The Courtship (Sherbrooke Brides 5)

“Perhaps he believed because I am so big and sturdy that I would birth boy children right and left, fill England with all my offspring. He really was very keen on children.”

He sighed and kissed the tip of her nose. “I suppose that makes about as much sense as anything else, maybe. How wealthy is your father?”

“Not immensely. He is comfortable, nothing more.”

“It has been eight years since you last saw Gerard Yorke. Is that right?”

“Yes. Right after the Treaty of Amiens was signed in 1803, he left. Some sort of secret mission. I remember him whispering to me of this special mission in the dark of the night, and he sounded very excited about it. But then he was on a ship and it sank. What is so exciting about that?”

“Unless he was just aboard the ship until he left it somewhere to proceed with this secret mission of his. Was he a liar?”

“I don’t really know. During our two years before his death, he didn’t spend more than five, perhaps six, months with me, total. It wasn’t much of a marriage. Surely it couldn’t have been to him, either. We didn’t know each other, not really. Why did he write me, Spenser? Why, blast his eyes?”

“We will discover that when he tracks us down in London before we have the chance to marry.”

She tucked her head against his neck. “I don’t want him to.”

“Sometimes there is just no choice in life, my sweet. You simply have to clean up the mess before you can go on.”

“There is something else we must discover.”

He kissed her lightly on the mouth and said,“What?”

“We must find out who murdered Reverend Mathers.”

“Yes,” he said slowly, his eyes hard, “we must.”

“I dreamed I saw the man who did it, but I only saw his back. He’s evil, Spenser.”

“We will find him,” Spenser said and kissed her again, hard this time. And then he kissed her again.

25

HE HAD HELD STEADY. HE couldn’t believe it. He was immensely proud of his strength of will. He was also so randy he thought he would grind his teeth to dust.

He’d had to button Helen’s gown up the back, but still he had managed to hold firm. He leaned forward to kiss her shoulder blade, then bit down on his lip.

“No,” he’d said aloud to the ceiling of the bedchamber. “I will keep to my vow.”

“Who do you think you are, Galahad?”

Helen was irritated with him. Because he wouldn’t make frantic love to her, three times in fifteen minutes? He just smiled. “In one month from now, we can stay in bed until we are smiling and witless.”

“I suppose you are right,” she said finally at least two hours later, when they were riding back to Court Hammering in the carriage he had rented. At his arched eyebrow, she added, “We will wait. We will find the lamp. We will discover if indeed Gerard Yorke is alive. We will find out who killed poor Reverend Mathers. In short, we have a lot on our plate. And to accomplish those things, we must have our wits about us.”

“You mean that when I am loving you, you have no wits?”

“Not a one,” she said and poked him in the arm. “And you know it. Indeed, you are proud of it.”

When they arrived at Shugborough Hall, Lord Prith and Flock met them at the front door. Both were beaming at them. Lord Prith continued to beam even as they walked into the entrance hall, saying nothing at all.

Finally Flock said, “His lordship wants to know the result of Lord Beecham’s outrageous strategy. Just imagine, kidnapping you, Miss Helen, to bring you around to his way of thinking. You will consider telling us everything now, Miss Helen.”

Helen said to her father, “I received a letter from Gerard Yorke six months ago. Until we find out if he is indeed still alive, we cannot marry. However, we are planning to wed in a month. We will tell the world about our upcoming nuptials. If Gerard is here, on this earth, he will have to do something, and then we will see.”

Lord Prith was impressed with this plan. “Naturally, Teeny showed me the letter, Nell, some three months ago. She thought I should know about it, smart girl. I nearly told Spenser about it the other night when he poured out all his frustrated passion to me, your dearest father. But then I thought, no, let the children deal with it. It is a good plan, my boy.”

“Thank you,” Lord Beecham said.