To Marry A Matchmaker (Historical Romance) (24 page)

‘But he intends to blackmail you.’ Henri clasped her hands together to prevent them from reaching out towards Robert. She was filled with the nearly overwhelming desire to lay her head against his chest and have him hold her.

‘Whatever you decide here, Thorndike, my reputation will not suffer in the long term.’

‘But…’ Henri turned towards the glowing coals and tried to marshal her thoughts. He had not asked her to marry him this morning. It was only now when Sebastian demanded and, somehow, it hurt far more than it should. She wanted his offer of marriage to come from the heart, not to be forced through circumstances. Marriage with love was difficult enough. She knew that from her experience with Edmund. Without love and forced to because society dictated—she shuddered to think. ‘But
it could affect your business in the long term. You said as much to Sebastian.’

‘To be known as less than honourable in my private life.’ he gave a shrug ‘.what happens with my business has no bearing on your future. It has already weathered the scandal of my father’s death. It is you he wants to control.’

‘But our coming together was supposed to be an interlude.’

‘Henri? Are you going to say that our coupling was meaningless?’

‘Yes,’ she lied, hating that he had guessed and longing for him to deny it. ‘I had assumed it. It was supposed to be our secret, something that had no bearing on our real lives. I never expected anyone to guess. I thought I had planned everything precisely.’

‘Why would you think that?’ He looked genuinely astonished. ‘Why would you think so little of yourself?’

‘Isn’t that how all men think? Coupling is a purely physical act with little meaning for the rest of one’s life. One has to apply cool logic.’ She watched the glow of the fire and tried to control the sudden fluttering of her stomach. ‘Certainly it was how my father thought, and my cousin thinks. Edmund even. Logic.’

‘Logic has nothing to do with it. You taught me that. All men are not your father or your cousin. And I cannot claim to speak for the rest of humanity.’ He came and stood behind her. His hands lightly skimmed her arms. ‘I can only speak for me. Being with you was the most incredible experience of my existence. You are the most intriguing woman I have ever met. I want you in my life. You showed me that there are some things that can only
be seen through the heart. A generosity of spirit can do far more good than cold logic. And I’m not too proud to admit it was a lesson I needed to learn.’

The warm curl in her stomach grew. Henri concentrated on the fire, rather than giving in to her impulse and turning. If she turned, she’d be in his arms and kissing him. But it was wrong. What they had shared was supposed to be just a passionate interlude. He had never mentioned love and she knew she needed that reassurance if they were going to marry.

She gave a shaky laugh. ‘I thought passion was a bad basis for marriage. It has no part in a rational well-ordered life.’

‘I am quite willing to be proven wrong, Henri.’ There was a rich warm laugh in Robert’s voice. ‘Will you take the risk?’

‘Are we opting for a long engagement?’ Henri relaxed slightly. She was an idiot of the highest order. She should have understood what Robert was doing before jumping to conclusions. They would be engaged for a little while and then decide quietly that they did not suit after all. The interval did not have to be long, but it was the perfect solution. ‘Long engagements prevent mistakes happening.’

‘I am opting for marriage with you or nothing.’

‘Don’t force me to do this. Don’t force yourself into something you will regret. Maybe not today, but tomorrow or the next day. Marriage was not in your plans or mine.’

Robert listened to Henri’s words as tears shimmered in her eyes. He was about to lose her. Last night he’d agreed that they were merely friends, but today the very real prospect of a future without her stared him in the
face. If he was going to lose her, then he would lose no matter what he did or said. He who took so many risks in business was afraid to take this risk in his private life? Henri had taught him that life should hold more. He wanted to give her that commitment because she deserved the security.

‘Would you make me into a hypocrite, Henri? First a liar and then a hypocrite. How little you know me.’ Robert traced the line of her jaw. She turned her face away. His heart clenched. Had he already lost her? ‘I already told you that we were going to be together again. I promised white linen sheets and long lazy mornings. I want to be more than your friend, Henri. I want to be your lover. For now. For always. For always is a long time, Henri.’

‘And you don’t break your promises.’

‘Not promises to beautiful ladies.’ His hands reached out and turned her towards him.

‘I am grateful you think me beautiful,’ she said carefully. An insidious tendril of hope curled about her insides. ‘No else does. Everyone in my family has always commented on my faults.’

‘Then they are blind.’

‘My nose is too large, my mouth too small, my figure is less than fashionable. I do know my faults.’

‘Which are?’

‘I’m headstrong, bad tempered in the morning particularly, and inclined to want my own way.’ She started counting off her faults on her fingers and he knew he had to take the final risk.

‘You have forgotten arrogant, stubborn, high-handed and one last thing.’ He gathered her unresisting to his
and tilted her chin towards him until her sapphire-blue eyes looked directly into his.

‘What is that?’ she breathed.

‘Utterly and completely lovable.’ He bent his head and his mouth caught her bottom lip. He allowed his lips to say the words that he did not dare say, slowly and quietly, showing as well as telling her his feelings.

A long drawn-out sigh emerged from her throat and she twined her arms about his neck. ‘Lovable? No one has ever called me that before.’

He smoothed her hair back from her temple. ‘I’m selfish, Henri, I want you in my life for the rest of my life. Not because of Sebastian or anyone, but because I want you there when I wake up and when I go to bed. When I look up from my food, I want you there across from me. I want to hear your voice. I want to touch your skin. I want you.’

‘As your wife?’

‘I can’t promise an easy life as we are both far too set in our ways,’ he admitted, ‘but it would never be dull. Life without you would be an empty shell. I will even allow you to have treasure-hunting picbeetnics wherever and whenever you want and if that isn’t love, then I don’t what is. But, yes, I want to marry you. Marry me and stay by my side always.’

‘Wherever I want?’ A tiny smile touched her lips.

‘I’m a man of deeds, not words, my dear. Pretty poetry doesn’t spring easily to my lips, but then I suspect you would deride it as a pile of mush.’

‘Sometimes I like mush, but grand gestures do just as well.’ Henri laid her head against Robert’s chest, listened his steady heartbeat and tried to make sense of his words and the feelings that swamped her. He thought her
lovable and beautiful. He wanted to marry her. ‘And if I wanted to be wicked?’

‘You will find being wicked inside a marriage is far easier.’ He waggled his eyebrows. ‘We still have a lot to explore for when you are married. The wagers can be much more interesting. With the right person, it is far more fun to be married, and, Henrietta Thorndike, you are the right person for me. I love you deeply and passionately.’

‘You do?’ She captured his face between her hands. Her heart was so overflowing that she found it difficult to speak. ‘I don’t want to lose you, Robert. I can’t bear the thought of losing you.’

‘Then you’ll marry me.’ There was a note of hesitation in his voice. ‘Say the words, Henri. Say them for me.’

She took a deep breath. Her insides did a dance all of their own. It was exhilarating and made her feel wonderfully alive. Their marriage would not be perfection, but it would be full of passion. ‘We’ll marry. I adore a challenge.’

* * *

The wedding day which seemed to take for ever to arrive, went by in a flash. It did not matter that a steady drizzle came down all that morning, or that St Andrew’s was distinctly cold for a late August morning. All she noticed was how crowded the church was and how many people stood in the church yard as she came in on Doctor Lumley’s arm. Aunt Frances sat in the front pew, wiping her eyes, but Sebastian had long since departed for the Continent, one step ahead of the debt collectors after Robert provided him with money for the passage. To Henri’s great surprise, Sebastian had returned the money once he arrived in Venice with a
note about how a gentleman always repaid his debts of honour to other gentlemen.

The coloured light from the stained-glass windows gave the church an enchanted air as Henri stood beside Robert, listening to his deep voice recite his vows. His fingers curled around hers tighter when he promised to worship her with his body. The rest of ceremony went by in a dream Just before they went out into the church yard, when they were in the quiet of the entrance porch, he stopped and turned towards her.

‘Problem?’ she breathed.

‘First this, Mrs Montemorcy,’ he said, bending down to cover her mouth in a heart-stopping kiss. Slow, sweet and a seductive promise of what the night would hold.

When he lifted his head, she struggled to take a breath. ‘And that was for.?’

‘To remind you of all you have been missing during this inordinately long engagement of ours.’

‘You were the one who refused to elope,’ Henri reminded him with a smile.

‘The village would never have forgiven me. Everyone has contributed to this wedding.’ He gave a mock sigh. ‘There is a problem, though.’

‘Problem? What sort of problem?’ Henri tried to crane around him. In the build up to the wedding, what had she missed? She had wanted a perfect day…no, she admitted, she had wanted Robert and that the rest didn’t matter.

‘Teasdale, Melanie Crozier and Miss Armstrong have nearly come to blows. Each is claiming responsibility for the match.’

Henri shook her head. They were all mistaken. ‘Let
them if it makes them feel better. All I know is that I am devotedly glad that the match did happen. But this matchmaking is becoming infectious.’

Henri tucked her hand in the crook of her husband’s arm and prepared to go out in the special light of a Northumbrian August morning. The rain had stopped, and the entire world appeared festooned in diamond-studded sunlight.

And she knew that it didn’t matter that the flower arrangements were lopsided, that Miss Armstrong had burst into noisy sobs during the last hymn or that Lady Winship’s pugs had suddenly burst free of their mistress and were now tumbling about her skirts, making it difficult to walk. The perfection of the day was in her husband’s smile, the way his hand felt against her back and the love and joy that surrounded her. Perfection came not from outward things, but from within. It came from loving and being loved and she knew that the day would live in her memory as one of the most perfect ever.

‘I love you, Robert, my dearest friend,’ she whispered.

‘And I love you, Henri.’ He kissed her again to the obvious delight of the crowd.

ISBN-13: 9781460349410

TO MARRY A MATCHMAKER

© Michelle Styles 2011

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