“Are you fully prepared to be her husband?” Lord Diamond asked. “Elsewise, I suggest you walk out my door and never lay eyes upon her again.”
Matthew flinched. The despair engendered by the earl’s ultimatum was instant and overwhelming, like having his head plunged under water and held there. At school, it had happened once, and he had never forgotten the dread.
Until that moment, he had not truly examined his own feelings beyond knowing he admired Purity, thought her the most desirable woman he’d ever met, and believed they could be happy together.
Imagining such a finality of never being in her company again, the same helpless dread washed over him. His heart ached dully, the very heart of which her father had spoken, and which Matthew knew Purity had long-since claimed.
He could only describe it to himself as her having taken up all the space in that famed and mythical seat of the emotions. The realization rattled him as much as the newfound knowledge that his affections were truly and irrevocably engaged.
He was pleased and yet the smallest whit frightened, too.
“Your face is an expressive one,” her father said into the prolonged silence.
Matthew had practically forgotten the man was there. Still, he wasn’t going to mentionloveto anyone apart from Purity.
“I am prepared to marry your daughter,” he said carefully, trying not to trip over his tongue, “by caring for her in all the ways in which you would deem necessary for her happiness, now and in the future.”
The earl gave him another long look, pondering the words. Finally, he nodded. Then he made a face of exasperation.
“You know her mother and I eloped, and I don’t regret it for an instant.”
While Matthew’s mouth was open, stunned by the notion of a carefree, outrageous Lord and Lady Diamond, the earl asked him briefly about his financial well-being, which was healthy indeed. And then a dowry was proposed, to which Matthew agreed immediately.
Satisfied, Lord Diamond rose to his feet and even put out his hand.
“I like this custom of shaking upon an agreement,” he said. “Touching the flesh that I will rip limb from limb if you hurt my daughter makes it more tangible and permanent, don’t you think?”
Matthew hesitated, again taken off guard by the earl, but he shook his hand with vigor.
“Yes, my lord,” he said. “And I shall never give you cause for regret, nor for ripping my limbs.”
He hadn’t exactly been hat-in-hand, but Matthew had certainly been doubtful of his reception. Moreover, he’d been thoroughly put in his place and told where he had better stand by the formidable Lord Diamond. He could do nothing but admire his future father-in-law, wondering momentarily what his own father would have said in the same circumstances.
Dismissed, Matthew wandered along the hallway and down the stairs where luckily, he encountered Lady Diamond in the drawing room.
After a brief but polite conversation in which he informed the countess that his suit had been accepted, he followed her suggestion to seek out the source of the music.
Recognizing Purity’s adept talent, he went directly to the salon. For a full minute, Matthew stood in the doorway andlistened, watching the quick sure movements of her hands and enjoying the graceful bend to her neck where soft, dark spirals lay.
He wanted to drop kisses along that slender column, wrap his hands around her from behind, and grab hold of her luscious curves.
Now they were officially engaged, that dream was closer to reality. He hoped she wasn’t as distraught as she’d seemed the afternoon before. Probably the shock had worn off. And since he’d followed through with asking her father for her hand, her mind should be at ease as soon as he told her the marriage had been arranged.
Not wishing to startle her, he gave a small cough. She straightened and lifted her fingers from the keys as he approached.
Uninvited, he sat beside her on the hard bench.
“Good day, Lord Foxford,” she said.
Her greeting — classic, formal, and proper — made him smile.
“Good day, Lady Purity. My given name, by the way, is Matthew, and I invite you to use it whenever you wish.”
She nodded somberly, and he wished she looked happier. There must be worse men she could marry. He noted she hadn’t given him permission to call her anything. Therefore, he would continue with the name that suited her best.
“I am no music expert, kitten, but you play well in my estimation.”
“Thank you. I have practiced for many hours. It’s a good thing, too, for I have no voice for singing unlike my younger sisters.”
