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Authors: The Dutiful Daughter
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Meriweather Hall your home?” she asked.
“For part of the year. I worked too hard building my business to sell it simply because I was made a peer.” He looked back at her. “That probably sounds silly to you.”
“No, not at all.” Her admiration for her cousin rose because he was willing to step outside the expectations of the ton to hold on to his dreams.
“Thank you.” For the first time, his smile seemed genuine. “I am glad you understand. I assure you that I will not neglect Meriweather Hall.”
“I never even thought that.”
He began walking with her toward the house. “But I cannot ignore my company either. I must oversee it until I can find a manager I have faith in.”
“You must have had someone to stand in your stead while you were on the Continent.”
He rubbed his hands together, then rammed them into the large pockets of his greatcoat. “I did, but the fellow has told me that he no longer wants the responsibility. It was one thing, he has told me, to carry the load of another man’s business during the war. It is quite a different situation now.”
“None of your other employees will do?”
“I have several good men in mind, but I must make a decision on that.” He sighed as if he faced a very distasteful task. “I will also be obligated to go up to London for the parliamentary season, of course.”
“Of course.” She must have failed to keep her bitterness out of her voice because her cousin looked puzzled and as uncertain as she had felt during most of their walk.
“I would have guessed that you and your sister would enjoy visiting London during the height of the social Season.”
“I am sure Catherine would.” Seeing his eyes narrow, she hurried to add, “I attended part of one Season with my father a few years ago.”
Did Edmund believe she was fishing for a proposal by speaking of her sister being fired-off? She must be more cautious with every word.
“Part of one Season?” he asked.
“Yes.”
He hesitated, and she knew she had aroused his curiosity. She should have known better than to speak of going to London for a partial Season. A young, unbetrothed woman in her first Season would leave Town early only for embarrassing reasons—a lack of funds, a ruined reputation, or because she was cast aside by a fiancé.
“My London house is available to you and your sister and mother whenever you wish to participate in the Season again,” he said.
“That is very kind of you.”
“It seems only fair as you have welcomed me here.”
“I am glad that you are making yourself at home at Meriweather Hall. I hope you will always feel that way.” Heat slapped her face when his took on an odd shade of gray.
She had not intended for her words to mean anything more than the trite phrase she would have spoken to any guest. His reaction warned that he had read a different meaning into them. Would she have to be on guard each time she spoke for fear that he would construe her words as a request for him to propose marriage?
A motion along the headland drew Sophia’s attention away from her cousin’s ashen face. Even from a distance she could not mistake Lord Northbridge’s assertive stride. His children walked in front of him, as if he herded them down the narrow path. Michael stopped to examine something on the ground. The earl spoke, his words lost to the wind, and the little boy stiffened, straightened and kept walking.
“It appears we are not the only ones eager to enjoy the air.” Relief gushed through Edmund’s words.
Sophia resisted the temptation to grasp her cousin by both arms and tell him that she wished they would speak plainly instead of skirting the truth. She was in no more hurry to marry him than he appeared to be to ask her. She would be happy not to marry him if the dower cottage were in good enough repair for her and her mother and sister to retire there.
But she could not say any of that when he was being kind and offering his Town home for
“For part of the year. I worked too hard building my business to sell it simply because I was made a peer.” He looked back at her. “That probably sounds silly to you.”
“No, not at all.” Her admiration for her cousin rose because he was willing to step outside the expectations of the ton to hold on to his dreams.
“Thank you.” For the first time, his smile seemed genuine. “I am glad you understand. I assure you that I will not neglect Meriweather Hall.”
“I never even thought that.”
He began walking with her toward the house. “But I cannot ignore my company either. I must oversee it until I can find a manager I have faith in.”
“You must have had someone to stand in your stead while you were on the Continent.”
He rubbed his hands together, then rammed them into the large pockets of his greatcoat. “I did, but the fellow has told me that he no longer wants the responsibility. It was one thing, he has told me, to carry the load of another man’s business during the war. It is quite a different situation now.”
“None of your other employees will do?”
“I have several good men in mind, but I must make a decision on that.” He sighed as if he faced a very distasteful task. “I will also be obligated to go up to London for the parliamentary season, of course.”
“Of course.” She must have failed to keep her bitterness out of her voice because her cousin looked puzzled and as uncertain as she had felt during most of their walk.
“I would have guessed that you and your sister would enjoy visiting London during the height of the social Season.”
“I am sure Catherine would.” Seeing his eyes narrow, she hurried to add, “I attended part of one Season with my father a few years ago.”
Did Edmund believe she was fishing for a proposal by speaking of her sister being fired-off? She must be more cautious with every word.
“Part of one Season?” he asked.
“Yes.”
He hesitated, and she knew she had aroused his curiosity. She should have known better than to speak of going to London for a partial Season. A young, unbetrothed woman in her first Season would leave Town early only for embarrassing reasons—a lack of funds, a ruined reputation, or because she was cast aside by a fiancé.
“My London house is available to you and your sister and mother whenever you wish to participate in the Season again,” he said.
“That is very kind of you.”
“It seems only fair as you have welcomed me here.”
“I am glad that you are making yourself at home at Meriweather Hall. I hope you will always feel that way.” Heat slapped her face when his took on an odd shade of gray.
She had not intended for her words to mean anything more than the trite phrase she would have spoken to any guest. His reaction warned that he had read a different meaning into them. Would she have to be on guard each time she spoke for fear that he would construe her words as a request for him to propose marriage?
A motion along the headland drew Sophia’s attention away from her cousin’s ashen face. Even from a distance she could not mistake Lord Northbridge’s assertive stride. His children walked in front of him, as if he herded them down the narrow path. Michael stopped to examine something on the ground. The earl spoke, his words lost to the wind, and the little boy stiffened, straightened and kept walking.
“It appears we are not the only ones eager to enjoy the air.” Relief gushed through Edmund’s words.
Sophia resisted the temptation to grasp her cousin by both arms and tell him that she wished they would speak plainly instead of skirting the truth. She was in no more hurry to marry him than he appeared to be to ask her. She would be happy not to marry him if the dower cottage were in good enough repair for her and her mother and sister to retire there.
But she could not say any of that when he was being kind and offering his Town home for
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