“There has been a—” Christopher pushed his tongue into the side of his mouth. “A change in circumstance, regarding my marriage to Miss Marianne Drayton.”
“What sort of circumstance?” Alistair asked. “I thought the contract was sound?”
“The contract is fine. The circumstance is my decision to wed the older sister, Miss. Rosalind, instead. She will be a better match for marriage, and her father agrees.”
“What?” Theodore cried in amusement. “The sister? Christopher, surely you are joking.”
“It’s Lord Strathvale, isn’t it?” Alistair cursed. “He’s trying to pawn off the scraps and hopes you won’t say anything. I read that contract, Christopher, and you are within your rights to choose –”
“I have chosen,” Christopher snapped. “As I said, it is a business decision. Miss. Marianne is nice enough to look at, but her sister is far more…” He considered his phrasing, ignoring at the same time the way his heart pounded as soon as her face came to mind. “Practical.”
“Practical?” Theodore snorted. “That is not the word I would use.”
“And what you told us of her when this whole thing started?” Alistair asked with worry. “The very reason you chose the younger sister in the first place.”
“What is your point?”
“Is this wise?” Alistair pushed. “Christopher, forgive me, but…” He sucked through his teeth. “How did this happen?”
To that, Christopher had no answer. Not one that he planned on revealing to his friends, anyhow.
I can’t let them think that I was tricked or manipulated in any way. Which I was not. This was my decision… and it is for the best… yes, for the best…
Christopher had never expected Miss Rose to come good on their deal.Thatwas what caught him by surprise. Making the deal in the first place was probably not the smartest maneuver that Christopher had ever made, but he had not seriously considered that it would make any difference.
That was his mistake. And considering what he knew of Miss Rosalind Drayton, it was one he was sure to rue.
The eldest Drayton daughter had never once been courted. She had never shown an interest in what people thought of her or her perception as a lady ofthe Ton. She was a budding spinster, the type who invited rumor, and the exact person that someone in Christopher’s position needed to stay away from.
But then why had he made the deal in the first place? Even if the odds of her completing it were so slim, what had Christopher been thinking?
I wish I knew. It might be easy to say that she tricked me, or that I was arrogant, but it’s more than that. There is something about Miss Rose that I can’t quite wrap my head around…
It was confusing. It was frustrating. It was so unlike Christopher that he had no way of explaining it. And when she came to him with the information he had requested, he knew he had no choice but to do as he promised.
Christopher was a man of his word, after all, and even the impending sense of doom that came with this marriage would not change that.
“It does not matter how it happened, only that it has. And that it was my decision.” He made sure to look between his two friends, letting them see in his eyes that this was a fact and not to be debated. “And now that I have told you of it, I expect not only your support, but your silence. Is that understood?”
Theodore wore an amused smile, and his body was shaking from the effort it took for him to keep his mouth shut.
Alistair was frowning with worry.
But neither man pushed, which Christopher was not surprised by. He had spent a long time building his reputation to a point where even his best friends would not consider questioning him beyond what he allowed.
That’s what came with the life he had chosen, and the way he had chosen to live it. A life which, if things went poorly with this marriage, could be threatened.
He was going to need to be careful, he decided. And no matter what, he could not allow himself to grow too close to Miss Rose. That, he knew, would only lead to pain.
“Come on then.” He kicked his feet into his horse and pushed it forward. “Let us go again. And without cheating this time, Theodore.”
“I did not cheat!”
“You did,” Christopher said. “And we all know it.”
The three men laughed together as they steered their horses to the edge of the meadow, preparing to race them for a second time. It was a good day, a fun day, a day that Christopher would probably look back on fondly.
Perhaps the last time he’d be able to do so for a while.
