“Excuse me—you begged?” Edward asked.
Amelia shot him an exasperated look, and he laughed.
“I apologize, Amelia. As I said, my first concern was your reputation. Though I was not happy with the circumstances, Lord Norwich seemed a good enough man.”
This was half-hearted praise indeed, but Edward was happy to have it. Still, he was confused. “And what is this about Lady Anderson?”
His Grace turned his attention to Edward. “As I said, Amelia’s mother and yours were good friends. When the twins were born, Emily stayed home throughout the Season—it was always her preferred place. But, oh I could not count the number of letters that were sent from Emily to her three friends. Meaning, my wife, too, was friends with Lady Anderson. And Lady Cromwell finished out their quartet, but it was not she who came to speak with me.”
Edward’s brows raised again. “Lady Anderson came to speak with you?”
“Yes. On the day you were engaged—only an hour or two before you arrived, in fact. She’d heard the beginning of the rumors. And though our acquaintance was only through my wife and had been distanced for a time, when she heard my daughter was caught in a scandal with you, she came to speak with me about it. She was very clear that underneath it all, the rumors surrounding you alone were falsehoods. And if it was necessary for my daughter to marry you, I could rest assured you were an upstanding gentleman. I’ve never had a reason to doubt Lady Anderson, and so I believed her words. I’d already been considering ways to shield Amelia from this scandal, and her marrying you was the best choice available.”
How had neither of them been aware of this information? He looked at Amelia to see how she was taking all of this.
But she wasn’t watching her father. She was watchinghim.
“Thank you, Papa,” she said, her eyes still on Edward’s.
His Grace stood and crossed the small space between them, his hand dropping to Amelia’s shoulder. “I am glad all has worked out. I hope your marriage will be filled with love as mine and your mother’s was.”
Amelia’s smile was a little wobbly when she glanced up at her father. “It will be,” she murmured.
He hesitated only a moment before pressing a kiss to her head, then he stepped away. “I will leave you two now, so that I can rectify the damage Edith has done.”
Amelia spoke when he was nearly to the door of the library. “Do not be too hard on her, Papa. I feel she is hurting deeply inside as it is.”
His Grace inclined his head.
“And...” Amelia’s lips twisted to the side, considering.
“Yes?” His Grace asked—taking a step back toward them.
“You will no longer forbid Sir Frederick’s courting of Henrietta? I know their match is not particularly advantageous, but they are in love, Papa.”
Her father’s eyes widened. “I forbade no such thing. Certainly, I may not have chosen Sir Frederick as a suitor on my own, but he is a good man and good to Henrietta. In fact, I told Edith—” His visage fell. “Ah. I told Edith I did not want another daughter in such a painful entanglement as you found yourself.” He looked marginally ashamed here. “I meant it as a mark of support to Henrietta and her beau, but perhaps Edith took it to mean I did not wish for the match.”
“Or perhaps she purposefully twisted your words to Henrietta,” Edward offered quietly. Amelia’s strained expression made it clear she agreed.
The duke offered a tight smile. “Yet another thing I will speak with her about. But rest assured, I will make my approval clear to Henrietta as well.” He took the remaining few steps to the door before pausing again. “Oh, and Amelia?”
“Yes?”
“I promise to be a better grandfather than I have been a father.” Then he stepped from the room, leaving Edward to admire Amelia’s suddenly crimson cheeks.
He tucked her closer to him. “To the country, then?”
She glanced up, her cheeks still a light pink. “I do not know that it is necessary now.”
He narrowed his eyes. “I shall try again. To the country, then?”
Her laughter was an unburdened, happy sound. “Yes, my heart, to the country.”
With a grin so wide it nearly hurt, he wrapped his arms around her.
“I truly did not have any idea about our mothers. Did you?” she murmured from within his embrace.
He made a sound indicating he had not.
