Well, Harry had shown her.
And she hadn’t liked it one bit.
Mrs Hodge huffed out a scandalised breath. “There are things a woman must do to satisfy her husband and fulfil her wifely duties, and the fact that you’ve admitted to your carryings-on with Mr Dalgleish means you must accept the consequences.”
“The consequences?” Lizzy all but squeaked. “Does that mean—?” She put her hand to her belly but fortunately Mrs Hodge interjected, looking uncomfortable, “I’m sure you have quite the wrong end of the stick, Lizzy, for you to be worrying about that. Mr Dalgleish is a gentleman, and he would never take advantage of a young lady who wasn’t his wife.”
“Good lord, no!” Harry’s mouth dropped open, apparently scandalised. “Why, Lizzy, I am beyond offended that you could think to blacken my name in such a manner. Not that you didn’t give me every indication that you wished matters between us to progress further. Indeed, the joy of having a family is something that I have dreamed of for many years. I have searched high and low to find the right woman and at last I have found her.”
“And I come with twenty-five-thousand pounds which is convenient,” Lizzy muttered, clenching her fists.
He went on, as if he hadn’t heard, “And you have known from the start that, like every one of my friends, I am unable to marry for love alone. But the more I’ve come to know you, Lizzy, the more I’ve been captivated by your charm and your wit and loveliness. Ours will be a marriage based on mutual felicity. I offer you my profoundest apologies if I in any way discomposed you, but please, let it be a lesson for the future. We now know how important it is to discuss these matters at the outset, so that there is no confusion. You will do that, won’t you, Lizzy? So that I might learn and strive to be a better husband?”
Lizzy stared at him, his expression searching hers; his hands balled into fis
ts as if her answer meant everything to him.
Yet something in her remained staunchly antagonistic. Yes, she felt foolish at having overreacted as she now saw she had. But there was no yearning in her heart to become Harry’s wife. No yearning equal to what she felt for Mr McAlister.
Harry’s tone softened. “Please, let me take you away from being an underling in a house that you’ve outgrown. It’s time for you to spread your wings and become mistress of your own abode.” He squeezed her hands tightly. “Make me the happiest man alive, dear Lizzy, please, and say you’ll marry me. We shall go anywhere you like for our wedding tour. And you shall have all the fine clothes you could wish for. And then you can begin to decorate the lovely home that I have been willed by my uncle and which I can’t wait to live in…with the woman of my dreams. Please say you’ll marry me.”
Seeing him at her feet, on bended knee, his expression imploring, his words calculated to strike their target, Lizzy closed her eyes and said the only words she could, under the circumstances.
Chapter 22
Fanny knew she should turn back in order to dress for this evening’s ball. But Fenton had wanted to get out of the stifling atmosphere of Quamby House and have her all to himself, as he put it.
And Fanny was always amenable to that.
The scene with Mrs Hodge a couple of hours before had been uncomfortable and, to Fenton, a matter of mild curiosity; for following a discussion on their impish daughter Katherine’s latest naughtiness, Fenton brought up the subject of their young houseguest and the trouble she appeared to be causing.
Or, rather, that her guardian was causing.
“Why is Mrs Hodge so keen to broker a match between Lizzy and Dalgleish when he’s hardly a prime catch—though, granted, he has more to recommend him than Mr McAlister.”
They were passing the old ruin about twenty minutes’ walk from the main house, and although it was dark, the snow and the full moon lent a magical glow to their surroundings.
Fanny had wondered the same thing. She also could see that Mrs Hodge was clearly tired of her responsibilities as Lizzy’s guardian and, no doubt, the combative air that must reign within the household. “I suppose Mrs Hodge wants to regain her life of comfort and independence as soon as she can. Lizzy is flighty and, I daresay, a trial to her. And, when Mr Dalgleish makes an effort, he is rather charming.”
“He’s dangerously charming.” Fenton smiled at his wife. “Oh well, I’m sure Lizzy and Dalgleish will work things out for themselves. No doubt Lizzy finds it thrilling and romantic to have two men fighting over her.” He stared across the water towards Quamby House. “Now, shall we turn back? Here, let me rug you up a little more warmly.”
Fanny closed her eyes and raised her face to the sky as Fenton arranged her shawl more closely about her.
She was glad tonight was the last night of the house party. While she enjoyed revelry and conversation, five days of it were trying.
“Warm enough?” Fenton put his arm more closely about her and held her close. An owl hooted somewhere high in the battlements, and when Fanny opened her eyes, the big full moon was almost dazzling; a great, waxy orb across whose surface the crenelated tower stood in sharp relief.
The mournful cry of a night jar made her shiver.
She was about to turn her footsteps for home when she saw movement up by the battlements.
“We should hurry, my love,” Fenton said as she hesitated. “We don’t want to vex your sister. You know how Antoinette likes you to join her to welcome the guests.
Fanny resisted as he put his hand on her elbow. She squinted, trying to make sense of the sight unfolding before her eyes.
“Come along, Fanny.”
“No, Fenton. Look. Do you see that?” Pointing, she took a step forwards. “I can’t make out what that is.”