Callum stumbled and nearly sent his bride-to-be flying. She squealed as he made a quick turn, coming to rest against the newel post at the base of the stairs. He set her down with the utmost care before turning to face her father.
“Forgive me, Lord Rosemont.” His wife, Callum saw, stood at his elbow. Both looked as though they’d just seen an elephant playing dress-up. Callum straightened his posture and clasped his hands behind his back. “Lady Rosemont, I do apologize.”
“I’m surprised to find you still in the foyer,” Lady Rosemont said when no one else spoke.
“My wife says you’d like a word with us.” The earl frowned, but the look he sent Callum was full of interest. “Shall we remove ourselves to the parlor?”
“Please make sure some tea is brought up,” Lady Rosemont said while eyeing someone who stood behind Callum.
He turned and blinked a few times when he spotted the butler and Georgina, both of whom he’d completely forgotten. Neither servant showed any hint of dismay over him having spun their mistress about or nearly dropping her in the process.
“Of course,” said the butler. “I’ll see to it that it’s promptly delivered.”
“We’ll have to make this quick,” Lord Rosemont said once they were all seated in the parlor. “My wife and I are due for Seaton Hall. We’d like to make the trip there and back before it gets dark.”
“Understood,” Callum said. Impulsively, he took Emily’s hand and gave it a squeeze. The gesture did not go unnoticed. Eyebrows were raised by both her parents. “Allow me to get straight to the point. I’ve asked your daughter to be my wife and she has accepted. Pending your approval, of course.”
Lady Rosemont beamed and clapped her hands together. “That’s marvelous news.”
Lord Rosemont looked less impressed. “Is this what you want, Emily?”
“Yes.” The word was whispered and lacked the enthusiasm Callum had hoped for.
Her father seemed to latch onto that. “I wasn’t even aware you were courting.”
There was no denying the censure behind that statement.
“The truth is, we weren’t.” Emily took a deep breath, sent Callum a please-don’t-hate-me-for-this kind of look, and proceeded to tell her parents all that had happened.
“It was kind of you to pretend for your grandmama’s sake,” Mama said, “but your grandpapa will be hurt if he finds out he helped with your scheme. Had you simply left it at courtship, you might have gone your separate ways later. A proposal of marriage – one made before them, no less – is far more serious.”
“Though not as impossible to escape as an undesirable marriage,” the earl pointed out. He glanced at Callum. “Once you say your vows, you’ll be bound to each other forever.”
“I understand the ramifications completely, my lord,” Callum told him.
“And yet you wish to proceed.” The earl leaned forward. “Why?”
A maid arrived with the tea tray Lady Rosemont had ordered, offering Callum a brief reprieve from the challenging conversation. Cups and saucers were swiftly distributed, and the tea poured before the maid slipped from the room.
“Well?” the earl pressed, an expectant look on his face. “What reason do you have for wanting to marry my only child and why should I permit it?”
“Papa,” said Emily, her voice a touch more affirmative than before. “Stratton was only trying to help.”
“And now he wishes to make you his wife in earnest. I do not think an explanation is too much to ask for.”
“Of course not, my lord.” Callum met the earl’s gaze. “I understand your concern.”
“Do you?” Rosemont scoffed. “Because your sudden interest in Emily certainly strikes me as odd. I mean, you’ve attended the same balls as she these past six years, yet you’ve not been seen dancing with her or speaking with her since she made her debut.”
“If you’ll recall, my lord, that didn’t go very well,” Lady Rosemont murmured.
“Perhaps not, but a gentleman finds a way to put that behind him if the lady in question is worth it.”
Callum stiffened. “Your daughter is without question the finest woman I know. That is why I wish to make her my wife.”
“According to what she’s just told us, you were the one who contacted her first. Correct?” When Callum nodded, the earl said, “You were also the one who decided to get down on bended knee, effectively changing the rules of the plan you’d devised.”
Callum didn’t like where this was going one bit. “If you’re suggesting that engineered this engagement from the beginning, you’re wrong.”
