The Shocking Secret of a Guest at the Wedding (Millworth Manor) (22 page)

“I daresay someone would have noticed about the time you reached the altar.”

“We’re not reaching the altar.” Jack drew a deep breath. “We’ve only been playing the part of a happy couple. Theodosia has been showing me around London in the afternoon to make our relationship look genuine. We thought by avoiding evening appearances as a couple we could avoid any speculation about the two of us.”

His father shook his head. “I’m completely confused.” “Our engagement isn’t real, Father. I told her mother we were engaged to save Theodosia from an uncomfortable dilemma.”

“I can’t imagine anything uncomfortable enough to spur a feigned engagement.”

“The man who has inherited her father’s title asked her to marry him, prompted by her mother. Theodosia has no desire to marry him.”

His father frowned. “So she’s marrying you instead?”

“No.” Jack shook his head. “I simply rescued her from an awkward situation.”

“Let me see if I understand this,” his father said slowly. “You saved Theodosia from an awkward situation by putting her in an even more awkward position?”

“I wouldn’t have put it quite that way.”

“Is there a better way to put it?”

“None that I can see,” Jack said under his breath. “I’m afraid I didn’t think about the consequences. I simply acted. She needed help, or at least it seemed to me she did, and so I did what I thought needed to be done.”

His father stared at him for a long moment.

“Well?”

“I’m not sure what to say.” His father’s forehead furrowed. “On one hand it was very gallant of you.”

Jack nodded. “I thought so.”

“On the other . . .” His father chose his words carefully. “You do realize that there is the very distinct possibility you could actually end up married?”

“No.” Jack scoffed. “I doubt that this will . . .” He widened his eyes with realization. “I could, couldn’t I?”

The colonel studied him closely. “You don’t seem overly concerned about the prospect.”

Was he? He certainly hadn’t considered that possibility. Could he really end up married to the beautiful, intelligent, independent Lady Theodosia?

“Jack,” his father said thoughtfully. “Do you realize you’re smiling?”

Jack’s gaze jerked to the other man’s. “No, I hadn’t but . . .”

His father’s eyes narrowed. “Dare I take this to mean you are not opposed to the idea of marriage to the lovely Lady Theodosia?”

“I hadn’t really considered it but . . .” Jack grinned. “I guess I’m not opposed to it. Not at all. In fact, I like the idea.”

“And does she?”

“She says she’s not interested in marriage but every woman wants to marry,” Jack said staunchly. Except perhaps a woman who was determined to prove she could succeed on her own.

“I’ve known Theodosia since she was a girl. I would say she is not at all like every woman.”

“No, she’s not.”

“Which is exactly what makes her so . . . special?”

“Only one of many reasons, Father,” Jack murmured. And hadn’t he already noticed? Hadn’t the woman already invaded his dreams and, even tonight, crept into his waking thoughts as well?

He certainly could use their situation to his advantage if indeed he wished to marry Theodosia, although he’d never be a party to forcing her into marriage. That was not the way to start a life together. And, regardless of what he might want, there was the question of what she wanted. The resolve in her eyes when she’d confided about her financial difficulties and her determination to build her little business enterprise was not something he suspected she’d willingly give up. Still, he had time. They had told her mother they’d announce their engagement at the New Year’s Eve ball and that was still four weeks away. And who knew what might happen in a month?

“So what do you intend to do?”

“Nothing.” Jack shook his head. “Not a thing.”

“Don’t you think you should do something?”

“Probably but as nothing comes to mind doing nothing seems like the most prudent course.” He sipped his whisky and thought for a moment. “It seems to me almost anything I do is going to be wrong. It might be best to let Theodosia guide this farce. At least for now.”

“Do you intend to keep playing the part of the smitten fiancé then?”

“Absolutely.” He grinned slowly. “I’m enjoying it.”

“I can see that.” His father paused. “And then?”

“Then . . .” He shrugged. “I have no idea.”

“I suspected as much.” His father studied him for a moment. “And here I thought you were the sort of man who never did anything without due consideration and a great deal of thought.”

“Apparently I’ve changed. I like the idea of letting things unfold as they will, at least for now.”

His father shook his head. “You’ll never win the hand of the fair Theodosia by letting things simply unfold.”

“Perhaps not.” He grinned. “But I might win her heart.”

“Possibly but no battle was ever won without a certain amount of preparation. Even fate needs a helping hand on occasion. And what you need, my boy . . .” Father grabbed the decanter and refilled both glasses. “Is a plan.”

 

 

“You’re going to have to have some sort of plan, you know,” Dee said thoughtfully, sitting beside Teddy on the sofa in her parlor. “Short of actually marrying him, that is.”

Not that marrying him would be such a bad thing. The thought sprang unbidden to her mind and Teddy firmly ignored it.

“I had a plan. I had an excellent plan.” Teddy poked her finger with disgust at the newspaper Dee had brought. “We specifically asked my mother not to say anything about this.”

“How do you know this was your mother’s doing?”

Teddy rolled her gaze toward the ceiling.

“You’re right, of course.” Dee sipped her whisky thoughtfully. “She probably thought if the engagement was publicly announced, Jack wouldn’t be able to get out of it.”

“Well, she thought wrong,” Teddy said firmly. “And Jack’s getting out of it is not what I am concerned about.”

“All things considered, the man is quite a catch,” Dee said in a casual manner. “He’s wealthy, his family on both sides is more than acceptable, and he is the heir to a respected title. Besides that, he’s not at all unattractive. You could certainly do far worse.”

“Thank you.” Teddy stared at her friend.

“He really is everything you’ve ever wanted.”

“He’s everything I used to want.” She paused. “Or rather everything I thought I wanted. Everything I was expected to want.”

“He’s perfect for you,” Dee said mildly.

“My plans do not include a husband.”

Dee shrugged. “Plans change.”

“Yes, I suppose,” Teddy murmured and sipped her drink. Oddly enough, even though the women were on their second glass neither seemed to feel any particular adverse effects. In fact, Teddy felt surprisingly alert. No doubt anger at one’s manipulative mother soaked up inebriating spirits like a proverbial sponge. “He does make an excellent fiancé.” And wouldn’t he make an excellent husband? She glanced at her friend and braced herself. “We’ve been spending every afternoon together.”

“Oh?” Dee’s brow rose.

“It’s part and parcel of convincing my mother of the veracity of our engagement. There’s nothing more to it than that.” And there wasn’t really. Except for that annoying desire of hers to kiss him again. And the idea of seducing him that had taken root in her head and simply refused to let go.

“No, of course not.”

“Don’t look at me like that, Dee.” Teddy huffed. “I have no intention of marrying your cousin.”

“Intentions, like plans, change.”

“Not mine,” Teddy said staunchly.

Dee smiled a knowing sort of smile.

“Stop that this instant.”

“Stop what?” Dee’s eyes widened innocently.

“Stop looking like you know something I don’t.”

“I daresay I know any number of things that you don’t.” Dee smiled smugly.

“Do you wish to share?”

“I do so adore sharing.”

Teddy sighed. “What do you think you know that I don’t?”

“I know that you like Jack.”

Teddy snorted. “That’s not something I didn’t know. He’s a very nice man. Only a fool wouldn’t like him. He’s clever and amusing and extremely thoughtful.”

Dee glanced at the ring on Teddy’s finger. “So I see.”

“And very, oh, interesting, I would say.”

“You like him a lot.”

“Of course, I like him a lot. I said he was a very nice man but there’s far more to him than meets the eye. And he’s going to a great deal of trouble to help me even if this whole mess was his fault.” She cast an annoyed look at the other woman. “There’s no reason not to like him.”

“You didn’t like him at all when you first met him.”

“Actually, when I first met him I liked him well enough.” Indeed, there was an element of something that might well have been magic upon their first meeting. “It was after I discovered who he really was that I felt somewhat, I don’t know, deceived I suppose.”

“I see.”

“That was more my fault than his.” Teddy sighed. “He’s not Cyril and it wasn’t at all fair of me to react the way I did. I don’t think Jack would ever deliberately lie to me.”

“Then you trust him?”

“Yes,” Teddy said thoughtfully. She hadn’t realized it before but she did indeed trust him. There was something about the man that was most trustworthy. “I suppose I do.”

“How very interesting.”

“And?”

“And nothing.” Dee sipped her drink. “I just think it’s interesting that you’re willing to trust him. I didn’t think you’d ever trust another man again.”

“It’s as much trusting myself as it is trusting him.”

“Well, there are worse ways to begin a marriage than with trust.”

Teddy laughed. “I’m not going to marry him.”

“So you’ve said.” Dee paused. “What are you going to do now?”

Teddy considered the question for a moment, then shook her head. “Nothing.”

“What do you mean nothing?”

“I mean we had a perfectly good plan. I see no reason to change it simply because my mother has mucked it up.”

“Then you will continue your engagement until the ball?”

Teddy nodded.

“And call it off before the announcement?”

“Exactly.”

“You do realize while losing one fiancé to death is acceptable, there will be a certain amount of talk when you lose a second.”

“There’s no way to avoid that.”

“You could marry him.”

Teddy cast her friend a long-suffering look.

“Oh, I have also been instructed to invite you, and your mother as well, to come to the country next week and stay at the manor through Christmas and the New Year.”

“Instructed by whom?”

Dee raised a brow.

Teddy groaned. “Your mother knows.”

“My dear friend, perhaps you weren’t listening. Everyone knows.”

“Christmas is still three weeks away and I am committed to one event each week before then.” She shook her head. “I can’t cancel, not at this late date. It would ruin my reputation and beyond that, well, it would be a problem, that’s all.”

Dee studied her closely. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Teddy blew a long breath. “These parties, plus your mother’s ball, will give me what I need to finally finish repaying Father’s debts.”

Dee’s eyes narrowed. “I thought you had finished with those years ago.”

“Precisely what I wanted you to think.”

“If I had known, I would have—”

“I know what you would have done and I am eternally grateful to you for that.” Her jaw tightened. “But this was my responsibility.”

“It was your father’s responsibility.”

“When he died, it became mine. Tell me, Dee, if I were a man wouldn’t I have been expected to pay off my father’s debts?”

“Yes, I suppose but—”

“There is no but about it.”

“You should have been honest with me.”

“If I had you never would have let the matter drop. Every time I saw you, you would have insisted that I allow you to loan me what I needed.”

“And you would have put this behind you that much sooner.”

“And I would have had to repay you even though you would have resisted that. No.” She shook her head. “This was the best way to go about it. And now it’s very nearly over and done with.”

“Still, you should have told me.”

“You didn’t tell me when you were in financial difficulties.”

“No, but I should have.”

“Yes, well, you didn’t tell me and I didn’t tell you. I would say that makes us even.” She smiled. “I know how you are when you get something in your head. You, Lady Hargate, can be extremely stubborn and you would have driven me quite mad.”

“Probably,” Dee said with a smile and took a sip. “Might I point out no one is as stubborn as my mother. If she wants you at the manor for Christmas, at the manor you will be.”

“You simply have to explain to her—”

“Absolutely not.” Dee scoffed. “You want to refuse my mother’s invitation, you shall have to do it yourself. Besides, she’s not merely my mother but she now believes she is your future aunt.”

Teddy groaned. “Good Lord.”

“Come now, Teddy. Millworth is only an hour by train from London. You can come back whenever you wish to take care of what you need to do. Might I point out, you did exactly that when you stayed at the manor for Camille’s wedding?”

“Well, yes.”

“And you have always loved Millworth, especially at Christmas. Why, didn’t you once tell me there was no better place to spend Christmas than at the manor?”

“I’ve always felt terribly disloyal about that.”

Her own family’s country estate, Sallwick Abbey, was ancient, its origins dating back to a fifteenth-century monastery. In spite of rebuilding through the centuries, it still retained a somber, dark presence. Even when she was a child, the abbey had seemed more forbidding than welcoming, whereas Millworth had always felt more like a home than a monument to history. It was little wonder that, when given the opportunity, Teddy had chosen to spend her holidays with Dee at Millworth rather than at her own family’s ancestral home.