An Unsuitable Match (29 page)

An overwhelming pride swelled in her heart. David was leaving nothing to chance.

‘Shall we?' the earl said as he offered Lady Alice his arm.

Behind them Clarice smiled and took David's arm.

Dinner was a pleasant but subdued affair. Lady Alice engaged Clarice in a conversation about the availability of good French lace, while the two gentlemen continued their ongoing discussion about husbandry.

At one point Clarice shot her grandmother a questioning look. In London it would not be acceptable for gentlemen to shut the ladies out of their conversation in this manner. Lady Alice responded with a slight shake of her head and took a sip of her wine.

Eventually the meal ended and the gentlemen took their leave for cigars and port. Clarice and her grandmother repaired to the drawing room.

‘That was an excellent meal, but my feet are killing me,' Lady Alice remarked. She slumped in a chair by the fireside, and kicked off the offending slippers.

Lady Alice waved a hand and motioned for Clarice to take a seat in the chair opposite. ‘Don't worry, my dear, they won't be back any time soon. In fact I wouldn't expect to see either of them until tomorrow morning. Your father mentioned as we walked into dinner that he and David were going to have a formal discussion at some point this evening.'

Clarice blinked back sudden tears. ‘Really?'

‘Of course. Your father didn't spend a whole afternoon looking around for nothing, Clarice. He has been methodically measuring the ability of this estate to produce a good income. I wouldn't be the least surprised if he asked David to produce the books of account.'

Clarice didn't hear much of what Lady Alice said after she uttered the words
Of course.
The fact that her father was seriously considering allowing his daughter to marry David Radley was all that mattered. She wrung her hands together. This was going to be the longest evening of her life.

‘Clarice?'

‘Hmm?'

‘What did you mean when you said you had been speaking to your mother? Did you go back to Elizabeth's graveside after we spoke?'

She nodded, as Lady Alice took hold of her hand and gave it a gentle pat.

‘You don't think talking to a gravestone is foolish?' Clarice asked.

‘Not if it helps you to find the answers you seek. Your grandfather and I have had many a long conversation at his grave. I knew something had changed within you, even before David arrived. The way you were able to conduct yourself that night with Mr Fox, even after he had attacked you, was something I don't think you could have done before you visited the dell. Have you forgiven your mother?'

‘It was rather the other way round. I needed her to forgive me,' Clarice replied.

Lady Alice frowned. ‘Your mother's death was an accident.'

‘I know, but for so long I blamed myself. I was convinced that since I killed my mother I was not worthy of friends or love.'

Lady Alice closed her eyes. ‘If only we could have helped you.'

‘I'm sorry I retreated from the world. I didn't mean to cause you pain, but I was so lost. It took me a long time to overcome my fears. David's belief in me has made me see how strong I am.'

She returned to the fireside and Lady Alice embraced her. ‘I wonder if that young man realises how fortunate he is to have you,' Lady Alice said.

Clarice smiled. ‘I don't know, but I do wish he would hurry up and get Papa's blessing.'

Lady Alice turned in a little before midnight, leaving Clarice to ponder whether she should follow suit. Accepting that she would get little sleep while she waited for David, she kicked off her slippers and sat by the fireside, reading a book.

The clock on the mantelpiece ticked away and just before one o'clock, she closed the book and decided to try to get some sleep.

Walking the long hallway to her bedroom, she felt the silence in the house. Passing the room where her father and David still sat, she stopped and put an ear to the door. She could hear the low hum of male voices, but could not make out the words.

She wrinkled her nose in disappointment.

‘Oh well, I shall know soon enough,' she muttered.

She lingered for a brief time in her own room, before deciding to allow her instincts to dictate her behaviour. She headed for David's room. No matter the outcome of tonight, she intended to sleep in his bed.

She sat on the edge of the bed and contemplated her future. Running her hand over the soft, luxurious red silk coverlet, she was reminded of how it felt against her naked skin when she lay in the bed at night. A bed she had secretly shared with David for nearly a week. Every morning and every night, she rejoiced in David's arms as he claimed her and brought her to release.

A smile came to her lips. She climbed off the bed and went to stand in front of the dressing mirror. The girl in the mirror was her, but so very different to the Clarice Langham who had refused to dance with David at the wedding ball only weeks before. Her clothes now fit to her curves. With her breasts no longer bound, she displayed a figure she found pleasing to the eye. There was no doubt that David approved of her new look; she had caught him staring at her breasts over the dinner table several times since they had arrived.

The smile on her face was an exact match with the one Millie Radley wore every time Clarice had seen her since the wedding. The same bright happiness shone in her eyes. Another thing the Radley brothers had in common, she mused: the effect they had on their women.

She closed her eyes and said a silent prayer.

Lord, let there be a child already created within me. A child from our love.

She ran a hand over her flat belly. ‘Do not fret, my little one, you shall be born into your father's name. You will never know the fear that someone may suddenly reveal your secret to the world. Your father shall always protect you.'

She lay back on the bed and with her eyes closed, sleep quickly took her.

Sometime in the night, she felt familiar hands removing her clothing and slipping the bedclothes over her naked body. David cuddled up to her, close against her back.

She rolled over and tried to see his face in the darkened room.

‘David?'

‘Yes,' he replied.

The smell of brandy nearly overpowered her.

‘Are you drunk?'

‘Most certainly. Your father can half put it away. It took a lot to keep up with him.'

She pulled out of his embrace and sat up. Throwing back the coverlet, she started to climb out of bed, intent on lighting the candle on the bedside table.

He made a grab for her and she stopped.

‘Don't go. I want to hold you,' he said, and clumsily wrapped his arms around her waist.

‘All right, but you have to tell me what my father said,' she replied, and lay back in the bed. ‘Are you and I still headed for the border at first light?'

He released his death-like grip and hiccoughed.

‘No. You are not going anywhere. I, on the other hand, am going to Bedford in the morning to look for a new ram.'

Clarice sighed; it was worse than pulling teeth.

‘David, are we getting married?'

‘Yes.'

‘Has my father given us his blessing?'

‘Yes.'

‘So are we getting married in London?'

Silence.

‘David?' She shook him hard. The buzz of his drunken snoring filled the room.

She laughed. ‘And to think I passed up on the chance of marrying your brother in order to get you.'

With considerable effort, she rolled David over onto his side and his snoring subsided immediately. Curled up against his back, arm draped over his hip, she lay in the dark and prayed for the dawn.

Much as she believed David, she wanted to hear the words from her father's lips.

‘She has a wonderful knack of knowing exactly when to leave a room,' the earl said, as they sat at a late breakfast the following morning. Lady Alice had, without warning, found a pressing need to retrieve a book from her room, insisting that David accompany her.

Clarice smiled. Her relationship with Lady Alice had deepened over the weeks since her grandmother had arrived in London. Her only regret was that she had held Lady Alice at arm's length for so long.

‘She has been my champion,' Clarice replied.

They both rose from their seats and met each other at the breakfast room window. Her father took hold of her hands. Father and daughter stood and looked at one another.

‘Happy that you are going to marry David?' he asked.

She nodded. ‘Very. Though I am still at a loss as to why you changed your mind about him. I thought you were set forever against me marrying David. I know you have always thought him unworthy due to his lack of legitimate status.'

Lord Langham frowned.

‘I was set against him, but not because he was born outside of marriage. I could never judge a man or woman because of the circumstances of their birth.'

Clarice's breath caught in her throat. Her father tightened his grip on her hands and she thought she saw tears in his eyes.

‘You are
my
daughter. I held you in my arms within minutes of your drawing your first breath. I gave you my name, and nothing can ever change that.'

He knew.

‘But how?' she whispered.

‘Your grandmother told me. I didn't know you were present when your mother had her accident.'

She stared down at the floor, ashamed to finally confess the truth of that awful day.

‘I panicked when I saw Mama was dead. I ran and hid at the top of the landing until I heard you arrive. I didn't know what to do.'

Her father sighed. She wrapped her arms around him.

‘Nothing changed three years ago and nothing changes now,' he said. He looked down at her, the lines of worry still creasing his brow. ‘And what of your new fiancé; have you told him any of this?'

She nodded. ‘He knows as much of it as I do. After every slight he has had to endure during his life, I could not begin our marriage keeping such a thing from him. If I had lied to him when he asked me to marry him, our whole future would have been based on a falsehood. I also had to consider that someday, someone might confront us with the truth. It is better that he knows everything about me.'

‘Then I have judged him right,' the earl replied.

‘I still don't understand why you have finally accepted David,' Clarice replied.

A deep murmur of a laugh resounded through his chest. ‘No, I don't expect you do. I never judged David because he was born outside of wedlock; I judged him and his brother because they were drunken, irresponsible rogues.'

Clarice winced, but she knew her father was right. Over the preceding years Alex and David had ruled the younger set of the
ton
like gods: Alex with his reputation as a breaker of hearts and David as the spark for all manner of heated mischief.

‘I was set against either of them ever marrying you, truth be told. Only the very best of men would be good enough for you. If the Marquess of Brooke had formally asked for your hand, I was going to make his life hell until he showed he was worthy of you.'

‘Is that why you had Alex beaten?' Clarice asked. She had wanted to broach the subject with her father many times, but only now did she feel strong enough to ask.

The earl shook his head. ‘Alex humiliated you. He held you up to public ridicule. While I think perhaps the lads went a little too far with their fists, there are plenty of others who would say he had it coming. No-one treats my daughter that way and walks away unscathed.

‘Suffice to say, I decided that the man who would be good enough to marry you needed to prove it. I knew David had been given this estate by his father, and also that he appeared to have seen the error of his ways and had tempered his behaviour. But that was no proof of how he truly felt about you. By disobeying my edict not to see you and then having the audacity to take you from Norfolk, he made his position clear.'

The truth was now clear in her mind. Her father had not rejected David; he had been testing him. Only a man who was brave enough to stand up to Lord Langham would be good enough to marry his daughter. She stepped back and stared hard at her father.

‘So you sent me away to see if he would come and rescue me?'

He smiled. ‘Langham Hall was the closest thing I had to a high tower in which to put you. If he was your knight in shining armour then he had prove it to me. I just hadn't counted on you having to fight a real dragon yourself. But rest assured, Mr Fox is going to wish David
had
run him through with a sword when he had the chance, or at least stood back and let your grandmother shoot the blackguard. I intend to make life very unpleasant for him from now on. The next time Mr Fox is allowed to set foot in Langham Hall will be when I am cold in the ground.'

Clarice looked at her father, feeling she was seeing his true self for the very first time. No more lies or secrets lay between them. She reached up on her toes and gave him a warm, loving kiss on the cheek.

‘Thank you, Papa, thank you for everything.'

Her father put his arm around her shoulder and led her toward the door.

‘Come on then, your young man will be waiting for us in the yard; he will think we have forgotten him. First rule of marriage, you shouldn't keep your husband waiting,' he said.

Clarice laughed; her mother had never been able to arrive anywhere on time.

Out in the yard, David was mounted on his horse, while Lady Alice, standing to one side, was giving him an admiring look. Clarice noticed she didn't have a book in her hand.

‘I must say I'm impressed. Considering how much port and brandy I forced down that young man's throat last night, I am surprised he can look at a horse, let alone actually mount one,' her father murmured as they stood at the gateway to the yard.

Clarice shook her head. No matter how much alcohol her father had consumed the previous night, he was clear-eyed and fit for duty. She could not honestly say the same for David. While her father, casually putting on his riding gloves, appeared no worse for wear from the previous night, she knew David was feeling every twitch in his horse's rump. He had acquitted himself in their bed that morning, but she had been the one making love to him and he had begged her to be gentle.

To his credit, her now official betrothed had managed to haul himself out of bed, eaten breakfast and had been in the saddle at the prearranged time. She felt a flicker of disappointment, knowing there would be no chance of any afternoon frolic in Temple Wood today.

‘He handles a steed well. Not reckless like his younger brother, but with a care for the beast. He definitely has an affinity with animals.'

Clarice looked at her father. She couldn't remember the last time he had said anything favourable about anyone. Something had changed.

She smiled.

The earl turned toward her and offered her his hand. She took it. He pulled her to his side and placed a fatherly arm around her shoulder, then went back to watching David as he marched the horse up and down the yard.

She sucked in a deep breath and blinked away hot tears.

‘My girl.'

‘Papa.'

No grand statement, no emotion-filled scene of reconciliation. Just a simple acknowledgement of how they saw one another and their relationship. The years they had spent as virtual strangers could never be changed. But it was as if a book had been closed and a new one opened. One with a clean, blank page.

They would write their future relationship together.

‘Did you agree on a place for the wedding?' she asked.

The earl chuckled. ‘St Georges, Hanover Square. I sent a letter off this morning. Told the curate to speak to the Bishop of London. That should shock a few sanctimonious members of the
ton
. Then it will be on to Strathmore House for the wedding breakfast. The Duke of Strathmore can foot the bill for the huge number of guests I plan to invite. I'm interested to see how deep his pockets really are, with two weddings in one season.'

David dismounted from his horse and the stablemaster took the horse by the reins.

‘Didn't want to tire him out too much before we leave,' David said as he strode through the gate and greeted Clarice with a gentle kiss. Her father averted his eyes, but she could see he wore a sly grin.

Never again will I underestimate the power of a father's love.

She nodded her agreement. No-one was going to mention the tinge of green in David's face.

‘Papa sent a letter to London this morning to book the church,' she said.

A smile came to David's lips and he reached over and shook the earl's hand. ‘Thank you, my Lord; it will be an honour to have you as a guest at our wedding.'

The earl roared with laughter, and slapped David roughly on the arm.

‘Guest! Who do think is giving the bride away, you cheeky bugger? Now come on, Radley, I've had enough of watching you prance about on that pony. Time for your first lesson in choosing good breeding stock. You can stare all moon-faced into my daughter's eyes later, it's your livestock bloodlines I want to improve. We need to make Bedford before early afternoon.'

Clarice and her grandmother stood and watched as Lord Langham and David mounted their horses and headed out of the yard. They rode slowly down the road out of Sharnbrook, stopping every so often while her father pointed out some matter of interest.