Page 18 of 1797 Club 2nd Epilogue Collection (The 1797 Club #11)

L ucas stared at the paperwork on his desk without truly seeing it the next day. He was waiting, after all, for one of the most important moments of his life. When there was a knock on the door, he jerked his head up and watched as Diana entered.

“Henry Cosgrove has arrived,” she said.

He glanced at the clock. “He is punctual, at least.”

“Another mark in his favor, isn’t that right my military time piece?”

He smiled at her teasing. At least it helped with his nerves. God, nerves. He hadn’t had nerves in years. “Let’s not keep him waiting.”

He got to his feet and took her arm. Together they moved to the parlor where Cosgrove had been taken.

Diana pushed the door open and Lucas frowned.

Imogene was already inside, standing with Henry by the mantel.

She was smoothing a lock of hair away from his forehead as they talked softly.

He tensed at the intimacy of that little action.

“Good day, Mr. Cosgrove,” he said.

The two stepped apart, Imogene’s little blush and Cosgrove’s inability to immediately meet Lucas’s eyes a telling thing .

“Good day, Your Grace,” Henry said at last, extending a hand. “And Your Grace.”

Lucas shook the offering and Diana stepped to the sideboard. “It appears our lovely Madson has already set up our tea. Why don’t I pour and we can all sit together for a while.”

She did so with Imogene’s assistance and then they took their places. Lucas noted that Imogene sat beside her beau on the settee, their knees almost touching but not quite. The young man didn’t drink his tea, but merely held it, shifting with what was obviously discomfort.

“Imogene will you leave us a moment?” Lucas asked.

His daughter straightened up. “Oh, no, Papa! Don’t send me away. I want to be here for your conversation.”

Diana reached out and her hand settled on his knee. “I think there’s no harm in her being here.”

He glanced at her. “Very well. Then I suggest we move on to the conversation at hand so that everyone can be put at ease and we can either end the meeting or engage it in with less…anxiety.”

Cosgrove nodded and set his untouched cup aside. “Very good, Your Grace. I-I suppose you must have concerns about me because of the actions of my father and my brother.”

Lucas lifted both eyebrows at that statement. “You are very direct.”

“Imogene…” He glanced at her briefly. “ Lady Imogene, suggested that you might appreciate such a thing.”

Diana’s lips twitched slightly and Lucas drew in a breath. So Imogene had been preparing the young man. She truly did like him. “I like honesty, that is true. I try to offer it, as well. So yes, I do have concerns. It seems that you have an interest in my daughter.”

“I do,” Cosgrove said without hesitation.

His hands clasped before him. “How could one not? We’ve always been friends of a sort, in the same groups since we were little more than school children.

I ardently admire Imogene’s intelligence and wit, her kindness and gentleness, as well as her great loyalty and love for those she holds dear. ”

Lucas blinked. He hadn’t expected such a grand declaration. It seemed Imogene hadn’t either, for her cheeks turned pink and her fingers fluttered on the settee cushion, as if she wished to take Henry’s hand.

“And what of her dowry,” Diana said gently. “Where does that rank in her better qualities?”

“Mama!” Imogene whispered.

Diana ignored her and Lucas leaned back to watch the exchange with great interest. “As you said, there are a great many rumors and truths that circulate about the situation of your family. The duke and I simply don’t wish our daughter to be linked to someone whose estimation of her purse outstrips his esteem for her character. ”

Henry drew a long and shaky breath. He didn’t move his gaze away from Diana, though.

It was even and strong. “Unfortunately, we cannot choose our relations. If we could, I would not be linked to either of them. And yet life is what it is. I can tell you that I abhor both their inability to think of the effect of their actions on those around them. Not just me, but my late mother. And those who depend upon their nonexistent better angels.”

Lucas nodded slowly. “If there is anything I understand, young man, it is wishing for a different family. Your frankness on the topic is encouraging.”

“I know I will come into this union…if you were to allow a union in the future and it was something that Imogene would desire…I would come into it with very little. I’m a younger son of an irresponsible father.

But I would like to be more than that. I would like to learn a trade, become a solicitor.

I’ve been trying to find someone who would take me on as an apprentice.

I have a very small inheritance from my late mother’s side that I will inherit in three years when I’m twenty-five.

I have every intention of using it to p ay my way in to an apprenticeship if I cannot find another avenue by then. ”

Lucas found himself softening with every word. He had known many a layabout titled gentleman who floated along on the grace of their name. Any time he met someone with ingenuity and drive to be more than his circumstances, he couldn’t help but appreciate that.

“But Imogene’s dowry would make it easier.”

“Of course,” he said. “I’d be a fool not to admit it.

But I don’t like the idea of stripping any future wife of her funds in order to lay out my future.

If it is only the money that separates you from the idea of my formally courting and eventually offering for Imogene, then perhaps we could find a way around it.

Her money could be put into a special account that I could not touch, for instance.

Something laid aside for her and any children we might have. ”

Lucas’s lips parted. “You would surrender any claim to her dowry even though by law it would be yours as soon as the vows were spoken?”

Now Henry did look away from Lucas and Diana and he held Imogene’s stare. “I care for her deeply. I would do anything to be able to have her hand. And to give her the life and the love she so richly deserves.”

Imogene made a soft sound in the back of her throat and she reached across to take Henry’s hand.

They were silent, just looking at each other.

Lucas turned his own attention to Diana.

She held his stare, years of unspoken communication easily flowing between them.

She smiled slightly and he inclined his head.

“Your honesty and your clear affection for my daughter have eased my concerns,” Lucas said softly. “If she would welcome a more formal courtship, I would…”

“We would,” Diana corrected as she took his hand.

“ We would be happy to allow it,” he said. “As for the life my daughter deserves, I think you and I wish for the same thing. I can help you with an apprenticeship with a solicitor. I think my own man would gladly take you on. I would pay the fee.”

Henry’s lips parted in surprise. “Your Grace!”

“It will give you a chance to rise above what you are trying to escape,” Lucas continued. “I had that same chance in the army many years ago. It changed my life. It led me to my wife. I would hope the same will be true for you.”

Cosgrove rose and extended his hand, this time with far more certainty in his gaze. “You are too kind, Your Grace. It means the world to me. I hope I can one day prove your investment a prudent one.”

Lucas smiled as Diana and Imogene joined them on their feet. “I expect we’ll be seeing a great deal more of you here now… Henry . And I have no doubt any investment in the future of my family is a very good one, indeed.”

Diana was beaming as she stepped up to his side and wrapped her arm around Lucas’s waist. “Why don’t you two go for a walk in the gardens, then? I’m sure you have a great deal to say to each other that you’d rather not do in front of us.”

Imogene rushed forward to kiss her mother’s cheek and then she gripped Lucas’s hand with both of hers. “I adore you, Papa.”

“As I do you,” he said.

The two exited the room with Diana and Lucas watching them. When they were gone, he turned toward her. “I assume you had the same instincts I did about him.”

“The moment he listed her qualities and didn’t include how utterly beautiful she was, I knew,” Diana said. “Oh my, it seems our daughter will soon be leaving the nest.”

Lucas squeezed her gently. “We’ve made a good life, my love. I can’t wait to see what hers brings.”

“Me neither,” Diana said before she lifted on her tiptoes and kissed him.