Page 34 of The Duke and the Spinster

“Oh yes. Let’s hope that the last few days of this party bring more delightful news.”

Lady Delbarton looked pointedly at Lady Eleanor as she spoke.

“One never knows. I’ll leave you to your celebrations.”

Mrs Hardcastle closed the door behind her, and Juliana gratefully accepted the glass of wine that her father passed to her. She felt in need of fortifying, after the day that she’d had, which wasn’t over yet.

~~~~~

As the carriage rolled up the drive of Kilmerstan Castle, Garrett looked back over the previous week with a sense of wonder. His life had changed so much. But the thing that most concerned him at the moment was telling his mother.

He hoped that she would be delighted, but he wasn’t sure – had she really actually like Lady Prudence as a candidate for his wife? Had she, perhaps, heard the gossip about Lady Juliana, and believed it? He worried about it, but could do nothing but tell her as soon as possible. His head ached thinking about it.

When he descended from the carriage, he gave the footman his own valise, and Lady Juliana’s smaller one, as if both were his. He would arrange its return to her in due course, inconspicuously.

The door opened, and the butler greeted him.

“Warton – is the Duchess here, or at the Dower House?”

“Her Grace is in the parlour, Your Grace, with your sisters.”

“Thank you, Warton. I’ll just refresh myself before joining them, if you would let them know that I’ve arrived.”

“As you wish, Your Grace.”

Twenty minutes later, after Timms had returned him to a suitable level of respectable appearance, muttering quietly all the while about it proving that he couldn’t actually care for himself for two days after all, Garrett went straight to the parlour. Best to get this over with as soon as possible – surely, if he’d had the courage to ask Lady Juliana, he had the courage to tell his family of his betrothal.

When he entered the parlour, his mother looked up from the embroidery she was working on.

“I’m pleased to see that your trip to Bath was really only short. I did wonder if it was simply an excuse to avoid the social events.”

Garrett smiled, pleased that he would not ever have to tell his mother the truth of the ‘business’ behind his journey. He was quite certain that, once he delivered his news, all thought of the trip to Bath would disappear from her mind.

“I do not always act only to avoid social interaction! Regardless of that, I have some rather important news to tell you.” His sisters paused, suddenly still, and looked at him curiously. He took a steadying breath, then plunged on. “Lady Juliana Willoughby has done me the honour of agreeing to become my wife.”

He had never seen his mother speechless before, but he did now. Her mouth had fallen open a little, and her eyes were wide and startled. She studied him as if he had become some alien creature, transformed before her eyes. He waited, struggling not to laugh, as the silence extended.

“Your wife…?”

“Yes Mother, I am to marry, as you have so persistently encouraged me to do – are you not pleased?”

She stared at him for a moment longer, bemused, then her inherent practicality came to the fore.

“Well, of course I’m pleased that you have finally recognised your duty to the title. But… Lady Juliana? How did this happen?”

“As it usually does, I suspect. I had been introduced to her at Hallingbrook Grange, we spoke a number of times, and I found her intriguing, different, intelligent, and most importantly, she showed no signs of being a fortune hunter, only interested in my title. Quite the opposite, in fact.”

“But… so soon?”

“Very simply, Mother, my trip to Bath gave me the time to consider my feelings, and I discovered that those feelings were such that, upon my return, I went to her father, requested his approval, and, discovering that she had recovered from her indisposition of the last few days, immediately asked her to marry me. She was kind enough to accept my offer.”

His sister Isabelle had been studying his face as he spoke, her lips twisted in an almost cynical manner. Now she spoke – a clear, sharp question that brought silence to the room again.

“That all sounds very proper – but… do you love her?”

Garrett blinked. So, his sister believed in love, did she? He was, he thought, pleased.

“Yes Isabelle, I do love her. Surely you can see that nothing less than love would have turned me from a man avoiding marriage to one actively seeking it?”