Page 82 of The Duke Who Loved a Widow
“What do you think?” he asked. “Should we announce our betrothal? I believe it would give strength to your claim. In fact, from what Mr Dawkins said, it would stop any petition by Farrington.”
He heard her very quiet, almost inaudible response. “Then we should most definitely do that. Will you speak to my uncle for courtesy's sake? I believe he would like that.”
Robert looked at his bride-to be intently, knowing something was wrong, but he still couldn’t work out what had changed. He’d been excited at his idea, knowing he was going to propose in due course, and this brought everything forward. He’d thought Arabella would be delighted, but instead, she looked on the verge of tears.
“I’ll talk with Sir Joseph and tell Mama, then put out the announcement,” he said, his tone questioning.
When she didn’t respond and stood to leave the room, he took her hand and raised it to his lips. “I wish it were different, and we’d had a chance to do some of the romantic things I’d planned. I do believe it is better this way to give you and Henry the certainty you need concerning Farrington and the court.”
She murmured something, and as his lips brushed her hand, he saw a look on her face more like the ones he remembered. He opened the door and asked a passing footman to find Dorcas to come and assist Lady Farrington to her bedchamber.
He watched her walk away and felt strangely empty. He’d thought an engagement would bring her happiness. He had planned never to become engaged again after the fiasco withRosalind when he had been so much younger. He’d overcome his aversion to marriage, and now he was betrothed again. He’d expected a different reaction from Arabella and decided it must be due to the stress of the day.
But a thought at the back of his mind was questioning. Maybe she didn’t want to marry him? Had she only agreed to marriage to protect her son? Had he made the wrong decision?
His emotions were in turmoil, but he’d had lots of experience in dampening them down and carrying on with everyday life. Perhaps tomorrow would bring that sparkle back. He longed to see those green eyes smiling at him with love and affection rather than gratitude.
As he was leaving his study, he saw his sister Elinor passing through the hall and gestured for her to join him.
“Robert, what a day. I thought I would be exhausted, but instead, I’m quite famished. Mama has supper on hold, and we are all to join her in a half hour,” Elinor informed him.
“Come and join me to talk,” he replied. “I find I am in rather a strange, melancholy mood this evening.”
“I truly thought that we had lost little Lord Henry Farrington,” said Elinor, sinking back onto the settee.
“He’d stopped breathing. I thought he had gone,” agreed Robert.
“It’s dreadful what Arabella and Henry have been through since she was widowed. Let’s hope Mr Dawkins can speedily counter this legal case,” replied Elinor.
“He seems confident and has already filed papers with the court. He believes Farrington has given false information, and it is only a matter of time before his case is thrown out.”
“Time, that’s the problem,” mused Elinor. “Mr Christopher Farrington may present himself any day, and until the new evidence is presented, he has the judge’s favour.”
“I’m about to tell Mama, but I shall be announcing my engagement to Lady Arabella tomorrow,” Robert told her, watching to gauge her reaction.
Elinor smiled. “I could see you were courting her. Whenever I watch you together, I see happiness,” she said, with a look of joy.
“I know I want to spend the rest of my life with her. Even this morning, it felt as though we both wanted the same thing. There’s something changed this evening, though,” he confided.
“The anxiety about Henry, perhaps?”
“I’m telling myself it’s that, but I suspect there is more to it. It’s as though there is an invisible barrier between us.”
“What happened when you returned? Did you say something to upset Arabella?”
“No, Elinor, I swear. All I did was tell her we should announce our engagement immediately as that would be best for Henry.”
His sister looked at him with pity. “Erm, that’s how you proposed to her? And all this immediately after she thought her son had died? You idiot,” Elinor scolded him.
“I thought if we got engaged immediately, then it would give her peace of mind,” replied Robert, a little confused.
“I’m sure it does, my dear brother, as far as Henry is concerned. However, what you describe isn’t quite the way men usually propose. There is often a twinkling starlit sky, perhaps some dancing and gentle words of love,” Elinor explained to him.
“You mean I got it wrong?”
“Undoubtedly. Even a widow like Arabella must hope for a little romance, a proposal with love, and a vision of a sharedfuture together. I suspect in your concern for her, you, erm, made it sound like a business solution.”
He started at her, beginning to realize what had happened.
