Old Acquaintances: Christmas Regency Tale (Regency Tales Book 2) by Gayle Buck

before my majority is up, you will agree to a formal announcement of our engagement to be inserted in the Gazette. ”
                  There was a short silence during which Sir Peregrine studied his ward with an unreadable expression. He said finally, “You have at last succeeded in surprising me, Cecily. It seems that you have learned a bit of common sense. Your stay at Elmswood seems to have been to your advantage.” He did not glance toward Judith, but he sensed her start of astonishment.
    Cecily flushed with the beginnings of excitement. “Then you do agree to my compromise?”
    “I think that I do,” said Sir Peregrine. He glanced at Lord Baltor. “And now, my lord, you may escort my ward back to her parlor. She appears ready to faint at my easy acquiescence.”
    The young couple extricated themselves from the sitting room with several exclamations of thanks. When the door was closed behind them, Judith glanced at Sir Peregrine with a faint smile. “I am glad for Cecily.”
    “At this moment I care not one jot about my ward’s future,” said Sir Peregrine. He stared frowningly at Judith. “I believe that we left off with a positively idiotic statement regarding my motives for offering for you. Pray enlighten me further, Miss Grantham!”
    Judith stiffened and something flashed in her expression. Her eyes challenged him, daring him to deny her accusation. “You were my father’s choice. After we became engaged, he congratulated himself for having struck a bargain with you, though it had cost him what he termed a tidy little sum!”
    Old anger had laced her tumble of words, but now she sighed. She passed hand over her eyes. “He told me that I should be a grateful daughter because he had found such a splendid match for me. I knew in that instant I could never be happy with you.”
    Her eyes were shadowed when she looked at him. “I had thought you cared me a little. It was unbearable that you had offered for me for quite different reasons. Oh, I know that marriages are still arranged and that bride’s money changes hands, but I was a naïve and romantic young girl and that was not what I wanted for myself.”
    Sir Peregrine had been riveted by her account. He understood now why a few days previously she had been so hostile when he had mentioned bribing away one of Cecily’s undesirable suitors. He expelled a breath. “That is when you decided to reject my suit, then.”
    Judith shook her head. “I did not know what to do.”
    “Judith, why did you not come to me? I would have told you the truth,” said Sir Peregrine quietly.
    “What was the truth, Perry?” she asked.
    He felt bitterness spark to life, but after an instant he thrust it aside. Pride had once led him to walk away without demanding an explanation. He would not allow himself to make that same mistake again. He must keep his own end of the bargain as well as she had. “Your father approached me to arrange a match between us. I was entirely taken aback by such an arrangement being offered in this day and age. Looking back on it, I think that he must have thought my hesitation due to lack of monetary incentive. That was when he offered that damnable ‘tidy little sum’.”
    Sir Peregrine gave a fleeting half-smile as his eyes studied Judith’s tight expression. He continued quietly, “But once I had a moment to think about you, I discovered that your father had merely anticipated my own unformed desires. I had already met you and become intrigued by you. The money that your father spoke about meant nothing to me. I was ready to set it immediately in trust for you to use as you wished. I hoped that you would pass it on to any children that we might have.”
    Judith’s expression had altered and become vulnerable as he spoke. The last completely overset her. She covered her face with her hands. “Dear God, how could I have been so wrong?” she whispered.
    “Judith.” Sir Peregrine knelt beside her chair and gently pulled