‘It is all right,’ Ben assured her. ‘I promised your father on the Bible that I would take care of you and make sure you were always happy. Who makes you happiest?’
She looked immediately to Templeton. ‘I told Amy that I did not want to marry you. I wanted to marry Guy. She said I could not, because he had not asked.’ She gave him a hesitant smile. ‘And I do not want him to go away. I would be very unhappy if I could not see him any more.’
He looked to Templeton. ‘You understand her difficulties and are not concerned with them?’
‘She needs patience. Nothing more than that.’ Templeton shrugged. ‘And I do not claim to be the cleverest man in London as you do. I am happy with her, just as she is.’
Guy smiled at Belle and touched the tip of her nose, making her giggle. ‘More than content, actually. I am hopelessly in love with you.’
Ben cleared his throat to remind them that they were not alone. ‘I think what I am supposed to do at this juncture is to call you out and put a sword through you.’
‘You can try,’ Templeton replied. ‘But I would rather you didn’t.’
Belle reached out to grab his hand and put her body in front of his, to shield him. Then she gave Ben a militant glare that was every bit as pretty as her smile.
He sighed. ‘It is a good thing for all of us that I swore to Summoner that I would do what was best and make his daughter happy. I cannot do either of those things by marrying her.’ He raised his hands in surrender.
‘We have your blessing, then?’ Templeton put his hands on Belle’s shoulders and pulled her back to his side.
‘You do if you go quickly,’ Ben said. ‘I will give you several hours’ head start before I find the note you will be leaving me. I will be too distraught to go immediately to Summoner and will search without success. But her father will have to be told, eventually.’
‘There will be a scandal, of course,’ Templeton said.
‘Surprisingly, not as big a scandal as I was expecting,’ Ben said, trying not to smile. ‘But the important thing is that Miss Arabella has the husband she really wants.’
Belle smiled at him with the mind-melting brilliance that had attracted all the men in London. ‘Mellie is right. You are a nice man. But I am glad I do not have to marry you.’
‘And I am glad I do not have to marry you,’ Ben admitted. Then he leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek. ‘We can be neighbours instead,’ he said.
‘That will be nice,’ she said.
Templeton rose and offered her his hand, pulling her after. ‘It is all settled then. Give my apologies to Miss Amelia when you see her next.’
‘I will do that,’ he said, wondering if, after Summoner heard the news, he would be allowed to see either of the girls ever again.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Pushing the horses to their limit and travelling through the night, Amy and Mrs Lovell arrived back in London little more than a day from the time she had left Ben’s house. If the older woman had questions about the need to speak to Amy’s father before visiting Ben, she did not ask them. To her, it was but a small obstacle on the trip she had been longing to make.
Only Amy questioned the wisdom of the trip. Suppose her father humiliated the woman with questions about her virtue or tried to pay her to make the truth go away?
As if sensing her worries, Mrs Lovell laid a hand on hers. ‘This must be awful for you, my dear. When scandal rears its head, it is difficult to look the beast in the eye. But you must trust me. No matter what is about to happen, it will be better for all involved than doing nothing. Our secrets have been bottled up for far too long.’ She finished with an encouraging smile.
Amy took a deep breath and answered with a smile of her own. Then she ushered the woman into the Summoner town house and made her comfortable in the receiving room before she went to seek out her father.
As usual, he was in his office when she rushed in without introduction, fearing that delay might make her lose her nerve. ‘Father—’ she leaned over the desk to confront him ‘—you must end Belle’s engagement immediately! I have discovered the unfortunate truth about Mr Lovell. It is all quite shocking. There is a woman here you must speak to, who can verify all I have learned.’
Her father stared across the desk at her, simmering with annoyance. ‘Whatever this woman has to say should remain between her and Mr Lovell, Amelia. It is no longer any concern of ours.’
‘No concern of ours? Of course it concerns us. He is to marry Belle. She will be ruined.’
‘She is ruined already and by her own hand,’ Lord Summoner said with a disgusted sigh. ‘And nothing would have happened if you had not failed in the one task you were entrusted with. Instead of watching over her, you left your sister alone to go chasing stories that I knew long before I spoke to Mr Lovell.’
‘You knew?’ It explained why Ben had been unwilling to break the engagement himself. Her father had been using his past against him.