Page 15 of Sacrificing the Untamed Lady Henrietta

Gerome smiled.

“It is not the highest of my concerns at the moment, My Lord. I understand you are to be wed in a fortnight.”

“I am,” Ewan sighed.

“You are not looking forward to your nuptials, My Lord?”

“I have no idea what I am, Gerome.”

The butler did not comment but remained at the foot of the desk, waiting.

“Listen to me, blathering on,” Ewan chuckled. “You may leave if you wish.”

“I am here to serve you, My Lord.”

It was not the answer that Ewan wished to hear, but what could he expect when he forced the man to listen?

“Consider your duties complete. You are dismissed.”

“Yes, My Lord.”

Gerome did give him one final glance before departing, and the unmistakable glint of pity in his blue eyes made Ewan bristle.

He should save his sympathy for someone else. I am not an object to be pitied.

Ewan decided in that moment that he would not allow the household to see weakness in him again—including Henrietta Oliver. Straightening his spine, he inhaled and downed his drink in one swallow.

No,he said firmly to himself.I do not require his sympathy. He should save that for Henrietta Oliver. Her arrival to Nightingale will not be well-received.

Chapter 6

“He is charming and very handsome,” Tabitha chattered. “Very dark and mysterious.”

“Is he charming or mysterious?” Henrietta stared off at nothing, her eyes shadowed in anger. “He cannot possibly be both.”

She would not care if the man was King George himself—Henrietta was determined to despise him on sight.

“But he is both!” Tabitha insisted. “He is widowed, so there remains a sadness in his eyes, but that is nothing you cannot overcome with your light banter.”

Light banter was not something she was renowned for, despite her mother’s presumptions.

Particularly not now.

For three weeks, she had been held in her chambers, permitted only to leave for meals when escorted by Molly and only when her father was present. Henrietta knew he worried she would flee, the letters to the university arousing his suspicions about her tenfold.

And I would flee if I was not kept prisoner!

A hundred times she had considered climbing from her bedchamber windows, but where would she go? She had nowhere to run to. And so, instead, she fantasized about this new husband of hers taking one look at her and running for the hills.

“I cannot be meant to marry someone like this!” With that, he would throw up his hands and storm from the altar, leaving Henrietta to suppress a smirk. Of course, indulging in make believe was childish, but he was a Marquess and the agreement to wed had already been made.

“You will like him very much, Henny,” Tabitha sat across the table and lowered her fork. “I wish your father would permit you a visit to Nightingale, if only once.”

Tabitha stared at Aaron who scowled as he chewed. He shook his head vehemently.

“No!” he growled after he swallowed the mouthful of food. “How many times must I say it? Henrietta will meet Lord Peterborough at the wedding and not a day sooner.”

“But why, Aaron? They will make for a dashing couple. What is the harm if they grow acquainted with one another before? I despise lying to them when they ask about Henrietta.”