Read Online An Early Engagement by Bárbara Metzger - Free Book Online
Authors: Bárbara Metzger
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“But marry me you shall. I don’t think you’d find it funny in the least when I take you to court for breach of promise.” She unfolded a second paper. “Our fathers agreed to the marriage in a legal contract.”
“And rescinded it later.”
“But not on paper.” She unfolded her last page. “You wrote me a promise, swearing to marry me anyway.”
“I was sixteen! You were a lonely little girl at school.”
“It’s evidence.”
He was still smiling, still drinking coffee, another cup with additions. “It won’t hold up in court, minx, and you know it.”
“But it might hold up in the newspapers. If you don’t agree to marry me, I’ll see that all of London laughs at you. And if you don’t care, think of poor, worthy Thornton, or Nadine, what a scandal in the family could do to her chances of making a good match.”
One side of his mouth quirked up in a lazy smile. “Blackmail, Sparrow?”
She jumped up and stamped her foot. “I’ll do it, Smoky, so help me I will.”
The other side of his mouth joined in the humor, and she sat down again. They both knew she never would. Emilyann shrugged and smiled back at him. It was a good try, and she wasn’t finished yet. Smoky sat quietly in a state of happy relaxation, enjoying the play of emotions across her face and cheerfully awaiting the next round of machinations. He did not have to wait long.
“You know, Smoky, Stockton is going to rack and ruin without you. Old Mr. Taylor, your estate manager, is going deaf, and even if he could hear, there’s nothing he can do without money. He can’t buy equipment or stock or seed or food for the workers’ families when times are hard. I’ll come into a great deal of money when I marry, and possibly more if there is an heir to my father’s dukedom. Even without, think of all that could be done with a fortune.”
“From blackmail to bribery, eh?” he teased. “You must have spent time with my sister. She’s always writing that I should marry an heiress so she can be presented at court with all the pageantry her mercenary little heart desires.”
“Of course I know about Nadine’s wish to go to London for her come-out. The whole county knows about it And that’s another thing, Smoky. Not just the money, but your sister is getting a sorry reputation, and your younger brother is going to need some occupation, surely not as a scholar, and your properties need someone to oversee them while you are gone. I could help.”
“She’s right, Ev,” Geoff put in, giving up the pretense of not listening. “The place needs a lot of improvements, and I’ve got some capital ideas about modernizing. Been reading the farm journals, you know.”
The captain opened his eyes wider. “No, I didn’t know. From what I heard, you never read anything at all.”
“That’s just school. But the agricultural experiments ...”
“See, Smoky, you don’t even know what’s happening at home.”
“Don’t start spouting about my selling out, either of you. I heard all I need to hear on the topic from Thornton. And I know little brother is returning to school so he learns more than to be a farmer.”
“Too late,” Geoff brightly declared. “They won’t let me back in. So if you marry Emmy, the two of us can take care of the estate and you won’t have to sell out at all.”
“Thank you,” Stokely said dryly. “The way the two of you handled this mingle-mangle, there will be nothing left to come home to. And what’s this about Nadine? I thought Aunt Adelaide had the chit in hand.”
So they told him about Nadine’s flirts: the gardener’s boy, the parson’s rector, Squire Dickerson, and how whenever Nadine was likely to create a scene Aunt Adelaide would “go off.”
“Gads, Dickerson’s fifty if he’s a day! You mean she just leaves the chit to make micefeet of her reputation?”
Emilyann was giggling. Smoky was rubbing that scar on his jaw. “She don’t go off visiting,” Geoff had to explain,
“And rescinded it later.”
“But not on paper.” She unfolded her last page. “You wrote me a promise, swearing to marry me anyway.”
“I was sixteen! You were a lonely little girl at school.”
“It’s evidence.”
He was still smiling, still drinking coffee, another cup with additions. “It won’t hold up in court, minx, and you know it.”
“But it might hold up in the newspapers. If you don’t agree to marry me, I’ll see that all of London laughs at you. And if you don’t care, think of poor, worthy Thornton, or Nadine, what a scandal in the family could do to her chances of making a good match.”
One side of his mouth quirked up in a lazy smile. “Blackmail, Sparrow?”
She jumped up and stamped her foot. “I’ll do it, Smoky, so help me I will.”
The other side of his mouth joined in the humor, and she sat down again. They both knew she never would. Emilyann shrugged and smiled back at him. It was a good try, and she wasn’t finished yet. Smoky sat quietly in a state of happy relaxation, enjoying the play of emotions across her face and cheerfully awaiting the next round of machinations. He did not have to wait long.
“You know, Smoky, Stockton is going to rack and ruin without you. Old Mr. Taylor, your estate manager, is going deaf, and even if he could hear, there’s nothing he can do without money. He can’t buy equipment or stock or seed or food for the workers’ families when times are hard. I’ll come into a great deal of money when I marry, and possibly more if there is an heir to my father’s dukedom. Even without, think of all that could be done with a fortune.”
“From blackmail to bribery, eh?” he teased. “You must have spent time with my sister. She’s always writing that I should marry an heiress so she can be presented at court with all the pageantry her mercenary little heart desires.”
“Of course I know about Nadine’s wish to go to London for her come-out. The whole county knows about it And that’s another thing, Smoky. Not just the money, but your sister is getting a sorry reputation, and your younger brother is going to need some occupation, surely not as a scholar, and your properties need someone to oversee them while you are gone. I could help.”
“She’s right, Ev,” Geoff put in, giving up the pretense of not listening. “The place needs a lot of improvements, and I’ve got some capital ideas about modernizing. Been reading the farm journals, you know.”
The captain opened his eyes wider. “No, I didn’t know. From what I heard, you never read anything at all.”
“That’s just school. But the agricultural experiments ...”
“See, Smoky, you don’t even know what’s happening at home.”
“Don’t start spouting about my selling out, either of you. I heard all I need to hear on the topic from Thornton. And I know little brother is returning to school so he learns more than to be a farmer.”
“Too late,” Geoff brightly declared. “They won’t let me back in. So if you marry Emmy, the two of us can take care of the estate and you won’t have to sell out at all.”
“Thank you,” Stokely said dryly. “The way the two of you handled this mingle-mangle, there will be nothing left to come home to. And what’s this about Nadine? I thought Aunt Adelaide had the chit in hand.”
So they told him about Nadine’s flirts: the gardener’s boy, the parson’s rector, Squire Dickerson, and how whenever Nadine was likely to create a scene Aunt Adelaide would “go off.”
“Gads, Dickerson’s fifty if he’s a day! You mean she just leaves the chit to make micefeet of her reputation?”
Emilyann was giggling. Smoky was rubbing that scar on his jaw. “She don’t go off visiting,” Geoff had to explain,
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