The twins exchanged quick glances again before Andrew took the lead this time. “I came because... well, when Lord Norwick knew that Danielle had turned me down—”
“What?”
“I know. It’s hard to believe, given she accepted my proposal when I was eight years old. She’s been the only girl for me since we were in leading strings, but she did say that she would think about it. But Lord Norwick was suddenly there. Told me what to do to secure her hand, and although I think I can... do what he says, I mean, I’ll be acting no better than a rake.”
Diana gasped. “Whatever are you supposed to do?”
Andrew cleared his throat. “Kidnap her.”
“That’s a far sight better than what he toldmeto do with Lady Dahlia,” Anthony complained before his mother could put voice to a protest.
“What did he tellyouto do?” she asked.
“Secure her agreement to a marriage of convenience. One that affords her my name, title, and protection and assurances that I won’t attempt to bed her until she falls in love with me.”
“That could be never,” Andrew said on a scoff. “You require an heir. Surely Norwick knows that.”
“He claims it won’t be long before she’s amenable,” Anthony countered, his gaze going to his mother. He had to suppress a grin at seeing her horrified expression. “You look as if you’ve seen a ghost,” he accused.
A shiver passed through Diana Comber just then, which had her hands rubbing up and down her upper arms. “Perhaps I have,” she whispered.
“Mother?” Andrew leaned over the table and reached out a hand to capture one of hers. “Are you all right?”
She blinked. “I am not,” she stated.
The twins exchanged worried glances. “We don’t have to marry the Norwick girls,” Andrew offered. “If you had someone else in mind—”
“That’snot the issue. Your choices are commendable. Clarinda will be thrilled that you’ve proposed to her daughters. Truly,” she said. “I think she feared they might end up spinsters.”
“Didn’t she know of my regard for Lady Danielle?” Andrew asked, his brows furrowed.
“Yes, of course. But it was her daughters who claimed they wanted to live independent lives,” their mother explained. “And now that she is with child, and I am with child, I cannot bear to think of us having to go through this all over again in twenty years.”
Andrew blinked.
Anthony blinked.
And Adam, who had just arrived at the door in the company of his niece and nephew, grinned broadly. If he had seemed old earlier that morning, he certainly didn’t now. “Oh, my sweeting, we’ll manage just fine,” he claimed as he urged Daphne and James into the room. “In the meantime, your sister sent word we can keep Daphne if we’d like. Daisy says she’d rather give her to us than have me kidnap her.”
Andrew and Anthony, struggling to stand from the low chairs to greet their younger cousins, both stared at their father in alarm.
“Kidnap her?” they repeated in unison. They exchanged quick glances, their expressions suggesting they thought their father mad.
Daphne stepped forward and stood on tiptoe. “He’s teasing,” she said, managing a wink with one of her large blue-gray eyes. “He merely wants to practice having a daughter in case Aunt Diana gives birth to a girl baby.”
Still reeling from the news that their mother was with child, the twins considered this bit of news before taking turns lifting Daphne’s hand to their lips in greeting.
“We’d be honored to have you as a temporary sister,” Andrew offered with a grin. He reached over to his nephew and ruffled the blond hair on his head. “Lucky you,” he added with a wink of his own.
James grinned. “Uncle Adam says you have to get married,” he said. “Unlucky you.”
Both twins scoffed, their eyes rounding in shock at hearing the boy’s assessment. “Just you wait, Cousin James,” Andrew stated. “One day you’ll be heels over head in love with a young lady, and I’ll remember this day,” he warned.
“Well, whatever you do, please don’t kidnap Lady Danielle,” his mother pleaded.
“What’s this now?” Adam asked, rather enjoying the chaos in the classroom. For the first time since the early morning hours he’d spent with Diana, he felt happy. He was still curious as to what she was about to say before she took her leave of his study, but he had decided he could bring up the matter again when they were alone.
“If Lady Danielle agrees to marry me when I ask her again at the garden party, then I won’t have a need to kidnap her,” Andrew replied with a shrug.
“And although I have decided I would much rather marry Lady Dahlia without any strings attached, I shall do as Lord Norwick suggested,” Anthony said. “A marriage of convenience is better than no marriage at this point.” He aimed a glare in his father’s direction.
His mother quickly stood and crossed her arms, which had all the males in the room falling silent and freezing in place. She inhaled as if to speak, managed to say something about marriage being a punishment, even as her eyes rolled up and her legs crumpled beneath her.
Adam was able to get to her in time, though, catching her in his arms before her head hit the carpeted floorboards.
Meanwhile, whilst all the males in the room boggled at the sight of Lady Aimsley fainting, Daphne merely grinned in delight.
Men were so easily duped, she thought.
