indeed be cruel to lead everyone to believe there would be a marriage between them knowing full well that they planned nothing of the sort. The engagement would have to stand…and eventually they would marry. The sensation of a noose tightening around his neck assailed him for just a second, but then he shrugged it off. Marriage to Isabel would not be so very bad. And if he had to marry…A crooked smile curved his long mouth. “It would seem, my dear,” he said wryly, “that we are well and truly engaged and that instead of planning the ending of our engagement, we will be planning our wedding.”
She hadn’t been aware of how important his reaction to the knowledge that they could not just blithely call off the engagement had been to her, but at his words, a great sense of relief rushed through her. She’d known that he was an honorable man and she’d been certain that he would not cut up rough. He’d already indicated he would marry her if events warranted it, she’d reminded herself, but it was one thing to speak hypothetically and another to actually carry through and there had been a tiny nagging doubt at the back of her mind. It cheered her to know that she had not been mistaken in his character and that he understood precisely the reasons why they could not end their engagement.
But this was only the first hurdle they faced, she thought tiredly, her relief vanishing as if it had never been. Thinking of her marriage to Hugh and the promise she had made as he lay dying, panic flooded her. The other hurdle might not be so easily cleared….
Unwilling to dwell on the future and what it held, she forced herself to meet Marcus’s smile, and say lightly, “And I hope that you have learned the wisdom of thinking before you speak.”
A genuine laugh escaped from him. “Of that I think you can be safely assured.” Lifting her hand, he bent his head and pressed a soft, warm kiss to the back of it. Holding her fingers in his, his eyes searched hers. “This isn’t what either of us planned, but I think we shall do well together, you and I.”
She wanted to believe him, wanted to believe that they would have a good marriage together, but inwardly she quaked. No, marriage wasn’t what either of them had planned and their marriage, she thought miserably, would be a great deal less than he could conceive.
Dinner was a pleasant, if not entirely comfortable, affair. In addition to Mrs. Appleton, resplendent in a shot silk gown in pleasing shades of soft blues, Isabel’s uncle and aunt, Sir James and Lady Agatha, had also been invited. Edmund, looking very adult in a dark blue jacket and a neatly tied cravat, had been allowed on this special occasion to join the adults for dinner. Isabel’s only admonishment had been that he would have to content himself with lemonade instead ofthe champagne everyone else would be drinking. He made a face, but then he grinned at her. “I’ll wager Mr. Sherbrook would let me drink champagne.”
She’d smiled back at him, her heart aching just a little at how much he looked like his father in that moment. “Perhaps,” she said lightly, caressing his cheek. “But he isn’t your stepfather yet. Until he is, I make the rules.”
With his usual sunny nature, Edmund accepted her decree and was on his best behavior throughout the evening.
Naturally, everyone was astonished by the news of the engagement, and during much of the meal, in between the various toasts that were drunk to Marcus and Isabel’s health and their future together, there were exclamations of surprise from the other diners.
“Oh, but aren’t you just the sly one,” said Lady Agatha, her dark eyes full of speculation, and perhaps just a touch of malice, as they rested on Isabel’s face. “Keeping secrets and hiding behind the fiction that you couldn’t abide each other. It was very clever of you; no one had any idea that an engagement was in the offing.”
Even in her youth, Agatha Paley had been a
She hadn’t been aware of how important his reaction to the knowledge that they could not just blithely call off the engagement had been to her, but at his words, a great sense of relief rushed through her. She’d known that he was an honorable man and she’d been certain that he would not cut up rough. He’d already indicated he would marry her if events warranted it, she’d reminded herself, but it was one thing to speak hypothetically and another to actually carry through and there had been a tiny nagging doubt at the back of her mind. It cheered her to know that she had not been mistaken in his character and that he understood precisely the reasons why they could not end their engagement.
But this was only the first hurdle they faced, she thought tiredly, her relief vanishing as if it had never been. Thinking of her marriage to Hugh and the promise she had made as he lay dying, panic flooded her. The other hurdle might not be so easily cleared….
Unwilling to dwell on the future and what it held, she forced herself to meet Marcus’s smile, and say lightly, “And I hope that you have learned the wisdom of thinking before you speak.”
A genuine laugh escaped from him. “Of that I think you can be safely assured.” Lifting her hand, he bent his head and pressed a soft, warm kiss to the back of it. Holding her fingers in his, his eyes searched hers. “This isn’t what either of us planned, but I think we shall do well together, you and I.”
She wanted to believe him, wanted to believe that they would have a good marriage together, but inwardly she quaked. No, marriage wasn’t what either of them had planned and their marriage, she thought miserably, would be a great deal less than he could conceive.
Dinner was a pleasant, if not entirely comfortable, affair. In addition to Mrs. Appleton, resplendent in a shot silk gown in pleasing shades of soft blues, Isabel’s uncle and aunt, Sir James and Lady Agatha, had also been invited. Edmund, looking very adult in a dark blue jacket and a neatly tied cravat, had been allowed on this special occasion to join the adults for dinner. Isabel’s only admonishment had been that he would have to content himself with lemonade instead ofthe champagne everyone else would be drinking. He made a face, but then he grinned at her. “I’ll wager Mr. Sherbrook would let me drink champagne.”
She’d smiled back at him, her heart aching just a little at how much he looked like his father in that moment. “Perhaps,” she said lightly, caressing his cheek. “But he isn’t your stepfather yet. Until he is, I make the rules.”
With his usual sunny nature, Edmund accepted her decree and was on his best behavior throughout the evening.
Naturally, everyone was astonished by the news of the engagement, and during much of the meal, in between the various toasts that were drunk to Marcus and Isabel’s health and their future together, there were exclamations of surprise from the other diners.
“Oh, but aren’t you just the sly one,” said Lady Agatha, her dark eyes full of speculation, and perhaps just a touch of malice, as they rested on Isabel’s face. “Keeping secrets and hiding behind the fiction that you couldn’t abide each other. It was very clever of you; no one had any idea that an engagement was in the offing.”
Even in her youth, Agatha Paley had been a
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