He sighed. “It meant so much to her.”
The corner of Melanie’s mouth lifted in a smile. “You indulged her.”
“And I will keep indulging her. We raced on foot two nights ago when we both couldn’t sleep. She beat me again, but not by very much.”
Melanie scowled. “So, your known race is but the first adventure you will share? That will not go over well if word gets out.”
“If I am to keep her happy, then most assuredly it must be so. I do not mind. She is strong, physically strong, and more than a little determined to avoid the label of wilting wallflower. It’s refreshing, actually. She’s not the least bit delicate, like our cousin.”
He could be himself with her and not have to worry she would faint from shock.
Melanie bit her lip and moved away to the window. “She will turn heads. You both will.”
“After the past months of listening to whispers and innuendo, I suspect that will always be the case.”
Melanie nodded and drew the curtain aside and peered into the rear yard, where the gardens were. She sighed softly. “An unconventional match will be difficult for many to accept. You will have to win the town over, and how that affects your standing, and the eventual success of your shop, becomes terribly uncertain.”
“I know.”
“Difficult but not impossible.” Melanie turned slowly, nodding to herself. “The work of a lifetime. You must acknowledge the right people, make sure to curry favor with those who matter.”
He’d been doing that all his life. “Will Father make trouble for us?”
Melanie nodded. “He’s already started. Dinner last night was with the Prescotts and he expressed concern over your choice of friends. He claimed even Walter George to be a bad influence, which as we both know is an utterly ridiculous suggestion to make. Mrs. Prescott and I never had a chance to converse alone but we shared a look, and I believe her unconvinced by father’s complaints so far.”
“So now that I’ve announced our marriage, and he so clearly disapproves, he will likely start slandering the Radleys as a means of tarnishing the match.” Valentine gritted his teeth a moment at how bad it could get. His father would try to turn the whole town against them to get his way, just so he would see a future in Oxford as a better choice. That was why Valentine had kept his plans to himself from the beginning.
What Father had forgotten was how greatly Melanie’s opinion mattered to the elder townsfolk. Since she’d already accepted his decision to marry Julia, they might turn things around yet. “Can you help Julia? Discourage the worst assumptions Father provokes?”
“While I am here, I will do what I can. We—Father, Teresa and I—have been invited to dine with the Lowes tonight and I will see how the wind blows with Mrs. Lowe. That particular lady speaks her mind no matter who is around,” Melanie warned. “Tomorrow, if you would collect me at eleven o’clock, I should like to make some calls. Better not to have Father or Teresa with us for them.”
“Why not Teresa? And what is the matter with her?”
Melanie frowned and returned to her chair. Her expression was troubled. “I suspect Father chose to return to Brighton on the strength of Teresa’s last letter to our parents. I never did mention the race to him in the end, or express my view that you should have married Julia because of it. I gave what you said to me last a great deal of thought. I am too judgmental. I am far too much like our mother. I have no right to criticize anyone and I apologize for embarrassing you.”
Valentine gripped her hand tight. “I missed you.”
“But the way Father spoke to Teresa last night hinted they shared an aversion to your plans to go into trade. Her letters to Mother must have contained some hint of it. His decision to come here was sudden and he was furious when he announced his intention to visit to me. I was interrogated for most of the journey here, particularly about Mr. and
Mrs. Faradays’ characters.” She swallowed.
“He also knew about the scandal with Julia, particularly a midnight meeting, although he didn’t mention her by name. None of your correspondence to me even hinted you had changed your mind about her so when I learned of it, I was surprised, and very pleased.”
“Teresa wouldn’t go to Father behind my back.” He shook his head, unable to believe such a situation. “She wouldn’t intentionally hurt Julia.”
“Are you really so naïve?” Melanie frowned, her expression deeply worried. “She is certainly in Mother and Father’s pocket. The only other source close to you, who might know of any secret meeting late at night, would have been your nearest neighbors. I doubt any of your friends would have interfered. It’s not in their natures to thwart a romantic pursuit in favor of propriety. Think hard, brother, what is to gain if the match does not go ahead, your dreams ended.”
Valentine cursed under his breath. His friends were anything but prudes when it came to affairs of the heart. They all knew how he felt about Oxford. “Father wins and he thinks I have no choice but to return to Oxford in disgrace.”
And he had distanced himself from Julia until very recently, so no one should have imagined a private meeting could take place. But Julia had shared their meeting with Sir Peter Watson and wife. He couldn’t credit either one with writing to his father after all the shenanigans that pair had got up to before their marriage.
Had Teresa been watching him and writing to his parents behind his back? She had written several letters earlier in the week to Oxford. He’d never thought to wonder what she might be writing about. “I thought I had been careful enough not to taint her reputation any more than I had.”
“Clearly not enough, if someone wrote and warned them. You do realize they are still currying favor with the chancellor.”
Valentine gaped then snapped his mouth shut. “I’m not going to marry that man’s daughter. Not. Ever,” he ground out.
“Father believes you will see his side eventually. He has ever been ambitious for himself, as well as for you.”