Emmaline lowered her deep green eyes at his words, unable to meet his gaze. “I am excited, Papa, but how can I allow myself to think on such things when we have no idea what we truly have to offer?”
The Earl of Monrith was a kind and gentle man when it came to his family, and as such, he rose from his seat and skirted around the desk.
Taking hold of his daughter's hand, he led her to a nearby couch and encouraged her to sit. Dropping down onto the seat beside her, he continued to clutch her hand and when he squeezed quite firmly, Emmaline was forced to meet his gaze once more.
“Emmaline, this investment, should it succeed,” her father explained in a tone that only made Emmaline more anxious, “will ensure the dowries are secure for both you and Jane.”
“And that is entirely why I am so nervous!” Emmaline blurted in a most unladylike manner. Were he anyone else, Emmaline might have been mortified but this was her father, and they did not keep anything from one another.
Smiling with fatherly affection, Richard took both Emmaline's hands in his and cradled them as he might have cradled her when she was a babe.
“Emmaline, my sweet girl, I apologize to you wholeheartedly for this,” he said, sighing deeply.
Taken aback, Emmaline’s eyes widened, “Apologize, whatever for? Is there news?”
The earl, chuckling, shook his head. “What I apologize for is the fact you were exceptionally lucky in that you got your mother's beauty but that you have clearly inherited my nature. Your head for business might well even be greater than my own but you do yourself a huge injustice worrying as you do. You ought to be preparing yourself, not troubling yourself with these matters.”
Emmaline gulped hard. “I fear I shall never be prepared.”
Again, she could not look her father in the eye. She had strived to be a fine, upstanding daughter for his sake and for the sake of the family, and yet at every turn she feared failure.
When her father lifted one hand to cup her chin, she instinctively met his eyes once more. “So long as you know your worth and what it is you are looking for, you shall always be prepared.”
His words, though encouraging, were enough to make Emmaline tremble. “What if what I am looking for does not exist?”
She saw how her father's gaze darkened, how he grew concerned. When he dropped his hand from her chin, she wished she hadn't spoken at all.
“What exactly is it that you hope to find, my dearest daughter?”
Emmaline’s breath caught in her throat. She closed her eyes and thought on all the stories she had heard growing up before her father had remarried, the stories that had ceased the moment he brought another woman and her children into their home. But she remembered them still and might recite them from memory if she were asked.
Trembling, she opened her eyes and looked at her father as she admitted, “I wish to find what you and Mama had.”
Her father's face paled at her words. She saw the way his Adam’s apple jumped, heard how he swallowed.
“What you mean to say, Emmaline, is you wish to marry for love, am I correct?” her father asked, holding her gaze.
Emmaline nodded slowly. She barely dared to breathe. She and her father had rarely talked of such things, especially lately, and so she had no idea what his response might be.
She was surprised when he said, “I can only hope you will have the opportunity to do so, my dear, and I shall do all in my power to make it so but in order to find love, you must be prepared for it.”
And with that he stood, pulling her to her feet with him. Emmaline already knew what was coming as he shooed her from his study. “Off with you. Quit your fretting aboutourinvestment and focus on what you are able to do in the here and now. Prepare yourself for the ball this evening.”
Emmaline, smiling, leaned forward and placed an affectionate kiss upon her father's cheek. “Thank you, Papa.”
What she thanked him for she didn't truly know but he did not ask. Instead, he watched her go with a smile.
Almost the second she closed the door behind her again, Emmaline felt the nerves clawing at her insides once more. There was still so much for her to do and yet everything hung in the balance with the success of one shipment determining the fate of an entire family, her family, and she had been the one to set the very thing in motion.
Chapter 2
Alexander Black, the Duke of Westmarch, sat in the back office of his club with the heels of his black boots rested upon the surface of his mahogany desk. Head thrown back with his eyes closed, he groaned. In the efforts of making sure that all had a good time and spent well within the club, he had perhaps had one too many the night before.
Yet, it was a small price to pay in order to dig them out of the hole that he and his most trusted friend found themselves in.
“How did we do, Sean?” he groaned through gritted teeth, laying a damp cloth upon his forehead. “Please, tell me we at least made a dent in things.”
Sean, sitting on the chair across from his desk, cleared his throat and looked at the ledger in his hands again before making any comment. “We took a good amount yesterday. The Lords Berbanks and Greenway were very generous.”
