It sounded so beautiful on her lips. The sound of it made him shiver with anticipation at the thought of everything that lay ahead for the two of them.
But that thought made him fully conscious, once more, of who else was in the room with them. “I suppose I’d better speak to your father about all this,” he murmured. “We’re going to need his permission.”
“I don’t think that’s something you have to worry about,” Lavinia said. “He’s over the moon about it. I can tell already. He thought I was going to remain unmarried for the rest of my days and bring shame to his household.”
Seth laughed. “I don’t think that was something we ever had to worry seriously about,” he said. “If you wanted to marry, you were never going to have any trouble finding a gentleman who would have you. All the work you and I put in…it was never really necessary.”
She beamed.
Seth turned toward Lord Feverton. “We may as well make it official,” he said. “Will you grant me permission to marry your daughter, Lord Feverton?”
“Of course, Your Grace,” Lord Feverton said. He looked more stunned than anybody else in the room. “I can’t believe this is happening—but of course, if that’s what you and she both want. Lavinia, why didn’t you tell me?”
Lavinia didn’t answer her father. She kept her eyes squarely on Seth.
“This is really what you want?” she murmured. “Really and truly?”
“More than anything,” he assured her, allowing his fingertips to graze her cheek.
And this time, Lavinia was the one to initiate the kiss.
CHAPTER 38
“This is going to be awful,” Lavinia moaned.
“It’s going to be fine,” Edwina soothed her. “You’re meeting the dowager duchess, not the queen.”
“That’s easy for you to say,” Lavinia said. “You’re wonderful at getting people to like you. I’m terrible at it.”
“I don’t think you’re as bad at that as you think you are,” Edwina objected. “You got the duke to like you, didn’t you? More than like you. You got him to fall in love with you. And that’s to say nothing of poor Lord Hennington!”
“But I told you,” Lavinia said. “I wasn’t trying to persuade either of those gentlemen to admire me, and I still don’t know how it happened. I couldn’t have done it on purpose. Now I have to convince the dowager duchess that she ought to like me—that I’m worthy of her only son. And I have no idea how to do that.”
“I’ll be right beside you the whole time,” her sister assured her. “Does that help?”
“It does and it doesn’t,” Lavinia said. “You know I always feel better in your company—but you also know how difficult it is for me to make a good impression when you’re around, Edwina. You are effortlessly charming in a way I never will be.”
“You charmed the duke without effort,” her sister reminded her. “Perhaps it will be the same with his mother. Trust yourself, Lavinia. Don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re more charming than you think you are.”
Lavinia smiled. “I’m glad I have you with me, even if I do worry about you outshining me,” she told her sister. “You always know what to say to make me feel more at ease.”
Their carriage arrived at Loxburgh Manor. “Just think,” Edwina said, looking admiringly up at the big estate. “This will be your home soon.”
“It’s hard to imagine,’ Lavinia admitted.
“Are you nervous about marrying the duke?”
“No. Being married to Seth is the one thing in all of this thatdoesn’tmake me feel nervous,” she said. “I’m completely at ease with him.”
“I’m so glad you’ve found yourself with a gentleman who makes you feel that way!” Edwina enthused. “I knew it would happen for you, Lavinia. I just knew it.”
“And what about you?” Lavinia asked her sister as they walked up the path to the front door. “You mentioned that you had met someone you liked at the house party at Harbeck Manor, but we’ve all been so focused on me lately that I haven’t heard you say anything more about him. Did you make any arrangements to see that gentleman again?”
“I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of each other.”
“Are you being vague on purpose?”
“I’m not going to let you get away with changing the subject right now, that’s all,” Edwina said. “Today is about you, and we should remain focused on that. Your future. We can talk about me another time.”
