“Don’t be ridiculous. We cannot marry, nor do I need your money.”
He turned to face her and took a step closer. “I think we will have to marry. I know your secret and soon the ton will too.”
A hot rush of embarrassment washed over her body. She wanted to deny his words, but all that came out was a weak, “Uh. I—we can’t.” But she quickly got her bearings and said, “And what self-respecting woman would ever accept such a shoddy proposal, no matter her secrets? No courting? No romance? I don’t understand this, Joshua. You’ve been away for years and have no reason to notice me now, let alone think we would be compatible.” No man would want her when they found out what she was about to do.
A thunderclap boomed over the square followed by a few drops of rain.
“Perhaps we should return to the house.”
She hooked her arm with his and they strolled toward the door. “You can’t mean it,” she finally said.
“Will you shred me again if I say that I do?”
“Oh.”
The rain started in earnest as they hurried up the stairs. A servant must have been watching because the door opened at just the right moment. Char laughed as she shook a few drops from her pelisse. When she glanced at Joshua, he had removed his hat and stared at her as if she were a stranger.
“Perhaps you will stay for tea, Mr. Forrester? I would be a poor hostess indeed to send you home wet and cold.”
“I thank you, but I should be going. I have overstayed my welcome.” He popped his hat against his leg. Nervousness, she supposed. “Will you at least consider my request?” he asked.
“Yes.”
Mr. Joshua Forrester was meant to marry one of her sisters, according to her plan. She reached for his hat, which he surrendered. “You must stay. My sisters are quite infatuated with you, you know.”
“I don’t see why. They barely know me.”
“You prove my point regarding marriage, Mr. Forrester.”
Her aunt and her sisters came through the double doors of the sitting room just then and whisked him away to the comfort of a warm fire on a chilly afternoon along with some tea and biscuits.
After he left, she did consider his marriage request and came to the conclusion she was not the woman for him. How could she be? When she laid her head upon her pillow that night, she was still thinking of him, concluding he was not the man for her. How could he be?
But had Joshua Forrester kissed her first, she would have never married Arthur Dunlevee.
CHAPTER SIX
“THEN WE ARE IN AGREEMENT?” Char sat on the rough couch, ignoring the tight space. Char was certain Miss Jane Toddy had not expected such a change in her circumstances after Arthur died. There was no one to keep up the rents on the house he’d let for her. He’d made no arrangements for her, and the new heir had also refused to care for the disgraced woman and her little family. The new viscount refused to believe the children were Arthur’s. Her family had rejected her, which was a shame, and Char did have sympathy for her.
Arthur had kept her in a private, modest home before. Now? Well, the home was clean but very small. One of the children cried, a sad little wail, one she recognized as a cry for attention rather than a child who might be hungry or dirty.
The other one, about a year and half old, had been born after Arthur died, and his mother held him close.
Today was the day she was supposed to get the children.
Looking at either of them could bring tears to her eyes, so she kept her gaze firmly on the expression of their mother.
“I don’t know. It’s a hard decision.”
“But the decision has been made,” Char said.
“I don’t know. Don’t make me feel worse than I already do.”
Char pressed her hand against her stomach where her stays dug in and made it difficult to breathe. “You don’t know? Miss Toddy, for a year and half you’ve told me you don’t have the ability to care for Arthur’s children. I’ve supported you, believing it when you said you wanted me to have them.”
“I know what I said.”
“Is it about the money? You want more?”
“They’re my babies. I’m sorry.”
“When you came to me, you listed all of the reasons it was a good idea for me to raise them. All those reasons are still valid. And as they grow, there will be even more reasons. Their continued good health, their education, a place in society.”
“Bastards don’t have a place.”
“They could. Only you can decide.”
They were two beautiful little boys. Children who would never inherit their father’s title. She’d found out about them after Arthur’s death. The ledgers clearly showed the support payments to his mistress and her child, whom he’d obviously not disavowed. Char didn’t know if he was aware he’d fathered another child before he died.
When Miss Toddy, heavy with child, arrived at her door one afternoon while Char still lived at Dunlevee House, she hadn’t been surprised.