Hardly a Husband (Free Fellows League 3)

"None, Henrietta?" He gave her a crooked smile. "I think you're smarter than that."

"I had no idea when I married him," she said. "And he blame

d me, but I always thought he was at fault. After all, he had a previous wife and a mistress who had never conceived." She shrugged. "Of course, I couldn't prove it unless I produced a child and, well, that was impossible without breaking my vows and… " She looked up at Lord Mayhew.

"Breaking your vows was something you simply could not do," he replied gently. "Even for me."

"I wanted to," she admitted. "And I've regretted not doing so for more years than I care to count, but we met at the wrong time in our lives. Had we met a few years earlier or a few years later, things would have been different."

"Very different," he agreed.

"So, tell me, Robert, how do you feel about children?"

He lit up with pleasure. "Is that a possibility?"

She nodded. "I still have my monthly courses."

He frowned. "A minor nuisance well worth the bother if it means we might have children."

"I can't promise to give you a son," she answered, her brown eyes sparkling, "but I promise to try." She took out her handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes.

"A son. A daughter. Either. Both." His words tumbled out, one atop the other. "I'd be thrilled. And so would my current heir. He's always told me I should have been a father."

Lady Dunbridge paused. "Your current heir?"

Lord Mayhew nodded. "My nephew, Jarrod. The Marquess of Shepherdston."

"Shepherdston?" Lady Dunbridge pursed her lips and frowned. "Oh, dear…"

He leaned close. "Henrietta, darling, what is it?"

"I knew Shepherdston was your nephew and your godson, but I didn't realize he was also your heir…"

"My darling, Jarrod will be delighted at the news that we're getting married."

"Of course he will," she said. "It will solve his problem."

"What problem?"

"The problem of what to do about Sarah." Lady Dunbridge began twisting her handkerchief into knots and nodded toward the dance floor, where Lord Shepherdston and Sarah were squared off in the quadrille. "My niece."

Lord Mayhew followed her gaze to where Jarrod stood facing a slender red-haired girl in a bronze-colored evening gown and grinned. "Is that the marriage you wanted me to help you arrange?"

"Yes. I had hoped that you might be willing to do a favor for an old friend and playact."

"Playact?"

Lady Dunbridge nodded. "I wanted you to pretend to pay court to Sarah in order to make Lord Shepherdston re-consider what he'd told her about you being a much more suitable lover for her than a younger man." She paused to catch her breath. "I had no idea that the sight of you and the sound of your voice would remind me of how much I loved you — how much I still love you."

"Say it again," he commanded.

"I love you, Robert. I shall love you until I die and beyond."

"God, Henrietta, I've waited close to half my life to hear you say that."

"I don't really want a double wedding," Lady Dunbridge confided. "I don't want to compete with another bride on my wedding day — even if Sarah is the other bride. But if you and I get married right away, there will be no reason for Lord Shepherdston to marry Sarah. He'll know that she'll have a home with us. And he'll know that you will always take care of her."

"Which is why you suggested a double wedding…"