‘Yes, dear.’
‘May we have them for supper as well?’
‘No, dear. At supper, we need something more sub...stantial.’
He could tell the exact moment she noticed they were not alone by the hitch in her words. She glanced in his direction and favoured him with a smile that was polite, but cool. ‘Mr Lovell, will you be joining us?’
Had her father lectured her on her behaviour towards a future brother-in-law? The animosity that had seemed to sizzle between them was gone. And surprisingly, he missed it. What if the passion was gone as well? Suppose there was nothing left but this benign courtesy? ‘I can stay but a few moments,’ he responded, just as polite. ‘But if it would be possible to speak with your father...’
‘Unfortunately, he is away from the house. But I can answer any questions you might have. If you care to wait in the salon, I will be there directly.’
He nodded his thanks and made his way to the room he’d waited in on the previous day, before making his devil’s bargain with Summoner.
She came to him a few moments later, closing and locking the door behind her. Then, without asking, she went to a cabinet in the far wall and removed a brandy decanter and two glasses. She poured both and handed one glass to him, before taking a sip from her own. ‘It is unladylike to admit it, but there are times when a delicate restorative is not enough.’
This was definitely such a time. He drank deeply before speaking. ‘You were right.’
She laughed bitterly and took another sip. ‘It is a day too late to tell me so.’
‘And I swore to your father, on the Bible, no less, that I would not withdraw my offer.’
‘There is a reason my father is respected as a master politician,’ she said with a grim smile. ‘It would take a smarter man than you to outwit him.’
He knew he should be insulted by her assessment. But since it had been proven true there was no point in arguing. ‘What am I to do now?’ he said, more to himself than to her.
‘I suggest you do exactly as you planned to do from the first. Marry my sister and take the seat in the Commons that is offered you. Perhaps she is not as you assumed she’d be, but she is not beyond hope. She is quite good with some things and hopeless at others, of course. But her temperament is pleasant and she is very, very pretty.’
And she had a sister who knew her strengths and weaknesses better than anyone on the planet. She had learned to display her to best advantage and guard her against peril. It was the reason Belle’s entry into society had been such a success. ‘You have been keeping her secret, for all this time?’
‘For as long as I can remember,’ Amy replied. ‘In the classroom, I did her work as well as my own so our tutors did not punish her. And it is not really so necessary that a woman be as learned as a man.’ She glanced in the direction of her father’s office as if she’d got those words from him. ‘Men expect very little of us, save that we be lovely.’
‘And Arabella is that,’ he agreed.
‘As are you,’ she said, giving him a look that said she had no patience left for handsome but foolish men. ‘Marry my sister, retire to the country and raise a mob of perfectly beautiful offspring between you.’
‘But, I cannot...’ He should have known that a simple life with a quiet woman was an illusion. Nothing with women was ever as it appeared. And in this case, it was not just difficult, it was impossible. Arabella had proven today that it was not a simple matter of obedience that led her to this marriage. She had hesitated when he’d proposed, because she had been searching for the words to refuse him. When she had not found them, she’d been as trapped as he was.
Now they would be wed and she would feel nothing for him other than what she had been told to feel. And when he looked at her, he would feel nothing but obligation.
‘There will be nothing wrong with those children, if that is your concern,’ Amy said, interrupting his introspection. ‘What happened to Belle occurred at the moment of her birth. When she was finally delivered she was blue from lack of air.’ Amy tapped her forehead. ‘It was not good for her mind. But the rest of her is as perfect as she appears.’
‘It is not the children I am concerned with,’ he said, horrified. ‘Does she even know what is expected of her?’ He had never lain with a virgin. He had been told that their first time was painful. No passionate reward could induce him to hurt her. He would never forgive himself.
‘Do not worry on that account. I will take it upon myself to explain to her. She will be prepared to do her duty.’ Now Amy looked as burdened with obligation as he was.
‘And how much do you know of such things?’ he said, not sure he wanted the answer.