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No intimacy for at least six months—Robyn wouldn’t have agreed to a marriage in name only, but he could abstain for six months.
Unless Georgine decided she wanted to become his wife in truth sooner.
Regina could attend Blenstock & Handcastle Academy for Young Ladies, if she desired, and then have a Come-Out Season—both acceptable provisions.
The wedding vows were to be as brief as possible—just enough to be legal.
Reverend Goodfellow had objected, and strenuously too, until Robyn promised to replace the church’s well-worn and often repaired fifty-year-old hymnals.
And finally, Georgine would continue with the Ladies of Opportunity—to which Robyn had agreed with the condition that she explain precisely how the organization worked.
As expected, she had balked, but eventually, she conceded to disclose the bare essentials.
And she had done so.
Formed by Georgine and her three closest friends, the Ladies of Opportunity oversaw a female-only betting book, much like White’s. They operated with the strictest confidence, refused cruel bets or those that were ruinous, kept immaculate records, and the founders shared a predetermined portion of the bank.
Those details would suffice for now.
Robyn would have no secrets between them.
He knew full well that the only reason Georgine had conceded to marry him was to save their sisters’ reputations.
She didn’t give a fig about hers—or his, for that matter.
They had that in common, as well as their mutual concern for their sisters.
Georgine had said she had never wanted to marry.
Why?
Most young women, Matilda being no exception, dreamed of the day they would take a husband.
His less-than-subtle interrogation of his sister had yielded little useful information about the Thackerly sisters or their parents.
Matilda remained admirably—and a jot vexingly—tight-lipped about Georgine.
Mayhap one day Georgine would trust Robyn enough to share her reasons for resisting nuptials.
Her gaze collided with his across the room.
No joy or love glimmered in her blue, blue eyes.
Resignation, resolution, and determination, yes.
But also, desolation.
She does not want this.
If he had taken a dagger to the heart, the pain would not have been worse.
Robyn’s anguish was not for himself, but for her.
He had promised to be a good husband to her, but a marriage of convenience to a reluctant bride made for unstable underpinnings for any union.
Damn Verbena Wynecott to the lowest level of hell.
How soon would her embezzlement be exposed to the world, and then she would suffer the consequences of her perfidy?
