Page 29

R obert stepped down from the carriage and turned to help Sarah to alight, followed by Lady Holbrook, who had accompanied them on this journey into Hampshire so that he could meet Sarah’s family.

The trip into Hampshire had taken a full day, and it was just on dusk as the duke’s carriage drew up outside the vicarage.

The church, dedicated to St. Catherine, stood to the right of the vicarage.

Both buildings were at least sixteenth century or earlier by the look of them.

The vicarage door opened and out poured three young ladies, a little girl and three little boys.

Within moments, Sarah was surrounded by this vociferous herd, all of them talking at once, it seemed to Robert’s overwhelmed senses.

Added to the confusion was a white fluffy dog of indeterminate pedigree, whose excited barks, leaps of joy, and wagging tail created even more chaos.

He tried for a moment to work out who was who from Sarah’s descriptions of them, but he soon gave up.

Looking over Sarah’s head toward the vicarage doorway, he spied a middle-aged man and a woman who must be her parents.

Making his way around the Watson brood, he approached the front entrance of the thatch-roofed, stone-built house.

“Mr. and Mrs. Watson?” He offered his hand. “I am very pleased to make your acquaintance. Robert Layne at your service.”

“Your Grace,” Mrs. Watson curtsied, obviously flustered, and the vicar, a little more collected than his wife, inclined his head, shaking the hand that Robert offered.

Sarah resembled her mother, with brown curls and eyes and a comely face. Mrs. Watson showed the thickening of figure to be expected of a woman who had born at least eight children. The vicar was of medium height and spare frame with thinning hair, grey eyes, and a rather beaky nose.

“Will Your Grace be joining us for supper? It is only plain fare—”

“I will be delighted to accept your hospitality, Mrs. Watson, and well pleased with whatever is put before me,” Robert hastened to reassure her.

The last thing he intended was to play the grand duke for his future in-laws.

“You need not be concerned about where to put me, either. Lady Holbrook and I will both be staying at the Blue Boar for the night.”

Mrs. Watson’s sigh of relief was audible. “Thank the Lord for that, Your Grace, I was at my wits’ end, for with eight children we haven’t the room for guests.”

He smiled and glanced back at Sarah whose welcoming committee was bearing her inexorably forward toward the door.

“Watsons!” said the vicar sharply. This command had a magical effect, for all the children stopped talking and lined up from eldest to youngest, even Sarah with the dog in her arms, and chorused, “Yes, Papa.”

Robert’s lips twitched. Mr. Watson might look mild-mannered, but he clearly still held sway over his brood. “Introduce yourselves to His Grace.”

At this command, Sarah stepped out of the line and joined him with a shy smile, murmuring, “They are a bit overwhelming. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he murmured back as he turned his attention to the children.

“I am Deborah,” said a striking young woman with dark ringlets and blue eyes, dropping a graceful curtsy.

“I am Ruth.” With her father’s unfortunate nose and pale blue eyes, she was less comely than her sisters, and her curtsy was awkward.

“Mary,” said the next one, whose rounded face and burgeoning figure suggested she was on the cusp of womanhood.

“Hepzibah!” said the youngest of the girls with a certain air of world weariness. “But please call me Zibby, for I hate Hepzibah!” She was still a child, and she was the fairest in coloring with blonde curls and the same pale blue eyes as her elder sister.

Next came the three boys who each gave him a neat bow as they rattled off their names.

“Emanuel.” Brown hair and brown eyed like Sarah.

“Japheth.” Dark like Deborah.

“Ezekiel.” Blonde like Hepzibah.

The biblical nature of their names wasn’t lost on him.

“I am very pleased to meet you all,” he said gravely.

“Are you really a duke?” asked Ezekiel with a wide-eyed look.

“I am.”

“You don’t look like one,” Japheth said skeptically.

“Shut it, you two!” said Emanuel, flushing with embarrassment for his younger brothers.

“Are you really going to marry Sarah and take her away to live in your castle?” This from Zibby.

“Yes, I am.” He glanced sideways at Sarah who was smiling slightly tearfully. He took her hand and squeezed it gently.

“I think it is very romantic,” said Mary softly and blushed bright crimson.

“That is enough, children. Go and wash up. Supper will be on the table in fifteen minutes.” Their mother intervened before any more embarrassing questions could be asked.

The children filed into the house and the younger ones ran noisily up the stairs.

He suspected none of them did anything quietly.

With the children out of the way, Mr. and Mrs. Watson greeted Lady Holbrook and ushered their guests into the house, followed by the eldest two girls who were clearly adults.

Hadn’t Sarah said they were twenty and eighteen?

They bore Sarah and Lady Holbrook away upstairs to put off their bonnets and traveling cloaks and wash up, while Robert was conducted to the vicar’s study, and Mrs. Watson disappeared toward the back of the house, no doubt to see about supper.

“Would you care for a drink, Your Grace?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Robert accepted the glass of sherry handed to him and took the seat he was waved to near the fire.

“This is certainly an unexpected turn of events,” said the vicar, taking his own seat and nursing his drink. “While we always hoped our Sarah would make a good match, we never expected one of this magnitude. You’ll forgive us if we appear a little stunned.”

“I understand, sir. It has all transpired rather quickly.”

“Indeed.” The vicar took a sip of his sherry and cleared his throat. “In addition to your letter, I have received communication from my aunt’s solicitor regarding the settlements. The settlements are far more generous than I anticipated.”

“It turns out that the amounts were tied to the degree of Sarah’s husband’s title, and I’m a duke.

Short of a royal prince there isn’t a higher degree, therefore the maximum amounts have been settled on your family, Lady Holbrook, and Sarah, or they will be once the marriage is deemed legally binding.

At that time, I will, as Sarah’s husband, also receive access to the remaining principal and income from the estate. ”

“Hence the rapidity with which this process is being put into effect.”

Robert winced internally but simply nodded. What could he say?

“Tell me, Your Grace, do you care for my daughter at all, or is it merely her fortune that you covet?” The vicar eyed him with a grim look. Easy to see where Sarah got her directness from!

“I will not pretend that her fortune wasn’t a consideration. My circumstances made it imperative that I secure a bride with a significant income. However, I had a choice, and I chose Sarah for a number of reasons that have nothing to do with her fortune.”

“Which are?” The other man leaned forward, spearing Robert with a look that reminded him strongly of Sarah.

“Unusual in someone of my station, I had always the intention to marry for love. When my circumstances forced me to consider a marriage based on more worldly grounds, I was resigned to the prospect that love might not be an option.” He paused and took a sip of the sherry, looking down at the dark liquid, whose color reminded him of Sarah’s eyes.

He looked up again and met the vicar’s gaze firmly.

“I have, however, on becoming better acquainted with Sarah, formed the opinion that it is not impossible that we might find felicity in each other’s company.

I do most sincerely esteem and respect her; she is an extraordinary young woman, and I will be proud to call her my duchess. ”

The older man regarded him in silence for a moment, appearing to deliberate on what he had said. The vicar inclined his head.

“Thank you for your honesty, Your Grace.”

“Please call me Robert. I do not wish to stand upon ceremony with you. I can assure you that Sarah will meet with only kindness in my house. My family already like her and are prepared to welcome her with open arms. Her comfort and happiness will be my highest priority.”

The sound of a bell ringing made the vicar rise. “Supper is ready. Again, I thank you for your honesty, Robert. You have gone some way to allaying a father’s concerns, but I will speak to Sarah and ensure myself of her acquiescence to this plan for her future.”

Robert bowed and opened the door for his prospective father-in-law, his heart sinking a little.

While he and Sarah had achieved a better accord over the past two weeks than they had initially, following that disastrous event at Lady Castlereagh’s ball, he was by no means certain that she was completely reconciled to the situation.

Things had become strained between them again following Ava’s ball.

He had pulled back from any further intimacy with her due to his fear of losing control of himself again, and she had seemed to withdraw also, perhaps in response.

Her withdrawal gave him that by now familiar ache in his chest that seemed to afflict him almost perpetually where she was concerned.

He had found the gap created was difficult to bridge.

He hoped that perhaps here, or once they were home at The Castle, he could begin to repair the damage.

There was also the matter of her feelings for Lannister.

As much as he tried to tell himself that she couldn’t possibly entertain any, he couldn’t rid himself of the fear of it, which also left him with a sick feeling in his stomach and it made him uncertain in approaching her on the subject.

If he were really honest with himself, he didn’t want to find out if it was true.

Every time he thought of it, he suffered an internal flinch.

What he did know was that they had a powerful physical connection, which he was constrained from pursuing for fear of overstepping the bounds of propriety and frightening her.

That she was exceptionally innocent, he had no doubt, which roused protective instincts in him and also made him uncomfortable about his own level of passion toward her.

He couldn’t touch her without entertaining lewd thoughts, her very scent aroused him, the aching longing to take her in his arms and devour her with kisses was a constant desire.

And to make matters worse, he still had no real idea of how she felt about him, Lannister aside.

If she told her father that she wasn’t a willing party to this marriage, would he encourage her to break off the engagement, despite the social risks to the family and the financial costs?

Watson was not materially driven any more than Sarah was.

Robert could see he was idealistic enough to sacrifice his family’s material wealth for Sarah’s happiness.