Page 29 of Miss Harvey's Horribly Lovable Fiancé
“I will.”
“She must not disappear on Northington like this.”
“No, my dear.”
“A man does not take such shenanigans lightly.”
“Certainly, my dear.”
She sniffed. Then with one last scowl at Esme, she spun for the door. And if truth be known, she was happy to go and avoid the details of whatever this discussion was to be.
Her father watched her mother go. “You must excuse her anxiety,” he said when she was gone. “She loves you so.”
“I know that. She never wanted me to marry Northington.”
“She always thought him too mysterious, so often abroad these past few years.”
Also, because to many, he appeared aloof. “I do believe he worked for the government…elsewhere.”
Her father’s blue eyes flared wide in surprise. “You knew?”
“Guessed. But he did tell me—by accident I believe—that his tiger, Henry—Henri—comes from France. Toulouse, to be exact. Where would Northington find a boy like that in a town deep in the countryside if he were not involved in somesub rosaactivity?”
“You asked him?”
“No. I did not think it appropriate to ask such a thing. If he wished me to know—if he was free to confide in me, at any point, he would have told me.”
“Ah, so you trust the man.”
She ruminated on the moments when her fiancé had revealed so many of his inner beliefs on life, love and his father’s character. In most things, she did trust him. But to give voice to that was difficult and so instead, she gave her father a small smile.
Her father took to striding back and forth before Esme. Hands behind his back, he frowned. Stooped and sad, he seemed older by a decade. “Northington came to me and explained the problem he faces. He wished to find you. I assume he did, because afterward, I could not find you.”
“All true. I know the issues. The question is what to do about them.”
He made one of those faces she knew so well. Flexing every muscle in his face, he was thinking…and none of his thoughts were happy ones.
“Oh, Papa, there is no need to puzzle this out. I’ve thought about it, too. It’s a hideous situation. If the Duke does not sign, I wed without his consent. Unrecognized by him.”
“But still you’d be the legal wife of the Marquess of Northington.”
She went to take her father’s hands. “I will not see you pay anyone to take me as wife. Nor will I see anyone degrade the value of what you have built.”
“Dear girl, I have no one else to give my money to save you. I will do it for your betterment until hell freezes over.”
She pulled away. “You told Northington you would agree to this? To see the equivalent of my bride price given to his father? To…to squander?”
“No. I didn’t. I left it to him to hopefully fix the problem with his new offer to his father. He expects to hear this evening when his solicitor arrives here.”
“And if the duke does not agree?”
“Then you must ask yourself what will you give for love.”
She stared at him, mouth open.
“Sweet child of mine, to live with one you love is the finest joy in life. The commitment brings resilience and comfort when circumstances crush your heart and your hope—and when you rejoice at the riches the world can bestow, no greater delight comes when you celebrate with one you adore. I would have you live with one you love.”
He kissed her forehead and walked away.
