This was true. In parting, he’d actually told her he expected to find her settled when he next saw her. The words had broken her heart and banished all hope. But to marry Edward?
She gazed at him, at the grave lines etched on his forehead and the firmness of his mouth. He’d chosen the same profession as his father and had just completed his eight-year-long education at seminary school a few months earlier. As such, he’d make an excellent catch for any gentlewoman from a good family. Especially once he got appointed to a parish.
Wanting only the best for him, Sophia could not ignore this fact and had to ask, “What about you, though? Are you certain you wish to throw away your chance of finding true love and happiness?”
He scoffed. “If I believed such things were within my reach, I’d chase them in a heartbeat. But as you know, life doesn’t always give us what we wish for, which is not to say that you and I cannot have a wonderful life together. So I ask you, Sophia, to let me give you the security you need. I have no other attachments, and as such it would be an honor for me to make you my wife.”
Sophia clasped his hand with all her might. He had proposed in the sort of practical way she should have expected from him. Devoid of passion but overflowing with endless fondness, he’d given her a better option than any woman in her position could have hoped for. It pained her to think he, too, might be walking away from the person he longed to spend the rest of his life with, but Sophia knew him well enough to understand he’d not do so unless he believed there was no other choice. To turn him down would be foolish. To suppose Jack would suddenly sweep her off her feet, more so.
And yet, marriage was not the sort of thing one ought to agree to on a whim. She needed time to clear her head – to think the matter through. “Will you let me sleep on it?”
He raised her hands to his lips and kissed them. “Of course.”
By four o’clock the following morning, Sophia decided that ‘sleeping on it’ was a funny turn of phrase indeed. She’d not slept a wink, but she had managed to make up her mind.
If Jack needed to be persuaded to give her a chance, then she didn’t want him. During his absence, she’d written him. Some might think it inappropriate for an unmarried woman to correspond with a bachelor, but the Fenmores had permitted it due to their longstanding friendship when she’d asked if it was alright. Jack, however, had not responded to any of her letters.
And Sophia had her pride. Chasing after a man who’d proven he had no interest in her was demeaning. She could do better and Edward was willing to give her exactly that – a comfortable life filled with friendship and affection.
And because of this - because she knew what she could expect from Edward and also because of how much she owed him and his parents - she pulled him aside immediately after breakfast and gave him her answer. “Yes, Edward. I will marry you.”
Comfortably seated in the library, Jack enjoyed a pre-dinner drink with the gentleman suitors who’d been invited to vie for his sisters’ hands. Lord, it was good to be back at Eastgate. He’d missed the sprawling estate much more than he’d realized. During his morning ride, he and his mount, Star, had savored a hard gallop, the chance to leap across fences and rivers, the ability to soar. Riding through Hyde Park was terribly dull by comparison.
Town also didn’t permit him to hunt. One couldn’t just shoot a duck swimming along the Serpentine and bring it home for supper. Tomorrow, however, he’d set out with the guests. They’d all expressed an interest in helping him catch a deer for the cook to prepare when he’d voiced the suggestion. The forest on the south side of the property would be an excellent spot for that. He knew it well, like the back of his hand. It was where he’d built his best forts as a child and also where he’d played his favorite games of hide and go seek with his sisters and the Fenmore children.
He paused on that thought as the memories flooded his brain, of laughter and mischief filling the air. Edward was the same age as he but had been the careful sort. If given the choice, he’d always preferred spending time with Jack’s sisters who’d been more reserved on account of their being raised as young ladies. Sophia, on the other hand, had been entirely different – spirited and free from the restraint so often placed on people who worried about their appearances.
Jack smiled and took a sip of his brandy. She’d disliked sitting still on a blanket and making daisy chains. Even pall-mall had appeared to bore her, which was likely why she always whacked the ball as hard as she could with no attempt at all to make it roll through the appointed arches. Perhaps this was why she’d sought him out? Because she’d recognized in him a kindred spirit? When given the chance, she’d bombarded him with questions and comments, proving herself to be more precocious than most children her age. As such, he’d never really considered her youth. Nor had he paid much attention to the woman she’d been transforming into.
Until his father brought it up.
Jack tightened his grip on his glass as that one particular conversation came rushing back. It was what had caused him not only to leave but to stay away. Lord help him, he’d been angry. And determined to make sure he’d never have to rely on his father for anything ever again – not even his bloody inheritance.
Another sip of brandy slid down his throat. The bastard had threatened to withhold every penny if Jack did something reckless, like marry a woman unfit to hold a title. As if he’d had any notion of marrying anyone. The fact that his father had made an issue of it was preposterous.
He glanced at the man with whom he’d agreed to be civil for his sisters’ sakes. They needed him now, but once they were married, Jack would go back to London where he could be free to indulge, much to his father’s frustration. Jack grinned. With his investments providing him a comfortable income, his father no longer had the power to sway him in any way. Which was precisely how Jack liked it.
Still, in spite of their differences, Jack had to admit he owed his father one debt of gratitude. He’d brought Sophia’s increased interest in him to his attention, offering Jack the chance to save her from an impossible dream by adding some much needed distance between them. Regrettably, the mixture of anger and frustration he’d experienced at the time had not led to the best sort of parting. In fact, his embarrassment over the words he’d spoken to her made him wary of running into her while he was here. But then again, it had been four years. Perhaps she’d forgotten?
“Shall we head on through to the parlor?” Papa inquired in a stiff voice. “It’s almost six o’clock. The ladies will be down soon.”
Jack stood, ready to do his duty regardless of the hostile air now swirling around him, and addressed the men nearest to him. “If you’ll please follow me. It’s time for us to greet Lady Turner and her daughters.” He fell into step beside his father and led the way, arriving in the front-most parlor immediately before his mother and sisters made their entrance.
Closing the distance, he kissed each of their cheeks. He then stepped between his sisters and began to introduce them to the five men who’d be staying at Eastgate for the next three weeks. “You’re already acquainted with the Earl of Cumberland, I believe. And this is Viscount Lambert… Mr. Madsen… Mr. Irving… and Mr. Dover.”
“Enchanted,” Mr. Dover murmured while gazing at Felicity in a manner that tempted Jack to hit him, never mind propriety or their friendship.
“It is my understanding that you are exceptional pianists,” Viscount Lambert said, his eyes fixed on Kaitlin.
“And horsewomen,” Mr. Irving added. “Perhaps we can go for a ride together tomorrow, if the weather permits.”
“I’ll come with you,” Jack grumbled, only to receive a glare of disapproval from Felicity.
Really?
He glanced at his parents, who gestured for him to make himself scarce and allow his sisters some freedom to interact with the guests. For a second, he considered ignoring the request, only to get distracted when the butler arrived. He wasn’t alone, but was escorting two people into the room and when he moved aside to give Jack a better view…
It was much like that one time when he’d landed on his arse in a puddle after tripping over a fallen tree branch.
