Diane Gaston - Bound by Duty

It ought not to bother Tess that there was a woman he planned to marry. It should not bother her that she might see the woman on his arm in London. Or dancing with him at a ball. She had dreams of dancing with Mr Welton, did she not?

But somehow it would have been a comfort to meet him in London without a woman in tow and to pretend they did not have a huge secret between them.

‘Are you certain this woman will marry you, simply because you offer her—what? That you are a viscount’s son?’ she asked him.

He shifted in his chair. ‘I am heir to the title, not that I ever wished to be.’

‘Why would you not wish for the title?’ Both their father and Edmund would have been greatly gratified if Edmund had been the legitimate son and heir.

In fact, their father should have married Edmund’s mother. She had been the woman he loved.

Mr Glenville turned his blue eyes on her. Grieving blue eyes. ‘My brother had to die. Believe me, I would rather have my brother back than a thousand titles.’

She reached over and touched his arm. ‘I am so sorry,’ she said truthfully. ‘It is a terrible thing to earn a title. Someone must always die.’

He smiled, a sad smile. ‘Not always. One can earn a title from winning a war, like the Duke of Wellington.’

His smile made her insides flutter. She glanced back to the fire. ‘You do not worry that this woman you wish to marry would marry you merely because you will be a viscount someday?’

‘Mind?’ His smile remained. ‘That is what I have to offer. A title. Wealth. Why should she not want those things?’

A title did not keep a man from becoming a bitter person. Wealth could be fleeting, as well she knew.

‘Why should you want her, then?’ she asked. ‘What advantage does she offer you?’

His expression sobered. ‘She is the sister of a good friend. We’ve known each other since childhood. Her family is extremely respectable and that will do much to erase the damage my parents’ reputations have done.’

‘You will marry her for her family’s reputation?’ Was that not like marrying for social connections? Her father had married her mother for her social connections, all of which disappeared when she ran off with another man.

He gazed at her with understanding. ‘Perhaps you and your sisters never suffered the stigma of your mother’s scandals.’

She glanced away again. ‘Our father never took us to London.’ There were, though, a few ladies around Yardney who whispered when they were in view and a few gentlemen who’d spoken—rudely.

He added, ‘You will benefit from Lord Tinmore’s reputation in London, no doubt.’

She turned to him. ‘I do understand that. Without Tinmore’s wealth and reputation, we should be invited nowhere. But that does not mean that I would accept an offer of marriage from a man for whom I do not feel great regard.’

‘I feel regard for my intended bride, but I will not let emotions dictate my choices.’

‘You like her, then?’ she asked.

He nodded. ‘I like her well enough.’

Well enough. She was beginning to feel very sorry for his intended. ‘But you do not love her?’

He gazed at her and the firelight made his eyes even more intense. ‘Are you asking if I have a passion for her? If my mind goes blank and my tongue becomes tied when I am with her? The answer is no.’ He turned back to the fire. ‘But I like her well enough.’

Perhaps if Tess’s father had loved their mother, she would not have sought lovers. Perhaps if her mother had loved her father, he would have indulged her and flattered her and cosseted her as she wished. Tess and her sisters had discussed this many times.

‘I hope you learn to love her,’ Tess told Mr Glenville. ‘I hope she loves you.’

His expression remained implacable.

She adjusted her blankets and stared into the fire. The chair felt hard and the wind found its way inside. The fire was losing its battle to keep the place warm.

They were silent for a while until Mr Glenville spoke. ‘How old are you, Miss Summerfield?’

‘I am two and twenty.’

His brows rose. ‘And your sister, Lady Tinmore?’

‘She is five and twenty.’

He peered at her. ‘In your twenties and you have had no suitors? That is hard to believe.’

She straightened. ‘I did not say we had no suitors. Our situation has not been such that those suitors could make an offer. We had no dowries.’

‘Your father did not provide you and your sisters with dowries?’ he asked.

If he’d heard of their mother, surely he could guess. Their father did not believe they were his daughters.

But she would not speak that out loud. ‘Our father was fond of making risky investments. He wanted to be fabulously wealthy so our mother would regret leaving him, but his investments were terrible ones. He used the last of his funds—our dowries—to purchase a commission for Edmund.’

‘Edmund is your father’s illegitimate son?’

So he also knew that part of her family story, as well.

‘Yes.’ She added, ‘Our half-brother.’

She and her sisters likely shared no blood with Edmund. The sisters shared a mother. He came from their father.

She went on. ‘I do not disagree with you that one needs some fortune and reputation in order to make a good match. Lorene has given us this, but wealth and reputation are not enough for a marriage. It is love that is the answer. Love can get one over the inevitable hurdles of life.’

‘Now you are sounding philosophic. There are some hurdles that mere emotion can’t jump over.’ He peered at her. ‘Do you have a suitor?’

She felt her face grow red.

He frowned. ‘You have a suitor. A man who would not court you because you had no dowry.’

She flushed with anger this time. ‘Perhaps I do have such a suitor. Perhaps that is why I say the things I do.’

He threw off his blanket and stood. ‘I am going to check on Apollo.’ Before he reached the door he turned back to her. ‘I hope it all works for you, Miss Summerfield. But before you make that final vow with your suitor, think with your head and forget your heart.’

She wanted to snap back at him, but his tone disturbed her. And what he said was true. Mr Welton could not court her when she had no dowry, but that did not mean his heart could not be engaged.

Did it?

He opened the door and the wind rushed in. The temperature dropped even lower in just that brief moment. Tess forgot about dowries or love matches or reputations. The air was freezing and they’d put the last of the coal on the fire. How would they stay warm through the night?

‘I’ll look for more firewood,’ Mr Glenville said, as if reading her mind. ‘What we have won’t last the night.’

Chapter Four

Ice crunched under Marc’s bare feet as he crossed the yard to the stable. His feet ached from the cold as he tended to Apollo. Why could he not have been stranded in June instead of February?

It was not only the icy cold that disturbed him. His conversation with Miss Summerfield did, as well.

It cut too close. All this talk of marriage. Love.

His parents had fallen in love and where had it led them? To shouting, accusations, recriminations, declarations that they wished they’d never set eyes on each other. They’d ruined their lives, he’d heard over and over.

Then there was Lucien and Charles. Where had love led his brother and his friend?

No falling in love for him. He’d control such runaway emotions.

‘That is the sensible way, eh, Apollo?’

His horse snorted in reply and Marc leaned his face against Apollo’s warm neck. He found another blanket to help keep Apollo warm and tried not to think of the icy hammers pounding on his feet.