Gail Whitiker - Blackwood's Lady

It was not until that moment that David realized how much he had been hoping that Nicola would agree to his proposal. So much so that when he smiled, Nicola caught her breath at the change it wrought in his appearance. She was hardly to know it was a smile that only a few close friends and family members were ever privileged to see.

“There is…something I should like to ask you.”

“You may ask of me anything you wish, my dear.”

The endearment caused the strangest flutter in the pit of Nicola’s stomach, but she forced herself to concentrate on what she had to say.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

To Mom and Dad, the best parents in the world

And to Ron, for encouraging me to strive, and for

never forgetting the little things that are so important

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Epilogue

‘So, my boy, are the rumours true?’ a beaming Sir Giles Chapman enquired of the younger gentleman sitting across from him. ‘Have you really decided to do it or is the story nothing more than hearsay spread on the lips of fools?’

A brief flicker of amusement lit the silvery blue eyes of David Penscott, fifth Marquis of Blackwood, as he settled back into the comfort of the deeply padded armchair and reached for the glass of brandy his uncle’s manservant had just refilled. ‘I’m afraid you’re going to have to be more specific than that if I am to give you an intelligent answer, Uncle Giles, since I’ve no idea which rumours you’re referring to.’

‘No idea! My dear boy, I am referring to the ones that have you marrying the Earl of Wyndham’s daughter. Everyone knows how loath you are to enter the wedded state, and given that the lady is something of a mystery to Society circles the subject is generating considerable interest. So, I am asking you straight out. Are the rumours true?’

David raised the cut-crystal glass to his lips and smiled at his uncle over the rim. ‘That depends. Does your interest stem from the fact that you’ve money riding on my answer or from a genuine interest in my welfare?’

‘Money riding on my— Egods, sir, you wound me!’ Sir Giles cried, clasping his hand over his heart as though he had been grievously injured. ‘You know I don’t wager on my family.’

‘I know that you have been warned not to,’ David replied, his smile broadening, ‘but I wasn’t sure how seriously you were taking the threat.’

‘I am taking it very seriously indeed, considering that it was levied by your aunt Hortensia. That meddlesome woman has threatened to sell off my entire collection of snuff boxes if I so much as look at another betting book. And she’d do it too,’ Sir Giles muttered, the tips of his silvery moustache bristling with indignation as he thought about his eldest sister and her much publicized campaign to reform his character. ‘Hence, I fear I must consider myself cured of the dreaded vice. But, as regards these rumours, I do admit to being curious. I never thought to see you brought to heel by a woman, David, and certainly not by a dark horse like the Lady Nicola Wyndham.’

‘I hardly call making the decision to marry at four-and-thirty being brought to heel, Uncle,’ David replied, choosing for a moment to ignore the latter part of his uncle’s comment. ‘It simply suits my purposes, that is all.’

‘I see. Then is it indeed the Lady Nicola upon whom you have set your heart?’

‘It is, though I fail to see why you would doubt one part of the rumour if you believed the other.’

‘Because I would doubt anything that was being hailed as the truth by the likes of Humphrey O’Donnell and his cronies.’

‘O’Donnell!’ David’s smile faded as an image of the handsome but far too cocky young dandy appeared in his mind. ‘I am surprised that young scapegrace would trouble himself over my affairs. He has been overheard to say that no intelligent woman would be foolish enough to take me on.’

‘Yes, and so he would once he’d learned that the lady in question was the Earl of Wyndham’s daughter. Are you not aware that O’Donnell has been casting after Lady Nicola himself these past few weeks?’

David frowned. ‘As a matter of fact I was not.’

‘No, I thought not. I hate to sound like an interfering old busybody, David, but you really should pay more mind to what goes on in the drawing rooms of London if you are at all serious about this marriage business,’ Sir Giles advised. ‘The hunting fields can wait.’

‘I am very serious about this marriage business, as you call it, Uncle Giles, but no man could possibly be expected to keep up with all the rumours drifting through London’s drawing rooms,’ David objected. ‘As for the hunting fields, I take leave to tell you that this proposed alliance with Lady Nicola may well have been forged through the very sport you now decry.’

‘Really? I was not aware Lady Nicola rode to hounds.’

‘She doesn’t, but her father does, and I thought perchance the number of times he and I have hunted together might have made him look more favourably upon my suit.’

‘More favourably? My dear boy, an offer of marriage from the Marquis of Blackwood would be viewed as exceptional even for the daughter of an earl. Especially one who, at five-and-twenty, is—’ Sir Giles broke off in mid-sentence and stared at his nephew. ‘Tell me that you are at least aware of the lady’s age?’

A glimmer of mirth danced in David’s eyes. ‘I am well aware of the lady’s age, Uncle, and I considered it a point in her favour, rather than against it.’

‘You did?’

‘Most assuredly. At five-and-twenty, Lady Nicola is far more likely to possess the qualities I seek than any of the simpering young ladies making their bows at court. And, while I know that it is well past time I settled down, having had it pointed out to me time without number, and by people whose opinions I value, that does not mean I intend to plunge into the situation with my eyes closed. Marriage is far too important a decision to make based solely upon the feelings of the heart.’

Sir Giles couldn’t help smiling. ‘Some gentlemen consider it the only way to make this particular decision, David.’

‘Possibly, but I am not one of them. I can think of nothing worse than leg-shackling myself to a vapid young woman whose head is filled with silly romantic nonsense and little else.’

‘I see. Then what kind of wife do you seek?’

‘I seek a competent hostess and a loyal companion,’ David replied, without hesitation. ‘A woman who will be a good mother to my children, and who will discharge her role as Marchioness of Blackwood with dignity and style, as my mother did. And I believe Lady Nicola to be precisely that type of female.’

‘She also happens to be a remarkably beautiful young woman,’ Sir Giles remarked idly. ‘Or had you taken time to notice that during your rather clinical assessment of her many other fine attributes?’

‘I have most certainly taken note of the fact that Lady Nicola is an exceedingly lovely young woman, but more important to me than her beauty is the fact that she has been raised in a nobleman’s house—an upbringing which will have equipped her with the knowledge and refinement necessary to take her place in mine.’