And so, Natalie poured out everything—well, notquiteeverything—to her godmother and her mama. “He has promised, given me his word, he would marry me if I insist. I would never insist he do such a thing for my own sake, but Ibelieve now that I might do so forhis,for our sake. For I do believe he loves me—I think so, anyhow.” She said this bravely, for there were a few niggling doubts. “If I demand the marriage, and he comes to terms with the fact that he is not predisposed to sire an unhealthy child, then he maybe—well, perhaps then, he will allow himself to love me.” The last words were nearly a whisper. It terrified her to speak the possibility out loud.
“But there is more to it than that.” Lady Ravensdale spoke in a cautioning tone. “He does not wish to expose you to more scandal. And you, my dear, must admit your reputation cannot absorb much more if you ever expect to return to society again.”
Snapping her fingers, Natalie dismissed such a notion. “I could care this much about theton, Mama.”
“But,” her mama said, “it is, and you must respect this, one ofhisreasons. It concerns the earl greatly.”
The room fell quiet as the three women pondered this new obstacle.
It was Aunt Eleanor who finally broke the silence. “A large wedding,” she declared with no uncertainty whatsoever. “At Saint George’s on Hanover Square, at the peak of the Little Season in mid-October.”
Both Natalie and her mama turned toward Lady Sheffield, Mama with dawning understanding and Natalie with horror.
“But nobody will come!” Natalie said.
Lady Ravensdale nodded. “We must take measures to assure the church is full to bursting. Of course, Lord Hawthorne will be in town for the same special Parliamentary session Broderick must attend. We must do everything in our power to assure he is received. For if he is not a social pariah, then neither shall you be, when you marry.”
“It’s awfully risky.” Natalie was stunned, but then as she considered it, she knew it must be done.
“You must write to Lord Hawthorne to notify him of your decision to marry, along with when and where, and also inform him of the true identity of his father.” Natalie’s mama had been addressing her but then turned toward Aunt Eleanor. “You are quite certain, Eleanor, this is what you wish?” At a nod from her friend, Natalie’s mama forged ahead. “He will need some time to absorb it. And by the time the Season starts, the campaign to restore him to society will be well underway.”
“I think,” Aunt Eleanor added, “the best tactic is to inform the world he was not sired by the Earl of Hawthorne as soon as possible. For his greatest sin, according to theton, is having a madman for a father.”
Natalie felt hopeful but not entirely convinced. “But would he not be shunned then for being a bastard?” And Garrett would most likely not appreciate having such personal information about him aired for all and sundry. But if it worked…
Lady Ravensdale mused, “Technically, he is not a bastard. In addition to that, he is a very wealthy man who, as luck would have it, holds one of the oldest titles in England. With enough support, hewillbe received. As your godmother says, his circumstances will have become the lesser of two evils.” She waited a moment and then with a gleam of anticipation added, “It’s all a matter of execution, my dear.”
Allowing no room for further argument, Lady Ravensdale rang the bell pull and requested her lap desk. “Eleanor, for all of London to hear the news, we need only send letters to a few select acquaintances, particularly those who are patronesses at Almack’s. I’m certain we won’t be disappointed.” And with that, she began listing names, stopping only for a moment to address Natalie. “You had best inform the groom of your plans to marry, my dear. He’ll need to arrange for the church and the banns.” Then, turning back to Aunt Eleanor, “Now how ought we to word this…?”
Natalie took a piece of parchment from her mother androse slowly, her hands shaking. Oh, God, if this didn’t work, her entire life would be ruined. And Garrett would never speak to her again.
Even if hewasher husband!
OH HELL
Oh hell.
Garrett held the envelope in his hands as though it contained a bomb. For it must. Raven’s Park had been printed in small letters on the envelope, and his own directions were written in very feminine writing. It was not seemly for a single woman to correspond with a single gentleman, but they had already done numerous things that would not have been considered seemly. Why not exchange some correspondence in addition to all their other sins?
Would the letter inform him of her intent to leave the country? The thought of this caused a stabbing pain in the organ that pumped blood through his body. Would she be telling him goodbye? Was she to release him from the promise he’d made?
Or was her news worse?
Forcing his fingertips to open the envelope, Garrett pulled back the flap and removed the folded sheets of paper. Her curling handwriting nearly covered them both completely.
Her news was much worse.
Lord Hawthorne,it read,
I wish to marry and am holding you to your promise.
In all his life, he’d not thought it possible to feel explosive anger, relief, and utter joy at the same time. Leave it to Natalie to evoke exactly that.
They had an understanding!
The idea of traveling abroad to escape society’s measure and returning to an unresolved scandal is untenable. For I would be forced to be without my family and away from all that is familiar to me with no promise whatsoever of having my reputation restored. And without a restored reputation, I shall never find a suitable husband. I shall find myself upon the shelf, a brittle old maid, and I cannot tolerate this.
Another matter has been resolved as well. I have remembered everything! The reason I climbed into the trunk was to have another look at the portraits of Lady Sheffield’s deceased brother. For I had begun to suspect something, which I have upon further investigation discovered to be true. I do hope you are sitting down for this news. Are you sitting? Well do so!
