Guy eyed her carefully. “I shall purchase a special license from Doctor’s Commons and visit St. Georges to set the date.”
Hetty grew hot. A poker seemed to have lodged in her spine. Her fear that she would become the subject of drawing rooms and be snubbed was bad enough, but not at her wedding. “Very well.”
His dark eyebrows rose. “You’re happy to be married in London?”
A baron should marry at St. Georges, Hetty knew. “I am, it’s just that, it will be such a big affair and will take much organizing, then be weeks away.” She glanced at the black armband he wore, feeling he might prefer a quieter ceremony in the little Digswell church. “Of course, I want it, if you do, Guy.”
“Perhaps in the circumstances we should marry in Digswell,” Guy said, a smile tugging at his lips.
Relief threaded through her. “Oh yes. Perhaps we should.”
Guy laughed and slipped an arm around her waist, pulling her against him. “As we both reside in Digswell, the banns can be read next Sunday. As soon as your father returns from his honeymoon, we shall marry.”
Her aunt knocked on the door. “Luncheon will be served directly.”
Hetty sighed. Now that her aunt had decided to be an assiduous chaperone, Hetty felt like a rabbit being watched by a hawk. “We are to marry in Digswell, Aunt.”
“That is good news. I shall have to consult my fashion magazines. I wonder what brides are wearing this season?” Aunt Emily disappeared again.
Hetty met Guy’s gaze and laughed.
*
Eustace took Guyaside. “I’m sorry we got off to such a bad start.”
“You were right to be cautious,” Guy said, not wishing to stir the waters, although the man’s ungenerous attitude toward him still rankled.
“And I’m aware of your disappointment concerning the condition of the hall.”
“I’ve become more aware of the problems here in England,” Guy said, striving for diplomacy.
Eustace shuffled his feet and refused to meet Guy’s eyes. There was not going to be an explanation or a sincere apology. He obviously struggled to come to face his culpability. “I will leave Rosecroft after I attend your wedding.”
Guy had a grudging sympathy for him. It couldn’t be easy to leave the home he’d lived in for the last thirty-odd years. “You are family and will always be welcome under my roof, Eustace, as I’ve been at pains to tell you.”
Eustace’s lips firmed in a determined line. He shook his head. “Now that my health requires the constant attention of a doctor, I shall remain in London.” He smiled. “You are to bring your new bride home to Rosecroft Hall, Guy. You don’t need Horatia’s old godfather lurking in corners.”
Guy returned the smile. “But you will visit us. I know she would wish it.”
“Once in a while perhaps, to visit friends. There’s another thing I should mention. When a thief began stealing from the big houses in the county, I sent paintings and statuary to London for safekeeping. SomeMeissenandSévreschina, too. I will have it returned.”
“Merci.” Guy bowed, marveling at his ability to hold his tongue. Relieved that some had survived being sold to finance Eustace’s gambling debts, proved by the wagers andiou’she’d found in Eustace’s library drawer, he decided never to utter a word of reproof. Hetty loved her godfather, and who was he to try to change it?
“Ah. I see luncheon is served,” Eustace said with obvious relief as the maid opened the dining room door. “Emily tells me we’re to have mulligatawny soup, a collection of breads, and salad. I confess to being rather peckish.”
“I don’t believe I’ve encountered mulligatawny soup,” Guy said. The food the English ate still had the power to surprise him.
“A recipe the colonel brought back from India and quite hearty.”
Still beset by low spirits, Guy returned to find Hetty chatting with Genevieve. He narrowed his eyes at Genevieve and was given a lift of her eyebrows in response. Although he was enormously fond of her, he admitted he’d feel a little relieved when she returned to France. One recalcitrant lady in his care was enough.
Hetty rose with her sweet smile, took his arm, and they walked into the dining room together.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Hetty’s father andMarina had left to spend their honeymoon in Bath. At Malforth Manor, the wedding guests still lingered after a splendid wedding breakfast.
Fanny promised to be Hetty’s bridesmaid. Exhibiting great determination, she’d thwarted her overbearing mother’s attempts to manipulate her into a marriage with a man of her choosing. Fanny was soon to wed to Mr. James Bonneville. Hetty was pleased for her. It seemed she’d begun to reveal more of her mother’s forceful personality.
