A fresh scowl settled on Sir Weston’s face as she pulled her gaze back to Lord Rotherby.
‘And when I said I would marry for love,’ she continued, ‘I never once imagined it would be to a rake with a reputation for scandal.’ A shadow crept into Lord Rotherby’s eyes, as she took a step towards him. ‘Yet I’ve also learned that reputation is only ever a mask.’ She paused, his eyes never leaving hers. ‘And now your auntoffers me the most wonderful opportunity to study the galleries and fashion exhibitions of Europe, which I have longed for my whole life and so I must choose… Tante Elizabeth…’
Her voice faltered, as she placed her hand against his thumping heart.
‘…Until such time that we tell the world of our engagement.’
He cursed then, and damning all propriety, pulled her into an ardent kiss.
‘So long,’ she chuckled breathlessly against his lips, ‘as you concede the wager?’
‘I concede every wager,’ Lord Rotherby said through a million tiny kisses, ‘I ever made, mostreadily.’
‘It is well then,’ she smiled tenderly, ‘that a Fairfaxalwayshonours their word.’
ChapterTwenty-Five
KNIGHTSWOOD MANOR
Six months later
Lord Dominic Hugo Rotherby withdrew from his naked entanglement with his usual regret. His new wife was near impossible to leave, but he’d promised Damerel some help with the school.
Furthermore, there was Horace to consider– Horace, his feisty tiger who’d adored both his guvnor and the new Lady Rotherby right up until their wedding day, after which he’d morphed into the most difficult human being of their collective knowledge.
They’d offered him a position as Head Groom in the hope it might offset the wedding blow, but neither his new quarters, nor his eye-watering allowance, had raised so much as one condescending eyebrow. Sophie joked he was still affronted by the new lavender phaeton he was obliged to perch upon on occasion, but they both knew the truth– that he was afflicted by the much greater offence of having to sharehim.
Thoughtfully, Dominic surveyed her sleeping form, her hair fanned out like spilt honey across their tangled sheets. Despite making him wait far longer than he wanted, fully supported by his fierce aunt, the last six months had been the happiest of his life.
He’d thought he knew all there was to know about women– every curve caressed, every mystery uncovered– yet Lady Sophie Rotherby had taught him he was nothing more than a hapless schoolboy, naïve to the joy of body-and-soul-bewitching love. And now he was as much enchanted as he was married– even more so when Sophie announced that their distraction had resulted in a further distraction, forecast for late summer.
It was the news for which he never thought he’d hope, after spending so many years believing he’d never marry. And while he couldn’t wait to meet a new Rotherby with Fairfax virtues, neither he nor Sophie had the stomach to tell their beloved Horace that his bad dream had just become a nightmare.
His smile spread as a low knock sounded at the door.
‘Apologies for the disturbance, my lord,’ Benson murmured quietly, looking a little flustered.
Rotherby surveyed his elderly butler with misgiving and, not for the first time, wondered if he’d done the right thing in bringing some of his household to Devon. He and Sophie had thought it a chance for them to consider retiring to the sleepy local village, yet retirement seemed to be the last thing on their minds.
Benson cleared his throat.
‘Miss Matilda sends her best regards, my lord, and wonders if you and Lady Rotherby might be available to attend a circus performance in the blue saloon, after luncheon? I have been instructed to inform you that there will be acrobatics, juggling and some fire-eating– apparently dependent on whether the Viscountess Damerel has hidden all the candles. She has also recruited the services of Miss Harriet Godminster to assist with costumes, as circus-performing requires an extensive wardrobe … apparently.’
Rotherby smiled. His elderly retainer was wearing an expression of long-suffering disapproval, yet there was a twinkle in his eye he’d not seen for a long while, and colour in his cheeks only Devon could have put there.
‘So long as Harriet is willing, I have no objections,’ Lord Rotherby replied.
‘Miss Matilda was also keen to impress that she would brook no absences, sir,’ Benson said, pan-faced. ‘And I’m to tell you she has also invited Sir Thomas Fairfax, the Viscount Damerel, the Viscountess, Miss Josephine, Masters Edward and Henry?—’
‘Yes, yes,’ Lord Rotherby intervened hastily. ‘I understand the entire household has been invited, thank you?—’
‘But, and on this point she was quite particular, my lord,’ Benson said emphatically, ‘nopigwidgeoned dunderheads!’
‘Ah, and do we know many of those, Benson?’ Lord Rotherby replied, feeling rather bewildered.
‘Apparently, Lady Sophie knows of a few my Lord, and Matilda wanted to remind everyone that only persons ofgoodcharacter are on the invitation list.’
‘Well, that’s a relief, thank?—’
