“About you marrying a younger woman? There is a certain logic to it, I suppose. One of the duties of the earldom is to sire a legitimate son to inherit.”
“Which my father did by producing George as well as me. He would make a fine earl, and Bertram after him… or Lucas or little Philip. That is how it is supposed to work, Walter. There is always another male heir somewhere in the many branches of the family diverging from the first earl.”
“What does Uncle George say about it?”
“He would be delighted were I to marry again and cut him out, frankly, but he tells me I must not regard his wishes at all. He will do his duty, if it should come to that, and besides, I am not yet in my dotage. He has plenty of time to grow accustomed to the idea.”
“Then it is up to you to do whatever you feel is best.”
“If it were entirely my choice, I should not hesitate to remarry your mother as soon as may be, but she tells me…” He passed a hand tiredly across his eyes. “She says it is the only way she can now help the family, by standing aside. She has sent me a list of suitable candidates, you know. Now where is it? Ah, there now. What do you think of that?”
Walter took the paper, recognising his mother’s elegant hand. There were six names on it, each with age and lineage and a few words describing the disposition of each. “Well, at least they are not schoolroom chits.”
“No. She said she thought that would not suit me. Two of them are widows, you see. With children already.”
“Typical of Mother,” Walter said. “So very organised.”
“She is a managing kind of female — always has been,” his father said sadly. “I was all set to marry someone else, youknow. Not officially, but my father and the lady’s had had some discussion about it. Then along came Caroline with her sweet smile and her trim figure, and there we are. I never regretted it, not for a moment. We have been as happy as any two people could be all these years. I cannot imagine what I shall do without her, and that is a fact.”
Walter merely smiled, having heard the story many times. “Can you not persuade her?”
“She is adamant, and you know what she is like once she has made up her mind. I suppose I shall have to do what she wants. I generally do, and she is invariably right. Do you know any of these women? They are more your age than mine.”
“Not really. These are all Yorkshire women, Father. Good, solid families but not the top drawer.”
“Your mother is trying to spare me the indignity of submitting myself to the London season. Your Aunt Jane knows them, for she is from a good, solid Yorkshire family herself. She is to invite them to stay with her, one at a time, so that I can meet them informally.”
“Father, must you do this? It seems so heartless, to set Mother aside in this way.”
“It is her own choice, Walter. She wants it, George, Jane and Bertram want it, even your Aunt Alice thinks it a good idea, so what can I do?”
He shrugged helplessly, and Walter understood all too well the futility of arguing with a woman who had made up her mind about something. It had led him into his ill-fated betrothal, after all. Sometimes it was simply easier not to fight against the inevitable.
With Winnie still dominating his mind, Walter said, “Father, do you remember that tale we heard of Winnie Strong — that there had been some improper behaviour? Well, it was all ahum, which we should have known, of course. Winnie is too good ever to allow a man to take advantage of her.”
The earl frowned. “Truly? No truth in any of it? You know what they say — no smoke without fire. And it came from the fellow concerned — what was his name?”
“Seymour, and it was a lie from top to bottom. He actually proposed to Winnie and she rejected him, and he told his father that he had decided not to marry her because of her impropriety, the scoundrel. To say such things of a sweet, innocent girl like Winnie!”
“That is very bad, if it is indeed so,” the earl said thoughtfully. “Do you know, we thought of a match for you there, at one time.”
“Winnie… and me?” Walter said, startled.
“Exactly. Strong suggested it, but you were only twenty-three at the time, and I thought you too young to settle to domesticity. Then we heard this rumour about Winnie, from Seymour’s father himself, so how were we to know it was untrue? Then there was that business of yours with that girl…”
Walter sighed. “Father, it is not unusual for a man to take a mistress, and I took good care of Maria. Better that than brothels and chambermaids. Grandfather would have approved.”
“His was a different generation, Walter. Neither your mother nor I approved of it, and Lady Strong was adamant that no daughter of hers would marry a man of loose morals, so what with that and this rumour, any idea of a match between you and Winnie ran aground.”
Walter was left to digest the startling information that, if matters had gone otherwise, he might now be married to Winnie. It was the strangest thought.
22: Love And Honour
Winnie was filled with sorrow as she saw Walter’s luggage being unloaded at Corland Castle. Her last sight of him as the carriage rolled away down the drive showed her a man standing as if lost, an island of stillness in the ocean of bustling footmen. Then the drive curved away and he was lost from her sight. She wondered wildly whether she would ever see him again, before reminding herself sternly that he had agreed to return to Birchall House in a few days.
Uncle Alfred’s voice startled her out of her reverie. “Winnie, what do you wish to tell your parents about all this? Your Aunt Sofia has been keeping your mama informed of every last nuance of Mr Lomax’s behaviour, and I have myself written to your father to tell him that an offer was imminent, but we can simply tell them that he was obliged to go out of town, if you prefer.”
“What is your opinion, Uncle?”
