Page 74 of Wagering for Miss Blake (Lords and Ladies in Love 4)

“I know it looks bad, but it was quite innocent…”

Both eyebrows rose.

“We needed time to speak in private.”

Father sighed. “Suzanna, whether it was innocent or not, it was improper, reckless, and had your mother seen you, I would have been forced to endure weeks of female hysteria. Bad for the digestion, you see.”

She’d said nothing after that. There didn’t seem to be anything to say.

Her father leaned forward. “When Lord Pemberton withdrew his attentions, I assumed we would see a great deal of Mr. Templeton, which would grieve your mother, and therefore, greatly disrupt my life. However, he seemed to disappear, until he showed up at our house last evening, accompanied by my daughter, dressed in her night clothes.”

She’d closed her eyes and wished herself to the other end of the earth. “What do you want me to say, Father?”

Resting his chin on his thumb and index finger, he studied her. “Do you love him?”

She did not hesitate. “Yes.”

“Does he love you?”

Again, no hesitation. “Yes.”

“You do realize I will have an extremely difficult time convincing your mother that marrying a man without a title is acceptable?”

Her eyes flew open, and her heart thudded in her chest. Was he going to permit her to marry Giles? Unable to form a complete sentence, she nodded.

Father nodded and picked up his newspaper. “I will send for him.”

“He intends to call upon you today.” Was that her voice squeaking like that?

He opened the newspaper and began reading as if they’d not just had the most momentous discussion of her life.

Still continuing to pace in her room, she listened for the sound of shouting, fisticuffs, or furniture breaking. Father was not a pugilist, but she had no idea how angry he was. He’d seemed amenable to accepting Giles’s offer, but one never knew what someone else was thinking. Even one’s own father.

About a half hour after Giles had arrived, a scratch at her door had her hurrying across the room. “Miss, Mr. Blake requests your attendance in the library.” Bessie didn’t look distraught, so hopefully she did not have to deal with too much blood, or more than a few broken bones.

With her heart pounding and her stomach in knots, she raced down the staircase. When she arrived at the library door, she stopped, smoothed back her hair, took a deep breath, and entered the room.

Both men stood as she walked toward where they sat in front of the fireplace. A quick glance at them told her they were uninjured. In fact, they smiled at her. She took the seat next to Father, across from Giles.

“You sent for me, Father?”

“Yes. It seems your mother’s lifelong plan to have you wed a man with a title has come to an end.”

She tried hard to hide her smile, but it forced itself out when she looked at Giles. The only way to describe his expression was the cat who got the last of the cream in the entire house. “Dare I hope you have given your consent to Mr. Templeton?”

“I have.”

Throwing herself across the open space into Giles’s

arms was not the reaction she knew Father would want to see. Wrapping her dignity around her like a fine silk shawl, she nodded briefly. “Good.”

“Just a moment.” Giles took in a deep breath and turned toward Father. “There are no words to describe how overjoyed I am that you have approved my offer for Miss Blake’s hand. However, I would prefer to be the one to convince Mrs. Blake that this is the best thing for her daughter.”

Both Suzanna and her father stared at Giles as if his head had just spun around his neck.

Her father chuckled. “My dear Mr. Templeton, trust me when I say you do not want to engage my wife in a discussion about my daughter’s choice of husband.”

“I understand it might be a difficult thing. But I do not want to start my marriage with dissension between my wife and her mother. Please allow me time to persuade Mrs. Blake.”