expectantly. Inside he brooded. It must have occurred to Anna she might be carrying his babe. Even so, she seemed markedly resistant to the idea of marriage to him.
He couldn’t blame her. What did he have to offer? He was not of the same ilk as Zeke and the earl. He was, by all accounts, his father’s son.
Even so, he had no intention of letting her go. And so, faced with her evident opposition, he had no choice but to play the ace he'd been born with and hope the gamble worked. His entire future rested on it.
The earl rolled his wine stem between his fingers. “Hallis plans to employ his minions to dig into Bolton’s court filings, banking records, as well as search out any and all rumors amongst thetonand anddemi-mondeconcerning his personal affairs. With luck, he’ll have something for us by the end of the week.”
“I assume you apprised him of the need for discretion.” Caden said.
“Never fear, the message covered all that and more,” the earl replied.
“Excellent.” Caden swirled the ruby liquid in his glass and breathed in the rich aroma of berry and spice. “What if he finds nothing more than a marriage certificate?”
The earl rose from his armchair with the ease of a man twenty years his junior. Zeke was right. He looked more hale and hardy than he had in years.
He stood at the mantle, wine glass in hand, a gleam in his faded blue eyes, every bit the family patriarch. “We’ll get the thing annulled. Call in some favors, or, barring that, buy all his gaming debts and pronounce them due.”
Zeke, as usual, took a more careful approach. “We should wait and see what Hallis finds. There doesn’t appear to be any immediatedanger or point in rushing the process.” He lowered his voice and muttered, “Let us hope.”
Caden bit back a smile. It was the second time Zeke had broached the possibility Caden had gotten Anna with Child. He couldn’t find it in him to get too terribly annoyed. He’d been pondering the same thing to the point of obsession, mainly because he was of two minds.
While the thought of her carrying his child filled him with wonder and stole his ability to think straight, the truth was, he didn’t want Anna to marry him out of necessity. What kind of fool did that make him?
“There are some family matters we need to see to, sooner than later, however,” Zeke said.
Caden eyed his brother. “Such as?”
Zeke gave a one-shouldered shrug. “As you’re to be wed and will have a wife to provide for, your current financial situation will have to change.”
Caden straightened and set his glass on a side table with a decisive click. This was the opening he’d hoped for.
Zeke continued. “You’ll, of course, resume living in the Hall. Once married, you and your lady wife will move into a wing more suited to housing a family, rather than make-do with the chamber in the bachelor suites where you habitually reside. Your quarterly allowance shall be reinstated, and…” he flashed a magnanimous grin, “…we shall forget all about the unfortunate incident that precipitated your recent…er…”
“Fall from grace?” Caden put in dryly. “How about, no?”
