A FATHER’S ADVICE
Meanwhile, in the Carlington House library
“There you are.”
Dahlia gave a start, straightening and turning to regard the rather tall man who had spoken the three simple words. “Oh, Father,” she replied. “You startled me.”
David Fitzwilliam furrowed a brow and approached her with a look of concern. “What happened?”
She glanced up at him and gasped. “I might ask the same of you,” she countered, one of her hands reaching up to his bruised cheek. Although she hadn’t felt a bit of sympathy for the ghost when Anthony had punched him, she did now.
“Oh, that’s nothing,” he replied with a wave of his hand. “I, uh, earned it,” he added as his brows rose. “I may have prodded a certain viscount harder than I intended.” He glanced around. “By the way, where is Lord Breckinridge?”
Dahlia’s face bloomed with color at the same moment she wondered what he’d said to have Anthony practicing his pugilist moves on the ghost. “He’s gone. He... he withdrew his offer of marriage.”
David sobered, his expression turning quite serious. “Oh, did he now?”
“I didn’t wish to engage in a business negotiation,” she went on. “If I want him as a husband, I must be the one to ask for his hand.”
The ghost of her father seemed to consider this bit of news with a good deal of confusion. “That’s unexpected,” he murmured.
“I cannot blame him,” Dahlia replied sadly. “I haven’t exactly given him any reason to think I want to be married to him. Other than returning his rather passionate kisses,” she explained, apparently unaware of what she was admitting.
“Passionate kisses?” the late earl repeated, his arms crossing his chest in a most imposing manner.
“Well, they were. At least by my standards,” she said. “Which are not to be taken with much consideration, I suppose.”
He frowned. “First kisses?” he guessed.
She nodded. “Were yours like that?” she asked.
David’s eyes darted sideways. “They might have been. I might need a bit more detail before I can agree or disagree,” he hinted.
“Was Mother the first woman you kissed?”
Blinking, he moved to stare out the window. It was several moments before he spoke. “No,” he finally replied. “Her late aunt was my first. Arabella,” he murmured. When Dahlia gasped, he turned to regard her. “I loved Arabella. Met her whilst I was in university,” he went on, his gaze still on the gardens. “It’s unfortunate you never had a chance to meet her. She died in an awful accident. A long time ago.”
Unsure of what to say to his admission, she moved to join him at the window. “Did you love Mother?”
He glanced down at her and nodded. “Oh, yes. Daniel did, too. Maybe more than I did at first, damn him. But I am living proof...” He paused and winced. “Iwasliving proof that a man could love more than one woman in his lifetime,” he stated.
They stood in silence for a time before Dahlia said, “What should I do, Father?”
He shrugged. “That all depends. Do you... do you love him?”
She winced. “I did for part of today,” she replied. “I have in the past.”
“So... most of the time?” he prompted.
“Yes,” she finally admitted after a moment of consideration.
“Can you see yourself with him in the future? Imagine yourself with him in your house? Sharing your secrets and kissing one another for no reason at all? Can you see yourself with him at the theatre? Attending a ball orsoiréetogether? Sitting side-by-side at amusicale?”
She inhaled softly, wondering how he knew her thoughts from earlier. “I have, yes.”
“In bed together?”
Her eyes rounding, Dahlia regarded him with shock. “Father,” she scolded.
